Study Skills Curriculum: Supporting Your Child’s Learning Habits

At the Parents’ Coffee Morning on Friday 19th September, Tr Sophie spoke to parents about our new Study Skills Curriculum, which has been launched this academic year. This new curriculum is designed to help students become more effective and independent learners, with the goal of boosting their academic performance and attainment. The curriculum also aims to address diverse learning needs, promote equity, and develop transferable life skills that will support employability.

 

We understand that students may have beliefs about learning that could hold them back. For example, they might think they have a fixed intelligence or that they learn best in a specific way, such as by listening. However, research says this is not true and this new curriculum challenges these common myths and weak study habits.

 

Metacognition

Metacognition is a key element of the school's new Study Skills Curriculum. It refers to "meta-thinking" or thinking about one's own thinking and learning processes. It is the ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate one's learning. For our Secondary students, metacognition is crucial because it helps them become more independent learners, which is one of the main goals of the curriculum. By developing metacognitive skills, students can identify their strengths and weaknesses, choose the most effective study habits for different tasks, and adjust their strategies when something isn't working. It is a powerful skill that can boost academic performance and attainment, and it is a transferable life skill that supports employability.

 

Study Skills Curriculum - Structure

The curriculum is structured in "Learning Sprints," where a new skill is introduced during tutor time in Week 1 of each half term. Students then practise this skill across various subjects throughout the half term. Afterward, the skill becomes part of the student's "repertoire" and continues to be used in class and homework activities.

 

The curriculum has been split into five categories:

• Learning Habits
• Acting on feedback and Metacognition
• Consolidation
• Active Recall/Retrieval Practice
• Revision

 

Each of these have been broken down further and parents can find the topics and schedule within their child’s Student Planner.

 

Focus on Learning Habits: Strand 1

The first strand of our new curriculum focuses on Learning Habits. This strand is about helping students develop the foundational skills they need to organise their work and become more effective learners. 

It is vital that they have multiple tools that they are able to use as part of their learning and that they are able to select the right tool for the right tool.In this first strand, throughout the years, students have been taught a range of skills, with the focus on building new skills in Key Stage 3 and then developing the ability to select appropriately in Key Stage 4 and Sixth Form.

 

The Learning Habits covered in Strand 1 are as follows:

 

Year 7 - Hierarchical Note-Taking & Proofreading

Hierarchical Note-Taking involves organising notes using headings, subheadings, and bullet points to show the relationship between different ideas. This structured method helps make notes easier to understand and review later.

Proofreading is a careful check of written work for errors. The school uses the "CARE" acronym to teach students how to proofread for Capitalisation, Apostrophes & punctuation, Repetition, and Every word checked.

 

Year 8 - Retrievable Note-Taking & Active Reading with annotations

Retrievable Note-Taking focuses on creating notes that can be used for self-testing and active recall. This includes adding questions and answers to notes and using simple images or logos to aid memory.

Active Reading with annotation teaches students to engage with what they are reading by writing notes or comments in the margins.

 

Year 9 - Cornell Notes & Self-checking/Self-Correcting

Cornell Notes is a note-taking system that divides a page into three sections: a main notes section, a cues/questions column, and a summary section. This method helps students organise notes and actively review them.

Self-checking/Self-Correcting involves students comparing their own work to models, examples, or success criteria to identify and correct their mistakes. Students are encouraged to not just correct the answer, but also to make a note of why the original answer was wrong.

 

Year 10 - Student notes as a revision tool

This habit focuses on teaching students how to lay out their notes in a way that will help them with future self-testing. This includes creating revision materials from their notes for topics covered during the term.

 

Year 11 - Revisit of Learning Habits

This habit encourages students to look back at their notes from previous years and consider how they could be improved now. They also continue to focus on making their notes effective for self-testing and creating revision materials.

 

Year 12 - Making independent choices around note-taking

At this stage, students are encouraged to make their own choices about how to organise and structure their notes. This skill helps them to become independent learners, preparing them for the demands of university.

 

How parents can support their child at home

In the evenings and weekends, please have set times when your children can do their homework. Ensure that there is a clear routine in place, and an appropriate location for them to complete their work - not their bed. Children should have their Student Planners out while they work to support their organisation. 

 

Device use should be monitored during this time and laptops are better than phones - phones should not be needed for the completion of homework. Parents should be aware of the use of AI. Typically, there are two reasons why students might use AI to complete the work 

 

While the desire to provide extra support for your child through tuition may be well-intentioned, the school recommends against it. Tutoring can unintentionally undermine the development of essential study skills. The new curriculum is specifically designed to teach students to become independent learners, a skill that is crucial for their future academic success, particularly in a university setting. By relying on an external tutor, students may not be given the opportunity to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning: metacognition. The school's embedded Study Skills Curriculum provides a structured approach to learning , offering a consistent "repertoire" of skills that teachers continue to reinforce in class and with homework. Instead of external tuition, parents can more appropriately support their child by reinforcing the learning habits at home.

 

It is always important for parents to show an interest in their child’s work, by asking questions, without causing undue stress or applying unnecessary pressure.

 

Parents can also reinforce the Learning Habits by showing an interest and asking their child to show them

In Year 7…Hierarchical Note-Taking & Proofreading

• How they are using headings, subheadings and bullet points to help organise their exercise books.
• How they are using the CARE acronym to check their work (Capitalisations, Apostrophes & punctuation, Repetition, Every word)
• Where they have used green pen to make corrections to proudly improve their work.

 

In Year 8…Retrievable Note-Taking & Active Reading with annotations

• How they are using question & answers in their exercise books to prepare their notes for self-testing.
• Examples of where they have used simple images or logos to help them remember learning in their notes.
• Reading with a pen!
• Where they have added annotations to anything they have read for their subjects (not just English).

 

In Year 9…Cornell Notes & Self-checking/ Self-Correcting

• Where they have set up a page in an exercise book with the 3 sections of the Cornell Note taking approach.
• How they can compare their work to success criteria or model examples to self-check
• Examples of where they have made a note of WHY something was wrong, not just the correct answer.

 

In Year 10…Student notes as a revision tool

• What they are doing in the layout of their notes that will help them use them for self-testing later on.
• What revision materials they have made for topics covered this term.

 

In Year 11…Revisit of Learning Habits

• Their notes from topics covered in Year 10- could these be improved now?
• What they are doing in the layout of their notes that will help them use them for self-testing later on.
• What revision materials they have made for topics covered this term.

 

In Year 12…Making independent choices around note-taking

• What choices they are making in how to organise and structure their notes. - Encourage them to explain WHY they have made these choices.

 

We believe this new curriculum will provide our students with the skills they need to succeed academically and beyond. It was lovely to see so many parents with students from across different year groups, keen to learn how we can better partner together to support their children.

 

We look forward to hosting parents at future Parents’ Coffee Mornings later this year, including talks on other elements of the new Study Skills Curriculum.