Teaching and Training – Farmington Institute

PS102 – Well-being Matters

January 8, 2021 Kate GompertzPhilosophy and Spirituality, Teaching and Training

I worked with my colleague, Kathy Chapple (who has written her own report). Together we mentored an ITT RE Ambassador from Liverpool John Moores University, helping her to become an effective RE teacher and, hopefully, a future RE lead. My role in this was to to help our student, Amy, develop the skills to deliver the ‘well-being’ remit of our school. We worked on a creative, interactive and preventative programme to improve our pupils’ resilience skills, aspirations and attainment, by removing mental health barriers to their social, emotional and academic development. Together we trialled a well-being programme within the school, using approaches such […]

PS101: Improving mental health and well-being

December 18, 2020January 8, 2021 Kate GompertzPhilosophy and Spirituality, Teaching and Training

At Almondsbury Church of England Primary School, we believe that we are ‘Creating our Pathways’ for pupils to their future. This is the core element of our vision. “Show me your way, Lord, teach me your paths” (Psalms 25:4). We feel very strongly that not only do our pathways extend across the academic and social spheres but also personally and spiritually. In this, and with the help of the Farmington Scholarship, we want to enable our children with the skills to develop strategies to support their mental health, well-being and spirituality through the implementation of the Heartsmart programme. It is […]

TT456: What is Evaluation?

December 18, 2020December 18, 2020 Kate GompertzTeaching and Training

My task, when appointed Subject Learning Leader at my school, was to improve GCSE results in RE, which had fallen below national average. Our school puts through a whole cohort of students rather than selective or option groups. One of the biggest issues was to better support students in their responses to the longer answer evaluative questions. This report focuses on the use of critical thinking skills, including argumentation to improve evaluative responses in the 12-mark questions, and explains how, using these strategies, it is perfectly possible for them to achieve full marks in their answers.

TT455 – “The Problem is I Just Don’t Know how to Evaluate!”

December 8, 2020 Kate GompertzTeaching and Training

I have been teaching at Clevedon School in North Somerset for over 20 years. Many students in my school were not confident in using terms like “evaluate” in their studies. This may be due to a lack of understanding of the skills required or the use of the words themselves. This project looks at ways in which the RS department could help improve the students’ writing skills so that they would feel confident when answering the evaluation question which accounts for 50% of the GCSE paper. It contains plenty of practical resources.

PS100 – Our Journey towards Peace in Our Community

December 8, 2020 Kate GompertzPhilosophy and Spirituality, Teaching and Training

This report is an exploration of how Restorative Practice and Systemic Leadership principles can be used to support a school to develop a culture of ‘Peace’. Our school is under threat due to a falling roll. Over the course of the last year we have faced a number of different challenges including possible closure or amalgamation This report explores: the meaning of peace in the context of education the challenges that we faced during 2019-20 the use of EPIs to reflect on our own values and culture the use of Systemic Leadership Principles to reflect on managing change signs of […]

TT454: Developing Critical Thinking in Religious Education

December 1, 2020 Kate GompertzTeaching and Training

I began this journey in line with our School Development Plan and alongside work already complete in the Religion Department considering Thinking Skills at Key Stage 3. The premise was to build on this work in key stage 4 with further analysis under the auspices of “Fake News”. With recent developments throughout Ireland, including the 2015 Marriage Equality referendum and the 2017 Abortion Referendum, children are increasingly exposed to a multitude of ethical issues. Religious Studies has never been so popular or relevant. It is, therefore, crucial that Religion is engaging with Human Experience and preparing young people for a […]

TT453: Can RE Survive or Thrive within a Project-based Learning Curriculum?

November 27, 2020 Kate GompertzTeaching and Training

My Farmington project looks to analyse the recent curriculum change in my school, collapsing the curriculum time of history, geography, IT, PDE and RE into a project based learning curriculum called ‘My World’. In this Farmington project I attempt to assess whether RE can survive or thrive as a subject, or whether project based learning characterises another example of RE as curriculum being utilised as a means to an end for others’ goals. Within this assessment I create my own project based learning curriculum in an attempt to align the goals of RE and My World.

TT452: Towards LGBT+ Inclusive Education

November 17, 2020 Kate GompertzTeaching and Training

This report investigates the ways in which the teaching of RE may both empower teachers and students to challenge prejudice and discrimination and may also undermine these activities, and provides guidance as to how the teaching of RE can be most effective in enabling teachers and students to challenge discrimination. This includes understanding that LGBT+ students are a vulnerable group at risk of underachieving, and that careful application of the principles of Critical Realism and the contributions of queer theory can provide a safe and challenging environment for effective learning dialogues.

TT451: HeartSmart@Home

November 17, 2020November 17, 2020 Kate GompertzTeaching and Training

We are keen to help children know what it means to be emotionally healthy, and to have practical tools to promote positive mental health. We also want to help parents know how to do this with their children. Many schools are finding great success in using the HeartSmart programme. HeartSmart uses the High Five principles to embed healthy thinking in a very engaging way. The Farmington project has helped to develop HeartSmart@Home; this builds on the HeartSmart programme by bringing the High Five principles into the home, enabling families to learn positive strategies and language for emotionally healthy thinking.

TT447: Creating a Formation ‘Skin on Skin’ experience programme

November 3, 2020November 3, 2020 Kate GompertzPhilosophy and Spirituality, Teaching and Training, Theology and Doctrine

Catholic schools today are for many families the new Church. The Catholic education they receive may be the only time they hear or experience the Good News and think differently to society. The traditional model of the past where home, Church and school developed a child’s spirituality and faith journey is not as strong in some areas of Britain so it is more important than ever that adults working in Catholic schools have time, space and invest in high quality formation. The National School of Formation was created to provide opportunities for Catholic leaders to ‘kindle the fire’, to promote a renewed […]