"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."-- Albert Einstein
Teaching and Learning: Our philosophy
Our goal as teachers at St. Patrick's & St. Brigid's College is to empower our pupils across all year groups to have the courage to take risks, make mistakes and understand what they know, don't know and create a path to achieve their goals. We believe in fostering a ‘Growth Mindset’. We believe this is possible by creating a classroom culture where teachers and pupils support each other, trust is part of the learning process and growth occurs when you fail and have the belief that this is an opportunity to grow. We build a culture of self-regulating and self-reflective pupils who value and embrace their learning opportunities.
The school supports teachers to follow the following processes: assess pupils’ work; plan responsively so that teaching is informed by assessment; give pupils feedback on their work; teach lessons that help pupils progress in their learning; set pupils assessments that show how much they know, understand and can apply. Teaching consistently good lessons that are well planned and progressing sequentially from the previous lesson is outstanding and our focus is on consistency in all classrooms for all pupils.
We aspire to deliver outstanding teaching and learning so that every pupil is provided with the best life chances and opportunities to learn more deeply. To be outstanding, teachers produce good lessons on a daily basis. All pupils making progress is the key judgement that will determine whether teaching and learning has been successful. It is not sufficient to just monitor what teaching and learning looks like in the college, but vital to create a learning environment that is supportive of staff who consistently challenge themselves to move learning forward without fear of occasionally trying things that may not have the impact they had predicted. In essence, we aspire to equip our pupils with the necessary skills to ensure that they are empowered within their own learning and that opportunities for deeper learning are the norm in every lesson.
