School Improvement Case Study: Implementing Pedagogical Pillars at Reigate School
School Improvement Aim
To embed pedagogical pillars into all teachers' toolkits, ensuring that students engage deeply with their learning, participate frequently, and have their understanding checked throughout lessons.
Rationale
Reigate School aims to create an engaging, challenging learning environment by shifting away from passive learning. To ensure that all children are learning effectively, teachers must consistently check for whole-class understanding and adapt their teaching strategies. This can only be achieved if pedagogical routines are consistently applied across the school, allowing children to transfer strategies across subjects and maximising learning time.
By implementing a structured, consistent approach using the pedagogical pillars, Reigate School aspires to foster active participation and maintain high expectations in every classroom. Teachers utilise tools like "show me boards" to gauge understanding and engage children in all subjects.
The Pedagogical Pillars
1. Do Now: Engage children immediately upon entering the classroom to set the tone for active learning.
2. Cold Call and No Opt Out: Ensure that all children participate, remain accountable, and cannot opt out of learning.
3. Show Me: Provide real-time visual assessment of children’s understanding, enabling teachers to adjust lessons as needed.
4. Paired Talk: Encourage collaborative discussions, allowing children to deepen their understanding through peer engagement.
When embedded into daily teaching practices, these pillars establish a culture of high expectations and active learning that leads to improved progress of children.
Implementation Process
Initial Assessment
At the beginning of the academic year, learning walks and subject days revealed that many children were passive in lessons, relying heavily on their teachers rather than thinking critically. To address this, Reigate School introduced a set of teaching strategies (the pedagogical pillars) that encourage active child participation and require teachers to regularly check for whole-class understanding.
Introducing the Pedagogical Pillars
The pillars were created to provide teachers with a common language and approach, ensuring consistency across classrooms. Initially, the focus was on establishing routines to maximise success, followed by refining the precision of how these strategies were deployed.
Professional Development (PD) Focus
Reigate School has made significant efforts in teacher professional development. During alternate Tuesday CPD sessions, staff analyse routines by watching video footage of lessons. This allows teachers to reflect on their practice and adjust their methods for more effective deployment of the pillars.
Professional Development Model and Impact
Collaborative CPD
The school has implemented a collaborative CPD model, allowing teachers from different subject areas to discuss how the strategies can be most effectively applied in their classrooms. This cross-disciplinary approach promotes the sharing of best practices and increases the adaptability of the pillars in various contexts.
Video Analysis
Video footage of lessons at Reigate School has been a key tool for understanding how routines support the effective use of teaching strategies. Teachers can analyse their own and their colleagues' practices to refine their teaching.
Steplab Drop-ins
The school launched regular drop-ins through the 'Steplab' platform, focusing on the four strategies. Teachers receive immediate feedback on their use of these strategies, with clear, actionable next steps for improvement. A major emphasis has been placed on how teachers check for whole-class understanding, ensuring that all children are engaged and that any knowledge gaps are identified promptly.
Impact on Children's Outcomes and Teacher Pedagogy
Assistant Headteacher and PACE Leader Jack Tavassoly-Marsh talks about the impact on children's outcomes and teachers' pedagogy: “Although it is too early to assess concrete outcomes, there has been a noticeable improvement in classroom dynamics. Teachers are checking for whole-class understanding more frequently, enabling them to adapt their lessons to better meet the needs of their children. This approach helps identify knowledge gaps early, leading to more timely interventions. Anecdotal evidence from drop-ins indicates that questioning techniques have significantly improved, engaging more students and making lessons more interactive.”
Next Phase
The next step in this process is to ensure that the four teaching strategies are integrated into lesson planning with precision. Teachers should deploy these strategies at key moments to enhance their understanding of Childrens' progress, rather than using them in an ad hoc manner. By embedding the pillars into structured, intentional lesson plans, Reigate School aims to further refine teaching practices and improve children's learning outcomes.
This structured and thoughtful implementation of pedagogical pillars at Reigate School demonstrates a commitment to enhancing both teacher effectiveness and child engagement. With ongoing professional development and an emphasis on precision deployment, Reigate School is set to foster a culture of active learning and high expectations across all classrooms.
