What is Confidentiality in Childcare?

Confidentiality refers to keeping sensitive, personal information private and secure. This means not disclosing personal information to people who don’t need to know it, preventing unauthorised access to private information and not using, sharing or disclosing someone’s information without their consent.

In terms of confidentiality in childcare, confidentiality is an agreement between members of staff, health and social care professionals, children and their families. We all have personal information – even children – and we all have a right to privacy. Therefore, you have an important role to play in keeping sensitive information private and only sharing it when absolutely necessary.

In childcare settings, confidential personal information is anything about a child or their family that could be considered ‘sensitive’. Legally, personal information is anything that relates to an identifiable person, isn’t common knowledge, and that would cause the person damage, harm or distress if it was disclosed without consent.

For children and families examples of personal information that you should keep confidential include:

• The child’s name, address and contact details.
• Registration forms or contracts.
• The parents’ or carers’ names and contact information.
• Parental consent forms.
• Information about a child’s health, disabilities or wellbeing.
• Details about a child’s development or educational needs.
• Notes containing child protection or welfare concerns.
• Accident and incident records.
• A child’s medical history.
• Photographs of the child.

Why is Confidentiality Important in Childcare?

Confidentiality is important in childcare because not only do you have a duty of care towards the children you look after, but you are also responsible for legal compliance. We all have a legal right to privacy under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1988 which establishes ‘the right to respect for your private and family life’. To help uphold this right, you must keep children’s information confidential and only share it when absolutely necessary.

You also have a legal duty to keep a child’s information confidential under the Data Protection Act 2018. This law requires all settings to:

• Keep personal information safe and secure.
• Protect personal information from misuse.
• Process personal information securely and confidentially.
• Give people control over the use of their personal data (ask for consent).

Alongside legal reasons, confidentiality in childcare is essential because it establishes trust between parents, children and childcare workers. If parents and carers can trust that their child’s information will be kept secure, then they’re more likely to trust you and your setting with important information and less likely to withhold details from you.

How to Maintain Confidentiality in Childcare

To maintain confidentiality in childcare, you must take into account the following:

• Only share personal information with third parties when you have the consent and formal permission from the child’s parents or carers or, where appropriate, the child. Information can only be shared without consent in emergency situations.
• When keeping records about a child, whether digital or on paper, the personal information recorded must be accurate and factual. Avoid vague language, judgmental comments or opinions.
• Ensure parents and carers are informed about which personal information you need about them and their children, what you’ll be using it for and how you’ll keep it safe and confidential.
• Personal information should only be shared on a ‘need to know’ basis, i.e. only with people directly involved in the child’s care.
• When talking to a parent, carer, child or adult involved in the child’s care about sensitive topics, or when requesting personal information verbally, hold the discussion in a private space where you cannot be overheard.
• Parents have a legal right to see what has been written about their child and make an access request to see their files. However, if the child’s files contain confidential information about other people, then these people must be asked for consent before you can share the file.
• Your setting must have robust data protection and GDPR policies and procedures in place for all types of confidential information, whether digital or paper. This includes clear guidance on obtaining, storing, sharing and deleting personal information,
• All members of staff in your childcare setting need to be trained in confidentiality, your setting’s policies and procedures and their responsibilities. Everyone must understand how to handle confidential information and how to keep it secure.

Looking to Learn More?

Everyone working in a childcare setting should understand the importance of confidentiality, data security and how to handle personal information about the children and families they work with. Our online GDPR Training, Data Protection Training, Cyber Security and Information Governance courses will ensure you and your staff members have all the necessary knowledge to act responsibly and legally.

When Can Child Confidentiality be Breached?

The law states that personal information must be kept confidential and, for childcare practitioners, confidentiality in childcare is an essential part of the role. However, there are certain situations when confidentiality can be breached and parental consent is not needed to disclose information.

The Children Act 2004 says that childcare professionals must share information about a child if:

• There are immediate concerns about a child’s physical or mental health.
• The child is being exposed to harm or is at risk of harm.
• Parental needs mean that the child cannot be looked after properly.

Confidentiality should always be set aside if there is an immediate risk of harm to the child, yourself or someone else. This is also the case if the child is at risk of being involved in criminal activity. In these situations, consent to share personal information is not required as the child’s immediate welfare is more important.

Confidentiality Policy in Childcare

A confidentiality policy in childcare is used to clearly outline the procedure for collecting, storing and sharing personal information. It should be communicated to all members of staff, parents and carers, so that everyone understands what their responsibilities are.

Your childcare setting should also have a separate data protection policy and safeguarding policy that reference confidentiality and information sharing.

A confidentiality policy in childcare should cover:

• What types of personal information your setting holds.
• Where you will store personal information and how you will keep it secure, e.g. a locked cabinet, password protection, etc.
• Who the personal information will be shared with.
• How parents can access information about their child held by the setting.
• The procedure for unauthorised breaches of confidentiality.
• An explanation of when personal information will be shared in case of emergency.
• Who has overall responsibility for data protection in the setting.
• How staff members will be trained in confidentiality procedures.

Confidentiality in childcare is essential for upholding legal rights, data protection compliance and child wellbeing. All personal information that’s shared with your setting must be kept private and secure, and this can be done by following a robust confidentiality policy. Everyone must understand their responsibilities and recognise what they should be doing to maintain and respect the confidentiality of the children and families they work with.

Further Resources:

• Information Governance Training
• Whistleblowing in Schools: Policy and Procedure
• Creating a Safeguarding Policy – Example Template for Schools
• Keeping Children Safe in Education: Key Changes

The post Confidentiality in Childcare appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will explore what the problem-solving method of teaching is, cover some of its benefits for learning, and provide steps, tips, and examples of how to implement problem-solving in your classroom.

What is the Problem-Solving Method?

The problem-solving method in teaching is a learner-centred approach that encourages students to apply critical thinking, reasoning, and creativity to solve challenges. It focuses on developing students’ ability to identify problems, explore potential solutions, and apply their knowledge in a range of scenarios. This method aims to encourage independent thinking and deepen understanding of topics to make it more achievable to apply them to a real-world situation.

Unlike traditional teaching methods, which often emphasise memorisation and repetition via direct instruction, problem-solving is more interactive and collaborative. Teachers provide problems that allow students to actively engage with the content, work with other pupils, and use critical thinking to find solutions. This process helps students connect their knowledge to practical situations, creating a deeper and more applicable learning experience.

The teacher’s role is to act as a facilitator, offering support without giving away the steps to solve the problem. This encourages students to play an active role in their own learning, build confidence, and learn how to overcome challenges.

Overall, problem solving is a highly effective method of teaching. To learn how to ensure your teaching is at its best, read our article on What is Effective Teaching?

How Does Problem Solving Differ From Other Teaching Methods?

The problem-solving method of teaching differs from other educational strategies in a few important ways:

• Student-centred vs teacher-led: Firstly, problem solving is a student-centred form of learning and therefore differs from more traditional teacher-led strategies such as direct instruction and assessment as it places the learning process on the students, who are only guided by the teacher when needed. 
• Learning by discovery vs rote learning: Problem solving allows students to make inquiries and delve deeper into topics, encouraging them to connect concepts and analyse their findings, rather than simply learning by memorisation and repetition as in rote learning.
• Emphasis on process vs outcome: Problem solving encourages learning through the process of critical thinking rather than simply arriving at a correct answer and reaching the right result.
• Collaborative vs individual: Students often work as a team when problem solving which allows them to learn from one another, rather than other teaching methods which focus on independent work and individual achievement. 
• Real-world vs abstract application: In problem solving, tasks are often based on real-life challenges which makes learning practical and applicable, whereas traditional teaching methods focus more on theoretical understanding. 

