The Government’s White Paper ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’, published in March 2016, emphasises the importance of building a strong, evidence-informed profession to help drive up standards in schools. Their objective ‘Fostering a world-leading, evidence-informed teaching profession’ further supports our involvement as a school in an Education Endowment Project that seeks to use research to improve classroom practice through practitioner-led inquiry.     

Throughout this academic year teachers at Cirencester Deer Park School are exploring research around a few key areas (learning strands) that we are seeking to develop our practice in:

• Disadvantaged pupils
• Feedback
• Homework for Progress
• Memory for Learning
• Metacognition.

Colleagues have identified an area of practice within their own classroom teaching to explore.  Working in groups based on the above learning strands, they have been reading a range of research based on this specific area. Colleagues will then be applying aspects of the research that they read to their individual classroom practice. They will be collecting evidence on any differences observed as a consequence of adapting their classroom practice and this will then be shared with other staff members, to ensure effective dissemination of good practice.

Our staff are keen to develop their understanding of how children learn and develop new strategies to raise their progress. It has been encouraging to listen to their discussions about their reading within these research for learning groups. These have given some colleagues the confidence to try something new, evaluate its impact and refine their practice.

Ms Chiquita Henson, Headteacher

In 2013 the government commissioned a report on 'Building Evidence into Education' from Dr Ben Goldacre, in which he said, “There is a huge prize waiting to be claimed by teachers. By collecting better evidence about what works best, and establishing a culture where this evidence is used as a matter of routine, we can improve outcomes for children, and increase professional independence.” 

We hope that as we place an increased emphasis on using research-informed practice in classrooms we will see further improvement in the outcomes for our pupils at Deer Park School.

Related Links:

• Educational Excellence Everywhere
• Research Schools Network
• Education Endowment Foundation