With talk being such an important focus of Bushey Meads school this year the Geography department have got together to show how they are promoting talk in their lessons.

Mrs Bartholomew shares her technique for increasing the number of students who talk and share their ideas in class.

She believes that while it is possible to learn by listening, she has also found that by providing students with guided questions and prompts, this leads to greater gains in student literacy, engagement and long term understanding of key words and concepts.

Students are given a time limit to record a voice note on their phone using prompts provided by the teacher to explain concepts and to share ideas.

Miss Dunsby has been enhancing talk through different activities. The activities are normally short and really promote student engagement. Pre covid a key activity Miss Dunsby used was an opinion line. Students would have to place themselves on how far they agree/disagree with the statement. They would then have to verbally discuss why they placed themselves in that position. This was a fantastic opportunity for student talk and to encourage all students to partake in the classroom activities. Another covid friendly activity is based on deciding what is the ‘odd one out’. This has been great for talk within the classroom as it has allowed students to argue their sides which is integral for a higher mark in the Geography GCSE and A Level.

Mr Mitchell has been using Mote to provide quality feedback to students. He encourages the use of voice notes and verbal feedback within the class which has allowed students to become more confident in discussing key geographical concepts and ideas. By sharing his feedback techniques to other colleagues Mr Mitchell has made an impact on talk not just within the department but the school community.