You can find examples of other educational strategies to implement in the classroom in our guide on 8 Teaching Methods to Use in the Classroom.

Problem-Solving Method Advantages

Problem solving in the classroom has a myriad of benefits for students, helping to vastly increase valuable skills for education and their life beyond school. But what’s more, problem solving is a fun way for students to learn as they can enjoy the challenge of tackling an issue and feel a sense of accomplishment when they succeed in solving it.

Here are a few of the many advantages of problem solving for your pupils:

Promotes Thinking

Problem solving is a highly effective method of improving students’ thinking processes as it exposes them to a variety of different thinking strategies, including critical, creative and logical thinking, that are valuable for solving problems both within school and in the real world. These methods of thinking will help them to solve issues more effectively as well as encouraging them to consider and improve their working processes depending on their success or failure at certain challenges. 

Builds Confidence 

Introducing problem solving into your teaching will naturally allow students to frequently overcome challenges, which can strengthen their confidence as they experience success. The more a pupil masters problems they’re faced with, the more they’ll feel able to share their ideas without fear of failure or embarrassment. Ultimately, this builds self-esteem and allows students to express themselves more freely. 

Encourages Collaboration

Problem solving can easily be made into a group activity but even when engaging in problem solving independently, students are more likely to ask their peers for help or share ideas. As a result, problem solving promotes communication in the classroom and increases the sharing of varied opinions and approaches. In turn, this introduces pupils to a wider array of viewpoints and thus broadens their perspective. 

Forms Creativity

Not only does problem solving foster critical and logical thinking, it also promotes creativity. Students have to use their imagination to ideate on an array of possible solutions to one problem using brainstorming, writing, and other activities that use the creative areas of the brain. Learning to form new ideas by seeing a problem from all different perspectives is, at its root, a creative challenge and one that is extremely useful for pupils. 

Creates Resilience

The nature of trying to solve a problem will inevitably involve some failure and the need to try multiple methods before eventually succeeding in finding an effective solution. Therefore, problem solving helps to build perseverance and results in students becoming stronger and more adaptable individuals – core skills that will be highly beneficial in the real-world. 

Promotes Active Learning

Active learning encourages students to fully engage in their education rather than passively intaking information. Problem solving is a highly effective method of promoting active learning as it is highly student-centred and thus requires learners to think hard about information to build their understanding of it, thus improving retention and their ability to apply the knowledge. 

To learn more about engaging students in their own learning, read our article on What is Active Learning? 

Problem-Solving Method Steps

There are a few different stages to problem solving in teaching, and each one is important to ensure your students get the most out of this educational strategy and reap its benefits. We’ve broken problem solving down into 5 easy-to-follow steps to help you implement this method in your classroom effectively:

Problem-Solving Method Examples

Whilst the benefits of using problem solving in teaching may be clear, it can understandably be hard to think of inspiration for potential challenges to provide your students with. To help, here are four examples of how the problem-solving method can be applied in different subjects:

Science: Designing a Water Filtration System

In this example, teachers can pose the problem of cleaning water using household materials. Students will have to learn and discuss the science of filtration and the properties of different materials before deciding which materials to use and brainstorming filtration designs. Pupils will have the opportunity to build their own filtration systems then test them to see which works best before evaluating their strengths and weaknesses to find potential improvements. 

Geography: Planning a Sustainable City

A problem solving case in geography could revolve around designing a city that addresses issues such as waste management, public transport, and energy use. Students will have to learn about the environmental issues cities face and sustainable alternatives before coming up with their own solutions and modelling their city using drawings, diagrams, or computer software. Afterwards, the class can discuss what would work in practice or if there would be any implementation challenges.

History: Reversing the Decline of an Ancient Civilisation 

For this challenge, students can explore the causes behind the decline of an ancient civilisation, such as the Roman Empire, examining various sources to determine possible causes of their decline (e.g. political instability, economic trouble) and what could have been done to prevent these issues and maintain strength in the civilisation. Pupils could also discuss how these problems relate to other historical events and what we can learn from them in the modern day.

Maths: Solving Real-World Budgeting Issues

There are unlimited issues that could be used for this task, but one example would be to determine the cost of building a fence around a park. Students must determine the length of fence needed and how much it will cost based on the price per metre of fencing material. They can brainstorm various methods of finding these calculations, trying to find the quickest and most effective one, before presenting their calculations to the class and discussing how their methods could be applied to other real-world situations. 

Tips for Implementing the Problem-Solving Method in Your Classroom

Using the problem-solving method in the classroom can be extremely rewarding given all the benefits it provides students. However, like most teaching strategies, it has a few challenges that you may come up against. By addressing these common obstacles and using our expert tips below, you can implement problem solving in your teaching smoothly and effectively. 

• Clearly Define the Problem: Ensure students fully understand the problem they need to solve before they begin working on it, and use real-world examples to help them connect its relevance to their own lives.
• Scaffold Learning: Provide the most guidance at the start, then gradually reduce your support to encourage independent thinking as students gain confidence. You can learn more about this technique in our Teacher’s Guide to Scaffolding in Education.
• Encourage Collaboration: Foster teamwork by setting clear roles and providing opportunities for group discussion, thus helping students build up their problem-solving skills through collaborative work.
• Incorporate Varied Resources: Offer access to books, videos, lectures, and practical experiences amongst other resource types to help students gather a wide range of information and become adept at seeking out knowledge in a variety of places.
• Balance Structure and Flexibility: Maintain clear goals and timelines to offer a guide for pupils to follow, but be wary not to make the process too rigid, allowing creativity in their approaches to problem solving.
• Promote Critical Thinking: Ask open-ended questions that challenge students to think beyond surface-level answers and explore different perspectives.
• Encourage Reflection: Lead regular discussions on what worked and what didn’t to help students learn from the process, apply their skills to the real-world and improve.

Overcoming Common Challenges in the Problem-Solving Method

• Student Frustration: Problem solving tasks can seem daunting to pupils at first so it’s important to give regular encouragement and break problems into smaller, more manageable tasks to prevent students from getting overwhelmed.
• Limited Resources: Although problem solving often requires gathering information from a wide array of sources, it is possible to use low-cost or virtual solutions and encourage resourcefulness to overcome material constraints.
• Dominance in Group Work: Some students are naturally more vocal than others. To prevent quieter students from getting less out of the task, assign rotating roles to ensure every student contributes and benefits from collaboration.
• Lack of Time: A common misconception is that problem solving tasks take up too much of the academic day, but this can be prevented. Focus on quality over quantity by selecting fewer, more impactful problem solving tasks to implement in your lesson plans.
• Assessment Difficulties: Develop clear measures of success that assess not only the final solution but also the process involved to get there, including teamwork, creativity, and innovation.

Problem solving can be a highly effective and beneficial method of teaching that enables students who learn in different ways to all get something out of the task and apply their knowledge to situations that are relevant to their world outside of the classroom. Incorporating problem solving into your curriculum will help to produce students who are more confident, creative, resilient, and collaborative individuals. Thus, it’s well worth using the problem-solving method in your teaching. 

Further Resources:

• CPD Courses for Teaching and Education
• 8 Teaching Methods to Use in the Classroom
• Scaffolding in Education: A Guide for Teachers
• What is Effective Teaching?
• What is Active Learning?

The post What is the Problem-Solving Method of Teaching? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

What is Financial Literacy for Students?

Financial literacy for students is about having the knowledge and skills to make informed financial decisions. It includes children understanding important financial concepts and principles so that they can go on to manage their money well for the rest of their lives.

