St. Luke’s Learning Review Policy

Fundamental to a school culture which promotes equity and pupil agency is the opportunity for all members of its community to engage in critical reflection on how effectively we are learning together. It is a powerful way for the community to remain dynamic and to grow in a way which is relevant to its needs. It enables children to actively shape the community in which they learn and to share ownership of many of its philosophies and approaches. It is a time when relationships and responsibility towards each other are strengthened. It is a time when individual and collective meta cognition is enriched. At St. Luke’s, learning and teaching reflection forms part of our on-going dialogue during the week around our learning from Reception to Year 6 and, from Year 2 to Year 6, it also takes the form of a formal 20 min session each week.

Learning review key principles

A learning review:

·        Promotes a positive community/relationships:

Actively supporting learning and teaching for the good of all

Ensuring joint responsibility for the effectiveness of the learning community

·        Is cyclical in form:

New issue raised – enquiry into what could be causing the issue – solutions sort- ideas tested during week on-going review and refinement – formal reflection of success – new/same issue raised….

·        Is wide ranging but focused, potentially addressing:

learning behaviours

teaching methods

context/content of the curriculum

environment for learning

·        Is dialogic/equalities based:

Democratic

Systems ensure all have a voice

Sometimes child led

·        Is transformational:

Creates a self-reflective system

Highlights positives as well as ways forward

Enables learning and learning relationship targets to be set and others to be reviewed

Always aims for mutual agreement on clear ways forward for the next week. Progress is regularly reviewed during the week

·        Is self-evaluative and dynamic:

The Learning Review itself is open to change in approaches

The Learning Review assesses its impact on a termly basis

·        Dialogue is framed within the language of the 4Cs.

 

Class Council and School Council

Each class meets once a fortnight in the form of a class council where they share ideas for school improvement. A nominated member of the class sits on the school council and  brings these ideas for consideration. Therefore, the children have a clear voice in making the school better and a clear understanding that their opinions matter and they can make a real difference to the lives of others.

 

 

Learning Leaders

 

Each year children in Year 5 and Year 6 apply to be learning leaders. Their job is to evaluate the quality of learning approaches in the classroom through discussion and pupil conferencing – they may look at how effective Team Time is or if buddy reading improves reading skills and enthusiasm for reading. Their findings are really important in helping us move forward as a learning community.

Eco Council

Each year an election is held to vote in an Eco Councillor for each Junior class.   An environmental audit is then carried out, by the children, on the school looking at a wide range of issues from energy to transport.  An action plan is then drawn up for the coming year on the key issues the Council want to address.

The council meets every other week focusing on the key points in their plan.  Minutes are taken and the children regularly report back to their class and in assemblies.

Significant changes have been implemented by the Council including being awarded the prestigious Green Flag.  They have been extremely active in raising money for solar panels and are also involved in maintaining and improving the wildlife area.

Peer Tutors

Children at St Luke’s enjoy  a wide variety of learning experiences during their time here. Peer Tutoring is when an older child supports a younger child with their learning. Currently, our Peer Tutors are year five children who support year three children with a story writing project. The tutors meet with their tutees twice a week and support them with the whole story writing process – from generating ideas, to choosing interesting vocabulary, composing sentences, to writing and editing their story together. At the end of this process the stories are published in book form for the younger children to keep and share with their class, friends and family.

Peer Tutors complete two days of training where they learn how to tutor, how to listen and give positive, constructive feedback and about the process of learning. In supporting the younger children the Peer tutors reinforce their own knowledge and skills, which in turn builds on their self-confidence and self-esteem.  Peer Tutoring also helps to develop children’s motivation to learn, encourages a positive attitude towards learning and builds positive relationships between children from different year groups.

 

Buddy Reading

Our Buddy Reading programme gives the children in year four the opportunity to support key stage one children with their reading. The year four children have two days of training to prepare them for this role. During the training they learn about the giving positive, constructive feedback and explore how we learn.

The reading buddies meet two or three times a week for six weeks. The older children support the younger children with decoding strategies, and engage in discussions about the books which helps to develop their vocabulary and reading comprehension.

 

Arts Ambassadors

Hi!

We are the Arts Ambassadors for St Luke’s.

 

We do lots of art projects around the school, especially in the Infants. During lunchtime we plan activities and support infant children in expressing their thoughts through art including: drama; dance; singing; painting and drawing.

We also hold drawing competitions throughout the year for the whole school.

Please keep a look out for our exciting artwork around the school!

The E-Team

The E-Team is a group of children who play a key role in promoting an understanding of equality and diversity across the school and in evaluating how well our policies, procedures and actions actually support these ideas.

The Playleaders

The play leaders are a group of Year 5 and 6 children who have decided to give up their own time to lead games and run challenges in the playground during the lunch hour. They meet weekly after school on Wednesdays to practise and devise activities for the playground. They present a trophy and certificates to the winners of the weekly playground challenge at the school assembly on Fridays.