Teaching and learning is central to our work at Astrea Academy Dearne and helps us fulfill our five values: scholarship, curiosity, tenacity, responsibility and respect. We call our teaching and learning methods here “The Dearne Way”.
All our teaching and learning methods are evidence-informed, responsive to needs of the academy and develop teachers in highly effective teaching practices. We have been influenced by the practices of experts, including Doug Lemov (Teach Like A Champion 3.0), Tom Sherrington (Teaching Walkthrus) and Barak Rosenshine (Principles of Instruction).
We believe it is important that working memory is not overwhelmed, that content is relevant and builds upon prior knowledge and is broken down into manageable learning chunks. For this reason, lesson planning at Astrea Academy Dearne takes into account cognitive science, as well as delivery and participation techniques from the above experts.
A typical lesson at Astrea Academy Dearne consists of:
- A “Do Now” activity to retrieve prior knowledge – ensuring scholars know and remember more.
- Explicit teacher instruction – with the teacher as the expert, demonstrating and modelling the intended learning to scholars through making connections and building on prior knowledge.
- A structured handover process – through carefully considered teacher explanation and modelling, guided practice, followed by independent practice (I do/ We do/ You do).
- Regular checks for understanding – using techniques such as mini-whiteboards, cold calling and quizzing.
- Independent practice with instant feedback that moves learning forward.
Our continuous professional development (CPD) programme for staff has been carefully designed in response to the needs of the academy, providing a purposeful and meaningful focus. Staff training on the principles of good teaching ensures that our teachers are aligned in what constitutes highly effective practice and delivery. The aim of this CPD is that The Dearne Way becomes a part of daily practice throughout our academy.
To provide teachers with further development opportunities and support independent research, we have created a Padlet of leading blogs, websites and research relating to the Academy CPD priorities, as well as wider Teaching and Learning Principles. You can find out more by clicking the link below.
Teaching and Learning at Astrea Academy Dearne
You can also find further information on the links below.
Principles of highly effective teaching – vid.mp4
Pedagogical Principles – Vid.mp4
The cognitive science behind Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction (innerdrive.co.uk)