Financial education in schools gives children and young people the power to make the most of their money and plan for their future. It’s widely accepted that children’s attitudes to money are usually developed by the age of 7 so, as a teacher, you are well-placed to help the children in your care develop the lifelong money skills they need.

In primary schools, financial literacy includes topics like; recognising how money is used, making simple calculations with money, calculating change, budgeting, saving money, planning ahead, keeping money safe, comparing costs and understanding the use of bank cards.

In secondary schools, financial literacy is more about the functions and uses of money, covering topics such as; credit and debit, insurance, pensions, savings, debt, interest rates, personal finance products, currencies and exchange rates, value for money, managing a household budget and more complex calculations.

Why Financial Literacy is Important for Students

Financial literacy is important for students because it supports lifelong wellbeing and success. The many benefits of students learning financial literacy in schools include:

• The ability to open a bank account.
• Encouragement of responsible spending and making informed choices.
• The ability to save for the future.
• Understanding of how to avoid and manage debt. 
• Recognition of the importance of having a pension.
• Confidence to manage an income from paid work.
• Understanding of how tax works.
• Lower stress levels through better financial stability.
• Knowledge of how to avoid financial exploitation, fraud or abuse.

How to Teach Financial Literacy

Whether you’re teaching financial literacy to secondary school students or pre-schoolers, financial literacy topics can easily be incorporated into personal development or citizenship lessons, such as PSHE. They can also be used to bring other areas of the curriculum into the real world for your students. For example, using maths lessons to calculate change or work out interest rates makes the subject more relevant to real life.

In the UK, there are different curriculum requirements for financial education depending on where your school is. As a general guide:

• In England, financial education is included in the curriculum for secondary schools only as part of citizenship and maths lessons. It covers budgeting, credit and debt, insurance, savings and pensions. Financial education isn’t compulsory in primary schools but the maths curriculum does include some learning about money.
• In Scotland, ‘financial capability’ is included in the curriculum for pupils aged 3 to 14 years and is mainly covered in maths and numeracy lessons.
• In Wales, elements of financial education are covered in subjects such as maths and health and wellbeing, and are taught to both primary and secondary school students.
• In Northern Ireland, ‘financial capability’ is included in the curriculum for pupils aged 4 to 14, primarily through maths and numeracy lessons.

The UK’s Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) provides some key themes that have been shown to build financial capability amongst children. These themes can be used to help shape your lessons on financial literacy:

1. Start teaching financial literacy at a young age – children as young as pre-schoolers will benefit from financial education and evidence shows that children’s attitudes to money are well-developed by the time they turn 7.
2. Translate lessons into real-life – by putting learning into practice, financial education will be more effective. For example, use workshops to support children to open a bank account or set them homework around managing a budget for the weekend.
3. Involve grown ups in financial education – lessons will be more successful when parents and carers are invited to join in, whether that’s in-school with meetings and workshops or at home doing homework with their children. Parental involvement helps to influence a child’s mindset and behaviour around money.

Financial Literacy Activities for Students

There are many ways you can incorporate financial education activities into your lessons and they don’t need to be complicated. Below are a few ideas for fun financial literacy activities that you can adopt for your students, whatever their age:

• Create a pocket money savings plan for an item they really want to buy. There are various templates available online or you could design your own.
• Give each child an imaginary amount of money for the food shop, then ask them to work out what they can afford to buy from a list of groceries, plus how much change they’ll have at the end.
• Print off a money bingo card from the internet and play as a class.
• Split the class into small groups and let them play financial board games, like Monopoly, Payday or The Game of Life, that require students to manage their own money.
• Create a fake bank statement and ask the students to identify key information from it, such as adding up total outgoings in a particular category, finding direct debits or spotting fraudulent transactions.
• Explore how money can affect feelings – how do students feel in a range of money-related scenarios? What can they do to manage these emotions?
• Plan an imaginary holiday and calculate exchange rates using a foreign currency. Have the students identify which souvenirs they can and cannot afford.
• Give each student an example payslip and get them to check whether the information on it is correct, including tax deductions and pension savings.
• Search for online money games to play in computer-based lessons – most UK banks and money providers have a range of financial literacy games and activities for children on their websites.

Financial literacy in schools is an important topic that can set students up for life with the money skills they need for success. Teaching financial literacy doesn’t need to be complicated and you can easily adapt existing lessons by introducing fun activities that ensure financial literacy becomes a key part of the curriculum.

Further Resources:

• CPD Courses for Teaching and Education
• What is Media Literacy and Why is it Important?
• What is Visual Literacy?
• Social Skills in Children
• What is Effective Teaching?

The post The Importance of Financial Literacy in Schools appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

What is Record Keeping in Health and Social Care?

Record keeping is an integral part of health and social care work and an essential part of supportive, person-centred care.

Record keeping in health and social care is about writing down what you have done, what you’ve observed, any relevant decisions made and what will happen next. These records may be paper-based or digital, daily notes or formal assessments, but they all have the same aim: to communicate the right information to the right people at the right time.

These days, digital records are increasingly replacing paper records, as it’s much easier to capture and share accurate information this way. Paper records are still used in some settings, however. Examples of the types of records you might need to keep in a health and social care setting, whether digital or paper, include:

• Personal information about patients/residents. 
• Care plans.
• Patient/resident legal documents.
• Accommodation information.
• Financial information.
• Referral information.
• Local authority reports.
• Written correspondence.
• Information shared by family.
• Transcripts of conversations about a patient/resident.
• Safeguarding information, concerns and records.

Why is Record Keeping Important in Health and Social Care?

Keeping good quality, accurate records is an essential part of ensuring good outcomes for the people who use your services. Record keeping is an important part of providing high-quality, safe and effective care to those who need it and ensures everyone has the right information at the right time.

Accurate record keeping benefits everyone, including the people using the service, the care providers, health and social care employees and the wider health and social care system. 

Good record keeping is important in health and social care because it:

• Encourages care and support of patients/residents.
• Promotes continuity of care.
• Helps identify emerging patterns and challenges a person might be having.
• Helps to prioritise interventions.
• Improves patient/resident safety.
• Helps staff to respond more quickly to patient/resident needs.
• Promotes effective communication, both internally and externally.
• Helps to quickly and easily share important information.
• Aids others not involved with the patient/resident to quickly understand the situation.
• Reduces the chances of information duplication and errors.
• Improves accountability and transparency.
• Aids learning and helps identify mistakes, progress and achievements.
• Can be used as evidence in case of complaints, investigations or court cases.
• Ensures staff can easily comply with their legal duty to record information.

Want to Know More?

Everyone working in a health and social care setting must be fully trained in how to perform their role, care for patients and residents safely and comply with legal obligations. Our range of Health and Social Care courses covers all your training needs, from Information Governance to Advanced Safeguarding Adults and Data Protection.

Principles of Good Record Keeping in Social Care

Below are five guiding principles that will help you keep accurate, secure and person-centred records in your health and social care setting:

How to Maintain Records in Health and Social Care

Maintaining records in health and social care is about ensuring the records you create are honest, accurate and up-to-date. It’s vital that recordkeeping is done correctly if the records are to be useful and effective.

Where possible, you should always involve the patient or resident in the creation of the record. All health and social care records should be co-produced between the member of staff writing the record and the person whom the record is about. For example, the care home assistant and the resident or the GP and their patient. This keeps your records person-centred and always in a person’s best interests.

All records should be recorded promptly and as close as possible to the event being recorded. Timely recording helps reduce the chances of inaccuracies or mis-remembered information, prevents delays in action being taken and ensures records are not forgotten about or left incomplete.

As a basic guide, the types of information you need to record includes:

• The time and date of the record.
• Your name and job role.
• The patient/resident’s name.
• The type of communication and who initiated it.
• The names and job roles of anyone else present.
• Details of any discussions had.
• Details of any decisions made or actions taken, and by whom.
• Information on what needs to happen next.
• For paper records, a signature and date.

