At Arkholme Church of England Primary School we believe that effective personalised learning should prepare children for life beyond Primary School. All parents want the best for their child; as teaching professionals, so do we!
“To build a successful system of personalised learning we must begin by acknowledging that giving every single child the chance to be the best they can be, whatever their talent or background, is not the betrayal of excellence – it is the fulfillment of it. Personalised learning means high quality teaching that is responsive to the different ways students achieve their best.”
(Hopkins, 2007:54)
How do we achieve personalised learning at our school?
Briefly children learn best when:
- they know and understand what they are learning and why
- their learning builds upon previous learning
- they are given feedback about the quality of their work and how to make it better
- they are able to make informed choices about their learning
- they have opportunities to experience a wide range of teaching strategies
- they have opportunities to be reflective and influence our Creative Curriculum.
We pride ourselves on being an inclusive school and believe that a personalised approach applies equally to gifted and talented pupils and those with special educational needs, ensuring the highest quality provision, designed to meet individuals’ needs and talents.
The key components of personalised learning are:
Learning how to learn
We have introduced Building Learning Power (BLP) to develop our skills as learners. Please see our BLP page for further information.
Assessment for Learning
In school we use a range of assessment strategies including self-assessment; peer assessment; formative assessment and end of year/ Key Stage Standardised Assessment Tests. Throughout the year our teaching staff work collaboratively with colleagues across the Lune Valley Cluster of schools to moderate work and validate accuracy of assessment judgements. We are also moderated by the Local Authority.
Using a range of effective Learning and Teaching Strategies
Our teaching staff work hard to create learning opportunities based on challenge, problem solving, enquiry and creativity. Staff are encouraged to be innovative in their approach to curriculum design and planning so that learning is motivating and meaningful. Teachers have excellent subject knowledge; know their children really well and so are able to differentiate learning according to need.
Curriculum Choice
Over the last four years we have developed a curriculum that is relevant, engaging and extends learning and creative thinking. Valuable exciting experiences are planned for, not as a bolt on but integrated into the curriculum. We have adopted a theme based approach and all themes must identify visits/visitors/outdoor learning which will be included. Please see our Curriculum pages for further information