Case Study
Cramlington Learning Cycle
moves up a gear with
IRIS Connect
....transforming observations
and sharing best practice....
Cramlington Learning Village,
has placed IRIS Connect at the
heart of it’s 5 year CPD cycle.
As a Comprehensive School in the
North East of England, they have
been graded Oustanding by Ofsted
in their last three inspections.
Cramlington operates a clear vision of teaching and learning, known as the
Cramlington Learning Cycle, which informs all lesson planning and drives
continuous professional development (CPD) throughout the school.
IRIS Connect has helped Cramlington move from strength to strength and it is
now firmly and explicitly embedded into their 5 year CPD programme, supporting
teachers from NQT status to experienced teachers. Ken Brechin, Assistant Head
at Cramlington Learning Village, says “We chose IRIS Connect because it’s very
discreet, easy to set up and you can observe teachers in their own environment,
where both they and their students are comfortable. And, because the observer
isn’t in the room, the dynamics of the lesson aren’t affected.”
Ken was also attracted to IRIS Connect by the immediacy and quality fo the
feedback. He says, “With traditional observations and ‘post mortem’ feedback, it
takes someone with very sophisticated powers of reflection to recall the moment,
absorb the full impact and put change into prcatice immediately. By comparison,
the traditional method of observations looks like a blunt instrument.”
Since adopting IRIS two and a half years ago, staff have been able to build a bank
of best practice recordings to share with colleagues so they can incorporate the
techniques into their lessons. This gives teachers access to new teaching
techniques and ideas, as well as examples of outstanding practice.
IRIS Connect is having a profound impact at
Cramlington. It is becoming the CPD tool of choice
among staff. Every teacher who uses it talks so
positively about its impact and it has made a huge
difference on the quality of teaching to many,
many teachers.
Ken Brechin, Assistant Head Teacher
Cramlington Learning Village
irisconnect.co.uk
Watching the teaching staff use IRIS for the first
time is often like Christmas morning; their faces
light up as they realise just how powerful the
observation system is.
Graham Quince, VLE Coordinator & Web Designer
Cramlington Learning Village
One of the first teachers to use IRIS at Cramlington, Dr Stuart Kemp,
Chemistry Teacher says, “There is no doubt in my mind that the more
you observe, the more and the faster you learn. IRIS Connect lets you
look at your own lessons in precise detail, analysing aspects such as
physical positioning, vocal style, questioning technique and mannerisms.
Also, colleagues can choose to share their lessons with me so that I can pick out
the best bits and incorporate them into my own practice.”
Teachers in their fourth year of professional development at Cramlington are also using IRIS Connect
to great affect. “We ask them to give a 10 minute presentation on a teaching and learning topic of my
choice,” describes Ken. “I then feedback on the quality of their presentation/communication skills via
IRIS, which works really well.” In addition, the school has set up IRIS Triads within a group of teachers
in their 3rd year of teaching. Ken explains, “One teacher is observed using IRIS Connect and two peers
give their feedback about the effective teacher behaviours they can see. This then gets presented to an
AST who gives feedback on the behaviours displayed in the video lesson and also on the feedback that
was given by the peers. It’s proven very powerful!”
Graham Quince, VLE Coordinator and Web Designer at Cramlington, feels that IRIS has lived up to
expectations from a technical point of view as well. “IRIS Connect is ‘the’ easiest system we use
in school,” says Graham. “Despite its highly technical nature, the system runs itself with very little
intervention required. With so many third-party products, the reality of automation never quite lives up
to promise, but IRIS Connect just works. Watching the teaching staff use IRIS for the first time is often
like Christmas morning; their faces light up as they realise just how powerful the observation system
is. When we first considered the IRIS Connect system, I described it to our SLT as “feeling like a 21st
Century solution”; it has lived up to that description.”
Ken Brechin concludes: “With IRIS Connect, teachers can now see the lesson through the eyes of a
colleague, which has transformed the effectiveness of coaching and observations at Cramlington and
is having a profound impact at Cramlington. It is becoming the CPD tool of choice. Every teacher who
uses IRIS talks so positively about it. It has made a huge difference on the quality of teaching to many,
many teachers. As a result this means that learning experiences for students are better and better.”
There is no doubt in my mind that the more you observe, the more and
the faster you learn. IRIS Connect lets you look at your own lessons in
precise detail, analysing aspects such as physical positioning, vocal style,
questioning technique and mannerisms.
Dr Stuart Kemp, Chemistry Teacher
Cramlington Learning Village
IRIS Connect
[email protected]
0845 303 8578
www.irisconnect.co.uk