How Long Should Social Care Records Be Kept For?

The Data Protection Act states that personal information must not be kept for any longer than necessary. By law, all types of health and social care records should only be kept for as long as you need them. They must also only be kept for the purpose for which you recorded the information in the first place and only for as long as their legal retention period allows.

Note that there is no one-size-fits-all minimum retention period for health and social care records, and some records must be kept longer than others. For example, adult social care records (including care plans) must be kept for a minimum of 8 years, children’s records are held until their 25th or 26th birthday and clinical dental records should be retained for 11 years.

When records have come to the end of their minimum retention period, it is a legal requirement that they are permanently destroyed in a manner that continues to protect the personal information contained within them. For example, in confidential waste bins or via a secure electronic data deletion service. Health and social care records of any type must never be thrown away with general waste or paper recycling.

Records can only be kept longer than their retention period in specific circumstances, such as for audits, legal proceedings, inquests, public inquiries or for Subject Access Requests.

Record keeping in health and social care is an important part of the job role and shouldn’t be seen as an administrative burden. When done timely, accurately and correctly, record keeping ensures that patients and residents receive the best possible care as information about them is always correct, up-to-date and shared with the right people at the right time. 

Further Resources:

• Information Governance Training
• What are the 8 Caldicott Principles in Health and Social Care?
• How to Maintain Confidentiality in Health and Social Care

The post Record Keeping in Health and Social Care appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

What is Ability Grouping in Education?

Ability grouping in education is where students are placed in teaching groups according to their academic performance, perceived level of academic ability and/or their strengths.

Ability grouping is used widely as an approach to education around the world, including in the UK where ‘sets’ are a common example. Schools tend to place their pupils into groups based on their differing levels of performance, with the strongest-performing students in a ‘higher’ set and those that struggle in a ‘lower’ set.

The intention behind ability grouping is that students’ educational attainment will be increased if they are given more targeted resources, expertise and learning, based on their ability. In theory, learning alongside similarly-qualified peers will also encourage better performance.

Types of Ability Grouping

There are three main types of ability grouping that you may use within your educational setting:

1. Within-class grouping – students are grouped within the classroom according to their ability and receive different tasks or resources based on the level of their group. The teacher is likely to be teaching all groups at the same time but offering different tasks to each group.
2. Tracking or streaming – students are grouped into different classrooms based on their ability, so everyone in the class is of the same level and offered the same level of the curriculum. Teachers are only teaching one performance-level group at a time.
3. Setting – like tracking, students are grouped based on their ability but for individual subjects. They may be put into different sets for different subjects, based on their performance. Teachers provide the same curriculum to all students but tailor it to the level of each set.

Benefits of Ability Grouping

There are many advantages of ability grouping in education for both students and teachers, such as:

• The opportunity to tailor instruction and give more individualised attention to students. With ability grouping, teachers can more easily allocate attention to pupils who need it most and can set the pace and the level for individual groups.
• Students receive better-paced learning that’s more suitable for them. This means high-attaining children can be challenged and move faster whilst those who struggle can receive more support and won’t be put off by lessons that move too quickly for them to keep up with.
• Improved engagement amongst all students, as tailored learning helps to reduce boredom and encourage participation.
• Students feel more confident in their abilities when whole classrooms are grouped according to ability through tracking or streaming. If all students are performing at a similar level within a classroom, feelings of inadequacy or failure are less likely.
• Easier lesson planning for teachers, who can more easily tailor their lessons according to the identified performance level of the students within their classroom.

Disadvantages of Ability Grouping

Whilst ability grouping has its positives, it has also been highly criticised by many educators and comes with its disadvantages, such as:

• Whether ‘ability’ can be measured with any sort of reliability is difficult, as students’ abilities often fluctuate over the year depending on their circumstances.
• No two students perform exactly the same, so it can sometimes be hard to determine suitable groups.
• Some students may be ‘borderline’ between groups and put in a set that doesn’t fit their true abilities. This can lead to demotivation, boredom and even mental health concerns.
• Ability grouping is often also based on factors other than education attainment, such as socioeconomic background, so schools may be inadvertently creating social divisions and inequalities within classrooms.
• There’s a risk of lowering expectations of students by putting them in ‘lower’ sets. Students may see a low set as a sign of low output, so put in less effort or feel as if they’ve been sidelined.

Want to Learn More?

If you are an education professional, why not take a look at our range of CPD Courses for Teaching and Education to develop your skills and stay compliant. Extend your knowledge with courses such as Challenging Behaviour Training, Child Mental Health Training, and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in the Classroom.

Alternatives to Ability Grouping

There are various alternative strategies to ability grouping that you may wish to implement in your school or classroom. Whilst ability grouping is seen to have many advantages, it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach and should be used with care and according to the needs of your particular students.

Alternatives to ability grouping include:

Mixed ability grouping

Mixed ability grouping is when the classroom is made up of students of differing abilities and they are all taught the same curriculum in the same way. The idea is that the higher-attaining students will inspire the lower-attaining students to do well.

Cooperative learning

In cooperative learning, students of mixed abilities are put in groups to work together. For example, a group of four students working on a project might be made up of a high achiever, a student of average performance and two of lower performance. The aim is for students to work collaboratively.

Peer-interactive learning

This is a type of grouping where students’ abilities are mixed strategically so that they learn from each other. Students may work in pairs or small groups containing at least one high-achieving pupil and one low-achieving pupil. The idea is that communication and equality is improved between students.

Differentiated instruction

Differentiated instruction is when teachers tailor their lessons and instructions to each individual student, based on their individual strengths and abilities. The aim is to personalise learning for each child, give students more flexibility in how they learn and ensure everyone reaches their educational potential.

How to Group Students by Ability

If ability grouping is the right strategy for your school or classroom, then you need to implement it in a way that minimises drawbacks and helps all pupils to reach their performance potential.

Here are a few ways to group students by ability:

• Look at previous attainment – this is the easiest way to group students by ability, as you can look at their exam and test results from the previous school year and put them in groups accordingly.
• Use other data – base your groupings on facts rather than feelings. As well as last year’s exam results, look at any other assessments, coursework, certificates and results each student has achieved.
• Ask for teacher observations – teachers and classroom assistants have so much knowledge of their students and their abilities and can easily identify their performance and potential. Exam results aren’t always reflective of a student’s true potential and teachers can help to identify this.
• Consider the student’s interests – speak to students and ask them about their interests, preferences and ambitions and let them help decide which group they should be in.

In the classroom, you can enhance the success of ability grouping by:

• Using a seating plan – put the students in higher sets at the back of the room where they can work independently and the students who need more support at the front where you can help them more easily.
• Use neutral group names – avoid naming groups/sets things like ‘advanced group’ or ‘high set’ as this can make students feel inadequate and unmotivated if they’re placed in the ‘low’ or ‘remedial’ group. Even using numbers can be damaging. Instead, name your groups after colours, seasons or fruits, which don’t have negative connotations.
• Monitor and assess the groups regularly – regularly monitoring the groups and ensuring students are in the right one is essential for their educational attainment. All students change over time and may need to swap groups/sets to ensure they remain on track.

Ability grouping in education is a well-used method for ensuring students receive a more tailored education. Ability grouping helps schools to deliver the right teaching and resources to pupils and assists students to reach their full academic potential. However, ability grouping should always be used with care and reviewed regularly, as it can also have disadvantages for students if not carefully considered.

