Year Groups 

In Nursery we foster learner agency by providing an environment that is completely accessible to our young learners. Furniture, displays and resources are all sorted and presented at the child’s height. This give the learners a sense of ownership over our Nursery space and their own learning. Authentic play opportunities are carefully planned to link with our Units of Inquiry, mathematics, language arts and practical life skills. The Nursery team also engage with learners’ interests and support learners to independently explore these further.  Recently a small group of learners developed an interest in spiders following a fine motor play opportunity with loose parts. This led to the learners working with an adult to research spider species, webs and facts about arachnids, and culminated in independent drawings of spider webs and book borrowing from the library. When our learners believe their actions and choices are valued they become more confident and engaged in our learning environment, we see this when learners take on teaching roles through role play. For example, a learner taking on the role of doctor or chef in our pretend play areas, and the adult following the lead of the child in play. This was evident during our recent stay and play where our learners confidently led their families and caregivers around their learning space and engaged in activities together. We look forward to welcoming you to our learner led conferences where your child will again demonstrate their agency by leading you through their learning journey.

The children in the Kindergarten have continued their inquiry on journeys and how they help us to explore, the purpose of different journeys and what is required to make them happen.  This has sparked great interest in transportation, construction of different vehicles and has provided many exciting writing opportunities. 

As part of our work on journeys, each class has a soft toy who likes to explore and go on journeys, Hamley the bear is in KP,  Bertie the bear is in KB and Norah the Kiwi is in KG. The learners are sharing the responsibility of taking the class soft toy home, they have absolutely loved the experience and have been excited to share their news with the class. The soft toys have been on lots of journeys so far! Many learning opportunities have been happening as a result of the soft toys in class and we have started to make a class book about the journey of the soft toy, made signs and labels for the soft toys home and created cards and pictures. The children really enjoy taking action and taking responsibility for the bear and take it on journeys around the school such as; lunch, outdoor play and specialist classes. The children have been fully immersed in this inquiry and it has created additional opportunities to investigate how we get from place to place, in particular the means of transportation used for short and long journeys. KP’s bear even went to Malaysia for a weekend, but did he go by bus or by plane? Was it a short or a long journey?  We love how invested our learners are in this unit of inquiry.

The Year 1 learners were very excited to extend their learning outside of the classroom  with visits to the Science Centre over the last week. They had an out-of-this-world experience attending a “Blast Off!” rocket building workshop to support their current Unit of Inquiry, 'People can apply their understanding of forces to invent and create'. The learners learned about different forces and then had the opportunity to apply their knowledge to build their very own rockets. The learners then got to launch their rockets to see how far they would travel. We were very proud of the independence our learners demonstrated during this activity. We encourage learner agency in school by giving the children ownership of their classroom set-up, which enables them to get their materials, by empowering the children to choose different ways to learn through “must dos and may dos”, and encouraging growth mindset so the learners are willing to take risks. It was wonderful to see the learners confidently applying their skills to navigate a new task in the unfamiliar environment at the Science Centre, as they came up with creative designs and reflected to make thoughtful adaptations so their rockets would travel even further. We look forward to the learners showcasing their agency as they lead parents through the learning conferences next week!

Throughout the day in Year 2 the learners have the ability to take ownership over their learning, they are given choices which enables them to be more engaged, empowered and motivated, as they take an active role with their own learning journey. 

We promote learner agency by providing opportunities within all aspects of the homeroom, from 'must do/ may dos' in Language Arts and Maths to independent inquiry time in UOI sessions. The learners are given a variety of resources to support their learning and the freedom of choice to develop their own inquiries, which can make them feel more invested in their outcomes. During our current Sharing the Planet unit of inquiry the learners are creating their dioramas. This has been a wonderful process, which started with them choosing their desired habitat, continuing to follow their interests from the beginning planning and research stage, to designing their dioramas and currently creating an information booklet that will go alongside their creations. As they follow the process they are continually making choices about their learning and reflecting on what they have achieved. By encouraging them to make plans and set goals the learners have the ability to identify areas in which they need to improve. Verbal feedback through 1-1 teacher/learner conferences and peer feedback as some ways in which we encourage our learners to develop their skills and adjust their choices.

As we approach learner-led conferences they are very excited to share their learning journeys. They will be the teacher for the session and take you around the hub to present the process from initial plans to reflections, sharing their achievements and challenges. 

In Year 3, our learners are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to choose where they sit, who they work with, and how they showcase their learning. No more brown wooden desks in a line facing the front, like it was when I was at school!

