"All useful, especially unpicking good progress”
"How questioning is so crucial to promote independent thinking and how to measure 'thinking' or 'doing'."
"Thorough look at whole process, getting right to the heart of what is important without the jargon. Really, really useful. Thanks!"
"Focus on difference between monitoring and evaluating. Reference to the new Ofsted Framework and changes on the horizon - snippets on work in hand and Art of the Start!"
"Levelled Key Skills for all curriculum subjects."
"How to give effective feedback to staff; spotting progress within lessons; how to make effective use of educational visits; policy ideas to focus on learning, not formula for teaching; how to get the most out of staff meetings when supporting staff."
"Looking in depth at teaching and learning - very refreshing. Learning themes very useful indeed to sharpen focus on learning rather than teaching."
"It helped clarify my own thoughts on lesson observation and also helped make my focus for observations and feedback more detailed."
"Looking at how to evaluate the progress children are making during sessions/lessons - ways to observe this and evaluate effectiveness. Looking at the 7 aspects of teaching."
"Unpicking progress to identify how to spot progress in each session; food for thought - key questions Chris asked us to consider and take back to school to ask staff."
"Made me think and question along different lines - very, very useful."
"How to be evaluative rather than descriptive when observing lessons."
"Lots of food for thought! Useful, practical ideas to support staff in their understanding of lesson delivery and assessment. Lots to support me in evaluating and feedback."
"Clarity of expectations of observations and useful resources."
"Made me think and question along different lines - very, very useful."
“Packed with sound advice and knowledge.”
"Wanted more!"
"Clarity of thinking on effectiveness of lessons and grid/proforma/criteria for supporting evaluations”
"All aspects will really help development work on quality of provision in school."
"Observing lessons in terms of the 7 aspects of teaching; assessment models; clear and practical advice and resources for leadership and management in terms of evaluating."
"Guidelines for monitoring teaching and learning"
"Great resources and books."
"Consistency of marking principles - process guidance."
"Absolutely everything - perfect for our needs and really inspired us."
"The whole event - clear, consise and helpful."
"Clear, detailed information on assessment, learning objectives, pupil progress and lesson observations."
"Reminder to look primarily at progress and attainment within lessons; good reminder of 20:80 and the need to evaluate how much 'teacher talk' and is this having an impact on our schools."
"Being given the opportunity to reflect on our own school and current practice."
“Excellent interactive sessions - very thought provoking.”
"Excellent day. very worthwhile. I've been given lots of ideas to improve my leadership skills and support teachers."
All of it was very useful, especially regarding curriculum and school context. The focus on learning as opposed to coverage.”
“Discussion on lesson observation very useful.”
“Excellent ideas to use back in school. Great videos clips and useful resources.”
“Overview of key skills in subject will help subject leaders.”
“All of it was excellent, up to date and relating to previous work on curriculum development.”
“Liked the idea of defining learning.”
“The whole day was brilliant - helped me re focus and think about how we approach observations and monitoring.”
“Useful definitions of monitoring/evaluation.”
“Teaching and learning links to Ofsted useful for feeding back to school.”
“Choosing the right learning objective and the difference between monitoring and evaluation”
“Great ideas for assessing teaching, what a leader needs to be looking for - how learning is moving forward.”
“Clear presentation given by Chris on expectations of inspections. Clear guidelines given to what I (as a Senior Leader) need to look for in a lesson.”
“An inspiring conference with a clear way forward to develop our school in the right direction.”
“All areas have been useful. Looking at monitoring and evaluation has given me a greater understanding about the differences.”
“Latest Ofsted information and expectations.”
“It was useful to have a reduced cost for a second member of staff to attend. This was excellent for us both to go back to school and work together.”
“Many useful points and tips on lesson observation.”
“Inspired, full of ideas and raring to go. Thank you.”
“Very thought provoking - now for the action.”
“Extremely informative and enjoyable. Thank you for a great and very useful day.”
“Lively presentation, easy to understand and follow the ideas/concepts presented.”
“Lots to consider when considering how to head Teaching and Learning in the next academic year and what the focus needs to be in terms of driving up standards.”
“Work on lesson objectives and pupil understanding vs knowledge.”
“The clarity! Knowing exactly what to focus on to raise standards.”