Further Resources:

• CPD Courses for Teaching and Education
• 8 Teaching Methods to Use in the Classroom
• What is Adaptive Teaching?
• What is Effective Teaching?
• How to Create a Positive Learning Environment

The post What is Ability Grouping in Education? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

Medical Conditions at School

Many children have long-term medical conditions that they need to manage on a daily basis. Some of these children will have highly complex care and intimate treatment needs, whilst others will have short-term medical conditions that they need to take prescription medication for. No matter their needs, all of these children will require support with administering medication during the school day, and this is where teaching staff play an important role.

The Children and Families Act 2014 states that all schools must have arrangements in place to support pupils with medical conditions. The Department for Education also has statutory guidance to help schools comply with this requirement.

It’s important that all schools should have an understanding of:

• Each child’s named medical condition.
• The symptoms, triggers and treatment for the medical condition.
• The child’s specific needs as a result of their medical condition.
• The level of support needed and who will provide it.
• Special arrangements needed for activities outside of the normal school curriculum.
• Any additional special educational needs (SEN) the child has.

Guidelines on Administering Medication in School

It’s essential that all schools recognise that medical conditions can not only be life-threatening for a child, but can also have a significant impact on their ability to learn and achieve their potential in the classroom. This is why children with medical conditions must be supported fully.

The following guidelines on administering medication in school will help you to fulfill your duty of care towards children with medical needs:

• Medicines should only be administered during schooltime when it would be detrimental to a child’s health not to do so.
• Children under the age of 16 should never be given medicine at school, whether prescription or not, without their parents’ consent.
• Children who take medicines or use medical devices, such as inhalers, insulin or auto-injectors, should know where their medicines are kept at school and always be able to access them.
• No child should be forced to take their medicine if they are refusing to do so. In these instances, the child’s parents should be informed and any procedures named in the child’s healthcare plan should be followed.
• Members of staff have the right to refuse to administer medication to a child if they’re not trained to do so, don’t feel comfortable doing so or it’s outside of their job role.
• The school should keep a written record of all medicines administered, including who it was given to, when, how much and by whom.
• If a child falls ill at school, whether because of a medical condition or otherwise, their parents or carers should always be informed.

Who Can Administer Medication in Schools?

Any member of staff within your school can be trained and supported to administer medication to students who need it. All schools already have access to a school nurse and this person is well-suited to supporting children with medical needs, implementing healthcare plans and providing advice.

Assisting and supporting a child with a medical condition should not just be the responsibility of one person, so it’s important that multiple staff members are given appropriate training.

Your medication in schools policy should identify the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved in the administration of medication and include input from parents, healthcare professionals, pupils, etc. where appropriate. There should also be a list of medical tasks that members of staff must never do, i.e. those that should only be carried out by a registered healthcare professional.

No member of staff should give out prescription medication or perform healthcare procedures without appropriate specialist training in how to administer medication and provide support to children who need it. A basic first-aid certificate is not sufficient in these situations.

The school’s headteacher has overall responsibility for ensuring the appropriate number of staff members are trained, that there is enough contingency cover and that staff know what to do in emergency situations. In some cases, additional members of staff may need to be recruited to fulfil these needs. Furthermore, headteachers must ensure that teachers are appropriately insured in order to provide care to students with medical conditions.

Looking to Learn More?

All members of staff in education should have a good understanding of children’s health needs and how to support basic first aid situations. Our online Paediatric First Aid and Allergy & Anaphylaxis for Schools courses are great starting points, or view our full range of Courses for Teaching and Education.

Medication in Schools Policy

It’s important that all schools develop a robust medication in schools policy in order to si[port their students with medical conditions. The policy should be reviewed and updated regularly and be easily accessible by all school staff, parents and pupils.

Key details that should be included in a medication in schools policy are:

• The roles and responsibilities of everyone involved in supporting medical conditions, including  the named member of staff who has overall responsibility for implementing the policy, the names of who is responsible for administering medicines and whose role it is to ensure the necessary medical equipment is available in school. 
• Contingency arrangements in case of staff absence or for when responsible people leave the school for any reason.
• The name of who has responsibility for ensuring staff receive suitable training, plus details of how training needs are assessed, who provides training and when.
• The procedure that should be followed whenever the school is notified that a pupil has a medical condition.
• The procedure that should be followed for managing students’ prescription medicines at school, including the arrangements for children who are able to administer their own medicines or manage their own health needs.
• The risk assessment process to follow for activities outside of the normal school curriculum where staff must ensure that pupils with medical needs can participate safely, such as school trips and sports days. It’s best practice to carry out a school trip risk assessment in consultation with parents and students.

• Details of who has responsibility for writing individual healthcare plans (IHPs) for students who need them. An IHP provides the school with clarity on the child’s medical condition and what support they need. It should be created in partnership with parents, healthcare professionals and, if appropriate, the child.
• Medication is usually prescribed and sometimes a controlled substance, so there needs to be a misuse of drugs procedure to handle any inappropriate situations.
• Details on the emergency procedure to follow should a child’s medical condition require hospitalisation whilst at school. In these instances, staff should call for an ambulance immediately and not take students to hospital unsupervised in their own private cars.
• Explicit information on what constitutes unacceptable practice in regards to medication in schools. For example, preventing a child from having access to their medication, ignoring the child’s needs, penalising children for low attendance as a result of a medical condition, making parents attend school to administer treatment to their own child or preventing children with medical needs from taking part in activities.
• Details on how complaints can be raised and how they will be handled. Complaints about how a child’s medical needs are handled can be made by anyone, including members of staff, parents, carers and students.

Administering Medication and Safeguarding

Sometimes, administering medication or assisting with treatment can be invasive for the child and may require intimate physical contact by a member of staff. As a result, the risk of physical and/or sexual abuse is increased.

For this reason, staff should always work in pairs and never administer intimate care or procedures alone.

Your school should have a clear intimate care policy that specifically explains how to provide medical support that involves contact with, or exposure of, a student’s body appropriately and with safeguarding in mind. Our further guidance on Child Sexual Abuse in Schools and Signs of Abuse in Children, as well as our free Child Abuse Resource Pack for Schools, will help to support your knowledge in this area further.

For children with medical conditions at school, teachers can often be an important lifeline. Members of staff with responsibility for administering medication to pupils at school must have a thorough understanding of each individual child’s medical needs so that they can be fully supported and their health, wellbeing and education continually safeguarded. A robust medication in schools policy will help education staff to fulfill this important responsibility.

Further Resources:

• Safeguarding Courses
• What is an Individual Healthcare Plan?
• Guidance on Adrenaline Auto-Injectors

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What is the Children and Families Act 2014?

The Children and Families Act 2014 is a combination of previous child welfare legislation and guidance – along with a number of important updates – that aims to improve the way services are received by vulnerable children, young people and their families.

Under the Act, universal services such as healthcare, social care and education are required to work together more closely to ensure children, parents and families receive the support they need at the right time.

Alongside other key safeguarding children legislation, the Act gives specific protection to more vulnerable children, such as those in foster care, those being adopted and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Want to Learn More?

If you work with children of any age and in any capacity, then having up-to-date child protection and safeguarding knowledge is essential. Our range of online Safeguarding Courses is suitable for professionals at all levels and covers topics including SEND in the Classroom, Designated Safeguarding Lead Training and Safeguarding Children with Disabilities

The Parts of the Children and Families Act 2014

There are nine key parts of the Children and Families Act 2014. Below is a summary of each part:

Part 1: Adoption

The first part of the Act is designed to make adoptions easier with the child’s welfare at the centre of all actions taken. Key points are:

• Children can move in with their adoptive families sooner.
• The ‘foster to adopt’ principle means that people who are already approved to foster can take the child into their home whilst waiting for the legal adoption process to go through.
• The process for prospective parents to find the right child for them to adopt is easier.
• Potential adoptive parents can access the adoption register, allowing them to search the database themselves and remove delays.
• There no longer needs to be any sort of ‘ethnic match’ between potential adopters and their adopted children.
• Families have more choice over who helps them after the adoption with a ‘personal budget’ for support.
• The contact that adopted children have with their birth families after they’ve been taken into care or adopted shouldn’t cause the child any problems.

