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Milton Road Primary School

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Pedagogic Principles

Pedagogic Principles & Video Library

As a dialogic learning community, we are very thoughtful not only about our curriculum design, but also about the pedagogy that underpins our ethos. 

 

A great many pedagogic theories underpin our work at Milton Road School. Our work is relational and pro-social and we believe in the uniqueness and preciousness of every child in our school community. 

 

As a relational school, we are also acutely aware of the essential role that parents and carers play in their child's education, and see them as partners in learning. Research is clear that when families are actively involved in their child's school there are improved positive outcomes not only for academic success but also for behaviour and life-long learning. This partnership can also be captured in our mantra #WeAreCrew as we want parents and carers to also feel included in the learning journeys!

 

For this reason, communication at every stage of the learning journey is key. We inform families regularly of the termly and weekly objectives that their child will encounter, through our learning platform SeeSaw, children update their parents on what they have been learning, we report Termly on the children's progress through written reports and parent/teacher meetings, and at the end of the learning sequence, families are invited to participate in Expert Showcases which are designed and curated by the children themselves. 

CREW - We Are CREW not Passengers

CREW ethos, CREW campaigns, CREW time

 

Drawing on the thought leadership of Ron Berger, and the work of EL Schools, CREW is the fundamental principle in our pedagogy; it is central to our curriculum design and helps us to achieve our school's aims. Students and educators trust in their school communities to be safe, affirming, and therapeutic places. When students and educators feel a strong sense of belonging at school, nurtured by supportive relationships, research shows they are resilient and they achieve their best and secure success. Students and educators who experience an authentic community at school thrive personally, socially, morally, and academically, and can make meaningful contributions to a better world. 

We are Crew Not Passengers is a key maxim and runs through everything we do. Children and adults work in small or whole class teams to achieve better outcomes for individuals and for the school as a whole.

CREW Time is a planned activity with specific aims and appears on the weekly timetable. 

CREW Time - this is a (minimum of) weekly occassion when the class CREW comes together and through dialogue collectively makes meaning of aspects of the curriculum that has been taught. This could be discussing an assembly.

CREW Time could be when the children share moments of peacefulness through a mindfulness activity.

CREW Time could be a check-in with the class, a reflection of the CREW values Courage, Responsibility, Excellence and Wisdom or could be a time to review class agreements and expectations, or it could be to reflect on the learning, experiences and achievements of the week.

CREW Campaign: is when a small group decides on a positive activity that will improve the environment such as the Litter Picking CREW, or the Library CREW, it can also be when the Eco-Council decide on a positive action they want the whole school to work on, or the Cambridge Youth Citizens create a campaign to make positive change in their community. 

  • The Power Of CREW See the power of Crew culture and structure building belonging and agency at 21 EL Education schools across the country and globe

Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion | TED

Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response: "Kids don't learn from people they don't like.'" A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level.

Can school make you happier?

Can school make you happier? Teachappy presents this short animation on why it's time schools prioritised the happiness and wellbeing of children, teachers and everyone in the school community. Happier children learn better and happier teachers teach better.

Dr Bill Rogers - Ensuring a settled and focused class

http://osiriseducational.co.uk The first challenge in every class comes at the very beginning - getting the students settled so that learning can begin. World-renowned classroom behaviour expert Dr Bill Rogers shares his advice and experiences in this exclusive interview to set up your own guide.

Wheel of Wellbeing (WoW)

A short video explaining why Mental Wellbeing is important and how the wheel of wellbeing can help you flourish. The Wheel of Well-Being or WOW for short includes 6 aspects of Well Being: Body, Mind, Spirit, People, Place, Planet.

How We Make Learning Stick through Retrieval Practice

When we think about learning, we typically focus on getting information into students' heads. What if, instead, we focus on getting information out of students' heads? Visit https://retrievalpractice.org for free downloads and subscribe for our email updates.

Metacogntion - A Brief Explainer

This short animation - Metacognition: A brief explainer - aims to cut through the complexity that surrounds metacognition by providing a clear example of what it looks like in practice. It could be used to start colleague conversations, build staff knowledge when designing and delivering Effective Professional Development on metacognition.

Teach Like a Champion Technique 32 - SLANT

“What few people ever appreciate is how central attention is for every function we perform,” writes reading researcher Maryanne Wolf. “What we attend to is ultimately what we learn,” concurs Peps Mccrea. It is the unheralded “gatekeeper” of learning. The ability to sustain focus and concentration is the unacknowledged source of many students’ success, and the inability to attend is the undoing of others.m“Neuroscience reminds us that before we can be motivated to learn what is in front of us, we must pay attention to it,” says Zaretta Hammond. “The hallmark of an independent learner is his ability to direct his attention toward his own leaning.”5 To build strong attentional habits is to give students stewardship of their own thinking." Doug Lemov https://teachlikeachampion.org/blog/tracking-in-classrooms-what-i-really-think-and-wrote/

Austin's Butterfly: Models, Critique, and Descriptive Feedback

Ron Berger, Chief Academic Officer at EL Education (formerly Expeditionary Learning) demonstrates the transformational power of models, critique, and descriptive feedback to improve student work. Here he tells the story of Austin's Butterfly. 1st grade students at ANSER Charter School in Boise, ID, helped Austin take a scientific illustration of a butterfly through multiple drafts toward a high-quality final product.

Childhood Trauma and the Brain (with English subtitles) | UK Trauma Council

A general introduction to what happens in the brain after children face traumatic experiences in childhood, like abuse and neglect. With English subtitles.This animation was developed by Professor Eamon McCrory and is a part of the Childhood Trauma and the Brain resource.

Early Years

 

The experiences a child has in the Early Years of life can have a profound impact on the likely outcomes later on through childhood and into adult life. For this reason, we employ highly thoughtful, qualified, specialist educators to deliver the education of our youngest children though the Statutory Early Years Framework as well as through the school's own curriculum.

 

Several educators inform our practice including

Molly Wright: How every child can thrive by five | TED

"What if I was to tell you that a game of peek-a-boo could change the world?" asks seven-year-old Molly Wright, one of the youngest-ever TED speakers. Breaking down the research-backed ways parents and caregivers can support children's healthy brain development, Wright highlights the benefits of play on lifelong learning, behavior and well-being, sharing effective strategies to help all kids thrive by the age of five.

Dialogic Practice - Paulo Friere

Oracy and Dialogic Practice

  • Professor Rupert Wegerif Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge - various blogs about Dialogic Practice

Cultural Capital - A Toolkit of Ideas

The Future School - Valerie Hannon

Future School - Valerie Hannon 

 

Valerie Hannon's work has influenced the design principles in our school's curriculum, particularly those set out in her book "Thrive - Schools Reinvented for the Real Challenges We Face"

Milton Road Primary School was very proud to be mentioned in the second edition of this book, by Valerie Hannon "Thrive - The Purpose of Schools in a Changing World."

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