Manor Appreciative Rounds 2024-25 by A Otway

E Stephens - Yr10 Catering (Oct 2nd)

aotway1 — 2024-10-06 19:27:36 UTC

Some of the students in your class have the potential to be less than enthusiastic about their learning, but one of the most wonderful things about this lesson was that all of them were utterly focused and enthusiastic about making their quiche bases. It was a pleasure to watch your clear demonstration and to return at the end to see that the students had created. Student AA was so proud of her quiche base - and rightly so!

A Otway

D Lowe - GCSE Music (Oct 9th)

aotway1 — 2024-10-09 10:46:30 UTC

The ILZ was impressive; real focus in the classroom and from their work it was clear that this is an embedded part of the lesson. Sad I missed the 70s rock lesson though!

A Otway

A Walton Yr9 Physics (Oct 9th)

aotway1 — 2024-10-09 10:48:05 UTC

That was a clever use of a real world example to help students into the topic of light reflection. The working atmosphere and engagement from the class was first-rate.

A Otway

H Walton Yr10 History (Oct 9th)

aotway1 — 2024-10-09 13:07:42 UTC

The class were doing an exam question in ILZ and some of the language they were using was akin to the language my A level students used to use on the same topic. For example, some students were writing about the benefits of US isolationism in the early 20th century as part of their response.

A Otway

H Jones Yr9 French (Oct 9th)

aotway1 — 2024-10-09 13:11:58 UTC

The way you drew answers from the students was expertly done. The knowledge you were questioning them on was interleaved; you referred to topics and vocabulary that had been covered in previous weeks, requiring them to remember and utilise it.

A Otway

S Jowett Yr8 Maths (Oct 9th)

aotway1 — 2024-10-09 13:14:59 UTC

You made students feel like they were acting like proper mathematicians by calling their ideas 'conjecture' then inviting them to prove their ideas and turning the conjecture into 'theorems'. A wonderful way to bring algebra to life and to make the students feel special. I loved how enthusiastic they were about explaining to me what was going on in the lesson.

A Otway

T Candlin Yr11 Chemistry (Oct 9th)

aotway1 — 2024-10-09 13:20:20 UTC

You have managed to make the students enthusiastic about having to do an exam practice question as a connect task in every, single lesson. That takes some skill!

A Otway

S Robson Year 9 French (Oct 9th)

aotway1 — 2024-10-09 13:34:26 UTC

Your explanation of the difference between 'I used to' and 'I did' in the French language in comparison to English was exceptionally clear.

A Otway

C Parsley Yr8 Physics (Oct 15th)

aotway1 — 2024-10-15 16:09:38 UTC

Your technique for getting the class to be quiet was very effective and calm, you have a wonderful manner with them. I really love your lights to indicate the stage of the lesson and also how you asked the students to remind you of ILZ expectations before you put the ILZ light on and they started.

A Otway

E Gonzalez Y8 (Nov 7th)

2024-11-11 13:57:05 UTC

You had this (Really) Year 8 group in the palm of your hand as you looked at Headlines, stories and media manipulation of the truth and headlines. Everyone was on task and highly engaged!

A Hill

S Minton Y8 (Nov 7th)

2024-11-11 13:59:10 UTC

The students were able to produce significant amounts of recall work, following on from the way that you had structured their prior learning on medieval farming (which is never the easiest task!) We all learned lots of new information from one another.

A Hill

R Rickatson 11th Nov

aotway1 — 2024-11-11 16:30:09 UTC

You had such a calm, patient, friendly manner with the students but still with clear red lines drawn that they must not cross. I really liked how you asked for a more specific definition of what a student meant by 'good' which turned out to be 'effective' - excellent probing questioning. The question, 'What are you thinking about ______' is a useful low-pressure question to ask students which can reveal levels of understanding.

A Otway

E Oxley 11th Nov

aotway1 — 2024-11-11 16:33:38 UTC

It was great to see you circulating the classroom during the discussion/debate stage and pushing the students further in their conversations on similarities and differences of the beliefs about the afterlife between two religions. Very stimulating stuff.

A Otway

T Feetenby Y7 Drama (Oct 7th)

tcandlin — 2024-11-12 11:49:29 UTC

You were so encouraging and enthusiastic about the freeze-frames your class were making. You could see the students swelling with pride.

T Candlin

D Lowe Y7 Music (Nov 8th)

tcandlin — 2024-11-12 11:52:02 UTC

The use of different drinks names to convey rhythm made it so clear to students and meant that they could produce their own rhythms, and describe them, with confidence.

