Assessment

6a).  Know and understand how to assess the relevant subject and curriculum areas, including statutory assessment requirements

6b).  Make use of formative and summative assessment to secure pupils’ progress

6c).Use relevant data to monitor progress, set targets, and plan subsequent lessons

Throughout the first couple of weeks, I began to observe the class teacher whilst she assessed the work of the children.  She explained and spent time showing me how they are assessed in their Literacy.  This is assessed through  their big write books, focusing on whether they have met certain success criteria.

During Spring term 2, the children had completed their next assessments and the teacher allowed me to focus upon this and highlight the correct targets which they had met.  She began by working alongside me ensuring that I was correct in the process.  This was carried out for both Maths and English and allowed me to assess the children myself and what progression they had shown.

Misunderstanding

2c) guide pupils to reflect on the progress they have made and their emerging needs

3a) During one maths lesson, the children were identifying misunderstandings on the differences between grams and kilograms and so the work they completed was not to their best ability.

3e) if teaching early mathematics, demonstrate a clear understanding of appropriate teaching strategies.

8e) communicate effectively with parents with regard to pupils’ achievements and well-being.

After witnessing this misunderstanding, I then simplified the lesson further so that the children would have good understanding on this lesson and felt much more confident then they did in the previous lesson.

This illustrates one child’s work and the amount of work they completed after a second lesson on subtraction was carried out.  They showed fantastic progression and the child was extremely proud of themselves.  They were then rewarded with house points and won the maths star of the day along with a sticker for their amazing work.  Although the did make a few mistakes, this was simply down to not double checking their answers.

We then showed this work off to their parents, who were extremely proud.

Engaging curriculum

1a) establish a safe and stimulating environment for pupils, rooted in mutual respect.

1b) set goals that stretch and challenge pupils of all backgrounds, abilities and dispositions.

2b) be aware of pupils’ capabilities and their prior knowledge, and plan teaching to build on these

4e) contribute to the design and provision of an engaging curriculum within the relevant subject area(s).

I thoroughly enjoyed being creative with the children within many on our lessons.  We first began on the Anglo Saxons, whereby the children were working on the Sutton Hoo helmets.  These were first designed in their art books and then sketched onto these pictures of the Sutton Hoo helmets.  The children have been focusing on the patterns.

We then moved onto designing out Sutton Hoo helmets made from cardboard.  These would be created by each individual child.  After a couple of lessons, these were complete and ready to be painted.

Finally, the children painted their Sutton Hoo helmets.

They were extremely proud of their work and just needed to add the finishing touched upon the helmet.

This activity showed the creativity of the children when designing their helmets.  They were able to observe the pictures and the features and create their own interpretation of the Sutton Hoo Helmet.

This activity would also be useful for children with SEN/D or EAL as they can express these in their own way.  They are challenging in terms of ensuring the features stand out, however, it is something which the children thoroughly enjoyed.

House points!

7a) have clear rules and routines for behaviour in classrooms, and take responsibility for promoting good and courteous behaviour both in classrooms and around the school, in accordance with the school’s behaviour policy

7b) have high expectations of behaviour, and establish a framework for discipline with a range of strategies, using praise, sanctions and rewards consistently and fairly

7c) manage classes effectively, using approaches which are appropriate to pupils’ needs in order to involve and motivate them

As part of the schools behaviour policy, house points are given to those children to work well and show positive attitudes to learning.  I used these house points on a regular basis as the children were extremely competitive when it came to who would win the house point trophy for the week.  This was rewarded every Friday morning.  At the end of the year, the house who has won the most weeks would be rewarded.

Feedback

5b) have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn, and how best to overcome these

6b) make use of formative and summative assessment to secure pupils’ progress

6c) use relevant data to monitor progress, set targets, and plan subsequent lessons

6d) give pupils regular feedback, both orally and through accurate marking, and encourage pupils to respond to the feedback.

The pupils have recently moved places, due to the classroom environment being changed and the tables moving around.  As I began to teach children, I can see that some children are better focused, whereas some children are less focused.

