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How a shared pedagogy improves our pupils’ prospects.

Pedagogy may not be an everyday word to most people, but it is simply a technical term which refers to the method and practice of teaching. Having a well-thought-out pedagogy improves the quality of our teaching and the way students learn, helping them gain a deeper grasp of fundamental material. Being mindful of the way we teach also helps us better understand how to help children achieve deeper learning.

At Old Ford Primary Academy, and every other school in Paradigm Trust, our pedagogy is about teaching the right things in the right way, using methods which are clear and uncluttered, cutting right to the heart of the subject. We also ensure everything we do is research-based so we know it has been tried, tested and proven. This is essential as we only have a finite number of hours to educate children, so our pedagogy must be as efficient as possible to maximise this limited time.

In response to this pedagogy we have found the children are more engaged and learn well, reaping the benefits from our style of teaching with better outcomes and more good grades. They are able to retain more knowledge and skills, which ultimately will allow them to go onto higher learning and find gainful, well-paid employment. 

Having the same pedagogy across every Old Ford class ensures there is consistency in the way we teach, in the way we behave and in the way we apply our rules, from Early Years right through to Year Six, which hugely benefits both pupils and staff. 

However, we understand every class and every child is different, so our pedagogy is designed to be flexible, giving our teachers the tools for each individual situation and the ability to adapt the strategies to fit their circumstances, while still adhering to the underlying rationale of the Paradigm pedagogy. 

A consistent pedagogical approach also leads to continuous improvement. We are constantly on the lookout for different practices which we can include, so we trial different things and feedback on how effective they are. Then when one teacher makes an adaptation which proves to be successful it is easy to put it into practice not just across Old Ford but at the other Paradigm Trust schools. In the same way we benefit from improvements made elsewhere in the Trust. 

The world of education is constantly changing and so we are always learning, adapting and changing as new research becomes available. In this way we can be sure we are doing the best for every child at Old Ford Primary Academy. 

Last updated March 12, 2021