Teacher Learning Community (TLC)
What does a TLC look like? – it consists of 8 to 10 colleagues who meet once a month to talk about
learning and teaching for 2 hours, and agree to trial new ideas in the classroom.
What are members asked to do? – read the materials circulated prior to the meeting and then come along
to the meeting once a month and share these ideas and listen to the ideas of colleagues. Then either
individually or as a community, trial some of the ideas shared at the meeting, in the classroom e.g. subject
review questionnaires, individual subject student progress reviews – remember the activities trialled are
small.
What is in it for members? – the opportunity to share the untapped expertise residing in individual teachers;
the opportunity to grow expertise by providing regular space and time for systematic reflection on practice,
helping to build a collective knowledge base in school and give staff the opportunity to see unfamiliar
practices being used in the classrooms, in practice for themselves; being able to question the
staff/students, rather than simply reading or being told about them.
Creative Partnerships – Change School
The Change Schools programme is designed to bring about sustainable change in approaches to teaching
and learning. Schools recruited to the programme have demonstrated a commitment to putting creativity at
the heart of their improvement plans and to educating children and young people for a creative future.
The Change Schools programme focuses on generating long-term dialogue about creative teaching and
learning, and how schools can become effective creative learning environments. Change Schools are
encouraged to explore in depth how they are developing the conditions where creativity can thrive.
We have succeeded in bidding to become a Change School and our two year programme starts
September 2009.
Ambassadors of Learning and Teaching (ALT)
We have ALTs in four key areas of learning and teaching:
 Able, Gifted & Talented,
 Assessment for Learning,
 Behaviour for Learning, and
 College Learning & Teaching
The role of the ALT is:
a) To research, develop and promote stimulating approaches to teaching and learning that enable
students to engage fully in learning and achieve whatever their learning style
b) To promote good practice in teaching and learning across the curriculum, with particular emphasis on
the needs of the students identified under the particular duties of the specific ALT position
c) To challenge practices of teaching and learning that do not promote good practice and optimum
student attainment
d) To coach and monitor teaching staff as necessary, under the direction of the Deputy Headteacher
(Teaching and Learning) to support Heads of Skill Area and/or Heads of Department
e) To lead in-service training in respect of teaching and learning
f) To contribute to the development of strategies that will improve the quality of teaching and learning in
the school
g) To ensure that improving approaches to teaching and learning remain at the forefront of school
improvement
A Specialist Performing Arts School and College
Teacher Learning Academy (TLA) – GTC accredited
What is TLA?
 TLA stands for Teacher Learning Academy, a scheme introduced by the GTC 3 years ago.
 Designed to offer public and professional recognition for teachers’ learning, development and
improvement work.
 It is a nationally recognised scheme.
Staff that enrol in TLA engage in action-research. TLA has four stages, each stage involves research,
practice, reflection and a short write up, with the amount of words and depth of research increasing through
the four stages.
It results in professional conversations taking place about what matters most – teaching and
learning.
Part of TLA requires you to reflect on your own performance and approach – taking feedback from
colleagues and students means that you learn about what works and why it works.
It is flexible – it fits with the SDP providing professional development that encourages teachers to
pursue topics that are relevant to what is happening in their own classrooms.
A TLA Stage 1 project
 Can be completed in less than half a term.
 Takes an average of 2 hours to write up.
 Is no more than 1500 words.
 Delivers real improvements in classroom practice.
 Can support Performance Management objectives and Threshold applications.
As TLA has grown – more than 15000 staff have enrolled from over 400 schools- the GTC has identified
100 schools to act as TLA Centres (The Boswells School is one of these) and 200+ TLA Schools. These
are schools with best practice that can lead and verify TLA for their own school and the network of schools
in their areas.
Our Position
 We are a school that has action-research at its heart. We refer to ourselves as a research-informed
school.
 We have achieved this through the deployment of our TLCs, ALTs and Twilight training using articles
and books to inform practice e.g. Personalised Learning in the Classroom, The Little Book of Thunks,
Butterflies for School Improvement.
 We wanted to recognise the professional learning that staff were engaged in and TLA seemed a
perfect way of achieving this.
 Our role as a TLA was launched with our wider staff, providing the perfect opportunity to recognise
what we do in INSET (for staff, by staff), both with regards to those leading and those taking part in
training (2 twilights and full day).
 58 staff are currently actively engaged in the TLA through reserach– it is relevant to what is
happening in the classroom, and is informing and changing practice.
A Specialist Performing Arts School and College