Posted on: October 12th 2018
It was brilliant to see many parents attending our recent parent workshops and many reached the conclusion, regardless of the sessions they attended, that education has changed significantly since they were at school. In fact, education is continuously developing and improving, and whilst some things hold true such as the impact of excellent teacher-child relationships (we all remember the teachers that had a real impact on us when we were children), the methods of teaching and learning in the classroom are constantly developing.
Children taking ownership of their learning is crucial and understanding where they are and what they can do next is something that, at Norfolk House, we develop through formative assessment. From the beginning of Form 1, pupils understand the concept they are learning in a lesson, as opposed to the task they are completing, and work with the teacher to set success criteria so they know if they have improved their understanding of that concept. Children are able to reflect on their work and that of their peers and find strengths and areas for development. This method is hugely impactful on learning and develops important critical thinking skills.
I am sure you have read in the press about the concept of Millennials and the need to develop greater resilience in our young people to cope with failure and develop persistence and staying power, when things get challenging. At Norfolk House, we focus on this by developing a Growth Mindset in our children; helping them understand that failure is a natural part of life, it is something that we can learn from and are likely to encounter if we are to be ambitious in our learning and life in general.
These two key approaches have been major shifts in educational thinking and have become central to the teaching and learning at Norfolk House. Please follow the links below if you would like to read more: