Lead Teachers

Our Junior School Staff have been taking part in the Ministry of Education, professional development initiative, Assessment for Learning.
Assessment for Learning promotes successful learning and aims to have students taking a greater role in the learning process. In order to do this it focuses on the student/ teacher relationship, on the sharing of learning intentions with students, on the implementation of a variety of assessment approaches (self, peer and teacher), on the use of exemplars and on the student having a clear understanding of next steps in her own learning process.
Achieving certification as a lead teacher in Assessment for Learning involves the three leads attending and contributing to many school cluster workshops. They must demonstrate a sustained focus on raising the achievement standards of an identified group of students. For all students they teach they must demonstrate the successful application of the assessment for learning competencies in teaching situations, sustaining personal and collegial reflection on their own pedagogy, and importantly, promoting assessment for learning school wide.
The lead teachers have been observed teaching and have observed others and have received and provided feedback on their own and others’ teaching practice. It has been a very rigorous process that has seen the leads become excited about subtle shifts they have been able to make in their practice in order to further enhance student attitudes to and involvement in their own learning which is having a positive impact on student achievement.
Having Certificated Lead Teachers in the Assessment for Learning programme at St Cuthbert’s College is a great achievement, it means we have the valuable resources internally to maintain the practice in our College. Congratulations to Ms Clark, Mrs de Bazin and Mrs Stevens.

Photo: Mrs Stephanie de Bazin, Mrs Christine Stevens and Ms Lenore Clark pictured with Chairman of the Trust Board Mr Cameron Fleming at the Assessment for Learning awards ceremony.

College Ties August 2007