8 Teaching and Learning Our ‘community minded, driven, aspirational’ values mean that learning is considered to be a partnership between students, staff and parents. We aim to create an environment based on encouraging students to aspire for excellence as a result of the delivery of high quality teaching and learning across the school. The teaching at Bedford Academy is designed to be engaging, exciting and challenging.We want all our students to be fully prepared for their futures by providing them with a range of academic opportunities and developing their character so that they leave us as well-rounded, employable young people. Our curriculum model puts the core subjects of English, Maths and Science at the heart of what our students study. Getting the foundations right in these areas opens up more effective learning across a wide range of subjects. At Bedford Academy lessons last for 1 hour. Our staff work hard so that all students are challenged and supported to make sustained and substantial progress in all aspects of their studies.This is achieved through: CONSISTENT HIGH EXPECTATIONS The high expectations are underpinned by every BA student deserving ‘disruption-free learning every lesson’.This means that lessons are conducted in a positive working environment that is conducive to high quality teaching and learning through teachers having great circulation around the classroom, delivering silent episodes and frequently giving students feedback.Teachers use the information available to them and pedagogical knowledge from WALKTHRU’s - to planning lessons that meet the individual needs of the students we teach. STRETCH AND CHALLENGE All lessons contain a variety of learning activities and tasks to ensure that students are engaged and challenged.Teachers employ a range of strategies that offer the opportunity to transfer, reinforce and extend the knowledge and skills of the students they teach.This includes high quality questioning and a focus on independent learning. HIGH QUALITY FEEDBACK As we look to foster a love of learning in our students and develop independent and resilient learners, our students will receive high quality feedback, both written and verbal, that provides students with clear next steps on what they need to do to improve and develop the quality of their work. Raising Aspirations UNLOCKING POTENTIAL Bedford Academy nurtures the talents of every student and we recognise that some students have outstanding academic gifts.As part of our personalised learning curriculum, these students take part in the more able programme. The programme incorporates a wide range of activities and close monitoring of each student’s progress, achievement and participation. EXTRA-CURRICULAR LEARNING With leading University places and degree apprenticeships being ever more competitive and an increasing importance placed upon extra-curricular, super-curricular and even supra-curricular activities being prominent in student applications, the role of the Achievement Leader for More Able Students is to source opportunities for students across Bedford Academy to add to their school experience. Primarily these opportunities are targeted at our more able students, as the places they often end up competing for are the most competitive of all. However, we ensure that a wide variety of them are offered to all students to give everyone a wide range of experiences, learning opportunities in younger years and leadership projects in later years. SIXTH FORM For Sixth Form students, we aim to increase student responsibility with a diverse range of opportunities.This has seen the launch of three new programmes which comprise the Bedford Academy Pre-Teaching Programme.
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