I ensure that during marking, I take into consideration the child and the achievements, I know they are capable of reaching.  When I saw that a HA child had not completed the number of sentences I had asked him to complete, I added a read and respond task for him in his book, which he then completed during afternoon registrations.  The picture below shows evidence of his responses.

It can also be seen that the child has marked his work as green, during the self assessment to show me that he understood the work on better sentence openers.  He happily completed two more after my request..

Parent’s evening

8e). communicate effectively with parents with regard to pupils’ achievements and well-being.

As part of my professional practice Phase 2, I took part in a parents evening.  This involved me speaking to parents in regards to their child’s progression within class.  The teacher allowed me to communicate to the parents, as I had been teaching 80% of the curriculum and knew the children well.  The parents listened to me and took on board ideas I had in terms of how to support their child further at home.

Parent meeting

1a) establish a safe and stimulating environment for pupils, rooted in mutual respect

5c) demonstrate an awareness of the physical, social and intellectual development of children, and know how to adapt teaching to support pupils’ education at different stages of development 12

5d) have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs; those of high ability; those with English as an additional language; those with disabilities; and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.

8e).  communicate effectively with parents with regard to pupils’ achievements and well-being.

During my profession practice Phase 2, one parent wanted to come into school to meet with the class teacher based on a concern about the concentration of her child at home.  She wished to discuss the concentration of her child within school and whether there was anything which could be done at home to support her.  I sat in on this meeting and contributed to the situation when I could.

During the meeting, it was discussed of different ways on how we could work together for the child, both inside school and at home to ensure that the child was organised.

To conclude, the teacher and I, along with the learning support mentor came up with a solution on how to support the child.  We decided upon creating a sticker chart both at home and in school.  This would ensure the organisation of the child in terms of bring home letters from school ad remembering homework and reading books.  If the child remembers this, then we will reward her with a sticker to which her mum said after the sticker chart has 10 stickers on, she will be rewarded with a present at home.

Building relationships

Part 2

treating pupils with dignity, building relationships rooted in mutual respect, and at all times observing proper boundaries appropriate to a teacher’s professional position.

Within my observations, it ha often been stated that I have a ‘lovely manner’ with the children.  This shows that although I has a professional relationship with children, they also know that they can come to be with any concerns they may have.  They often spoke to me about their weekends or what they were going to do in the evenings and the children knew that I would listen and take an interest in their lives.  The children knew when this could happen and when it was lesson time so they needed to concentrate and work.

Behaviour

During my lessons, the children are often encouraged to participate in group work/pair work, whereby they can discuss ideas with one another.  As a way to control their behaviour during this activity, I will clap my hands in a pattern, where the children must then copy this.

By carrying this out, the children all listened and followed my rhythm, which was fun and engaging for the children.  They were then back on task with me and the rest of the lesson and this showed positive behaviour from the class.

Progression of EAL child in Read, Write, Inc

1b) set goals that stretch and challenge pupils of all backgrounds, abilities and dispositions

2a) be accountable for pupils’ attainment, progress and outcomes

2b) be aware of pupils’ capabilities and their prior knowledge, and plan teaching to build on these

2c) guide pupils to reflect on the progress they have made and their emerging needs

2d) demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how pupils learn and how this impacts on teaching

3d) if teaching early reading, demonstrate a clear understanding of systematic synthetic phonics

4c) set homework and plan other out-of-class activities to consolidate and extend the knowledge and understanding pupils have acquired

5d) have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs; those of high ability; those with English as an additional language; those with disabilities; and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.

 

Phase 1b allowed me to focus on those children who were international new arrivals and needed further support on their reading and writing.  I worked alongside one child who has developed immensely since beginning the year in September and can now write in full sentences.  She has shown a great progression of development throughout her time in school and this has all been developed through the Read, Write, Inc programme of study for children in KS1.  By incorporating this into not only phonics lessons, but also lessons where the children are writing, it has allowed for them to continue practising their techniques and writing which have shown exceptional progression.  Children have also been set homework in completing the letter formations which have also shown good progression.