Part 2: Family Justice

The second part of the Children and Families Act is designed to make court processes more effective, quicker and better in regards to child welfare. Key points are:

• The time it takes the family court to decide a child’s future is shortened.
• The court will always consider the welfare of the child first and ensure parents do what is right for the child, not what they want themselves.
• If the parents split up, they will be supported to sort things out and stay involved with their children’s lives without needing to involve the court.
• Child Arrangement Orders can be issued by the court to regulate a child’s living arrangements and how they spend time with others.

Part 3: Children and Young People in England with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND)

This part of the Act is designed to give parents more control over the welfare of their children with special educational needs or disabilities. Key points are:

• Parents, children and young people will be told what they need to know about their child’s SEND and how they can access help and support.
• Organisations and services must work together to help children with SEND and should involve families in discussions and decisions relating to their care and education.
• Children with SEND and their families have more say about the type of help they receive.
• Children with SEND will receive one assessment to determine their needs and one support plan that runs from birth to age 25, known as an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC).

Part 4: Childcare

This part of the Act is designed to increase the provision and quality of childcare outside of school across the UK. Key points are:

• More people are able to establish, register and train as childminders.
• Individual childminders no longer have to register with, or be inspected by, Ofsted.
• Schools and other providers have more flexibility to offer childcare before and after school.
• Parents have more choice of care for their very young children.

Part 5: Welfare of Children

This part of the Act is designed to improve the law so that children are treated better and looked after in more situations and are given better support at school and in foster care. Key points are:

• More help is provided for young carers by their local authority.
• More help is provided for parents with disabled children.
• Foster children can continue to live with their former foster carers until they are 21.
• Schools are given more help to support children with medical needs.
• Local authorities must appoint a ‘Virtual School Head’ to ensure looked-after children are reaching their potential in school.
• The quality of care provided by children’s homes is improved.
• Free school meals are given to all young pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2.
• In order to protect children from addiction, tobacco and nicotine advertising must not appeal to children, and both smoking in a car with children and buying tobacco for children under 18 are now offences.

Part 6: The Children’s Commissioner

This part of the Act is designed to outline changes to the Children’s Commissioner’s role, which was originally set up in 2004. Key points are:

• The Children’s Commissioner should promote and protect the rights of all children in the UK, including England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
• The Commissioner is independent but explains to everyone, including children, what they are doing and how they are taking children’s views on board.
• The Commissioner must pay special attention to the rights of children in care, children living away from home and children who leave care.
• Children now have a say in who is chosen to be the Children’s Commissioner.

Part 7: Statutory Rights to Leave and Pay

This part of the Act is designed to ensure all parents are entitled to the same rights in terms of looking after their child, beginning from when the child is born or adopted. Key points are:

• Both parents are entitled to share time off after a baby is born or child is adopted. Shared parental leave is up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of paid leave and applies to parents of any gender.
• Parents who are adopting a child are given the same time off and pay rights as birth parents.

Part 8: Time Off Work

This part of the Children and Families Act is designed to help parents with a new child take time off work to look after them. Key points are:

• Both parents are allowed time off to go together to medical appointments before a baby is born. The mother’s partner is allowed unpaid leave for two antenatal appointments.
• Both parents are allowed time off work to care for a new baby.
• People who are adopting a child are allowed unpaid time off work to go to adoption meetings and to see the child prior to their adoption.

Part 9: Right to Request Flexible Working

This last part of the Act is designed to help parents and carers apply for flexible working hours in order to look after a child or family. Key points are:

• Parents or carers in any job role in any industry can apply for flexible working hours.
• People can request to change work times or work locations to help them balance work and family time better.

Children and Families Act Summary

The Children and Families Act 2014 is a comprehensive piece of legislation that covers various topics relating to child welfare. The main points covered by the Act are:

1. Adoption has been made quicker and easier and has more focus on the child’s welfare.
2. Family court processes put children at the centre of all decisions and aim to support families if the parents split up.
3. Children with SEND have access to more help, have more say about the support they receive and will only be given one Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC) that lasts until they are 25.
4. Parents and schools have more choice and flexibility in terms of before and after school childcare.
5. The welfare of children should be the priority in all situations, including at school, in residential homes and in foster care. 
6. The Children’s Commissioner is chosen by children, promotes the rights of children and puts the views of children at the centre of all decisions.
7. All parents are entitled to the same leave and pay, whether they are birth parents or adopting a child.
8. Parents with a new child, whether by birth or adoption, have the right to time off work to attend appointments and look after their new child.
9. All parents and carers are able to request flexible working hours and locations to help them better manage work and family life.

The Children and Families Act 2014 gives more support and protection to vulnerable children, young people and their families in all aspects of the child’s life. If you work with children, whether in education, healthcare or social care, then having an understanding of the law and how it applies to those you work with, is an essential part of your safeguarding responsibility.

Further Resources:

• Safeguarding Online Courses
• Guidance on the Levels of Need in Safeguarding
• Safeguarding Children Legislation: Guidance for Schools

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Ideas for Christmas Activities in School

We’ve put together a list of some fun-filled Christmas activities for the classroom to help you capture the magic of the season. Each activity can be easily tweaked to make it inclusive for all students, so read on to get some festive inspiration!

Write Letters to Santa

Term might be winding down but that doesn’t mean your students can’t still develop key skills. Writing a letter to Santa is a great way for your students to practise their writing and spelling skills. Make this activity inclusive by getting pupils to write a letter to a family member instead of to Santa or by asking them to write about why they love this time of year, rather than what they would like for Christmas. Download our editable template and get your students’ scribbling away in no time! 

Decorate the Classroom 

Turn your classroom into a Winter Wonderland or a workshop that would make Santa himself jealous! Encourage your students to get involved in the planning by voting for a theme or by creating different decorations to bring their collective vision to life. Christmas paper chains, mini pipe cleaner wreaths and paper snowflakes are just the thing to bring some festive joy into your classroom.

Celebrate Christmas Jumper Day and Design a Christmas Jumper

Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day takes place on 12th December and it is a great chance to get your students’ creative juices flowing. Unleash their imagination and use our worksheet to design a Christmas jumper. This can then be put up around the classroom as part of your decorations or taken home to display with pride for the family. 

Make Christmas Cards

Arts and crafts are a fun part of the season and making Christmas cards is no exception! Let your students get creative and use different materials to craft cards for their family or for one another. This can also be a great opportunity to teach your students about reducing waste at Christmas by using recycled/recyclable materials or left over materials from other activities.

Complete a Christmas Themed Word Search

Much more than something to just ‘keep them busy,’ word searches are great all rounders when it comes to engaging your students’ brains. Completing a word search tests their vocabulary, word recognition and concentration skills and creates a great sense of accomplishment once finished. Our Christmas themed word search is just the thing to get your pupils’ brains ticking as they hunt for words. 

Plan a Christmas Play

Christmas is a great time for story telling and putting on a Christmas play gives your students the chance to be a part of those wonderful stories. Nativity plays have been a tradition in primary schools for many years and they are a great way to explore the RE curriculum and teach your students about Christianity. There are also lots of ‘alter-Nativites’ that you could put on, whether that be a showcase of different cultural seasonal traditions or something completely original to teach your students about the importance of family and friends.  

