Teacher Development

Harris Academy Wimbledon’s founding principle is ‘Make a Difference’. To help teachers and TAs make a difference to the lives of those educated in our school, we place great importance on teacher development. In this way we maintain excellent teaching, learning and leadership at the academy.

We provide high quality professional development pathways which nurture exceptional teachers and TAs so that our students can achieve their potential. Teacher development is grouped into five pathways which overlap depending on the requirements of the teacher or TA.

Below you will see how these pathways might overlap for three example teachers:

The premise that underpins instructional coaching is that the key to great teaching is not in-born talent, but practice. Therefore, using Step Lab, time is set aside each week for teachers to engage in high quality practice:

• All staff are partnered up with a ‘collaborating peer’
• Once every fortnight collaborative peers will conduct a drop-in visit focusing on a specific technique identified from the Step Lab action steps (or other technique were appropriate)
• Feedback will be provided verbally and documented using the Step Lab app

Teaching is a responsive profession, and like a teacher responding to the needs of learners as they unfold in a lesson, teacher development responds to priorities as they emerge over the course of the year. A such, time is set aside each term to lead teacher development focusing on emerging priorities, for example embedding high quality oracy in lessons, or supporting those with a special educational need.

However, we have identified six academy priorities which we map across the academic year. These align with our Teaching and Learning Policy and inform instructional coaching and Inset across the year.

Autumn 1: Conditions for Learning; techniques which ensure the classroom environment is positive and focused

Autumn 2: Explanation; strategies that help teachers to explain powerful academic knowledge clearly to students

Spring 1: Checking for understanding; techniques which help teachers to gather accurate data on what students do and don’t know in any given lesson or sequence of lessons

Spring 2: Modelling and worked examples; techniques which enable teachers to model great work so that students can achieve ambitious outcomes 

Summer 1: Practice and discourse; techniques which enable teachers to plan lessons which prioritise practice

Summer 2: Support; techniques which will ensure teachers put in place support for specific students or groups of students, for example those with a SEND