Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn...Benjamin Franklin
Fundamental to our approach at the Academy is the concept of 'Learning to Learn'. We teach children that they can become better learners by developing five specific ‘Learning Attitudes’:
• Be Reflective
• Be Creative
• Be Collaborative
• Be Inquisitive
• Be Positive
Each of these Learning Attitudes is developed during lessons across the curriculum and within themed assemblies each week. At the end of each week, we celebrate those children who have developed these Learning Attitudes in our Awards Assembly.
Each Learning Attitude has a key impact on children’s learning:
Be Reflective
Children at the Academy are encouraged to spend time reflecting on their successes and on the areas that they need to work on next. We use a consistent approach to providing feedback to children in their books which supports this by providing clear indications of successful work as well as ‘next steps’ which children are then given time to respond to. The ‘Be Reflective’ Learning Attitude dovetails into our cornerstone ‘Create Beauty’, whereby children are encouraged to spend time reflecting on their work and then improving and completing pieces of work that they can be really proud of.
Be Creative
Being creative is a fundamental requirement for success today and in the future. We encourage creativity in the broadest sense – from the Art Studio to the Music Room, from the ICT suite to the English lesson – children at the Academy are taught to take risks and to invent creative solutions to problems. We are also keen to point out that you can learn to be more creative – your imagination will never limit your learning!
Be Collaborative
We ensure that children are provided with the opportunity to work with a range of partners and groups to help develop their ability to learn collaboratively. Our collaboration with Thomas’s is bringing fresh opportunities for this, with joint projects between the Academy and the Preparatory Schools developing across the curriculum.
Be Inquisitive
Children are always asking questions, and at the Academy, we make sure that these questions are encouraged and used to take children’s learning further. Our International Primary Curriculum topics are led by the questions that the children have about that subject. We support children to refine these questions further and to research answers for themselves throughout each topic.
Be Positive
We encourage children to embrace the challenge of learning. Making mistakes is a natural part of learning. If you are not making mistakes, then you are probably not pushing yourself hard enough. We support children to become more resilient learners by challenging them and by helping them develop a positive mindset where problems are just solutions waiting to be discovered!