A bit about how we improve our teaching...and what this means for the children.

Iris Connect- Cutting edge evaluation technique
My vision statement is "Success is in the journey, not the destination; we are ALL learners".
This year, we have implemented the use of an evaluation tool called IRIS to allow teachers to reflect on their practice and make improvements where necessary. Iris is the creation of a company called IRIS Connect, who describe the tool as an "innovative and powerful system for school improvement. By fusing a mobile system, data collection tools and a secure web community, IRIS Connect provides a practice based, effective professional development system for your school".
In a nutshell, teachers are able to film their lessons using a secure encrypted account, which can only be accessed by other members of staff if they are "invited" via the system. They can then analyse their lessons, picking out areas of strength, areas for development and direct their own self improvement. As a school, we are striving to create a learning community, where teachers and staff recognise the importance of learning, growing and improving just as much as the children. I am working hard to embed a culture of honesty and reflection amongst the teaching staff, which gives everyone the opportunity and confidence to share what they do best as a way of improving and exploring alternative teaching methods. I have already been in two classrooms this week where teachers have been filming their lessons, ready to share an approach to teaching literacy,which has evolved. Myself and the teachers now feel that there is an improved and highly effective model that can be shared across school via the video clips.
 I will be brave enough to say that there are times when approaches ornew ideas may not always be the greatest but the key factor for improvement in my opinion, is teachers knowing it wasn't great, why it wasn't great and what will be done in order to make improvements and  impact positively on learning. I am a great supporter of Sir Ken Robinson's message that “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with something original”. This is a message I give to staff and it is certainly a message that translates to children in class. I think it is important that we as the teachers can model reflective practice; show children that we may not always be right but strive to be the best we can be and continuously work together as a learning community to maximise our chances of success. Children perform best when they can take some ownership over their learning and improvement.They produce the most innovative and original outcomes when they are given the freedom to explore, make mistakes, find out for themselves, self evaluate, collaborate, share and enjoy!
At Robin Hood, our curriculum has evolved so that children are now taught how to be reflective learners and lead and direct their own learning. The skills involved in this approach will prepare them for life beyond primary school. Simply imparting knowledge is not sufficient to prepare children for life in our ever changing and rapidly growing world. To maximise the chances of success later in life, our children need to be exposed to a curriculum which prepares them for life in the 21st Century. It is a challenge to ensure that this happens but I feel more confident than ever, that the children of Robin Hood recieve an education which promotes skills for success in the future.