SUCCESS AT POST 16 MICHAEL SENIOR

Key aspects of success at A level LEARNING MINDSET (students and staff) PRACTISE RECALL (in and out of lessons) INDEPENDENT LEARNING SKILLS (help yourself to learn) PARENTAL SUPPORT (higher on expectation & lower on monitoring) POSITIVE & SUPPORTIVE SIXTH FORM (relationships) METACOGNITION (think about what’s effective) FEEDBACK (quicker the better, frequent) COLLABORATION (peer learning)

3 Fixed and Growth Mindsets

4 FIXED MINDSET LIVE A WORLD WHERE: Personality is fixed – sociable or not Intelligence is fixed – smart or not Leadership ability is fixed – talented or not Sporting ability is fixed – got the physical skills/physique or not Because these are not in your control – spend a lot of time seeking feedback that you have the ‘fixed gifts’ e.g. popular, high grades, share price high, winning races Avoid risk at all cost - situations where you might get feedback that you don’t have the ‘fixed gift’ anymore Obsessed with avoiding making mistakes and failing. Why?

5 GROWTH MINDSET LIVE A WORLD WHERE: Personality develops – become more or less sociable Intelligence grows – harder you work, more able you become Leadership ability develops with experience – training can be key Sporting ability develops – even Olympians admit they persevered more than most – were not the best at the beginning Because these traits are in your control – spend a lot of time getting advice about how to develop Risk helps expose weakness - situations where you might learn more Making mistakes and failing are a vital part of the learning process. Why?

6 RESEARCH POINT 4 Year-olds Carol Dweck Asked 4 year-olds if they would like to redo a difficult jigsaw that they had been unable to solve. Fixed mindset – said “No” Growth mindset – said “Yes, please”. They kept choosing difficult ones until the figured them out.

7 RESEARCH POINT University students Carol Dweck… Asked students, not proficient at speaking English, starting at University of Hong Kong (taught in English), if they would like English lessons. Measured their mindset using a questionnaire. Fixed mindset – did not sign up – expose weakness Growth mindset – signed up – ability can improve

8 Research Point Carol Dweck Maths challenges. Set of questions. Middle question was unsolvable What happened to the Performance of two groups Group 1 - Gifted and Talented group? Group 2 - Average group?

9 Findings Group 1 – G & T group – performed well until unsolvable problem. Afterwards score dropped Group 2 – Average group – performed okay before and after unsolvable question

RECALL - a major challenge Students will need to recall two-years worth of material for A level & GCSE. Until now, although many students re-sat AS papers, subjects benefited because many units were not taken again – so overall there was less information to recall at the end of two years.

RECENT RESEARCH ‘LITTLE & OFTEN’ Huge ‘chunks’ of learning & revision less effective than ‘little and often’. Each revisit makes the memory trace malleable (so can introduce errors!) but then it also builds up myelin. – making the trace faster and longer-lasting. So revisiting makes learning stronger.

‘TAKE 5’ RECALL CARDS Students create recall cards and use 5 mins to test each other

DEVELOPING STUDY SKILLS

READY-MADE STUDY SKILLS MATERIALS FREE RESOURCES SEE EXAMPLE MATERIALS FROM BRADFORD UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC STUDY SKILLS

Which level are you in terms of revision? 3e? Level 1 – I READ through my notes Level 2 – I MAKE NOTES from what I read Level 3 – I TRANSFORM my notes into another format e.g. diagrams, lists, mnemonics, flash cards, tables Level a – I answer past questions but avoid hard ones Level b - I answer hard past questions until I get it right Level c – I use mark schemes to help me improve my answers Level d – I use Examiner reports and mark schemes Level e – I practise AGAIN and AGAIN until I KNOW I have got it right & seek support when I need it.

High expectations of children Supportive parenting e.g. interest in homework and school work, discussing school progress Understanding the language of school e.g. reports, curriculum Homework supervision Providing structure in the home Controlling parenting style Home rules for watching television External rewards e.g. money for homework, good school reports Restrictions for poor school reports EFFECTIVE PARENTAL SUPPORT

GET A GOAL TRY SACU-STUDENT – SPARTAN TEST – SHARED ON FACEBOOK USE UCAS WEB SITE / ‘NOT GOING TO UNI’ VISIT UNIVERSITIES EARLIER FOCUS ON PLAN B - EVEN MORE THAN PLAN A GCSE GRADES ARE KEY – AIM AS HIGH AS YOU CAN

‘M F C’ – high impact teaching & learning METACOGNITION (think about what’s effective) FEEDBACK (quicker the better, frequent) COLLABORATION (peer learning) & CONSTANT REFLECTION & CHANGE TO SUIT STUDENTS

POSITIVE & SUPPORTIVE SIXTH FORM (relationships)

NEW A LEVELS EVERYONE IS LEARNING THE NEW SPECIFICATION TRAINING COLLABORATION BETWEEN CENTRES EXAMINER REPORTS FROM LEGACY UTILISE SIZE – INCREASE FREQUENCY OF ASSESSMENT & FEEDBACK, INCREASE ENGAGEMENT & DISCUSSION, MONITORING & SUPPORT

SOME USEFUL PHRASES ‘THE HARDER I WORK, THE BETTER I GET’ ‘80% GETS ME AN A – I DON’T NEED TO BE PERFECT’ Q‘HOW DID YOU GO BANKRUPT?’ A ‘GRADUALLY, THEN SUDDENLY’