The Astrea Way – Teaching and Learning
High quality teaching and learning is the foundation for everything we undertake at Netherwood.
In Astrea academies, we teach academically rigorous curricula, carefully constructed and curated by subject specialists and sequenced in a way that ensures systematic teaching and mastery. These curricula introduce students to powerful knowledge that takes them beyond their everyday experiences and places students in a strong position to lead successful lives beyond school, to question and debate the world around them, making them intellectually curious and tenacious and preparing them for citizenship in a democratic society.
Great teaching is the most important factor in improving student outcomes . Teachers are experts in the classroom, not facilitators, who make use of evidence-based research to understand the content they are teaching and how it is learnt. Teachers use the most efficient and effective classroom practices to ensure knowledge is retained in long-term memory, supporting all students to progress and fulfil their potential. This means teachers understand that learning is cognitively demanding; they use instructional pedagogic approaches to help students learn new information and to consolidate learning. Drawing on their knowledge of cognitive science and the principles of instruction, teachers make highly effective use of explanations and modelling, guided and independent practice, retrieval and consolidation activities, questioning and assessment and feedback to ensure excellent progress. Teaching is highly responsive and is adapted to meet the needs of all students.
Through engagement with their subject specialism and their subject communities, teachers understand the distinct nature of their subject and are able to engage with the evidence-based research through the subject lens, so that subject-specific pedagogic approach can be adopted and used effectively. We support all teachers in developing their expertise through a range of professional development opportunities, with an emphasis on engaging deeply with their subject knowledge and their subject community, both inside and outside the trust, so they are in the strongest position to implement an academically rigorous curriculum through great teaching.