Session 1: Wednesday 21 September 2022, 10.00 – 11.30 am – Curriculum Intent – having a specific plan of what children need to know in total, in every subject.  Why this, why now?’ – Emma Adcock and John McConnell

Session 2: Friday 25 November 2022, 10.00 – 11.30 am –  How what pupils know determines what they learn – Sarah Cottingham, Associate Dean, Ambition Institute

“The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly” – Ausubel (1968).

In this session you’ll see why what pupils know determines what they attend to, initially learn and retain. When pupils connect new ideas to their prior knowledge they can learn meaningfully and develop bodies of knowledge. We’ll look at how teachers can influence this process through curriculum planning, lesson preparation and in-class instruction.

Session 3: Wednesday 18 January 2023, 10.00 – 11.30 am – Ensuring that pupils with SEND achieve well – Fyfe Johnston, SEND Associate

During this session Fyfe, will discuss best practice models taken from his work supporting colleagues nationally.

This will cover the core challenges we face from working with pupils with communication and interaction needs, autistic spectrum conditions, and social, emotional and mental health needs.

It will also look at how pupils with SEND are represented in data at a national level in areas such as persistent absence, within the pupil premium cohort, and for pupils having internal isolations, suspensions, becoming permanently excluded.

He will also work with colleagues to make sense of the changing context of SEND at a national level. This will include the trends seen over the last ten years and what colleagues can do to prepare for supporting pupils with SEND in coming years.

Session 4: Tuesday 7 March 2023, 10.00 – 11.30 am – Teaching to Support Long-Term Learning? – Sarah Cottingham, Associate Dean, Ambition Institute

Learning happens in the mind of the learner. However, there are things teachers can do to influence and catalyse student learning. In this session, Sarah will look at how the way memories are first encoded can affect whether they are learned for the long term and how we can influence this process. With regard to retention, teachers need students to keep knowledge accessible. To do this, we need to understand the role of forgetting in the learning process and harness it in our teaching. We can do this by utilising well-evidenced techniques such as retrieval and spacing. However, we need to employ these techniques optimally to ensure they best support long-term learning.

Session 5: Tuesday 23 May 2023, 10.00 – 11.30 am – Prioritising Reading to allow pupils to access the full curriculum offer – Sonia Thompson, Director/Headteacher/Director of St Matthew’s CE Primary Research and Support School

Session 6: Wednesday 28 June 2023, 10.00 – 11.30 am – Assessment in Foundation subjects: using assessment wisely – Emma Adcock, Sonia Innes

Please book the first session below – this will sign you up to the entire series. The Zoom link you will receive will be the same for each session.

This event is for VNET members only.