Morning Meeting
With every moment of hard work and effort, we take a step closer to the top of our mountain
Each day at St. Aidan’s starts with a Morning Meeting. During this time we combine active retrieval, literacy and numeracy with prayer and personal reflection. The format for our Morning Meetings is as follows:
- Homework review
- Prayer
- Homework setting
- Active retrieval; Brain dump and low stake questions
- Numeracy challenge
- Spellings
- Examen
Our school prayer:
We begin together with our school prayer, written by and for our pupils:
St. Aidan, bright flame of our school.
Help us to trust one another and bring fairness to our community.
Let us strive to work hard to ensure we can live life to the full.
Let there be peace in our school and let it begin with me.
Amen.
Why?
The celebration of Catholic liturgies and prayers as an integral part of learning and teaching enables our school community to become reflective, experience the presence of God and develop a mature spiritual life.
Homework:
Pupils are given their 100% homework for the following day. The homework is displayed on the board and pupils write it into their homework diary. 100% homework is focussed on our knowledge organisers. These have been carefully produced and mapped against the curriculum progression model in each core subject. Each knowledge organiser identifies the key vocabulary, key skills and key knowledge required to master our threshold concepts.
The purpose of the 100% Book is to utilise retrieval practice in order to promote pupil learning. Pupils should use ‘look, cover, write, check, respond’ to learn the content of the key skills, key knowledge and key vocabulary section of the specified 100% sheet.
- Look – Pupils are first of all asked to read through the 100% sheet assigned for homework that evening including saying aloud each of the key vocabulary terms.
- Cover & write – This is the active step. Pupils need to remove the information from view and then engage in a generative recall process; noting down all information given within the key skills, key knowledge and key vocabulary boxes. This will include drawing and labelling any diagrams, and the definitions of key vocabulary.
- Check – After the generative process, it is important that pupils reveal the covered information to check the accuracy of their recall. Using a green pen, pupils should correct any spelling mistakes, missing bits or mistakes.
- Respond – Pupils complete ten questions related to the foundational knowledge they have been learning.
Retrieval works best when successful retrieval attempts are repeated and for that reason the 100% book is used daily for homework with all pupils.
Why?
Securing this knowledge base will allow pupils to develop their skills of understanding, analysis and evaluation in lessons more effectively. This practice is particularly effective if it is distributed or ‘spaced’ over time, with deliberate gaps between for forgetting. Our homework cycle ensures that pupils have opportunities to practise procedures and recall information that must be learnt until it is fluent, and to repeatedly revisit and re-practise after allowing time to forget.
How do we support pupils, particularly those with SEND?
Homework tasks are outlined on the 100% homework cycle calendar so pupils can organise themselves in advance. Parents can also receive copies of this via email.
Each evening after school we run a homework club with SEND support to ensure all pupils can complete their 100% homework effectively.
Heads of houses run sessions supporting pupils who feel they are not getting the most out of their 100% homework.
Cover lessons always begin with a reminder tutorial on how to complete look, cover, write and check work.
Knowledge organisers are available online in year group Microsoft Teams groups.
Knowledge organisers are printed in appropriate font or colour for pupils with additional needs.
Active retrieval; Brain dump and low stake questions:
Retrieval practice is a study method that encourages students to engage with the material in an active way rather than passive learning. Retrieval practice helps strengthen schemas that students have built helping them commit the information to their long term memory.
To ensure that the foundational knowledge of our threshold concepts are embedded into long term memory we begin each day with a brain dump and a series of low stake questions.
Brain dumps are given 2 minutes for free recall, pupils are asked to write down everything they can remember on a particular concept (relating to their 100% homework from the previous school day).
Our second active retrieval strategy is a series of low stake questions also based on the homework from the previous school day. Pupils have between 3-4 minutes to recall key information and apply it to this series of questions. Once pupils have completed this recall correct answers are provided and pupils annotate their work with green pen if there are inaccuracies.
Why?
As a research led academy use the Rosenshine principles of instruction. These principles show that daily retrieval practice improves the efficiency of learning. Brain dumps are based on decades of cognitive science research showing the free recall is an efficient way to embed knowledge to long term memory. Alongside this form of active retrieval is low stake testing.
A vast body of research shows that this is the single most effective way to increase long-term retrieval strength: the ability to recall information or procedures after a delay (Adesope et al., 2017).
Moreover, the benefits of testing are not limited to simple recall; the process of having to search for and generate answers also strengthens the connections with, and retrievability of, related information (Delaney et al., 2010). Ultimately as a result of active retrieval pupils will construct a more in-depth awareness of foundational knowledge, improve their basic skills, critical thinking skills and make connections between concepts.
How do we support pupils, particularly those with SEND?
Questions and answers are provided in advance for pupils to review and use as a guide when completing 100% homework.
Staff circulate the room during active retrieval work to support pupils.
Form tutors review brain dump sheets to identify pupils who need further support.
Numeracy challenge:
Each morning pupils engage in a numeracy challenge. This takes the form of a numerical countdown game. Pupils have 60 seconds to use six figures to calculate a three figure number. After they have had the opportunity to complete the task they share their calculations and have a specialist model one method of solving the problem. Pupils annotate their own solution with green pen if there are inaccuracies.
Why?
Mathematics is a tool for everyday life. It is a whole network of concepts and relationships which provide a way of viewing and making sense of the world. It is used to analyse and communicate information and ideas and to tackle a range of practical tasks and real life problems. It also provides the materials and means for creating new imaginative worlds to explore.
The Education Endowment Foundation state that providing regular opportunities for pupils to develop metacognition by encouraging them to explain their thinking to themselves and others will help to develop their numeracy confidence. It also states that school leaders should ensure that all staff, including non-teaching staff, encourage enjoyment in maths for all children.
How do we support pupils, particularly those with SEND?
Pupils in years 7&8 complete times tables Rockstar’s to support their ongoing development of times tables.
In maths lessons small group interventions take place to ensure all pupils can access the full maths curriculum.
Spellings:
Pupils are asked to spell 6 tier 3 vocabulary words from a different subject each day. This vocabulary has been mapped against the curriculum progressions of the core subjects. The spellings are repeated for six weeks before changing to allow pupils to embed them. During the spelling test pupils are taught how to phonetically pronounce the spellings to embed the oracy of this vocabulary.
Why?
The Education Endowment Foundation states that teaching groups of related spellings in context has high impact on literacy development. This work is part of our highly successful literacy strategy across the academy which ensures all pupils have the skills to succeed later in life.
How do we support pupils, particularly those with SEND?
Pupils are provided with the key spellings in advance. The spellings are provided as part of an accurate sentence.
Spellings are also taught explicitly within lessons and are included in key vocabulary boxes on knowledge organisers within the 100% book.
Examen
Before departing Morning Meeting and starting our day with the wider community we take part in Examen. The Daily Examen is a technique of prayerful reflection on the events of the previous day in order to detect God’s presence and discern his direction for us. It is a simple process of reflection. This is one example of examen:
- Become aware of God’s presence.
- Review the day with gratitude.
- Pay attention to your emotions.
- Choose one feature of the day and pray from it.
- Look toward tomorrow.
Research we are inspired by:
Great Teaching Toolkit Evidence Review
EEF Improving Literacy in Secondary School
