Teaching: The Prenton Way

Teaching: The Prenton Way

Our approach provides a clear and consistent foundation for excellent teaching across Prenton while recognising that great teaching does not mean every lesson should look the same.

Teachers use their subject expertise and professional judgement to adapt their teaching to the students in front of them.

At the heart of our approach are a small number of Teaching: The Prenton Way non-negotiables – evidence-informed practices that we believe make a significant difference to learning.

These include:

• clear routines and high expectations;
• activating and strengthening prior knowledge;
• explicit teaching of new knowledge and subject-specific vocabulary;
• questioning that checks understanding and reveals misconceptions;
• structured opportunities for students to think, talk and articulate their ideas;
• modelling high-quality thinking and outcomes;
• retrieval and deliberate practice to strengthen long-term learning; and
• responsive teaching that enables every learner to participate and make progress.

Together, these create consistency for students while giving teachers the professional freedom to teach their subjects effectively.

Seeing Teaching: The Prenton Way in Action

Evidence into Practice: from research to real classrooms.
Explore how Prenton teachers are taking evidence-informed approaches, adapting them to their subjects and students, and evaluating their impact on learning. Each case study shares the thinking behind an approach, what it looks like in practice and the difference it is making.

We don’t just talk about evidence-informed teaching. We put it into practice.

Examples include:

Independent Learning
Using blended and flipped learning to build foundational knowledge, confidence and independence.

The Power of Turn and Talk
Providing structured opportunities for every learner to think, rehearse ideas, develop subject-specific language and contribute.

Generative Learning
Using strategies including flashcards, self-quizzing and peer questioning to strengthen vocabulary, knowledge and long-term memory.

Questioning and Responsive Teaching
Using carefully designed questioning to reveal misconceptions, develop reasoning and make student thinking visible.

These case studies demonstrate how evidence becomes meaningful when it is interpreted by skilled teachers and applied within the context of their own subjects and students.

Great Teaching Grows Through Great Professional Learning

Teaching: The Prenton Way is supported by an ongoing culture of professional learning, collaboration and reflection.

Our Evidence-Informed Practice Team

At the heart of Teaching the Prenton Way is our Evidence-Informed Practice (EIP) Team, a collaborative group of over 15 colleagues who work together to explore research, develop effective classroom practice and support professional learning across Prenton High School.

The team plays an important role in ensuring that our approach to teaching and learning continues to evolve. Working collaboratively, EIP colleagues helped to develop our Prenton Lesson Cycle, identifying the approaches that have the greatest impact at each stage of learning and translating these into practical strategies that can be used consistently across different subjects and classrooms.

Developing Practice Together

Our EIP Team leads and contributes to a wide range of professional development designed to turn educational research into meaningful classroom practice. This has included PrentonED, our programme of staff-led professional learning, alongside Teaching and Learning Marketplaces, where colleagues share practical strategies and explore areas such as generative learning.

Through our Strategies for Success work, we have also explored how effective teaching can help students experience success, develop confidence and strengthen their sense of belonging within the Prenton community.

Professional learning does not stop at formal CPD sessions. Our ODDI – Open Door Drop In approach encourages colleagues to visit classrooms, observe practice and learn from one another in an informal and supportive way, helping to make professional dialogue and collaboration part of everyday school life.

From Research to the Classroom

Following the development of the Prenton Lesson Cycle, the EIP Team has continued to explore the evidence underpinning each stage and develop practical strategies to support colleagues in bringing it to life. Team members regularly share these approaches with staff, creating opportunities to explore, trial, reflect on and refine classroom practice.

We have also worked with the Teacher Development Trust (TDT) to develop our approach to peer coaching, strengthening a culture in which colleagues learn with and from one another through purposeful professional dialogue, reflection and shared practice.

Together, the EIP Team helps ensure that Teaching the Prenton Way is not a fixed model, but an evolving, evidence-informed approach shaped by research, professional expertise and what works for the students in our classrooms.

Teachers have opportunities to engage with educational research, share effective practice, explore new approaches and reflect on their impact in the classroom.

Our professional learning is centred around four ideas:

People. Practice. Evidence. Brighter Futures.

We also work with external partners to bring additional expertise, research and innovation into our professional learning.

Aristotal AI

We are using Aristotal AI to explore how AI-supported reflection and instructional coaching can contribute to professional development. Lesson analysis can help teachers identify patterns within their practice, explore focused areas for development and generate evidence to inform professional conversations. Technology does not replace professional judgement or coaching. Instead, it provides an additional tool to support reflection, professional dialogue and continuous improvement.

Teacher CPD Academy | InnerDrive

Professional learning from Teacher CPD Academy by InnerDrive further supports colleagues to engage with practical, evidence-informed approaches to teaching, learning, memory and student development. External expertise sits alongside the knowledge and experience of our own staff, helping us continually evaluate and strengthen our practice.

Always Developing

Teaching: The Prenton Way continues to evolve as our teachers engage with research, evaluate classroom practice, learn from one another and listen to our students.

Our focus remains simple:

What are our students learning? How do we know? What can we do to make their learning even better?