S Jowett 12th Nov

aotway1 — 2024-11-12 12:24:48 UTC

When I dropped in, you asked an EAL student that had said, 'I can't explain it in English' to explain the maths that she was doing to me 1-1. She proceeded to do so brilliantly, with enthusiasm and then we could both praise her for her explanation. What a fantastic way to build her confidence!

A Otway

T Godfrey (14th Nov)

aotway1 — 2024-11-14 09:34:39 UTC

The door debate had the kids absolutely hooked. I was sat in the middle of the class and every single one of them was focussed and thinking - a great way to hook them into probability. You explained it really well to the confused mature student at the back.

A Otway

S Sutherland

2024-11-14 12:04:25 UTC

The Y10 group WERE ON IT, LIKE A CAR BONNET!! OC, HL etc were engaged on, it and the atmosphere was excellent. The connect task had us all in.

A Hill

R Watts 18th Nov

aotway1 — 2024-11-18 10:50:42 UTC

The lesson started so calmly and orderly and when any student strayed from what you intended, you got down on their level and quietly corrected their behaviour. The clever questioning to draw out their past learning really helped them to access the ILZ task.

A Otway

C Carneiro Y9 MFL

2024-11-18 11:55:40 UTC

You had a wonderful calm and engaged lesson with some very challenging year 9 boys. They were actively volunteering to read out their answers and behaving fantastically!

L Scaum

E Gonzalez Y8 (21st Nov)

tcandlin — 2024-11-21 11:46:16 UTC

Lovely connect activity thinking about moral and natural evil. It had really engaged CW, which is an impressive achievement.

T candlin

C Carneiro (21st Nov)

tcandlin — 2024-11-21 11:50:01 UTC

Nice calm atmosphere in the room and great encouragement of students to share their answers about positive and negative adjectives. Très encourageante.

T Candlin

A Clarke (27th Nov)

aotway1 — 2024-11-27 13:35:47 UTC

I loved how you teased a definition of 'densely populated' out of the class using Russia as an example to dispel the misconception that it meant ' a lot of people live there'. You had the whole class thinking and they loved coming out to demonstrate on the board - lovely atmosphere.

A Otway

D Stimpson (27th Nov)

aotway1 — 2024-11-27 13:40:17 UTC

The class was entirely focussed on what was being said and their connect task clearly linked previous learning (which they demonstrated that that had retained). Excellent engagement levels and from the interactions I saw, your relationships with the students are very strong.

A Otway

H Walton (27th Nov)

aotway1 — 2024-11-27 13:42:03 UTC

I love that you asked the students to formulate questions of their own, rather than just answering questions that were set. It's a simple, effective way to get them to engage with the reading material.

A Otway

E Oxley (26th Nov)

aotway1 — 2024-11-27 13:45:14 UTC

You did a magnificent job of highlighting the tier 3 vocabulary that the students were using in their answers. Encouraging them to use vocabulary in their spoken answers is very likely to lead to improvements in their written work.

A Otway

A Walton (26th Nov)

aotway1 — 2024-11-27 13:47:04 UTC

I never know what I'm going to see when I drop into that Year 9 class every week - it's always engaging and you use wonderful techniques to keep a potentially tricky group engaged. The plasticine cells were a highlight, and who could forget 'ecnalubma'?

A Otway

R Watts (22nd Jan)

aotway1 — 2025-01-22 11:47:44 UTC

The similes and metaphors that the students had created to paint a picture in the mind of the workhouse were incredible. The working atmosphere at the start of the lesson was also first-rate.

A Otway

R Sweeney (22.01.2025)

2025-01-28 09:17:41 UTC

There was a wonderfully warm and collaborative atmosphere in the group.

The carefully honed and engaging hinge question that you used in combination with sentence stems allowed all of the students to contribute in a meaningful way.

I greatly enjoyed my time in the lesson and came away with lots to think about.

T Feetenby (27th Jan 2025)

aotway1 — 2025-01-28 10:29:17 UTC

Excitement, buzz and engagement were all obviously present in the drama lesson I dropped in to, from the moment I walked through the door.

A Otway

S. Jowett 7.2.25

2025-02-07 13:55:06 UTC

I watched a short chunk of Simon’s year 9 trigonometry lesson and was blown away by how confident the students were in using really challenging mathematical vocabulary. To watch students fluently explain how to work out the hypotenuse (and other complicated mathy things) was really inspiring.

L.McGivern

A.Walton 10.2.25

2025-02-10 14:51:21 UTC

Thank you for inviting me to watch the start of your year 9 lesson. The show me boards really had some tricky students engaged and enthused for the rest of the lesson. "Vectors, Oh yeah!"

K.B

C.Houldsworth 10.2.25

2025-02-10 14:53:41 UTC

Thank you for having me in to the start of your PSHE lesson. It was fantastic to see students completing their baseline ILZ in silence and a great atmosphere for learning being created!