“Defining learning and where objectives should be taken from. How objectives don't need to change but outcomes should.”
“Provoking children's learning.”
“The focus being on learning objectives and are these accurate to begin with. The 'learning' discussion and its definition and evaluation in lessons.”
“The day has highlighted weaknesses and strengths within my own teaching and school progress. Very useful information and discussion on learning objectives and skills.”
“Inspiring, great to hear a concise, clear summary.”
“Presentations very informative and useful to take back to school.”
“Useful and good quality resources.”
“Approaches to dealing with staff in order to raise standards. Opportunity for SMT to raise standards to be reflective on the impact of learning.”
“Emphasis on evaluation rather than monitoring.”
“Links to the new framework for pilot inspections.”
“Informative and thought-provoking comments regarding how to measure progress/learning.”
“Good resources, eg: impact on learning, book scrutiny, subject header track record of improving teaching. Page 22 of booklet really clarifies and focuses work of leaders.”
“An excellent day - many thanks.”
“Very well structured and thought provoking.”
“A great conference initiating many areas to think about and focus on.”
“An enjoyable and informative day. Thank you.”
“Consideration of principles of teaching, learning and assessment.”
“All of it! Especially the information regarding behaviour techniques.”
“Re-focusing on diagnosis of achievement. What is working well for the school, what isn't working well.”
“Practical ideas for monitoring and evaluating teaching and learning for leaders.”
“Excellent, valuable insight for lesson observation.”
“The fantastic ideas shared in a manner that enabled questions and discussion.”
“Very engaging and straight forward ideas and so much to take away, reflect on and implement. Brilliant day, thank you!”
“The practical aspects of monitoring and evaluating, especially how to evaluate effectively.”
“All the useful tips both formally and informally given. A great structure to work from.”
“Giving effective feedback.”
“Very professional dialogue.”
“Brilliant, I learnt lots in a relaxing environment.”
“It was interesting to look at and evaluate teaching on video as a group.”
“It has answered all my worries and queries and given me the opportunity to move forward and the confidence to do so.”
“All elements - particularly the wheel in understanding what needs to be considered during a lesson observation.”
“Feeling more confident in knowing what Ofsted will focus on and putting good practice in early.”
“Clarity of definitions from an Inspectors view.”
“How to evaluate lessons more effectively.”
“As an outcome we have a list of elements to share with staff and review, and as a SMT focus our monitoring.”
“Superb and very relevant content. The day took into account current thinking re: Ofsted framework for inspections.”
“All of it was so useful! I really don't know which bit to choose! I'd say that the section on marking has given me food for thought.”
“Model for learning - having a clear definition of what learning actually is.”
“As ever, the day was informative and useful with solid, practical ideas to take back to school.”
“Tips about recording verbal feedback.”
“Very interesting to listen to a passionate person who says it like it should be.”
“Want to use the learning wheel to embed ideas of learning with next years class from day 1.”
“Really insightful unpicking of learning and what it looks like in the classroom.”
“Enthusiastic and lively. Breath of fresh air.”
“A highly motivating and useful day. Thank you.”
“A good pace kept throughout and lots of opportunity to discuss key points. Thanks.”
“Very inspiring!”
“Everything - it was very stimulating and gave excellent ideas to take back as a senior leader to school. Good to have anecdotal examples familiar situations to contextualise the information. Great to hear so many things that make sense in one day!”
“The breakdown of learning.”
“Very practical ideas and signposts to whole school improvement and raising standards.”
“Lots of practical ideas - interpreting the written word, links between each aspect of teaching, learning and assessment to integrate all three.”
“The wealth of anecdotes that put all the ideas into real life context. Can see how ideas would work in school.”
“Everything - especially the prompts for key areas of focus within lesson observations will help leaders / staff move forwards.”
“Reaffirming our awareness of level descriptors and ensuring repetition of basic skills.”
“Clear, concise examples which could be easily implemented in school.”
“What language to use to make a judgement on lesson observations. What to look for in learning and teaching when observing a lesson.”
“It was very informative and stimulating. There are many aspects I can't wait to share with staff.”
“Great to be able to link previous course elements to this one.”
“Fantastic ideas, so much to put in place at school!”
“Very inspiring speaker. Talks from experience of success and failures!”
“Very useful and would be very useful for our cluster of schools.”