At Shaw a high emphasis is put on speaking, listening and group work.  This is combined with a focus on self and peer assessment in many lessons.

For example, in Year 4 the children had found it difficult to create a branching key in their books, so the next lesson began with pupils making keys with ‘post its’ in small groups.  After talk partners had formulated yes/no questions to divide the animals, the children identified for themselves if they felt confident or not, with those who found it tricky being placed with those who did not. 

After ten minutes creating their own keys, the pupils were given time to walk around to look at others’ work. Rather than the teacher picking out good ideas, these were put forward by the pupils who then went back to improve their key. They identified good Yes/No questions and that keys were easier to follow if they were laid out in a pyramid. They then returned to their own keys to check questions and layout.

Year 4, Shaw Primary School, Melkesham