Cramlington Learning Cycle moves up a gear with IRIS Connect™


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We chose IRIS Connect because it’s very discreet, easy to set up and because the observer isn’t in the room, the dynamics of the lesson aren’t affected.


Ken Brechin, Assistant Head Teacher


…transforming observations and sharing best practice.


Cramlington Learning Village is a Comprehensive School in the North East of England, with 2300 students and 150 full-time teachers. The school operates a vision of teaching and learning known as the Cramlington Learning Cycle, which informs lesson planning and drives continuous professional development (CPD) throughout the school.


Ken Brechin is Assistant Head Teacher: “We chose IRIS Connect because it’s very discreet, easy to set up and because the observer isn’t in the room, the dynamics of the lesson aren’t affected.”


Brechin was also attracted to IRIS Connect by the immediacy and quality of the feedback: “With traditional observations and ‘post mortem’ feedback, it takes someone with very sophisticated powers of reflection to recall the moment, absorb the full impact and put change into practice immediately.”


Dr. Stuart Kemp, a Chemistry Teacher with just over a year’s experience, was one of the first volunteers to use IRIS Connect: “With the video and the contemporaneous notes, the feedback


feels more immediate. The review meeting is more valuable because it’s more of a dialogue than a one-way stream of feedback.


Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) at Cramlington attend a three-day induction programme, where they are introduced to the model and given tools to help them with lesson planning. Brechin meets with NQTs every half-term to coach them with effective teacher behaviour and classroom management. IRIS Connect has a key role to play, building a bank of best practice recordings to share with the new teachers, so that they can incorporate the techniques into their lessons.


Brechin concludes: “With IRIS Connect, teachers can now see the lesson through the eyes of a colleague. That has transformed the effectiveness of coaching and observations at Cramlington.”


Visit IRIS Connect on stand K15 at BETT, 12-15 January 2011.


T: 08450 724 800 W: www.irisconnect.co.uk E: info@irisconnect.co.uk


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