The teaching staff at OSH are passionate and skilled professionals who are experts in their field.
OFSTED commented in their most recent inspection of the School that “teachers are experts in, and advocates of, their subjects” reflecting the enthusiasm, knowledge and drive of our teachers. Our staff bring a wealth of expertise and diverse instructional approaches to the classroom, ensuring that pupils receive a well-rounded and enriching curriculum. They are empowered to adapt their teaching to meet the needs of their classes and the individual learners within it, meaning pupils receive lessons that are tailored to their needs and designed to spark their intellectual curiosity.
Underpinning our teaching and learning philosophy are a few core principles, inspired by renowned educational theorist Barak Rosenshine, which place special emphasis on cultivating independence, critical thinking and regularly reviewing learning to ensure that students know, understand and remember more. These guiding principles help create a sense of a coherent unifying goal towards which all our teachers are aiming, but without being an onerous or overly prescriptive system which strips teachers of their autonomy. Our excellent GCSE results are a clear signal that our teaching and learning intent translates into strong academic outcomes that are significantly above national figures.
At the heart of everything we do is a commitment to high quality teaching and learning, and to ensuring all pupils receive the very best learning experiences in all of their subjects. To enable us to effectively monitor the quality of education at OSH, both senior and middle leaders regularly review the quality of provision. Each term provides a new focus for the School, linked to the overarching aims of our core teaching and learning principles.
Another key element in monitoring the quality of education is pupil voice, with pupils being given opportunities to share experiences and opinions about their education and crucially, to help shape ideas about how the School can further improve. Collectively, these findings help us to cultivate a highly agile and context-specific CPD programme for our staff, which runs throughout the academic year, underscoring our commitment to continual growth and improvement.
“We believe every student and every group of students is different, and so we use our experience and expertise to tailor our delivery and learning activities to the needs of that lesson. We demonstrate our love for the subject whilst also nurturing the enthusiasm of the next generation of problem solvers to come.”
Mr. Adam Minors, Head of Mathematics
