Headlines By James Saunders 1st February 2019
If all we do is commit stuff to our short term memory we are not really learning. This brings me onto spaced learning. It supports the way our brains actually work, according to basic neuroscience and psychology research. The world of the box set is an interesting phenomenon of modern times which brought with it the pastime of binge watching. The notion of binge watching is something that was just not a part of my childhood or indeed early adulthood but I have partaken now and then. Box sets make great gifts. My mum took about three years to get through the Criminal Minds one I bought her for a birthday a few years ago. I will wager that some of you may well have given or received box sets as gifts over the Christmas period, or used the break to catch up on your favourite show through a box set-style binge session. My longest session was season 1-3 of 24; it was exhausting - 72 episodes back-to-back. Why am I going on about box sets? Recently I shared with you some of the changes we will be implementing in September. One of these changes was a move from 100 minutes to 75 minutes. During the recent parent forum I spoke with parents about the concept of spaced learning as one of the reasons we have decided to make this change. The process started by looking at learning in school and the process of committing stuff from short term to long term memory - this is what ensures greater exam success. This brought me to the concept of ‘Spaced Learning’. I would like to use box-sets as a way to illustrate this concept. You see when a regular series like Game of Thrones is broadcast each episode tends to be a week apart. When I look back on my 24 days, the one series that stands out in my memory is series eight: the one that I watched every Sunday for 24 weeks. Sure, I can remember parts of series 1-3 but I don’t remember them as clearly as series eight and I don’t feel as emotionally invested in the characters - because I didn’t commit as much to my long term memory. Each episode started with a recap of the previous week. Just as the memory of what happened before was fading this little recap helped to bring it back to the front of my mind so that the next part of the story would be easier to follow. By watching the series this way, the way it was originally intended, I was able to learn and remember so much more of the narrative and plot. Each weekly revisit and refocus helped to move what I had learnt from my short term to my long term memory in a way that never happened when I watched the whole thing in one go. Now let’s apply that to learning. Imagine that you learn a load of stuff in a short space of time (just like a binge watch) and then test yourself on it at the end. Imagine you do quite well in that test. Does it mean you have learnt it? The real test is if you were to test yourself again a day, a week, a month or a year later.
Spaced learning involves a series of short, intense learning sessions with increased learner participation, separated by short intervals in which learners do a completely different activity (Emsley, 2016). Spaced learning is often paired up with a method known as interleaving: Interleaving refers to the benefits of sequencing learning tasks so that similar items – two examples of the same concept, say – are interspersed with different types of items rather than being consecutive. This results in a more variable and challenging task but is associated with benefits in terms of memory and transfer, which apply to concept learning as well as other domains (Kang, 2016). Combined, these two methods really represent what happens when comparing a binge watch to watching over time. By moving to 75 minute lessons it will help us to deliver our learning using a spaced learning approach and will provide more opportunities to revisit learning. Subjects will now have an additional times to meet their class each week which will mean they will be able to create more spaced intervals. There are other, more practical benefits to making this change. For example, it will allows us more flexibility with the construction of the timetable. This in turn will mean that we can reduce the need for split classes - classes that share several teachers. If you are interested in spaced learning and want to find out more here are a few useful links to a blog post, an education endowment foundation study and an article from the chartered college of teaching: https://3starlearningexperiences.wordpress.com/2017/10/3 1/tips-and-tricks-for-spaced-learning/ https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/ Projects/Evaluation_Reports/ EEF_Project_Report_SpacedLearning.pdf https://impact.chartered.college/article/firth-spacinginterleaving-classroom/ Thanks To: Xanthe Goodman, Thomas Last, Jake Ring, Marcia Swain who all helped support a visit fr om Bishops
Stopford'school this week.
