KS3 The Ambitious Years with Mary Myatt

Mary Myatt is an education adviser, writer and speaker. She has written extensively about leadership, school improvement and the curriculum. Her most recent book is Alternative Provision Huh part of the Huh series of books. Mary’s most recent work is the development of The Teachers’ Collection underpinned from the ‘Faster read” research from the University of Sussex.

Key Objectives:

• To reframe KS3 as the intellectual powerhouse of the secondary school
• To draw on research that shows that students are capable of achieving more
• To consider literacy strategies to support all learners access the demands of the secondary curriculum
• To consider the benefits of high-quality texts to support learning in all subjects
• To take some lessons from primary in supporting learners develop reading
• To draw on the research for oracy
• To consider strategies to support students’ confidence in writing

Session Content:

• Creating the conditions for ‘high challenge’ and ‘low threat’
• What do students say about demanding work?
• Drawing on the research about challenge, the importance of concepts and that our brains ‘privilege’ story
• Sequencing and progression through the subjects
• Strategies to support reading and writing and the pros and cons of including oracy
• Principles of implementation of the curriculum
• How the ‘automatic doors’ approach helps open the curriculum for all learners, including those with additional needs
• Ways of checking the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning

Session Outcomes - Colleagues will leave with:

• Strategies to develop reading across the curriculum
• Support for developing writing
• Ideas for making the curriculum accessible for all learners
• Insights on making the best use of oracy in lessons
• Ideas for checking whether students have learnt what was intended.