Parents
What is a Personal Learning Checklist?
Personal Learning Checklists (PLCs)
Kingsmead is committed to sharing with parents and pupils the key knowledge and skills they require to succeed in each unit of learning.
We use personal learning checklists (PLCs) in each subject area to break down the unit into carefully crafted ‘I can….’ statements.
Printed copies of the PLCs are provided with a copy of your child’s termly report. These PLC statements help to map out, from their recent work and assessments, what your child ‘can and can’t do’ in a unit of learning.
As you read through the PLC you will see that things may become increasingly challenging. If your child has not been able to show deep understanding of a particular statement yet, then they can use the Blended Learning Platform to revisit that aspect of learning and the “Upgrade” task to show that they now understand it.
To really deepen your understanding, it is important that your child keeps revisiting knowledge and skills regularly. When we learn something new, we form connections between neurons in our brain and these connections get stronger or weaker depending on how often we are exposed to the new information or piece of knowledge. So, to get better at a unit of learning, your child needs to practice and then keep revisiting it.
If we don’t keep revisiting learning then, whilst we may do well in end of topic tests, by the time we get to end of year exams or formal external exams, we will have forgotten the learning because long-term memories were not made.
How your child can get better and become an independent learner in charge of their own destiny:
-
Build your understanding step-by-step – Use the PLC and build your knowledge from cycle to cycle. Keep going back to the previous cycles to check that you can still complete the “Upgrade” tasks. Complete the “Help” task for a statement if you need some support.
-
Make strong mental images or mind pictures that link to the facts – Ways that you can do this are through mind palaces, mind/concept maps, visualising a story or sequence of events, use of all your senses – smell, sound, feelings.
-
Find patterns or connections – Use something that you already know to work out something new, links between units of learning and other subjects. The more connections you can make, the more secure your learning will be.
-
Vary the ways that you learn – You may have been taught the facts and skills one way in class, but the “Help” task may look at the same knowledge in a different way and in Period 6 interventions you may try something else. The more ways that you have to approach the knowledge, the more your understanding will deepen.
-
Revisit, revisit, revisit… Practice makes permanent – When we revisit things that we have already learnt the connections in our brain become stronger and knowledge moves from short-term to long-term memory. Homework is a great way of revisiting, along with Period 6 interventions, holiday classes and the Blended Learning Platform.