TEACHING AND LEARNING

Learning is paramount at St Alban’s, as illustrated by our exceptional results at external examination points and the number of students we send to Russell Group universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.

Our students are expected to study – they are encouraged and empowered to take ownership of their own learning through the concepts inherent in:

– The St Alban’s Pupil Profile
– Four Purposes of the New Curriculum
– 3 Rs: Resilience, Responsibility and Respect
– Our school motto: Be the Best You Can Be, which has inspired many in the past.

Study and Learning are facilitated by the professional activities of Teaching and Assessment. These are founded on and influenced by:

– Welsh Government policy
– Current published research (Impact Wales, The Learning Scientists, Teacher Toolkit, PiXL, The Sutton Trust, David Didau, Growth Mindset, Ross Morrison McGill)
– In-house action research and discussion (involving the Learning Champions – a student group informing their teachers’ practice)
– Sharing of excellent practice (via IRIS Connect) within the school and through EAS Cross-school collaboration with two other strong local schools: St Joseph’s and Newbridge
– A robust structure of activities outlined by the school’s Monitoring, Evaluating and Reviewing cycle enables teachers to continually reflect on and improve our work, including coaching.

It is a privilege to teach at St Alban’s and colleagues here derive a great deal of satisfaction from the success of our young people. We support and challenge our students as suits their needs, combining high expectations with encouragement, praise and belief.

We believe that it is vital to teach pupils to be curious, to question the world in which they live and to think critically. We strive to teach our pupils to become:

Ambitious, capable learners who are ready to learn throughout their lives.

Teaching and Learning is a shared responsibility, overseen by an award-winning Assistant Headteacher (Oxford University Inspirational Teachers Award 2019).