Teaching Approach
This page explains our approach to teaching and learning at Aldridge School. Our policy is informed by evidence about how students learn best, and sets out the shared routines and expectations that create consistency across classrooms while allowing teachers to apply subject expertise and professional judgement. The full Teaching and Learning Policy is available via the cover image and the link provided.
Teaching and learning: the challenge
Teaching is the deliberate, expert act of enabling students to learn knowledge and skills that they cannot yet do independently. We recognise that learning is not the same as performance: a pupil may appear successful in the moment but not retain learning over time or apply it in a new context. Because working memory is limited, teaching must be selective and well-sequenced: we direct attention to what matters, reduce avoidable cognitive load, and connect new learning to relevant prior knowledge. Durable learning depends on depth of processing—students must think hard about meaning, relationships, examples and non-examples, and practise retrieving and applying learning. This often involves productive struggle: we remove unnecessary barriers, but we preserve the necessary thinking that strengthens learning over time.
Our aims
- Create an environment where students learn best and develop a positive relationship with learning.
- Set clear expectations so that teaching and learning are consistent across the school.
- Promote high expectations and raise achievement for all students.
- Work in partnership with students, parents/carers and the wider community to support learning and development.
Our model of learning: acquire, then apply
Our model of learning is built on a simple principle: students learn best when they first secure essential knowledge and then use that knowledge purposefully. This approach is grounded in the SOLO Taxonomy and is reflected in our curriculum, classroom practice and assessment systems.
- Acquisition: Students build secure foundational knowledge (facts, concepts, vocabulary, disciplinary methods and procedures) through explicit teaching, modelling, structured discussion, retrieval practice and guided practice. Tools such as knowledge organisers, fact tests, live monitoring and questioning help ensure knowledge is retained and can be recalled accurately over time.
- Application: Once knowledge is secure, students use it in purposeful tasks (e.g., extended writing, problem-solving, practical work, discussion, performance and analysis). Teachers support students to move from using one idea, to several ideas, to making connections and explaining relationships, and ultimately to applying understanding in unfamiliar contexts.
Assessment is woven through this acquisition-and-application model. In lessons, live monitoring, questioning, self/peer assessment and book checks provide constant feedback. Planned Quality Marked Formative Assessments (QMFs) and Summative Assessments (SAs) verify what students know and how well they can apply it independently, so teachers can plan targeted support, re-teaching, challenge and intervention.
How we make learning stick: our model of memory
We design teaching with a clear understanding of how memory works. New information is briefly held in sensory memory; only what students attend to is likely to enter working memory, which has limited capacity. If learning is not actively processed, rehearsed and practised, it is likely to be forgotten. Through clear explanation, careful sequencing and frequent opportunities for students to think hard (questioning, elaboration and retrieval practice), knowledge can be encoded into long-term memory and later retrieved when needed. This is why we build in regular retrieval and practice, and why home learning is primarily used to rehearse and secure surface knowledge so lesson time can prioritise deeper thinking and application.
The Aldridge School Teaching Model
Our Teaching Model structures lessons so that new learning is presented in manageable steps, understanding is checked frequently, and students have enough guided and independent practice to produce high-quality outcomes. Lessons follow a consistent sequence:
- Before the lesson: plan where the lesson fits in the sequence, define learning intentions and success criteria (what students will produce), break content into small steps, and anticipate misconceptions.
- Start of the lesson: a short Do Now activates prior learning and diagnoses gaps; learning intentions and success criteria are shared.
- Learning ‘chunks’: repeat Present – Check – Practise – Plenary as needed, ensuring mastery before moving on.
- End of lesson (closure): review and connect key points so learning is organised and remembered, and students are held accountable for producing the expected outcome.
- Independent practice (homework): retrieval and practice to reinforce taught content and build fluency over time.
Aldridge Teaching Habits (consistency with professional judgement)
Our teaching habits describe the consistent, high-leverage routines we expect to see in every classroom. They are not a checklist for compliance: we are clear about the non-negotiable structures that create coherence for students, and we also value teachers’ professional judgement in choosing the most effective subject-specific strategies within those routines.
- Do Now! Students begin working immediately on entry with a short retrieval task.
- Learning intentions & success criteria are explicit so students know what they are learning and what a successful outcome looks like.
- Board = Paper Teachers model clearly and ensure students keep accurate notes and working.
- Guided practice New learning is practised with support and a high success rate before independence increases.
- Independent practice Students do the cognitive work: thinking, writing, analysing and applying.
- No Opt Out! Every student attempts every question; effort and completion are non-negotiable.
- Circulate Teachers circulate purposefully to monitor, give feedback and keep standards high.
- Planning for literacy Students regularly discuss and write about what they are learning to deepen processing.
- Check for understanding Teachers gather evidence of understanding before extended practice and respond with re-teaching where needed.
- Establishing expectations Routines, behaviour and work quality are consistently reinforced to protect learning time.
Academic press: high expectations made visible
Academic press is the extent to which classroom routines, norms and teaching practices consistently press students to work hard, produce high-quality work and achieve success. We look for an academically demanding but supportive climate (clear standards and accountability), orderly routines that protect learning time, teaching that secures a high success rate through careful sequencing and practice, and instructional choices that increase thinking, rehearsal and retention (e.g., purposeful questioning, regular retrieval, timely feedback and insistence on improvement).
Adaptive teaching and inclusion
We are committed to an inclusive, knowledge-rich curriculum in which every student can make meaningful progress from their starting point. Differentiation is achieved primarily through adaptive teaching: teachers anticipate barriers and misconceptions, check for understanding, and respond in real time so all students can access the intended learning without lowering ambition. This includes pupils with SEND, EAL, disadvantaged pupils, students with low starting points and high prior attainers who require stretch and challenge.
Home learning
Home learning is a deliberate extension of our curriculum. Its primary purpose is to strengthen surface learning by rehearsing and securing foundational knowledge so students are ready for deeper application in lessons. Effective tasks require active processing—such as self-quizzing and retrieval practice, self-questioning, summarising, dual coding, cloze activities, categorising/grouping concepts, and practising worked examples—rather than passive copying.
Feedback and assessment
Feedback is information that helps close the gap between the desired outcome (what good looks like) and a student’s current outcome (what they have produced so far). We prioritise timely, actionable feedback that results in improvement, including: live monitoring and in-the-moment correction in lessons; regular self/peer assessment; periodic book checks; planned QMFs with clear success criteria; and summative assessments completed under exam conditions. Students are expected to respond by correcting, improving, redrafting or reattempting work (often recorded in green pen).
Monitoring and evaluation
We check that our curriculum, teaching and assessment are being implemented well through a planned, supportive quality-assurance programme. This includes a published QA calendar, learning walks focused on agreed priorities (e.g., teaching habits and academic press), climate checks, student voice, work scrutiny, subject deep dives and analysis of assessment information. Findings are used to identify strengths to share, agree precise next steps, and align coaching and CPD to the highest-leverage improvements.
