Maintaining Standards of Teaching and Learning

“Tracey Hatton, the Deputy Headteacher of the Lower School, wanted to build capacity for IRIS Connect and when I saw what the benefits could be in terms of Teaching and Learning I jumped at the chance to get involved in leading on this.”

Tim began the process by enlisting a cohort of volunteer teachers to start filming their lessons, reflecting on them and sharing any nuggets of good practice with him to start building a bank of lessons, “There was no real structure to our approach at first, so when I received the email about IRIS Connect’s Teaching is Learning (TisL) Programme I thought it seemed a very well put together package, and decided to give it a go,” explains Tim. “Straight away there was much more structure and people were getting much more out of using IRIS Connect. We’ve since received some great feedback from staff about it. In fact some of cohort one have requested to join the programme.”

Training a small group of Pathfinders, as outlined in the programme, proved really useful for encouraging more staff to give IRIS Connect a go. “It allowed us the time to get used to using the kit and iron out any kinks before trying to encourage other more hesitant staff to give it a go.”

The programme has also helped staff to integrate the use of IRIS Connect with already established CPD activities. “One member of cohort two is trying to develop behaviour management across the school,” explains Tim. “So he’s set up a programme and newsletter called BEAM (Behaviour Expertise and Management) and is using IRIS Connect to film his lessons and then share what he learns.”

“The TisL Programme and IRIS Connect are having a massive impact,” says Tim. “IRIS Connect is not just something we use every few months, but almost every day. It’s having a massive impact and we are getting great value for our money.”