Student agency at Nexus is strongly tied to all the Attitudes to Learning (ATL), but especially 'self-management', which is a crucial skill in order for learners to become more aware of their learning process and manage it effectively. At Nexus, we have a wide range of spaces and furniture for our learners to choose from, allowing them to take ownership of their learning experience. All of these features work together to make life long learners.

The key to agency is choice. We encourage our learners to make decisions for themselves and take risks, even if they make mistakes. In doing so, they develop a growth mindset and enhance their self-management skills, leading to more engaged and focused learning.

In Year 3, we follow the Nexus Way, which embraces innovative thinking and an open mindset. Our learners have the opportunity to demonstrate their learning in unique and creative ways. In our upcoming Unit of Inquiry, they will explore natural Earth features and showcase their understanding through a final piece that will be part of our Year 3 Exhibition. We can't wait to see the incredible ideas they unleash and then share them with you!

In Year 4, ‘Can I do….?’ and ‘Can I try ……?’ and ‘I would like to ……..” are phrases we love to hear. 

Learners are supported and encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning. This partly comes from giving learners some agency over the style and pace at which they learn, alongside structured time to reflect on their successes and how challenges can be addressed. 

So what does ‘learner agency’ look like in Year 4? 

In our current Unit of Inquiry about Migration, learners have spent 4 weeks learning about different causes, effects and changes and perspectives brought about by migration. During the final 2 weeks of the Unit, learners are researching a migration of their choice to review the key concepts of causation, change and perspectives. 

Another example of learner agency is our recent ‘Approaches to Learning (AtL)  Workshops’. Learners opted to join a series of 3 workshops to further their skills in one particular AtL - Research Skills, Communication Skills, Social Skills, Self-management Skills or Thinking Skills. It was encouraging to see learners make sensible choices, choosing the workshop that would most benefit them. 

This structure was used to develop a range of Writing Skills in Term 2. Again, with support where required, learners made thoughtful choices about the skills they most needed to develop to make progress in their writing.

In Mathematics throughout the Primary Years, several mental and written strategies are taught to give learners the agency to use the strategies that work best for them in problem-solving situations. 

One way we develop agency in our Year 5 learners is by providing opportunities for voice and choice in learning.  When learners feel that they their ideas are valued and they can choose from options, their motivation and sense of ownership increases. 

Our teachers plan collaboratively for all curriculum areas. When designing provocations for tuning in, we create activities that encourage learners to share their prior knowledge. We listen to their responses, collect their ideas and use these to guide the contexts that the learners are the most interested in.  We also gather evidence connected to our focus ATLs (Approaches to Learning). This helps us to provide engagements that support the development of social, research, thinking, self-management and communication skills.  Development and application of these skills leads to increased agency and independence in learning. 

Currently in our unit of inquiry 'Who We Are', learners have chosen to focus on a theme connected to their well-being. These include: sleep, anxiety and stress, screen time, relationships or fitness and food. They have shown agency as they have chosen their theme, planned their research questions and used the inquiry process to gather information.  Their next step will be to share their new understandings by taking action and advocating for their big idea. 

In Maths learners are designing their own Koru Transformation design. This engagement supports agency as learners have created their own koru templates and used these to design transformation patterns that share what is important to them. This activity is integrated with our 'Who We Are' UOI and  is a creative way for learners to express what is important to them. 

We strive to scaffold our learners and provide learning experiences that build confidence, belief and an understanding of themselves as a learner. A learner with agency...can achieve many great things. 

Year 6 is AWESOME! At Nexus, we are proud to foster an environment that encourages our learners to step outside of their comfort zone and embrace new challenges. We believe that by doing so, our learners will develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the real world.

Currently, our learners are fully engaged in our "Sharing the Planet" unit, where they are learning about the importance of conservation and sustainability. This is an excellent opportunity for our learners to gain a deeper understanding of the world around them and to develop a sense of empathy and responsibility towards our planet.

Furthermore, we are excited to share our learning experiences outside of the classroom through our recent residential trip to LooLa Adventure Resort in Indonesia. During this trip, almost all of the Year 6 learners were able to immerse themselves in a new environment and make connections within the natural world. This experience allowed our learners to develop new skills, build relationships, and gain a new perspective on the world. For those who stayed in Singapore, we challenged them to find a novel activity which they could explore with their families.

Through our "Sharing the Planet" unit and the LooLa trip, our learners have continued to push themselves outside of their comfort zone and develop their critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills. We are proud of the progress they have made and look forward to seeing how they will continue to grow and thrive.

Thank you for your continued support.

Warm regards,

The Year 6 Team