• We believe that all students should develop an understanding of how they learn right from the start of from Year 7
• The Education Endowment Foundation, which collates educational research, highlights teaching metacognitive strategies as the single most effective way to improve the amount of progress students make, with an estimated benefit of 7 months of additional progress per student (link: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit)
• We have a programme of strategies and activities that run from Year 7-Year 12 to help all students become meta-cognitive learners who take ownership over their own learning.
• The teaching of these strategies is also embedded throughout subject lessons, especially in the run up to key assessment weeks.

Year 7

Autumn Term: Students have a half day where they are introduced to the Sheriff Learner attributes. Students complete a project that highlights the importance of being organised, proactive, curious, resilient and reflective!

Spring Term: Students have another half day where they are introduced to the Science of Learning including how their memory works, the importance of active learning and how to use flashcards to support this.

The Head of Year supports students throughout the year in a range of skills including how to use their planners effectively and how to use Google classroom.

Year 8

Through the year, the Head of Year leads students through a series of assemblies and tasks on simple techniques such as mind-mapping and brain dumping, which they apply both daily when learning in lessons and in the run up to their end of year exam week.

Year 9

Spring Term: Students participate in a Science of Learning day focused on effective revision strategies where they learn about:

• The importance of active revision
• Flashcards and the Leitner method (to support spaced revision)
• The Pomodoro technique (to help manage time)
• Cornell notes
• Learning to teach
• Folding frenzy!
• Retrieval practice

All students are also provided with a CGP revision guide on how to revise effectively (alternatively this may be given during year 10).

Year 10/11

Students are supported in applying what they have learnt about how their brains work across their subjects and have sessions and assemblies with the Head of Year focusing on refining techniques and encouraging students to reflect on what works best for them. Students are also supported in developing personalised revision timetables.

Year 12

All students in Year 12 have six dedicated Science of Learning lessons through the year which form part of the PSRE rotation. In these sessions they will look at:

1. Learning and revision misconceptions
2. Strategies for organisation
3. Effective revision strategies
4. Collaborative revision
5. Organising revision
6. Reflecting and planning for Year 13

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