Use Christmas Colouring Sheets

Colouring sheets are a great way to hone your students’ pencil control skills and dexterity. As well as being a fun and colourful addition to your classroom, they can also be used to develop your pupils’ fine motor skills. Download our Christmas colouring sheets and make them a part of your classroom decorations! 

Organise a Christmas Quiz

Get those little brains whirring with a fun Christmas themed quiz. This can be a great way to test knowledge gained throughout the year by adding a Christmas twist to different subjects or a standalone seasonal one off. Test your students RE knowledge or see if you students can name all of Santa’s reindeers (extra points if they manage to spell them correctly!).

Provide Drawing Guides

Give Bob Ross a run for his money with some festive drawing guides! Festive step-by-step/how to draw guides are a great way to develop your pupils’ sequencing and planning skills. You can further spark their creativity by letting them have full reign on how they colour in their drawings. Download our step-by-step guide and spark your pupils’ imagination!

Host a Christmas Bake Sale 

Christmas is a season of giving and we don’t just mean the presents we give to one another. Hosting a Christmas bake sale is a wonderful way to fundraise for charity and can help your students feel like part of something bigger by them coming together to plan and bake delicious festive treats.  

Free Printable Christmas Worksheets for Kids

Christmas is an exciting and somewhat overwhelming time of year, so take some stress out of your season by using our worksheets to entice, engage and entertain your pupils. Download, print and use them however you like and bring some festive fun into your classroom. Below you will find full colour or printer friendly black and white versions of our Christmas Activity Pack for your pupils to enjoy.

If you’re scratching your head wondering how best to use our free printable Christmas worksheets, here is some inspiration! 

• Don’t use them too soon! The Christmas season is a lengthy one and whilst your students might be ready to see Santa the second they hear Mariah Carey, avoid using all the worksheets the first week of December. In the same breath, try not to wait till the last week of term to use them and instead spread them out throughout the month.
• Use them to help refocus your pupils after transitional times of the day such as break time or lunch. Writing a letter to Santa or doing a Christmas word search is a fun way to calm your students down after an energetic break, easing them back into a learning mindset and preparing them for an afternoon of continued learning. 
• Use the colouring and jumper worksheets as part of your classroom decorations so that your pupils get the chance to enjoy their work and the work of their classmates. Encourage your students to be as creative as possible to make their classroom look Santa ready. 
• Pair the worksheets with other activities where possible. For example, if you’ve decided to put on a Christmas play about a lonely Snowman, you could ask your students to come up with ideas of what the Snowman looks like using their colouring worksheets. 
• Don’t be afraid to use these worksheets to challenge your students where appropriate. As much as some students may wish it did, Christmas does not mark the end of learning or personal development. Challenge your students to see how many words in the Christmas word search they can find by themselves or to be as neat as possible when colouring in some of the more intricate colouring sheets. 

Christmas activities are a great way to unite your students in the classroom as they share in the spirit of the season. Bring some of that wonder and excitement into your classroom with our printable Christmas worksheets and make your students’ Christmas merry and bright! 

Further Resources:

• How to Create a Positive Learning Environment
• 8 Teaching Methods to Use in the Classroom
• Courses for Teaching and Education

The post Christmas Activities for the Classroom: Free Printables appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

To achieve this, it’s important to use a variety of teaching methods. Increasing your knowledge of various teaching strategies will help you to cater to every learner’s strengths, enabling them to learn more actively and be involved in their own education. 

In this article, we will specify what exactly active learning is, delve into its benefits, and provide some examples of active learning in the classroom along with our tips on how to engage students in active learning. 

What is Active Learning in the Classroom?

Active learning refers to any teaching strategy which encourages students to fully engage in their education and play an active role in their own learning process. It has the student rather than the teacher at its centre, and focuses on how students learn rather than what they’re learning. 

Rather than passively receiving information from a teacher, active learning requires students to participate in the learning process and think hard about information to build their understanding of it. 

The idea of active learning is built upon constructivist theories, which state that people learn by connecting new ideas and information to knowledge they already have and past experiences. Skilled teachers will make this process more possible by providing the right environment, activities, and opportunities to foster active learning. 

Active Learning Versus Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning is a student-centred teaching technique in which learners often work in groups to discuss and attempt to solve a complex real-world problem related to the topic they’re currently studying. 

Active learning is often mistaken for being the same as Problem-Based Learning (PBL), however they are not the same thing. PBL is actually a form of active learning. It invites students to begin using critical reasoning skills to deepen their understanding of a topic, which is certainly one example of an active learning technique. There are, however, many other ways to promote active learning in the classroom and problem-based learning is just one method by which you can do this.

To learn more about the differences between various teaching techniques and how using a range of methods can help to enrich your lessons, read our article on 8 Teaching Methods to Use in the Classroom.

Benefits of Active Learning

Ultimately, active learning has been shown to increase student outcome and thus it has become one of the most preferred classroom development strategies. Encouraging participation, engagement, and collaboration in learning has a range of highly beneficial impacts on students.

Increases Knowledge Retention

Active learning is scientifically proven to increase the retention of information. In one study, active learners were found to retain 93.5% of previously learned information compared to only 79% for passive learners after one month. This is because the process of active learning helps to reinforce material, creating memorable learning experiences and encouraging retrieval practice with quizzes and recall exercises. 

Leads to Higher Engagement

The core of active learning is involving students in their own education. This requires students to directly engage with learning material, rather than merely observing it, and therefore they often form a deeper connection to material and are actively interested in developing their knowledge. 

You can find more tips on how to involve students in their own learning in our article on 5 Ways to Maximise Pupil Voice.

Improves Collaboration Skills

Instead of relying on teacher-led training, active learning embraces the power of collaboration and social interaction to develop student knowledge. A key part of active learning is encouraging students to work together in groups to discuss and share ideas. This creates a learning community where students can help motivate each other and learn from their peer’s perspectives. 

Builds Self-Confidence

Active learning involves using a variety of teaching activities which pulls students out of their comfort zone and encourages them to try new ways of learning. Rather than just passively intaking information, they are expected to share and discuss their ideas and opinions. This process will help learners become more comfortable with speaking up and thus help them reduce self-doubt and build confidence. 

Sparks Creativity and Innovation

Stemming from its promotion of student contribution and collaboration, active learning encourages learners to use their imagination and expand their creativity. By being able to bounce ideas off of each other during group work, a class will naturally come up with more innovative solutions to problems as they learn from their fellow classmates and observe new possibilities.

Aids Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills

Active learning activities such as debates or Q&A sessions encourage learners to think critically and consider how they would solve real-world problems. These forms of activities develop learners’ abilities to make decisions and construct stronger arguments to defend their opinions, as well as seeking solutions. All of these skills are highly valuable beyond the classroom and will help to enrich a child’s future. 

Looking to Learn More?

Our expert range of CPD Courses for Teaching and Education are designed by industry experts to help you build on your existing knowledge or learn new skills to help you in the classroom. Take a look at our Challenging Behaviour Course or Child Mental Health Training to continue improving the support you provide your learners. 

Active Learning Examples

At the heart of active learning, there are three main principles:

• Engagement
• Reflection 
• Application

Learners should actively engage with your material, reflect on its content and relevance, and then apply what they’ve learnt in a practical and often collaborative situation. 

There are many active learning activities that can help promote these three principles, but we’ve listed a few of our recommended activities below.

How to Engage Students in Active Learning

When incorporating active learning strategies into the classroom, it’s important to keep in mind your desired learning outcomes, the learner’s needs and characteristics, and the resources you have available.

