As one of our whole school targets for this year is making learning visible, it is important that we share with you an acronym which highlights key principles in our teaching and learning, called C.O.D.E, standing for: Challenge, Ownership, Dialogue and Engagement. These principles have been developed to ensure a common language and framework around lesson creation and maximising pupils learning and outcomes. Each year we focus on one of these four areas, with this year being ‘Dialogue.’

Getting pupils conversing with each other in lessons is vital so that we may elicit what pupils are thinking. The talking and discussion in lessons is instrumental in the development of academic vocabulary for all pupils. Instructional conversations and higher-order questioning are critical elements in laying the foundations of meaningful learning.

As teachers, our role is to vary how we question, answer, introduce a learning objective and structure talk in our lessons so that pupils are continuously challenged. We want our pupils to become problem solvers, with the ability to overcome foreseeable challenges. Therefore, providing an environment where pupils are willing to engage in meaningful conversation gives them the platform to communicate their ideas.

Thinking about what they are thinking and questioning their ideas gives way to higher-order thinking which further extends pupils understanding and learning. Getting this right in the classroom is crucial and gives us, the teachers, the visibility we need to see what the pupils are thinking and how they are tackling problems through dialogue in the classroom. From this, we can ensure each pupil is constantly challenged and that they are making outstanding progress – a focus that we as a whole school are always looking to achieve.

Mrs K McDonald