Executive Summary
AGENDA ITEM:
8.1
REPORT TO:
Board of Governors
DATE OF MEETING:
12 April 2016
REPORT TITLE:
Teaching and Learning Review Procedure (previously known as Lesson
Observation Policy)
REPORT REFERENCE:
FB/2015.16/23
ACTION REQUIRED:
To Approve
CONFIDENTIALITY:
Open
AUTHOR:
Vice-Principal (Curriculum & Quality)
PRESENTED BY:
Vice-Principal (Curriculum & Quality)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
● The teaching and learning review procedure outlines how we work with teachers to improve
their professional practice. It identifies how lesson observations and learning walks will operate in
2016/2017 and the expectations placed on teachers to reflect on and develop their own craft.
LOW
LEARNER IMPACT
FINANCIAL IMPACT
OVERALL RISK
MEDIUM
√
√
√
HIGH
Mission Statement
The College aims to be an independent centre of excellence in advanced level
education which realises potential and promotes aspiration and achievement in
an environment in which students and staff are supported, challenged and
encouraged to reach for the best in everything they do.
Our Collective and Individual Aim:
To be outstanding so that our College is an Outstanding Sixth Form College
Teaching and Learning Review Procedure - 2016 -2017
The Teaching & Learning Review is one the tools used at the College to support our value
of excellence. In this context, the Teaching & Learning Review will evaluate the impact of
teaching & learning on the student experience in the classroom. Students will benefit from
ongoing improvements and sharing of best practice, and teachers will benefit from
structured and constructive feedback. Individual teachers will review their practice in line
with the Appraisal Policy (Appendix 1), and this will inform Course, Faculty and College
judgements. The following evidence will therefore inform the teaching and learning
review:
1. The teacher portfolio of practice
2. Observations of teaching and learning practice
3. Student voice
Portfolio of Practice Review Guidance
The teacher portfolio of practice may contain the following evidence:
 Reflections throughout the year (Reflective Journal), including review of targets
 Engagement with professional learning
 Student data (success rates, value added, retention, attendance)
 Student voice
 Samples of student work and teacher feedback (including Subject Reports)
 Assessment practices (e.g. Assessment Plans and Markbooks, including progress
reviews)
 Lesson planning (e.g. Course Plans, Schemes of Learning, Topic/Lesson Plans)
The portfolio will assist in the objective review of the year as part of the appraisal process,
and will be used alongside lesson observations in the assessment of the quality of teaching
and learning overall.
The Lesson Observation Process
Lesson observations will identify teaching and learning strengths, areas for development
and areas to build on, and they will contribute to the assessment of the quality of teaching
and learning overall.
Developmental Lesson Observation procedure: In most cases the teacher will negotiate
with the observer a lesson for observation, but where there are concerns about the quality
of teaching then the line manager may choose the group to be observed. The observer
and/or the observee may decide that a specific focus is necessary according to the
development needs/areas to build on of the individual teacher or the course team, and
this should be clearly communicated. Students’ learning and progress will be the main
focus of lesson observations and student voice will be collected as part of the process.
The teacher may choose to produce a lesson plan, but this is optional, and the teacher
may request to receive support with planning the lesson. The teacher may choose to use
an AV setup to record and share their lesson with the observer, rather than a traditional
face-to-face observation. After the observation the teacher and the observer will identify
strengths, areas for development and areas to build on and a summary will be recorded
on the lesson observation record. Additional observations will be carried out where there
are significantly more areas for development than strengths, and if concerns continue
then the capability process may be initiated.
Learning Walk procedure: Learning walks will be carried out by teams during the spring
and summer terms at a time to be agreed. They will be themed according to areas for
development identified for individuals, the course, faculty or college and students’
learning and progress will be the main focus. Teams will decide on the themes that are
important to them, and the structure of their learning walk, in consultation with their
Director/Deputy Director. Staff meeting times prior to the learning walk session will be
reserved for use by teams to collaboratively plan the lessons. Every teacher will
participate in the learning walk session as part of their own self development and the
development of their team, and they will compile a small anonymised report on the
strengths and areas for development that they have observed. Directors/Deputy Directors
will participate in learning walks alongside teams and will contribute to the findings. The
learning walk session will culminate in a team meeting where all participants will share
their findings. The team will forward to their Director/Deputy Directors an overall
assessment of their strengths and areas for development as follows:
 ‘In most learning environments there is evidence of….’
 ‘In some learning environments there is evidence of….’
 ‘In a few learning environments there is evidence of….’
 Key improvement strategies
Teams or teachers may choose to use an AV set-up to record and share their lesson with
peer or management observers rather than a traditional face-to-face observation.
Faculties or teams may submit proposals for different approaches to learning walks that
are context specific.
Open door policy: We would like to foster a culture whereby any teacher or manager
can drop into any lesson at any time to contribute to individual or team development and
to share good practice. In order to develop this culture there may be ‘open door’
initiatives occurring in college. These activities will be non-compulsory and teachers will
be offered a method of opting out should they wish to.
Validation of the quality of lesson observation judgements: In order to maintain the
integrity of judgment, each Director/Deputy Director will have a minimum of one of their
lesson observations validated through a joint lesson observation. All observations that form
part of the capability process will be joint lesson observations.
Student Voice
Student voice will be gathered as follows:
 Teachers, Deputy Directors & Directors will conduct regular student voice activities
specific to their area (e.g. focus groups, post-it note feedback, surveys, etc.)
 There will be three cross-college surveys throughout the year - November, March
and end-of-year
 The Student Council and Student Directors will contribute to student voice
activities (e.g. LOOP and focus groups)
Reporting on the Quality of Teaching and Learning
The Teaching & Learning review will culminate in an overall assessment of the impact of
teaching on learning in College using evidence from the teacher portfolio of practice and
lesson observations. A report will be produced in the autumn term that will include:
 A summary of overall results (success rates, achievement, high grades, value
added, attendance)
 The percentage of teachers who are appropriately meeting the Professional
Teaching Standards, and the percentage of teachers who are not and will
therefore have an individual ‘Skills Enhancement Plan’ (see Appendices 1 and
2)
 Student voice
 An evaluative summary from lesson observations of the quality of teaching:
‘In most lessons there is evidence of….’
‘In some lessons there is evidence of….’
‘In a few lessons there is evidence of….’
 Key areas for development or areas to build on

A Teaching and Learning grade
Termly updates will be produced in the form of end-of-term Teaching & Learning reports
and they will include:
 Progress against identified areas for development/areas to build on
 Student in-year progress using key assessment data
 An update of lesson observation outcomes
 A summary of professional learning that has taken place
 Cross-college student survey results ( A few short questions)
 Progress of teachers with a skills enhancement plan
 A Teaching and Learning grade
Appendix: Templates for reporting