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Spring week 6

Mentor materials

Observation discussion - identifying pupils for support and making inferences on their performance

Teaching techniques to focus feedback on

Interaction:

Discussion

Outcome:

To have practised identifying pupils for support and making inferences on their performance.

Stimulus

In the online study material, teachers have been asked to complete an activity to be used as the stimulus for this session. The activity centres around the progress of an individual pupil over time. The teacher will have looked at the pupil’s progress either over time, or in an individual test.

Whilst discussing the activity with your teacher, consider together whether their inferences about the pupil’s performance are accurate and consider strategies to support the pupil to make further progress.

Praise, probe and set precise actions

The following practise should be focused around the outcomes of the probe and precise actions, so that it is specific to your teacher’s developmental needs. However, below are some practise ideas based on the online study content to support you if needed.

Plan and practice ideas

Select another pupil to reflect upon. Ask the teacher to practise identifying strategies they could use to target this pupil and increase their progress.

Key questions and talking points

  1. Does pupil performance reflect their general pattern of performance?
  2. Are you finding that the pupil is making mistakes or that they have fundamental errors in their knowledge?
  3. Who are the pupils at risk of potentially moving into a lower grade boundary?
  4. Who are the pupils that, if given targeted support, could move into the next grade boundary?

Additional reading:

Daisy Christodoulou, Making Good Progress – chapter ‘Making Inferences’.