The ITT Core Content Framework. Samuel Stones
peers. Where appropriate, you should consider how these children might be supported to achieve the same learning outcomes as their peers by providing them with additional adult support, different resources or by breaking the task down further into smaller steps. It might not always be appropriate for children who are working at lower stages of development to work on the same learning objectives as their peers who are operating at higher stages of development, but setting a different task should not be the default ‘fall-back’ position.
You will need to consider how you will meet the needs of children who are operating at higher stages of cognitive development. You can challenge them further by setting them extension tasks or by asking them to apply the skill or concept that you have taught them. Sometimes, it will be appropriate to set these children a completely different task from their peers, provided they are secure with the prerequisite subject content. It is counterproductive to move children on too quickly, particularly if the prerequisite knowledge, skills and understanding required to complete the task are not secure. To ensure an appropriate level of challenge for these children, it is essential that you understand the progression in knowledge, skills and understanding within a unit of work so that you know what the ‘next steps’ in learning are. You must therefore research the progression sequence prior to teaching a unit of work.
You will need to consider how you can support children who are working at lower stages of development through providing planned interventions and responsive same-day interventions to meet their needs. A child who is working at a higher stage of development in the area of mathematical calculations might be working at a lower stage of development within geometry. Therefore, it does not necessarily follow that a child who is weak at one aspect in a subject is weak at all aspects of that subject. This highlights the need for teachers to adopt flexible grouping arrangements and to avoid developing fixed mindsets about children’s abilities. Children may develop misconceptions within a lesson, but they may have demonstrated mastery of the content in the previous lesson. Same-day interventions provide an opportunity to address these misconceptions. Pre-teaching the lesson content prior to the taught lesson is also another useful way of giving children the best opportunity to make progress in the lesson.
Supporting pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds
It is important to recognise that pupils do not choose their social backgrounds and they should not be defined by them. Pupils from poor social backgrounds can achieve well if they are taught by teachers who have high expectations of them and believe that they can achieve well. They should never be educationally impoverished. Their futures are not defined. Education provides them with an opportunity to break away from the cycle of disadvantage that may dominate their lives. Some pupils might need additional resources and interventions to support them in their learning, particularly if they are deprived of books and technology at home. Schools can compensate for this disadvantage by ensuring that pupils have access to the resources they need to support their learning.
Fostering effort, concentration and perseverance
Many children simply give up when they find specific subject content too difficult. However, with sustained effort, concentration and perseverance, they can improve their intelligence. You play a critical role in supporting children to recognise that intelligence is not a fixed trait. They need to understand that investing effort into a task is worthwhile because although the task may be difficult, effort, concentration and perseverance will eventually pay off and they will master it. Discussing things that you find difficult is one way of helping pupils to realise that learning is not always straightforward. In fact, if it is meant to be difficult and it is not difficult, then they are not being suitably challenged.
Working in partnership with parents
Developing effective professional relationships with parents is not always straightforward. Some parents will have unreasonable expectations of you and will attempt to place additional demands on you. Some will frustrate you because their expectations are too low. Some will not want to work with you because they have had negative experiences of teachers during their own education. It is important to keep an open mind. Some parents may be experiencing challenging personal circumstances that may impact on their capacity to engage with you. Building relationships that are positive and underpinned by mutual respect may take some time. Informing them frequently of their child’s successes is one way of establishing positive relationships. Smiling at them can work wonders; so, too, can demonstrating empathy through listening to them when they need to talk to you. Communicating with parents regularly through text messages, newsletters or the school website are also effective ways of keeping parents informed.
Creating a safe and stimulating environment
The primary classroom should provide a stimulating environment in which children can learn. Children need to be encouraged to respect their learning environment and they are more likely to do this if you also respect it. There should be a place for everything so that children know where to locate resources and storage facilities should be labelled so that children know where resources are kept. Avoid ‘dumping’ your resources in inappropriate places, and aim to be tidy and well organised so that you know where to find things. There is nothing worse than finding a teacher’s resources scattered on a table-top display that is intended for children’s use.
One organisational strategy that you might find useful is to organise your lesson resources into separate boxes or trays each day. Try to get these ready the previous day so that your lessons are prepared when you come into school. Try to devote dedicated time after school each day to preparing your resources for the next day. You can then quickly locate them between lessons and this will help you to stay calm. You will find a system that ultimately works for you, but it is critical that you are organised. If you are not usually an organised person, now is the time to develop this important skill.
Encourage the children to take responsibility for their learning environment. They usually only do this when you communicate high expectations. Examples of ‘non-negotiables’ might include:
A clear expectation that children will tidy their tables at the end of each lesson.
An expectation that no resources or litter will be left on the floor at the end of each lesson or day.
Coats in cloakrooms should be hung on pegs and not left lying around on the floor.
Pencils, pens and rulers should be stored in the appropriate places.
Chairs should be pushed under tables when children leave the classroom.
Assigning ownership of the learning environment to children will make your life easier, but it will also mean that the classroom is tidy and ready for the next lesson. These may seem like minor things that are not important. However, it is all part of what children need to learn and they should be given some ownership of their classroom. Allowing five minutes to tidy away at the end of each lesson will save you a lot of time. You will not have time to keep tidying the classroom between lessons, especially when you are getting your next lesson prepared.
The most stimulating primary classrooms are colourful, interesting and they promote a sense of curiosity. You will need to negotiate with your mentor how much ownership you can have of the learning environment, including displays, but you might find the following suggestions helpful.
Create a stimulus display for your topic to engage children right from the start.
Create interactive displays: create an investigation area to promote children’s curiosity. For example, if the children are learning about electricity, you might place a collection of batteries, wires, bulbs, switches, motors and buzzers onto an investigation table. You might include some learning challenges for them to complete. In this instance, the challenge might include examples of different types of electrical circuits for the children to make. You might then include key questions – for example, ‘How can you make the