Echoing the themes of our other year groups' learning conferences, on Wednesday 8 February 2023 Mr Clutterbuck, Headteacher, ran a Year 8 Learning Conference for pupils during the school day and a Year 8 Learning and Curriculum Evening for parents/carers that evening, focusing on the whys and wherefores of effective learning.

The conference explored memory and the importance of forgetting in order to remember, why revision is so important, and why little and often is the best way to revise. Forming effective revision habits now is key, and being like the Chinese Bamboo Tree is a useful analogy to understand why revision as an active learning technique in Year 8 will reap huge reward in Year 11.

Mr Clutterbuck walked through two effective techniques for revision: note-taking using ‘delete, substitute and keep’ and the Leitner Method to use flashcards effectively.

This was the last in a series of 5 learning conferences this academic year. The Learning Conferences will return in September with similar themes but different content to help make learning more effective for all pupils.

One parent commented “I wish I had been taught these methods when I was at school. I was never taught how to revise, let alone any effective methods. The methods shared with us tonight are really useful and I can see ways in which I can be more useful at home helping her revise without having to know the subjects inside out!”

If you were unable to attend the event, you can watch a narrated version of the presentation below: