Team Goal: Growing Confident, Independent Learners

As we guide our youngest learners through these first years at school, we work hard to build relationships with each and every individual in our care. We want them to be confident to share their knowledge and ideas with their teachers. We hope to foster a strong sense of independence that will see them well throughout their time at Nexus and beyond.

The team goal we have set for this year is to develop ‘Confident, Independent Learners’. First, we looked at our environment, which is often called the third teacher. Does this support the learners being independent in the space; are they able to be creative and inquire; are they confident to share their ideas with others? We do see these traits growing daily, but we are always looking for areas to enhance or an idea to add to our learning spaces to challenge and intrigue our learners further.

Are the learners confident? We have made wonderful connections within our classes, where we focus on the positives and listen to the voices of each individual. We see confidence and independence blooming and growing and we always look to what more we can do in our spaces and how we can share and celebrate the learning.

We feel that we have made a strong start in our goal to guide and nurture ‘Confident, Independent Learners.’

Team Goal: Building Learner Growth Mindset and Excitement for Learning through Goal-Setting

Having a positive attitude and a growth mindset are a buzz around the educational world and beyond. The Year 1 team really wanted to deep-dive into creating this approach with our young learners. It is important that even young learners develop a ‘can do’ attitude, together with the resilience and perseverance of achieving. What makes a Year 1 learner excited about their learning? How can we scaffold that excitement to creating learning goals? These are questions we asked ourselves and are developing as the year progresses. Currently, the learners are developing their own personal goals all linked to the approaches to learning focus on self management with a drive for organisation. "I can pack my bag, I can put my lunch away, I can listen when others are talking." These "I can" statements are empowering words that are achievable. The learners created flowers which attract butterflies and once they achieve their goal (statement), a butterfly is placed on their flower. Beginning with self management means these are manageable goals that they become excited about when achieved and are very proud of themselves. During the course of the year, we endeavour to use more goal setting techniques to develop the growth mindset of our Year 1 learners.

Team Goal: Learners that are Appropriately Supported and Challenged in their Learning Journey

The Year 2 team has chosen to focus on differentiation as our team learning goal, to help ensure that we can meet the unique needs of each learner while enabling the children to have a deeper understanding about their own learning.

Differentiation is something we have always been passionate about and is at the core of teaching in Phase 2. However, Covid restrictions have impacted the ways we are permitted to organise the Hub, activities, and learner groups. Last week’s Professional Learning Day was the perfect fit for our learning goal. It gave us a fantastic opportunity to build on our knowledge and think creatively about creating engagements with Safe Management Measures in mind. The teachers were inspired by the presenters who led us through different strategies for collaboration, ‘Dynamic Differentiation’ and Growth Mindset. Over the course of this term, we will be encouraging the learners to think about the actions they can take to achieve their individual learning goals, such as using resources or completing targeted activities. We will also help them identify their next steps as part of their reflection process.

Team Goal: Develop Self-Aware, Independent Learners

You will often hear that in order to be successful in the world today, people need certain skills or abilities called ‘21st Century Skills’. In the IB PYP, these skills are called the ATL’s (Approaches to Learning). The skills fall into 5 categories: Social, Research, Thinking, Communication and Self-Management. The ATL’s are linked to the 21st Century Skills and are essential to help learners develop strategies and an understanding of how to learn.

In Year 3, our team goal is linked to the ATL’s as we would like to help learners become “self-aware, independent learners’ through the use of the IB ATL’s. We are explicitly teaching these skills and the learners are becoming more aware of how they can be used to help them learn. All of the learners in Year 3 have chosen a goal that falls under one of the ATL categories and have thought of strategies to help them achieve their goals. A few of the goals the learners have decided on are:

“to be more caring to others”

“to organise myself more quickly”

“making good choices in class”

“listening more and not getting distracted”

“to ask better questions when researching”

During reflection time, we ask the learners to reflect on their goal to see how they are progressing. Through this process, the learners are becoming more aware of the skills that they need to be successful and are more able to be independent, thoughtful and reflective learners.

Team Goal: Learners will be Proactive in their Approaches to Learning

Last week, Year 4 enjoyed a variety of activities in which we shared and broadened our understanding of the Deepavali celebration. Diya lamps were painted, rangolis were designed and created and the Deepavali story of the triumph of good over evil was enjoyed. This week, learners are continuing to explore our Line of Inquiry into how the fashion impacts the environment.

As a Year 4 team, we are continually looking for opportunities to develop the learners' 'approaches to learning' . These include extending thinking skills, self-management strategies, research skills, communication skills and social skills which assist learners to become proactive independent learners. Though a focus on building a growth mindset, building resilience, encouraging learners to take steps towards taking ownership of their learning alongside skill development. We are happy to see the growth in proactive independent learning skills and enthusiasm for learning in our Year 4 learners. Keep it up Year 4!

Team Goal: Powerful Assessment Enables Personalised Progress

In Year 5, our team goal stems from supporting our learners to develop greater awareness and understanding of how they can use reflection tools, feedback and assessment to achieve personal progress and success.

In Maths, learners use a 'chilli finder' activity to identify their goals and a starting point for learning. They choose a 'chilli' level and inquire into questions that focus specifically on their areas of need. They attend workshops where a teacher revisits and reinforces concepts from individual inquiries. As learners develop greater independence and agency, they are able to demonstrate understanding of what, why, and how to apply their knowledge.

Every day, our teachers are gathering, analysing and interpreting evidence of learner understanding. This can be as short as a 'moment in time' observation, a question or a reflection moment within or at the end of a lesson or it could be a deeper analysis of a writing sample or an iMovie demonstrating understanding of a line of inquiry.

Assessment is not limited to adapting the teaching and learning activities to the students' needs, but also to help learners monitor their own strengths and next steps. Year 5 teachers are already so proud of how enthusiastic, open minded and empowered our learners are to lead their own learning.

Team Goal: Powerful Practical Feedback

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't – you're right,” Henry Ford

When you first begin primary school, Year 6 always seems so far away . When you are in it, it seems to go so fast. As our intrepid learners are navigating their final year in primary school, we as educators are doing everything we can to help our learners understand that our attitude has the greatest impact on our personal success. In light of this, our team goal has been focused on 'Powerful Practical Feedback'. Peer and teacher feedback are essential to establishing an outside perspective on a piece of work. It allows the creator to see things from another point of view. To facilitate this, we have been utilising many forms of feedback. Two Sweet, One Sour is always a favourite. Exploring the Approaches To Learning with a buddy also helps, as does The Ladder of feedback. This ladder provides a scaffold so that we do not jump to suggestions or try to fix things before celebrating the work achieved first. This is a common error, especially with adults towards children.

However, the most powerful form of feedback is from that small internal voice inside our own heads. Learning to listen and reflect on this has been our focus in Year 6 . As we move towards secondary school, we are becoming more confident in identifying our own strengths and weaknesses, so we can make considered choices of how to approach challenges. If we can help our children understand this and promote a growth mindset, they will have the tools and resources to take on any future challenges they face with confidence.