Flourishing in Faith and Learning: Teaching, Professional Growth and Ensuring Excellence

Our Catholic mission drives every aspect of teaching and learning. We carefully sequence the curriculum to build deep knowledge over time, champion literacy and vocabulary, and adapt teaching to meet the needs of all students. Through ongoing professional development, teachers are empowered to deliver high-quality lessons that ensure every child is known, valued, and supported to reach their full potential.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

At Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College, our Teaching and Learning Principles guide every lesson, ensuring teaching is purposeful, inclusive, and engaging. They reflect our Catholic mission and commitment to excellence, helping every student thrive, achieve, and develop the knowledge and skills they need for life.

#1 Sequencing of the curriculum supports long term acquisition of knowledge

#2 Adaptive and responsive teaching ensures all students learn and achieve well (including DP and SEND)

#3 The gateway to wider learning is underpinned through reading, disciplinary literacy and explicit vocabulary instruction

#4 Assessment strategies are used to check what students know and can do

#5 Climate for learning ensures a positive learning environment where students thrive

#6 The Catholic Curriculum is at the heart of the learning experience

 

Learning at BTHCC

Learning is a change in long-term memory.  It is the process of acquiring and building knowledge and skills so that you know more, remember more, and can do more!

What am I learning?

Your curriculum maps and curriculum overviews show you:
✅ What you are learning
✅ Why you are learning it

🧠 What does learning look like in lessons?

✔️ Sequenced Curriculum
Our curriculum builds step-by-step on what you have learned before.

✔️ Personalised Teaching
Your teacher adapts lessons to help you learn in the best way possible.

✔️ Reading & Vocabulary
We are a school that reads. Literacy and subject vocabulary enrich every lesson.

✔️ Checks for Understanding
Teachers regularly assess what you know and can do — and help you move forward.

✔️ Positive Learning Climate
Classrooms are calm, focused, and full of respect so that everyone can thrive.

✔️ Catholic Social Teaching
Our faith is at the heart of the curriculum

 

Curriculum

• Curriculum maps and curriculum overviews outline what students learn and why
• Catholic Social Teachings enhance the curriculum offer, celebrating our Catholic identity
• Our First 5 and Last 5 reviews learning
• Bi-annual centre assessments are mapped and shared with students
• Teachers use assessment strategies to check what students know and can do through strategies such as cold call, whiteboards, show call
• Feedback moves students forward to master declarative and procedural knowledge through whole class feedback, modelling and question level analysis
• Students reflect on feedback in order to improve
• Reading, disciplinary literacy and oracy enriches lessons
• Home learning develops students’ capacity for independent practice, reading and retrieval
• Students take pride in their work and exercise books showcases students’ learning journey
• Our BTH Core 4 revision strategies are explicitly taught and support revision and retrieval (cue cards, mind maps, brain dumps and online revision)

Inclusion and Adaptive Teaching - Every child is known

• Prior attainment data is used to adapt teaching and ensure every child achieves their potential regardless of their starting points
• Student data is tracked and manipulated using SISRA
• One page profiles for students with SEND give teachers information to tailor learning to meet student need
• Access arrangements are put in place for students who require it in line with JCQ regulations
• Tailored intervention for students working below age related reading expectations
• EEF Five-a-Day Principle for SEND (explicit instruction, cognitive and metacognitive strategies, scaffolding, flexible grouping, using technology)
• Pupil Premium CARE (curriculum and challenge, assessment and feedback, reading and language, engagement and belonging)
• Teaching Assistants support the learning of students and supplement (not replace) the teacher