County Lines update This is from the BCC news headlines this week, and the rise of County Lines and the risk posed to our young people has significantly risen. We all need to be aware of what is going on in our local area and our learners are being exposed too. Children as young as 11 are being exploited by gangs running "county lines" drug networks, MPs have heard.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said there had been a rapid rise of "county lines", where city-based gangs exploit people to sell drugs in smaller towns. It told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that more than 2,000 phone lines are being operated by gangs across he UK - up from 720 a year ago. Twenty-three police force areas were now involved, the NCA said. Most of the vulnerable people exploited were children aged 15-17. "County lines" is a tactic whereby gangs in places such as London, Liverpool and Birmingham introduce untraceable phones to a different area to sell drugs at street level. Local runners - often teenagers - are used to transport the drugs. What are county lines? Children as young as 12 are being put in danger by criminals who are taking advantage of how vulnerable these young people are. Criminal exploitation is also known as 'county lines' and is when gangs and organised crime networks exploit children to sell drugs. Often these children are made to travel across counties, and they use dedicated mobile phone ‘lines’ to supply drugs. How many young people are affected by 'county lines'? No one really knows how many young people across the country are being forced to take part, but The Children’s Commissioner estimates there are at least 46,000 children in England who are involved in gang activity. It is estimated that around 4,000 teenagers in London alone are being exploited through child criminal exploitation, or 'county lines'. Tragically the young people exploited through 'county lines' can often be seen by professionals as criminals. However, we want these vulnerable children to be recognised as victims of trafficking and exploitation. We want them to receive the support they need to deal with the trauma they have been through.
How are children being exploited? Gangs are deliberately targeting vulnerable children – those who are homeless, living in care homes or trapped in poverty. These children are unsafe, unloved, or unable to cope, and the gangs take advantage of this. These gangs groom, threaten or trick children into trafficking their drugs for them. They might threaten a young person physically, or they might threaten the young person’s family members. The gangs might also offer something in return for the young person’s cooperation – it could be money, food, alcohol, clothes and jewellery, or improved status – but the giving of these gifts will usually be manipulated so that the child feels they are in debt to their exploiter. However they become trapped in county lines, the young people involved feel as if they have no choice but to continue doing what the gangs want What are the signs of criminal exploitation and county lines? Returning home late, staying out all night or going missing Being found in areas away from home Increasing drug use, or being found to have large amounts of drugs on them Being secretive about who they are talking to and where they are going Unexplained absences from school, college, training or work Unexplained money, phone(s), clothes or jewellery Increasingly disruptive or aggressive behaviour Using sexual, drug-related or violent language you wouldn’t expect them to know Coming home with injuries or looking particularly dishevelled Having hotel cards or keys to unknown places. No Child should feel alone If you think a young person you know could be in danger call 99, or if you feel you have any concerns or information please feel free to share with me anything that worries or concerns you on dbriggs@honywoodschool.com A performance can be seen at Alec Hunter Academy on Monday night by AlterEgo to raise awareness —tickets available https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/county-linesbraintree-tickets-53247687266
Dates for the diary
Tickets on sale now £6.00/£4.50 13th
Wednesday & th Thursday 14 February
Saturday 2nd February
German Exchange depart
Sunday 10th February
Feel Good Fayre
Thursday 7th February
C7 Disco
Wednesday 13th February
C10 MADE training School Production Night 1 — Bugsy Malone!
Thursday 14th February
School Production Night 2 — Bugsy Malone!
Monday 18th February to Friday 22nd February
Half term break
Wednesday 27th February
C11 Dance Show
Thursday 28th February
C11 Whole cohort photo
Tuesday 5th March
C9 DTP and Meningitis vaccinations
Thursday 7th March
World Book Day and Dress Down Day
Wednesday 13th March
C8 Guided Choices evening 6:00pm
Thursday 14th March
Primary Learning Day (Year 5 Expressive Arts)
W/c 18th March
Enrichment week
Please check our website for the inclement weather procedure IS Club runs on the following days in CS2: Monday & Tuesday 3:20—4:30pm Wednesday 3:00pm—4:00pm
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Parents’ Time
Information regarding catering: Our menus are published each week on our website and guidance regarding food allergens etc can be found at https://parent.honywoodschool.com/information/about-theschool/canteen/
Thankyou to our Cohort 8 Duty Receptionists
Members of the Leadership Team will be available to see parents without appointment: Monday
7:15am—8:00am
Wednesday
3.00pm—3.45pm
Friday
7.15am—8.00am
Tours for current and prospective parents are available on Wednesdays , 9:15am—10:15am.