EDUCATION EDITION
THE HEADMASTER OF ST FAITH’S SCHOOL LOOKS AT THE POWER OF PRECISION LEARNING IN BOOSTING PUPILS’ SELF-ESTEEM SPOTLIGHT Being Our Best Selves
t’s a mantra of educational settings that ‘a happy child learns best’ – but what does that actually mean? Dr Crispin Hyde-Dunn, headmaster of St Faith’s, believes in the importance of a highly individualised approach to learning and pastoral care – a hallmark of the school: We are increasingly accustomed to the idea that many aspects of our lives can be tailored to our precise needs as individuals. At St Faith’s, we aim to lay the foundations for our pupils to become life-long learners, but also for each one of them to relish that personalised journey. This is done by taking a ‘precision learning’ approach, where we track our pupils’ progress very closely, yet also unobtrusively, so that we can ensure as individualised an approach to their learning preferences as possible. At St Faith’s, pupil progress is not measured solely by academic indicators, but also by measures of wellbeing and emotional intelligence. Teachers have access to comprehensive data from both CAT (Cognitive Abilities Tests) and PASS (Pupil Attitudes to Self and School) tests in order to inform their differentiated teaching in the classroom. This means that teachers can respond to the different types of learners they have in class. For example, some pupils may be more visual and some respond better to audio instructions. The results also afford insight into those issues which might be affecting pupils’ self-esteem as learners. Overall, teachers build up a detailed profile of each pupil. As these diagnostic tests are repeated at key points across a pupil’s time at St Faith’s, they form a picture of development – and teaching can be tailored accordingly. This monitoring supports a smooth transition to secondary school, since the pupil’s chosen school will receive a fully rounded profile, both academically and emotionally.
TARGETED Understanding the nuances of how children learn is key
Pupil progress is not measured solely by academic indicators
they also have high self-esteem as learners, and this is why St Faith’s puts such value on this close, yet unobtrusive monitoring. St Faith’s is justifiably proud of its record in this area, and has seen especially marked growth in confidence in years 7 and 8, at which point the children take on increased responsibilities. Every year 8 pupil becomes a school prefect, and is given opportunities to lead ‘buddy’ sessions with younger children, which in turn fosters a highly successful vertical integration in the school community. The role of ‘house captains’ promotes pupil responsibility, as does the engagement of outreach programmes supporting local, national and global initiatives. The St Faith’s teaching community has recognised the importance of precision learning, and staff have worked extremely hard to apply it to the education that each pupil receives. The results are highly impressive, and I am privileged to be the headmaster of a school which has at its heart the ambition for every pupil to ‘be their best selves’.”
One example of the changes we made, based on the data we were monitoring, was the homework arrangements for years 3 and 4, whereby pupils in those year groups are set homework only in the core subjects. Another important example is that ‘effort and attainment grades’ were transformed into ‘learning habit and attainment grades’, based on the eight ‘learning habits’ developed to underpin effective education. These are thoroughly embedded in the culture of St Faith’s, and pupils are guided throughout the year to display each habit with greater levels of sophistication and fluency. Pupils are also encouraged to see the links between areas of the curriculum in a skills-based way. For example, solving a problem in an engineering lesson draws on knowledge from maths, science and computing. Precision learning means that pupils grow in self-esteem and therein lies its added value. Furthermore, it identifies pupils who might need additional academic or pastoral support. Children will be unable to fulfil their academic potential unless
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK NOVEMBER 2022 81
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