Extracts from IslandCA Learning Policy

Criterion 6: Rigourous childrens learning & teachers high expectations

Page 5: (within Curriculum Policy)

Aims
We deliver a broad, creative, developmental and international curriculum, rooted in a clear Biblical
Worldview philosophy and vision of education. Focus is on the development of the whole child, so
that every child will flourish not only academically but also physically, spiritually and socially.
Character development and values formation are central to our approach to teaching and learning.
Through our curriculum, we assist students:

To aim for academic excellence, so that they do their best in terms of their God-given abilities.
To develop the qualities and dispositions vital to success in the 21 st century: adaptability, cooperation,
communication, enquiry, morality, resilience, respect and thoughtfulness
To acquire a positive attitude towards learning.

Page 8: (within Curriculum Policy)

Teacher Creativity/ Flexibility

..
Teachers are encouraged to be creative and flexible, based on the needs and learning styles of their
students, to plan appropriately rigorous and challenging learning experiences to maximize student
learning. Teachers are also expected to regularly revisit and modify lesson & unit plans, based on the
evidence/feedback they receive from on-going assessment, with the goal of moving students on in
order to improve their learning.
Pages 21-23 (Within Looking For Learning)

Looking for Learning Process (LFL) - Classroom Visits

Our leadership team, and teachers engage in an on-going process of reviewing classroom practices,
systems and structures to ensure that rigorous learning is happening and that we are always working
towards improving learning, both as a staff, and importantly, for our students. We believe that there
are three main purposes for undertaking this systematic process of using LfL:
To provide evidence that has a significant impact on the School's improvement planning, making it
easier for us to develop learning-focused improvement plans.

To transform and enliven the way that teachers, children and students see their own classrooms, the
way that professional colleagues talk to each other (e.g. the content of those conversations focus on
learning) and the schools ethos of always striving to improve learning..
To provide evidence that learning is happening, which makes a powerful contribution to school selfreviews, accreditation, performance management and more.

There are three important components to this process

1)

Collegial, open, non-threatening approach to visits - for teachers and students (see Appendix 2 : LfL
advice on tone and preparation)
2) Consistency of questions and evidence (see Appendix 3: LfL Classroom visit Note template)
3) Post-visit Learning Conversations between colleagues - to share and maximize the learning from the
visit (see Appendix 4: Advice for Post-visit Learning Conversations)

LfL - 7 Questions
These questions (and further detailed and refinements of them, in age appropriate language) are used
in the our classroom LfL observations. They are also fundamental to what we want our teachers and
students alike to be aware of and thinking about in the context of their own learning and learning
environments. The more we share a focus on learning, the more rich the learning at IslandCA will be!
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Is there any learning going on?

Is the learning appropriate?
Is the learning sufficient?
Is the learning engaging?
What is the teacher doing to help learning in the classroom?
What is the teacher doing to hinder learning in the classroom?
What is the school doing to help or hinder learning in the classroom?
See Appendix 5: Additional Questions under each of the main 7 questions.

Student Responsibility for Their Learning

Students at IslandCA will be active participants in, and take responsibility for, their own learning
because this leads to deeper, more meaningful learning over time. To be confident that learning is
taking place, we will expect that students :

can explain what they are doing and why

are learning from the beginning to the end of a lesson
can describe the goals or performance requirements of what they are doing
can describe the criteria by which their work will be assessed
ask relevant questions
are involved in self and peer assessments based on established criteria and use these criteria to guide
and revise their learning
set relevant goals based on feedback.

Teacher Facilitation of Student Learning

We expect our teachers to be teachers for learning which means they :

plan for learning and revise plans based on evidence of learning that has/is taking place
base their teaching on learning outcomes rather than teaching activities
have high expectations of students
use a differentiated learning approach to respond to students needs, strengths and ways of learning
spend most of their time facilitating rather than on classroom organisation
measure their success by the success of their students.
bring rigour to their planning, the appropriateness of their interventions and the feedback that they
give to students that improves learning.
provide learning experiences that are sufficiently and appropriately challenging for their students
(individuals and groups) so as to engage and motivate them to learn more deeply
determine challenging without reaching just too hard so that students have a sense of personal
accomplishment from overcoming a learning challenge rather than being frustrated or discouraged.

We will provide training, resources and encouragement to enable teachers to fulfill this role.

School-wide Support/ Systems for Student Learning

School leadership recognises that the following systems and structures indirectly, but importantly,
affect student learning. These are provided/developed to maximise learning at IslandCA:

Develop curriculum documentation with clearly articulated learning goals that is reviewed/updated
regularly
Develop scope and sequences for developmentally appropriate, continuous learning in each subject
area
Provide sufficient and relevant professional development/ training opportunities for teachers
Allocate sufficient time for teachers to plan individually, and collectively within year levels and with
subject specialists for integration
Provide sufficient and appropriate classroom resources
Create timetables that best enhance learning
Organise periodic opportunities (workshops, speakers, curriculum nights) for parents to understand
and better support their childrens learning
Require beginning, mid- and end-of year data on student achievement to continuously assess
improvement in learning to date and plan for future improvement
Prioritise, and set clear targets for, improvements in learning in our annual School Improvement Plans
Ensure regular newsletters and annual reports inform our community about our core business of
learning
Hire teaching staff that share our passion for learning, articulate expectations, and focus performance
management on their impact on students learning.
Provide opportunities, such as conferences, for parents/caregivers

Pages 37-39 ( within Assessment Policy)

Assessment FOR Learning

Purposes

Provide insight into students learning for both students and teachers
Promote success for all
Support the target-setting process
Enable continuous reflection on what students know now and what they need to know next
Measure what is valued
Promote immediate intervention and link judgments to learning intentions
Raise standards by taking students to the edges of their capability

In the implementation of Assessment FOR Learning.

Teachers will:
Distinguish between three types of learning ; knowledge (know about), skills (be able to) and
understanding (K,S,U)
Assess as appropriate the three types of learning e,g, knowledge through tests & quizzes and skills
through observation and rubrics, and understanding through time, space and reflection to
demonstrate understanding.
Use specific learning advice and oral and written feedback which identifies strengths and next steps
for improvement in learning
Promote student involvement in self-assessment
Act on insights gained to inform curricular targets
Analyse achievement data at the individual and classroom level.
Make standards and objectives explicit to students
Promote inclusion by attending to all students learning needs, particularly for students who are at risk
of underachievement
Engage students in rich questioning allowing wait time (time to think)
Build in time for focused observation of teacher-directed and child-initiated activity

Students will:
Know what to do to improve
Know what standards are required
Know what has been achieved against known success criteria and what to do next
Gain confidence, motivation and self-esteem as a learner
Increase their awareness and understanding of their own learning style(s) and of how they learn best
Improve their own self-evaluation skills
Make progress

Leaders will:
Monitor the quality of teacher assessment
Make arrangements to monitor the progress of individual students and diverse student groups
Analyse achievement data in most subjects across the whole school
Keep parents/caregivers informed and involved
Share assessment procedures with the community
Use assessment information to inform the schools improvement, action and development plans and
identify professional learning needs.

At IslandCA, we use the IPC Assessment for learning programme that supports teachers in assessing
and students in self-assessing, their progress with key skills from the IPC Learning Goals. This
programme includes three key components which help define next steps and improve learning:
Teacher rubrics : essentially success criteria. They help teachers observe and record the level at which
children are learning in terms of Beginning, Developing and Mastering.

Student rubrics : child-friendly versions of the teachers, in age appropriate language, for children to
use when actively engaged in self and peer-assessing.
Learning advice : specific learning activities and advice, which can be used in the class and shared
with parents, that help children to move to the next stage with their learning.
This programme, of corresponding teacher and student rubrics and related learning advice to move a
student on in their learning, is being developed for, and/or already used in, other subject areas and is
an area for continued improvement.