Building Learning Power

An information guide for parents and governors

“Building Learning Power boosts our confidence!”

Y4 pupil

Building Learning Power at Bosmere

Building learning power is about helping young people to become better learners, both in school and out.

At Bosmere we are committed to developing confident, creative and independent learners who have high self-esteem. We value the unique qualities of every child, celebrate their successes and encourage them to take pride and enjoyment in all that they do.

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Building Learning Power (BLP), originated by Professor Guy Claxton, has been at the heart of teaching and learning at Bosmere for many years. Key ideas and concepts have been adopted and adapted from Guy Claxton’s programme to create our own approach to teaching and encouraging successful learning behaviours in our school. Children are taught and encouraged to use their ‘learning powers’ in the classroom, where there is a display on which each child can chart their daily use of ‘learning powers’. Through verbal and written feedback, children are praised for demonstrating their ‘learning powers’ and are encouraged to notice when they themselves or their peers are using them to improve their learning.

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This enables the children to really understand ‘what it is to learn, what learning looks like and what they need to do to become independent and self-motivated learners’. Children from across the school are awarded the title of ‘Learning Hero’ in weekly assemblies and their names are entered into our ‘Bosmere’s Big Book of Learning Heroes.

To learn more about the Building Learning Power programme, you can visit ’ www.buildinglearningpower.co.uk

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BLP – What the children think…

“It helps us to be really good learners. We like getting BLP certificates.”

Year 1 pupil

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“BLP helps us to know what to do to improve our learning.”

Year 2 pupil

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Bosmere’s Learning Powers

Our children use the language of learning very well – you may have heard them talk about ‘rising to the challenge’ or ‘persevering’. This guide has been produced so that you can support your child at home and understand what they mean when they talk about their ‘learning powers’.

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A successful learner will use all of the above powers, not at the same time or in any particular order. Here are some examples of how we can use these powers in our learning;

I am good at reasoning – a pupil is able to offer reasons to back up their opinions or thoughts.

I ask good questions – a pupil asks questions which show they are self-motivated, have a thirst for knowledge or a desire to seek answers in order to grasp a new concept.

I can manage distractions – a pupil is able to focus carefully on their learning.

I persevere – a pupil demonstrates perseverance and determination when finding a task challenging.

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I notice details – a pupil notices details which consolidate or enhance their learning, e.g. spelling patterns within words, number patterns, details in a piece of film or a book which proves its historical setting, etc.

I can talk about my learning – a pupil is able to explain their knowledge, what they did to complete the task, how they felt about their learning.

I link my learning – a pupil uses the knowledge they gained in a maths lesson about positive and negative numbers to explore their learning about temperature in science.

I learn from different resources - a pupil uses lots of different resources around them to learn, e.g. books, newspapers, the Internet, film, songs, their friends, etc.

I use my imagination – a pupil explores and develops their ideas to be creative.

I can rise to the challenge – a pupil accepts the opportunity to attempt a task which they may feel is a little out of their reach.

I plan my learning – a pupil thinks through how they will go about their task.

I show empathy – a pupil is able to ‘put themselves in the shoes of others’ in order to explore viewpoints and understand the world, life-styles and faiths of different people, both in real-life and fiction.

I am an active listener – a pupil not only listens carefully but shows understanding through following instructions, raising issues or questions about what has been said or volunteering their own thoughts in response.

I revise my learning – a pupil re-reads through their writing, amends and improves it to show the very best of what they can do.

I imitate good learners – a pupil learns from their peers who make the right choices and demonstrate exemplary learning behaviour to improve their own.

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BLP – How can parents help at home?

Many of the building learning powers can be used out of school. Of course, you can use the language of BLP when completing homework tasks but also when getting to grips with the instructions to a new game, getting dressed to leave the house or getting your child to eat all of their meal. When a child begins an activity you know they could find difficult, e.g. visiting the dentist, first day at school, sporting competitions, practising a musical instrument - reminding them that they will need to ‘persevere’ or ‘rise to the challenge’ may help them to focus and achieve success. When reading together, ‘noticing details’ in the text together with using the power of ‘empathy’ will help your child to explore and develop their comprehension skills. Any creative activity will demand the ‘using of imagination’ and may involve ‘planning learning’ and ‘revising learning’ as what the children create takes shape. ‘Active listening’, ‘noticing details’ and ‘talking about learning’ are all powers used when talking about a TV programme, film or visiting a museum.

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