Teaching and Learning

Teaching and Learning at The John Warner School

At The John Warner School, our mission is simple: to make every lesson count. We are committed to providing high-quality teaching that inspires curiosity, challenges thinking, and supports every student to achieve their very best.

Our approach is built on a rich, research-informed framework called CLEAR, which shapes the structure of every lesson and ensures consistency across the school:

C – Connect

Teachers begin by activating prior learning and establishing strong routines so students are ready to learn with focus and confidence.

L – Launch

Lessons open with a learning enquiry: a question, puzzle, or challenge that creates curiosity and gives learning a clear purpose.

E – Explore

This is where high-quality teaching happens. Teachers model new concepts, break learning into manageable steps, and support students through guided and independent practice.

A – Assess and Adjust

Students show what they have learned through quick checks for understanding. Teachers use this information to immediately adjust their teaching—re-teaching, extending or scaffolding as needed—to ensure every student keeps progressing.

R – Reflect and Reinforce

Students consolidate their learning through reflection tasks, while teachers identify key groups who may need further reinforcement next lesson.

Together, these stages ensure that lessons at John Warner are structured, purposeful, and designed with student learning at the centre.

Our Teaching Principles: Making Every Lesson Count

Our approach is grounded in six research-informed principles that shape every lesson:

• Challenge – We expect all students to think hard and achieve highly.
• Explanation – Teachers break down new ideas with clarity and precision.
• Modelling – Students see high-quality examples before attempting tasks.
• Practice – Learning is secured through guided and independent practice.
• Questioning – Effective questioning deepens thinking and checks understanding.
• Feedback – Students receive clear, purposeful guidance on how to improve.

These research-led principles underpin the CLEAR Learning Cycle and help ensure that teaching is ambitious, consistent and focused on high-quality learning for every student, while allowing teachers the professional freedom to bring their lessons to life.

An Inclusive Classroom Culture

We want every student to feel confident, valued, and able to contribute. To support this, we use two key routines across the school:

No Hands Up

Instead of relying on volunteers, teachers select students to answer questions. This keeps every student involved, raises expectations, and encourages genuine thinking from all.

No Opt Out

If a student initially struggles with a question, they are supported through hints, scaffolds or peer examples—then asked again. This reinforces the belief that everyone can succeed with effort and guidance.

Together, these routines ensure an inclusive, focused, and academically ambitious learning environment.

Our Commitment

We are deeply proud of our reflective, collaborative approach to teaching. Staff engage regularly in professional development and work closely together to refine practice. This collective effort ensures that every child at John Warner experiences consistently high-quality teaching, every day, in every classroom.

Through CLEAR, Making Every Lesson Count, and a culture of high expectations, we equip our students not only with strong academic foundations, but with the confidence, resilience and curiosity to thrive beyond the classroom.