Page 4 - Athelstan Argus - May 2022

MEET THE STAFF

Anne-Marie Whaley – Assistant Headteacher at Malmesbury School responsible for
Teaching and Learning, CPD, Attendance, KS5

Anne-Marie came to Malmesbury in September from Blaise High School in Bristol where she was
Head of Humanities. She has introduced a system of filming teachers demonstrating specific
strategies in class which can be watched live via YouTube or edited with a commentary added. It
is powerful to watch colleagues in this way and it is a move on from TeachMeet.
A recent example featured a virtual Teaching and Learning briefing on Cold Calling which was
filmed by the Science Faculty and led by Gaie Peers-Dent, Head of Science. This is a great
learning opportunity for staff and a chance to showcase excellent practice. It’s great to be able to
say to RQTs or NQTs interested in working on, for instance, Cold Calling “Here’s the video” and a
whole training catalogue can be built up.

When Anne-Marie first suggested the idea, she wasn’t sure how teachers would respond after the
challenges of teaching during COVID but 10 people volunteered straight away and the momentum
has built (with colleagues nominating each other) so there is now a rota for departments. Other
examples include Religious Studies being shown live teaching low stakes quizzing at the start of
lessons.

Roz Allen, KS4 English Lead, was pleased to be asked to take part “Trish Paisey (English HoD at
Bradon) converted me to using a visualiser in my teaching. I have found it an invaluable piece of
tech to model annotations and analysis with. Being filmed didn’t bother me at all - but it is odd to
watch yourself back and realise you have become your mother! The experience made me
question the purpose of modelling and what makes it an important part of the lesson.” Tom
Summerbee, Academic leader and joint KS4 MFL Lead, was another willing participant.
“Preparing the lesson made me think carefully about that specific aspect of my teaching practice
and I have used this in subsequent lessons. I enjoyed the process, including being filmed and
hopefully watching it was helpful to someone else too.”

Anne-Marie is the member of SLT involved with a tutor reading programme 2 mornings a week.
The English department have helped to compile a list of novels (ensuring they are inclusive).
Tutors read and students follow the text. SLT also read excerpts too and walk around the room to
reinforce how important reading is to everyone. Staff have really enjoyed the initiative. It is easy to
assume all children have been read to at home but it is not always the case and this may be the
only reading they do. The aim is to read 2 books a year. In previous editions of The Argus we
have written about similar programmes at other Athelstan schools.

Anne-Marie has also worked with Laura Davies, her SLT teaching and learning counterpart at
Chipping Sodbury School looking at lesson drop-ins and plans to incorporate some ideas at
Malmesbury. She has developed a ‘Principles of Teaching and Learning’ list of standards for
strong lessons inspired by Rosenshine’s ‘Principles of Instruction’ and ‘Teach Like A Champion’
by Doug Lemov which contains strategies ranging from basic ideas such as ‘welcoming at the
door’ to high quality modelling.