"Memory is not about random chance or laborious hours of study.
If you choose to remember something you can."
Daisy Christodolou, educator and author

In May 2020, Year 10 and Year 11 pupils at Deer Park were given access to a Key Stage 4 Learning Conference Presentation about Study Skills and Scaling Up. Having had the opportunity to watch this narrated presentation in advance, we hosted a virtual Live Learning Conference on Monday 18 May on MS Teams.

This online event gave pupils from across Key Stage 4 the opportunity to find out more about some strategies for working smarter rather than working harder. As our pupils will soon move to key transition points, either into Year 11 or Year 12, they and their parents had the chance to reflect on how we learn.

The conference focused firstly on simple study strategies: Mind maps, Flashcards and the Leitner system, Cornell notes, Roll and Retrieval Grids, and Read - Plan - Scale, to help support pupils in the writing of notes and building up those important memory pathways.

The second part of the session signposted some useful resources for Scaling Up: recommended reading, journals, Future Learn, Learning Latin and opportunities from Oxford University.

Remember that knowledge is sticky, so the more you know, the more you learn. Any opportunities to build knowledge are opportunities which should be grasped.

Following on from Edith-Clare's insights about her learning journey to Sheffield University, we heard during the live event from Laurie about his experience at Cambridge University. It was great to hear them both share their top tips on how best to plan for future successes.

Remember that you can access the presentation here - Key Stage 4 Learning Conference Presentation (requires pupil logon) - and this is something that we hope you will dip into over the next few weeks to help make your transition smoother and to support you in Year 11 and beyond. 

Year 10 pupil: "I just wanted to say thank you for this evening - it was great and I definitely got a lot from it!"