In last month’s blog we talked about the three words at the heart of Ofsted’s judgement of the school curriculum: Intent, Implementation and Impact. Today we are going to turn our attention to what implementation looks like in reality.
An *article by Heather Fearn and Jonathan Keay, both members of His Majesty’s Inspectorate and part of Ofsted’s curriculum team, tells schools that “for Ofsted… implementation would be the teaching activities you choose to teach your curriculum.” With such open ended guidance, how do schools ensure that the activities chosen to teach the curriculum are fit for purpose?
Research by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) highlighted “five particular approaches which can be integrated into day-to day teaching practice to raise attainment…” Arising out of research into how to improve outcomes for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, the researchers found that outcomes for all pupils improved when teachers implemented the ‘five a day’ approach. So let’s take a look at these guiding principles for curriculum implementation.
1. Direct teaching of the skills, knowledge and understanding contained within the content of the lesson.
2. Cognitive and metacognitive strategies, including the teacher modelling their own thinking processes, beginning with any prior knowledge and how that helps them understand the new skills and knowledge.
3. Scaffolding, by working examples with the students, moving to guided practice and finally to independent practice.
4. The use of technology.
5. Flexible grouping within the classroom.
With those strategies in mind, let’s take a look at the structure of Good2Learn lessons.
1 & 2. Good2Learn lessons all begin with direct teaching of the skills, knowledge and understanding relevant to the module, with the presenter modelling the processes.
3. Each lesson contains worked examples and guided practice prior to opportunities for independent practice, usually following a reminder to pause the lesson while they complete the independent task. Further opportunities for independent practice are contained within the end of module quizzes.
4. And, of course, as a web-based platform, technology is at the heart of Good2Learn.
So you can dive into any Good2Learn lesson confident that it is based on established teaching strategies that are proven to be effective in supporting learning and improving outcomes for all pupils.
*Curriculum: Keeping It Simple https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2021/12/08/curriculum-keeping-it-simple/
EEF Blog: Five a Day to Improve SEND outcomes. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/news/eef-blog-five-a-day-to-improve-send-outcomes
