Monitoring the quality of teaching and learning

[toomuchicecream]

This is one of the jobs I've been given for next term. As DHT in a small primary school I get 1/2 a day a week on top of my PPA in order to do this (so I'm teaching 4 days as well as planning/resourcing lessons for my DHT release time). This means that I've not got a lot of time for monitoring.

So - as a class teacher - what do you think are the most effective things that the leaders in your school do in order to gather the evidence that Ofsted require that the quality of teaching and learning is being monitored? What do you think are the least effective things the SLT do? If you were given my job, how would you go about it?

I've spent a lot of Christmas pondering this one - I feel a bit like poacher turned gamekeeper! I've been given extensive lists of expectations for staff which cover things like pupil interviews/lesson obs/learning walks/planning scrutiny/book scrutiny etc etc etc. When I look at them I just want to get back into bed, pull the covers over my head and stay there as the thought that I'd be expected to do all the things listed makes me feel sick! So if I don't think the list of expectations I've been given can be sensibly implemented on a daily basis, then the rest of the staff at my school certainly won't. But when Ofsted come, they will be looking for hard evidence of the way the school is monitoring the quality of teaching and learning, so I need to come up with a manageable, achievable way of doing this.

Over to you!! (Yes - I do have a pretty clear idea of how I plan to tackle this, but I'd really like to hear your ideas first...)

Some people might hate the idea, but one of the most effective forms of observation I've taken part in was to be videoed by the HT. I was then given time away from the classroom to watch the recording, analyse my own teaching and grade it against Ofsted criteria.

My headteacher then did the same without me there, and we met to discuss our observations. It was an excellent professional dialogue where we could use parts of the recording to refer to or back up our points.

It's amazing what you notice about your own teaching and the children's learning when you are looking at it from the outside if you see what I mean.

Obviously, I obsessed about what I should wear for several days beforehand!

Obviously I realise that it wouldn't now be graded, but this was sometime ago.

Wow - so many responses while I was entertaining a large number of the extended family today! Thank you - interesting food for thought. Will reply at greater length when not on my phone!

I think the best way for a headteacher to get to know what their teachers and classes are like is to wander around at any time-giving teachers messages or showing round parents. Then they get a true accurate picture of what really goes on.

Definitely conversations with teachers, work scrutinies to find what works and sharing good practice (I take ages to mark because I overthink everything, worrying that I'm not marking effectively, some examples of good practice from my school would help me immensely), targeted looks at slow moving children and working WITH teachers to come up with strategies to improve those children's outcomes (and recognising that not all children can or will progress as we would wish).

I hear in Australia teachers planning is often only looked at occasionally and even then just glanced at. Marks might be just out if ten.... Implement this?!

Less observations.... Trust and empower the teachers? Follow a more private school approach?

Remember that excessive scrutiny is very stressful.
Read your school's perf man policy carefully and do what it says.
I'm a union rep, and if you were turning up in my classroom every whipstitch snd asking me to produce pointless bits of paper in addition to my already excessive workload, I'd be talking to someone at Div Office about action.

I tinkh your title is a problem - one which my school shares in its outlook. You need to find out is your job just to mointor the quality of teaching or are you going to be part of improving the quality of teaching and learning.

Well spotted, Mostly-it's rather short-sighted and pointless to just monitor it!

really interesting point lurker.

A while a good schools all changed it to learning and teaching, but TBH - who said they are the same thing?!