North Wales 1
A history teacher gives the students retrieval grids for every topic – a summary sheet (Knowledge organisers with key information you need to know about) which used to be given at the end but is now given at the beginning. Students are also given copies of Power Point presentations. As the mock exams are in a few weeks’ time (November) there is more information giving so they are confident in their subjects to apply information.
Study skills are taught which help students be able to organise themselves and become more independent.
Working walls are used for information building over time e.g. characters in a play or novel. Pupils see their own development.
North Wales 2
‘Show my Homework’, an app which children use to see what homework they have, has PowerPoint slides attached, which students can print off and use for reference. All teachers use this and students are more confident from having this.
Revision mats are provided for KS4 poetry. There is no information overload which helps the cognitive load.
Google classroom is used by all teachers to upload presentations in English for GCSE and A level work. This means that students understand the skills required for progress. They also develop skills of uploading.
A huge success was the introduction of ‘Walking Talking Mocks’ in one secondary school. In this the students sit in the hall, in desks as if they were about to take the real exam. The teachers then take them through a paper by announcing how many minutes they have to read the question, then for answering it, and so on, so that they practise the real thing in the real setting. The impact has been higher scores in those subjects than before.
For the teaching of Welsh, students were constantly given examples of all grades online. This gives children access to expected outcomes and makes them more independent.
Through VESPA students create their own notes for revision based on strategies that have been verified. This allows for independent revision, including video clips of different aspects of the course.