Annabelle Taylor, Deputy Head of Ricards Lodge High School, shares her experience of taking part in a trial of Embedding Formative Assessment.
A few years ago, it felt as if our school improvement efforts had plateaued. We weren’t seeing a significant improvement in results, and we could see a progress and attainment gap between our Pupil Premium-eligible students and their classmates.
As a staff we were working hard, but not seeing reward for our efforts.
This was a push to consider our school improvement plan and policies, and what we could do differently. As the Deputy Head, responsible for professional development, I reflected that we needed to re-prioritise the core components of good teaching, and find a way to maximise learning.
Through our partnership with SSAT (The Schools, Students and Teachers network) I came across the trial of Embedding Formative Assessment (EFA). The structure of the programme felt like a good fit for our needs, with Teacher Learning Communities (TLCs) providing an opportunity for staff to work together in small groups to refocus on teaching and learning.
