The Six Steps at St Mary’s are used in every lesson and follow the same structure:
- Recap prior learning – teachers make links with prior learning from last lesson, last week, last term, last year
- Explain new learning – teachers present and explain new material in small steps and will only continue once initial steps are mastered
- Model ‘I do’ – Teachers provide high quality models which allow pupils to be guided through a process step by step
- Guided Practice ‘We Do’ – Children have additional time to rephrase, elaborate and summarise new material in order to store it in their long term memory
- Independent practice ‘You Do’ – Children practise applying their new learning. Activities are adapted through scaffolding to meet the learning needs of all children.
- Review – Using live marking, whole class or individual feedback, teachers assess children’s understanding. This helps to inform future planning.
At each of these steps, teachers use careful questioning to check on the understanding of all pupils. A variety of strategies are used within these steps including drama, quizzes, completing stem sentences, providing models, creating knowledge maps and the use of whiteboards.
This lesson structure supports all learners, especially children with SEND, as the familiar structure ensures that they can access learning and take part in lessons.