K.B

G Reagan

aotway1 — 2025-02-11 10:43:53 UTC

Everytime I walk past and the door is open, the kids beckon me in to show off their culinary creations which shows how proud they are of their work. The atmosphere is always professional, engaged and focussed.

A Otway

T Feetenby- PSHE

2025-03-11 15:39:59 UTC

A very engaging PSHE lesson today. Your use of personal experience and examples gave students opportunity to relate to a challenging concept. A lovely environment to be welcomed in to!

K Brierley

E Oxley - PSHE

2025-03-11 15:42:14 UTC

A fantastic example of classroom management! You had the students exactly where you wanted them and you developed their understanding of some difficult concepts. A lovely display of high expectations!

K Brierley

E Oxley (25.03.25)

aotway1 — 2025-03-25 12:34:04 UTC

Excellent revision task that aligns with research. The class were all silent and focussed on the extensive resource bank that you'd collated for them.

A Otway

C Turner (03.25)

aotway1 — 2025-03-25 12:35:23 UTC

You are so warm in your interactions with the students that it encourages a large number of them to engage with the lesson and to put up their hands. You were also doing a great job of probing further with your questions.

A Otway

R.Sweeney(23.04.2025)

2025-04-28 07:09:48 UTC

The focus for the lesson was 'upgrade your vocabulary.' The atmosphere in the room was wonderfully warm and inclusive. There were some great responses from a very broad spectrum of learners. Rachel had thought of everything, I particularly liked the sentence starters that related directly to the story, something that I hope to adapt and use in my own work. I'm always in awe at how Rachel manages to challenge her students in such a supportive manner. Thank you!

S. Jowett

S. Jowett (22.04.25)

2025-04-28 10:48:03 UTC

I observed Simon’s maths nurture group and what strikes me each time is how warm and calm the atmosphere always is. The focus was ‘say it again better’ and the use of visuals and collaborative work really allowed students to work together and build confidence. Pupils were allowed to ‘make mistakes’ and learn from this in a very supportive manner. I particularly liked how Simon slowly built up the level of difficulty with lots of repetition. I also liked how there were really high standards for all pupils – everyone participated in some way! Thank you – I learnt a lot.

C Parsley (30.4.24)

aotway1 — 2025-04-30 11:25:53 UTC

Creating the engineers of the future by challenging them to design something that would stop eggs smashing, within a budget, was great to see. One student was overheard saying, 'I've had such a great morning.' When I questioned him about why, that double-science lesson was a big part of it. A lesson that was engaging and they were learning important lessons.

A Otway

E. Cass

aotway1 — 2025-04-30 11:28:09 UTC

You had exemplary control of the class through non-verbal and verbal means and you did it all whilst also being able to smile and joke with the class at appropriate moments. The students were rightfully proud of their opening paragraphs on the newspaper articles.

A Otway

A. Otway

2025-06-26 11:37:05 UTC

Engagement, enjoyment, energy: all were in abundance throughout. I learned a lot from just 10 minutes of watching this lesson and will be trying out several of the techniques in lessons in the near future. What was particularly striking was how inclusive the lesson was, all were expected to contribute and all were keen to do so.

S. Jowett

E Cass Weds 25th June

aotway1 — 2025-07-06 19:26:23 UTC

Your ability to control the class and expect incredibly high standards of engagement, whilst still teaching in an engaging way that makes the students smile is very impressive. The students clearly had a strong understanding of what you were teaching judging by their questioning of me - I felt like I was on a gameshow!

A Otway

C Turner 25th June 2025

aotway1 — 2025-07-06 19:29:36 UTC

Period 5, a class with some tricky customers and you prioritised dealing with all behaviour issues discretely and skilfully so that it did not affect the flow of the lesson. You also took the time to make one particular student feel welcome and valued, which will undoubtedly make any negative interactions with him later more likely to go as you want them to. Very skilfully done!

A Otway

R Rickatson

aotway1 — 2025-07-08 06:02:00 UTC

You were kind, warm and clear in your instructions throughout. Managing the classroom carefully. Particularly impressive was how you dealt with a student who said she couldn't do it - you made her see that she could and that you believed in her so that she was able to successfully complete the task before going on to explain the plot of the book to me.

A. Otway

S Jowett

2025-07-15 11:16:25 UTC

Thank you for pulling me into your PD day session to show me how engaged your students were with putting together a balanced shopping basket. I was impressed to see that students were considering not only the finances of the shopping but also considering the healthy aspects of their food also. It is always fantastic to see passion displayed this way and to be pulled into a classes learning. Thank you!

K Brierley