Teaching and Learning/Assessment (Implementation)

At Birchwood, we want our classrooms to feel calm and purposeful. We understand that the environment in which students learn makes a huge difference to their overall understanding and to develop a range of schemas from which a wide range of knowledge can develop. For this reason, we have a tailored approach to using teaching strategies to help both KS3 and KS4 students to flourish.

KS3

Our focus at KS3 is to cultivate a love of learning and to engage their curiosity and enthusiasm of the subjects across the curriculum. At this stage of our students’ education, we know how important it is for them to understand why they are studying the subjects that are covered in school as well appreciating their context within the wider world. We also use this time to embed good learning habits within our students with a particular focus on retrieval and long-term memory.

KS4

At Key Stage 4, the approach to pedagogy remains a constant. We aim to support our students with the increasing level of challenge that they face and work with them to build upon the learning habits, which are instilled at KS3, to help them to confidently retain key knowledge for longer.