Hurrah. Learning walk.

[elephantoverthehill]

Yes I hate these 'Learning walks' but today the Deputy Head dropped into my year 11 lesson, thank goodness the student could say 'I am doing XY and Z because....' I might add he is not one of the most engaged students in Y11. Do you think they will start leaving my lessons alone or will I know get everyone and his dog in because year 11 dodgy student was actually performing?

Oooh I am so jealous. You will probably have a 'mocksted' just to get you into the swing. However they are not allowed to do this, appearently, so will just call it something else.

apparently

I think 'appearantly' might be rather apt when referring to inspections...

MrsWembly I think I might prefer 'disappearently' in regard to learning walks and ofsted.

Somehow I escaped the learning walk drop ins. but they were all done in a positive way apparently. I just did what I do normally as did everyone else in my faculty and they found it useful from a behaviour management point of view.
I got through my NQT observation pretty well, one boy at the end of the lesson said "Miss, this was a brilliant lesson", I didn't even pay him! Despite having 3 new students dropped into the lesson (not even on register as so new). Luckily I had EAL students to pair up with them.
I now feel like I have gone 3 rounds with Mike Tyson. Bring on next week!

We have moved on from learning walks and are now onto Learning sweeps! Same old stuff, teaching under a microscope :(

Well done Lizzylou. Isn't it great when a child actually acknowledges the effort you have put in?. I can't wait until they get the broom out in my place Everytimeref.

What is a learning sweep?!

Learning sweep just makes me think of being 6 days overdue with DS1 and praying for imminent labour!

But is it the HoD or the HT who doing it?

I know it doesn't sound like much of a difference, but if somebody is going to give me a sweep, I'd like to know how often I'm going to have to look them in the eye afterwards...

I am dreading my return in 10 1/2 weeks! Nobody at school are telling me ANYTHING! I am fearing the worst. I have about 51 days left of maternity and already the sleepless nights are returning (and not due to a teething baby either!)

A colleague once told me that his wife's HT does not do learning walks or observe lessons - unless book scruntinies give cause for concern. The HT feels (like Dylan Wiliams preaches at his conferences) that you cannot judge the effectiveness of a teacher, lesson or make an assessment of how much learning has taken place in ONE lesson. Learning takes place over time so how can you say that 30 children are making/not making progress in a 30 minute observation or a 5 minute 'pop-in'??? The HT takes in books every half term. The work the children produce should show progress so therefore if progress in their work is evident, why would you need to inspect the teaching through walks or observations? If progress is happening, then good teaching is happening! That school BTW is a 'good' school.

I totally agree with that head. If books, levels and results show progress and the children are happy-does it matter 'how' the teacher teaches?

Does it matter if sometimes the carpet session is longer than the utopian 'one minute per age of the child' or that Tuesday's plenary was 'get your coats on!' Is it important that you don't ALWAYS do a mini plenary or share the success criteria?!

I think not.

I'm fed up of Ofsted/SMT/people expecting me to teach like a robot.

I think I'd actually rather have the HT dropping into my classroom regularly than 1 off observations. That way she can build up a picture of what my teaching is like over time so if she comes in when things aren't working, she knows it's a one-off. But what is important is that the evidence from books/learning walks/observations/whatever are put together to form an over-all picture and not viewed in isolation. Earlier this year I was working with a complete nob of an improvement adviser who was adamant that I could grade a lesson on the basis of 10 minutes in the classroom. Complete and utter rubbish.

mrsnewfie can I have a job at your schoo please?!

My school has gone beyond mental with policing everything. Staff are only allowed to mark with ONE SPECIFIC PEN. Staff have been reprimanded for using a different shade/pen.

The jargon we have to use is beyond ridiculous with feedback having to be printed on specific coloured paper and tests on one of three colours depending on level.

Marking must always be in depth with www/ebi (which must be on aforementioned coloured paper for it to 'count'. We have had learning walks every 2-3 days this term, although the next few weeks they're being disguised as parent tours.

And don't get me started on colourcoding seating plans with reading and spelling age, current grade, target and aspirational target and justification as to why they are sat next to who they are....

Oh I could go on..... It's gradually getting worse. Thank god I'm off on maternity leave in the spring!

Sweet baby cheesus, that sounds like a nightmare! Are you actually allowed to teach somewhere in all that?

And this is one reason I didn't want to go back into a normal classroom...

With my groups I only see once a week, no, not really as assessments should be done twice half termly. SMT are all core subjects who offer no flexibility. Last year, bc of bank holidays, I was only going to see one group 3 times between end of March and June! Then I decided to take my 2 days sickness off in the whole year on a day when one of their 3 lessons fell. And SMT wondered why that group made no progress...

I had another again today. Not sure what the outcome will be. I know at least one student was off task.

I had 2 today bringing my total to 10 in what is it 5 weeks?

MrsPCR do your SMT have nothing else to do?

Awaiting the outcome of my latest "learning sweep" secretly I am hoping its a girl!

When the middle leaders are younger than your own children and have been in teaching for less time than kids spend in a primary school, you know things have gone beyond a joke!
Still finished marking a set of books. With marking stickers and next steps, just got to convinence the students to write meaningful response and we are good to go for the weekly marking review.

That should less years than kids stay in primary between the lot of them!

MrsPCR are you me? I have now also had 10 in 5 weeks. We have another scheduled for next week. I was grumpy getting my feedback yesterday despite it being positive ... I know myself it was a good lesson, let me have my lunch!

I'm actually starting to want Ofsted to come just so all the madness can stop and I can get on with teaching!

MrsPCR - poor you! My last school was like that. It was hell on earth so I left! It was impacting massively on my family and I nearly gave up on teaching.

I can't believe how different my new school is. The head has very openly said he doesn't care about Ofsted. It's a catholic school with a hugely caring ethos! Heck! They even have a staff welfare policy! We are supported to the max and it feels amazing! I feel so lucky because no one ever leaves unless they retire, plus it's five minutes commute.

I wish every school had the same ethos! It would solve so many problems!

Ah least I don't have to waste my time in feedback..... Unless its negative as it was the other week bc my bottom set year 9s hadn't all underlined their date and titles. I suppose I should have thanked her that that was the worst thing she could find with my lesson. Today when I was forwarded head was doing a circuit I ran round with a ruler making them all underline. One outstanding lesson ready to go!

We got a good ofsted in June. Ofsted doesn't always make it stop because now we have no excuse not to be outstanding!

I think it is very important to underline titles and dates because we can't remember when we set the work . And as adults we always underline and write dates on everything we write including shopping lists.