Learning, Memory and recall

1). FLASHBACKS: All subjects will have 'flashbacks' (recall activities) at the beginning of their lessons; this might be questions like 'list two things you learnt in the last geography lesson about rivers.' for example. Questions and recall tasks might also take the children further back in their learning; 'Last year, in year 3, you learnt about the Romans. What period of time did the Roman Empire span?' The purpose of all of these flashback activities is for pupils to actively use their long term memory and recall the facts they have learnt so they become fully embedded as new learning. 

2. Learning in Context: Why this and why now? As well as flashbacks, we will also ensure our children understand the context for their learning. Why are they learning this and why now? For example, 'We are learning about festivals/celebrations in RE this unit - in Year 2 you learnt about festivals of light and in Year 4 you will learn about Jewish celebrations.' By doing this, repeatedly, with the children, they will see all of their learning as linked and interwoven between subjects and years. 

3. Using topic cover sheets with LOs:  As a sort of short 'knowledge organiser', each unit in Literacy, History, Geography and Maths will have a front cover with the key knowledge on it that the children will learn. The covers will also include what the assessment piece is at the end of the unit so the children will know what they are working towards. This key knowledge on the unit covers will be referred back to on a regular basis throughout and between lessons. 

4. Assessment: At the end of every foundation unit, be that art, science, geography etc., the children will complete a 'low-stakes' assessment task bringing together all of their learning from the unit of work. This is a chance for children to revisit, recall, consolidate and show what they have learnt and remembered throughout the topic of work. These assessment tasks will look different for every subject, but will progress in challenge and depth of thinking as the children get older. For example, in year 2 geography, the children might be asked, after a unit of work about the seaside, to create a postcard from a seaside destination that makes people want to visit it using key things they have learnt about; whereas in year 5, after learning about settlements, the children will be asked to plan and design their own settlement, considering things like types of energy usage, water supply, types of housing, transport and so on.