Learning at Orchard

At Orchard, we believe consistency in teaching and learning is key for helping children make progress. Our curriculum has been designed to help children remember more and learn more by building on prior learning and helping them create webs of knowledge. 

Each and every lesson at Orchard, from Year 1 upwards, starts with the teacher assessing children's prior understanding of a unit of work. We call this part of the lesson - the entry ticket. It is a quick five minutes, at the start of every lesson, where children are given up to five questions that they respond to on mini whiteboards. This helps the teacher quickly assess  the children's knowledge; it maybe that some adjustments need to be made to the lesson or that some children may need additional scaffolding from the adults in the classroom to complete the learning for that session. 

Key vocabulary is also introduced, for each unit or work. The meaning of this vocabulary is taught and, as the children progress through their school years, their knowledge or words such as Empire will be built upon.  

The teacher regularly assess learning throughout the lesson and all children, unless they have a personalised curriculum, complete the same learning. However, some children may require additional support to access the learning. This maybe through regular 'check ins' from an adult or through the use of additional resources. In addition, some children will need to be challenged, when working during the lesson so that their knowledge is deepened.

Knowing our children is a vital part of ensuring our children make good progress in each lesson - helping them be the best that they can be!

At the end of every lesson, there is an assessment question - what we call an Exit Ticket. All children are expected to respond so that the teacher can assess if the children have achieved the knowledge or the skill being taught that lesson. At the end of each unit or work, in all subject areas, the children will complete a piece of work that assesses their understanding of what they have been taught and the key skills and knowledge that they need to acquire.