Professional Learning in the Secondary has already an impact on students

Members of the Secondary teaching team share aspects of their professional learning this year - highlighting the impact this has had on their teaching and leadership practices.

TLC - the Multilingual Classroom and IRIS Connect

I used the IRIS Connect (lesson video tool where teachers can later watch themselves teach) tool as part of my TLC, the Multilingual Classroom run by Caroline Cullen. In my course, I focused on evaluating my practice with regard to the acquisition and use of tier 3 language in my year 12 biology class.  

After requesting the equipment, the IT support staff showed me how to set it up before the lesson, and then came at the end of the lesson to show me how to upload the video. The whole process was straightforward and efficient. I then watched the lesson through and was able to record my reflections directly linked to particular sections of the video as comments or attachments. I clipped a short section of the lesson recording which showed a particular activity related to language acquisition which I then shared and discussed with my colleagues in the TLC group.

The IRIS platform was easy to navigate and overall a really effective tool to reflect upon and develop my teaching practice. Being able to watch my teaching from a fly on the wall perspective, as well as being able to gain feedback from others means I have been able to better identify and develop the tools and techniques that support effective learning in my classroom.

Hannah Bradley
Biology Teacher in the Secondary Section

TLC - Rosenshines Principles in Action
 
Over the past academic year, I was lucky enough to join a number of colleagues from across all three sections of St. Julian’s in attending Cate Swift’s fantastic TLC on Barak Rosenshine’s Principles of Effective Instruction. 
 
Rosenshine’s list of ten research-based strategies are highly accessible and relatable for all teachers as they focus on aspects of teaching and learning that are pretty much universal: questioning, modelling, reviewing etc. It was particularly inspiring to hear how the principles had resonated with other group members, who were able to identify and apply these core skills to their practice from the outset. 
 
“Vielen Dank” to Cate for so masterfully modelling what effective teaching looks like in the preparation, delivery, and by the 6.15 pm finish time, differentiation of this A* TLC. 
 
David Crow
Head of Year 10 and Spanish Teacher 
 
 
Middle Leadership Course

The Middle Leaders course led by Mary van der Heijden has been an incredible professional and personal experience. It has given me the tools to work on a secondary wide project that combined student and teacher voices to improve teaching and learning during the pandemic. 
 
I worked with the Learning and Communications Committee from the Student Ambassadors and as a team, we were able to facilitate a pathway of communication between students and teachers in their remote learning experiences. We collected data and shared the results with the student body and teaching staff so that we were able to reflect and make improvements to teaching and learning. This course is a true example of the key-value our school believes in: lifelong learning. It has given me tools that I will be able to apply to all aspects of my work as a teacher and a student.

Ana Marques
Technology Integration Specialist in the Secondary Section

Peer to peer Language training

As a new member of the St Julian’s team, I have hugely appreciated all the support and inspiration I have received from teachers in the Modern Foreign Language Faculty, particularly my colleagues in Spanish, David Crow and Claire Sousa. Not only have they shared lots of ideas and resources on an informal basis, but have been so kind as to offer training sessions.
 
In November, David ran an invaluable two-hour session on Language B for myself and teachers of English B, covering the course requirements, a suggested structure for a scheme of work, activity ideas and assessment approaches. I was particularly inspired by his myriad tips for exploiting video and texts and feel my advanced level teaching has really improved as a result - thank you, David!

I was also invited to join Claire’s recent sessions on delivering Language A, as offering German A is a potential future development for the department. The first session included an overview of the course and a really useful possible framework for analysing texts. In the second session, we undertook our own analysis of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech in order to plan how we might deliver such a lesson ourselves. I was reminded of my English Literature classes at school, which I loved, and I hope I will have the chance to deliver this type of lesson myself one day!

Cate Swift
Head of German in the Secondary Section