To ensure you’re implementing methods that will truly benefit your students, consider asking questions such as:

• What would each student like to get out of the class?
• What proficiency and understanding level are your students at? 
• Is the activity suitable for your SEND students? If not, how can you alter it to suit every learner?
• Will shy students engage in the activity or will it add pressure to their day?
• What is the practical outcome of the activity?
• Do you have all the resources you need for the activity? 
• Is your plan financially viable?

For active learning strategies to really have an impact, it’s important that students are fully engaged in the activities. But how can you make this happen? We’ve compiled our top 5 tips for engaging students in active learning, below. 

Connect Learning to the Real World

A common question for students to ask is “when am I ever actually going to use this?” Luckily, active learning methods provide a great opportunity to link information back to its real-life applications. If a student knows that what they’re learning will benefit them outside of the classroom, they’re far more likely to engage with the content.  

Engage With Your Student’s Interests

Students tend to disengage if they’re finding a subject boring, however you can prevent this by linking the information you’re teaching to some of your learner’s personal interests. Learn what it is that excites each of your students and then consider ways you can input these interests into your active learning activities. For example, you could use football to demonstrate probability in maths, or use their favourite celebrities as a subject for an art project. 

Scaffold Tasks 

If you ask too much too soon of your students, giving them an activity to do before they have enough knowledge and understanding to complete it, your class will quickly become confused and disengaged. Thus, it’s beneficial to provide support at the beginning of every active learning activity, then gradually remove this as your students gain confidence and proficiency. This technique is called scaffolding, and helps to maintain engagement by keeping tasks achievable for all.

To learn more about this method of engaging and supporting students, explore our full article on Scaffolding in Education: A Guide for Teachers.

Encourage Students to Present and Share Work Regularly

Giving students the opportunity to demonstrate their thoughts and work to their peers can help drive engagement in a couple of ways. Firstly, students are likely to be held accountable to complete assigned work and will finish it to the best of their abilities due to the desire to impress their classmates. Additionally, it’s likely that students will respond well to hearing from someone other than their teacher, introducing variety into their lessons. 

Be Adaptable

Sometimes you may have planned an active learning activity that, when it comes to doing it, receives an unengaged response from students. This is natural and will happen to every teacher at some point. To combat this, it’s a good idea to have some alternate options of activities so that you’re able to switch up your lesson if it’s proving to be ineffective. By doing this, you’re ultimately giving your students more of a say in the way they are taught which will help improve engagement over time as you learn which style of learning your students respond well to or not. 

Active learning is a fantastic way to involve students in their own education and therefore increase their understanding and engagement of important subjects. Students want to know that what they are learning is relevant to their lives outside of school, and active learning methods are a great way to show students ways in which they can apply the information they gain in the classroom to their personal interests. Ultimately, the benefits of active learning are numerous, so it’s worth increasing your use of this teaching method in your classroom and seeing how your students respond. 

Further Resources:

• 8 Teaching Methods to Use in the Classroom
• What is Effective Teaching?
• How to Create a Positive Learning Environment
• What is Adaptive Teaching?
• What is the Problem-Solving Method of Teaching?

The post What is Active Learning? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we’ll go into further detail about what scaffolding in education is, and why it’s an important teaching method. We’ll also discuss a range of examples of scaffolding and provide guidance on how to effectively use this strategy in your classroom.

What is Scaffolding in Education?

As in any context, scaffolding provides required support which can then be removed when it’s no longer needed. The term originated from construction where a temporary structure is built for builders to stand on whilst putting up new walls and grounds.

In education, scaffolding relates to providing temporary and tailored assistance to an inexperienced or less confident learner to help them complete a task or acquire a skill, and then slowly withdrawing that support as they gain proficiency.

The overall aim of scaffolding in education is to gradually build on a child’s ability to achieve positive learning outcomes until they can do this independently. 

Psychologist Jerome Bruner first coined the theory of educational scaffolding during the 1970’s, when he and other psychologists began using the term to describe how early years teachers used extensive explanations to help children learn before gradually withdrawing so students could work independently. Bruner’s philosophy is very similar to the Zone of Proximal Development Theory, which states that new skills are often more easily developed with the guidance and encouragement of a teacher as they can be difficult to learn on their own. 

These theories also encapsulate the popular “I Do – We Do – You Do” model where instruction slowly switches from teacher demonstration, to student and teacher practice, and finally to independent application by the students. 

One common example of scaffolding is the way in which children are taught to read. Rather than presenting young students with books and expecting them to make sense of their contents immediately, we build a variety of skills that enable reading over time, such as learning the alphabet, sounding out letters, understanding phonics, recognising words by sight, and more. Eventually, we can remove the scaffolding and students are able to read independently and confidently.

Scaffolding Versus Differentiation

Scaffolding and differentiation are both examples of adaptive teaching methods and are used to address the diverse needs of learners in a classroom. But, whilst the two often overlap, they are not the same and cater to a range of needs in distinct ways. 

Differentiation involves modifying lesson plans to cater to individual learning needs, so that every student can access the information provided. You can learn more about this strategy in our guide to What is Adaptive Teaching?

In contrast, scaffolding focuses on how much information is provided and when it’s delivered, offering a gradual release of support to promote independent working and skill acquisition. 

As they are two different teaching methods that contribute to the same goal, scaffolding and differentiation should be used in conjunction with one another within a classroom in order to provide the most beneficial results for your students. 

Whilst scaffolding and differentiation are two vital strategies in effective teaching, they are just two of many teaching methods that can enhance student experience in your classroom. Discover more teaching methods and learn why they’re so important in our article on 8 Teaching Methods to Use in the Classroom.

Importance of Scaffolding in Education

Scaffolding has many benefits in a classroom. Mainly, it helps students to take a more active role in their own learning as a teacher slowly phases out their original support. When you incorporate scaffolding into your lessons, you become more of a facilitator and mentor as your students now share the responsibility of teaching and have more ownership over their own education. As students begin working more independently, they become more engaged in their own learning and can reinforce skills in a self-directed manner, helping to prepare them for their future in the ‘real world’ outside of academics.

In addition to this core advantage, there are many other benefits provided by scaffolding in education too:

• Improves the likelihood that students will retain new information.
• Reduces student’s negative self-perceptions, frustrations or confusion. 
• Improves communication between students and teachers, helping to strengthen their relationship.
• Encourages asking for help. 
• Builds confidence.
• Enhances problem-solving.
• Keeps classes organised.
• Provides opportunities for peer-teaching. 

Furthermore, scaffolding is a valuable tool in aiding progression. Once a student has become able to complete a task without the teacher’s support, they can move onto more challenging learning for which a scaffold can once more be provided. Using this method, a teacher is able to maintain high expectations of all their learners rather than having to simplify tasks in order to have them completed. Similarly, for students, scaffolding provides greater confidence in advancing their learning as they always have the ‘safety net’ of the scaffold to fall back on whilst they progress through harder content. 

Want to Learn More?

Our range of Courses for Teaching and Education are designed by industry experts to help you learn new teaching methods, such as scaffolding, and extend the knowledge you already have. A couple of our most valued courses include Challenging Behaviour Training and SEND in the Classroom.

Examples of Scaffolding in Education

Scaffolding is a highly valuable teaching method for all ages and all subjects, however it is perhaps most beneficial for early learning stages. 

There are numerous activities you can incorporate into the classroom which lend themself to the scaffolding method of teaching, but here are 5 examples of scaffolding strategies that are proven to be effective.

Pre-Teach Vocabulary

Pre-teaching vocabulary can have a great impact on children’s comprehension. By teaching critical vocabulary prior to a lesson, you can ensure all students have the correct foundational knowledge needed to understand and engage with the topic being discussed. 

This can be done in many interactive and memorable ways, rather than just providing dictionary definitions of the relevant terms. For example, using new vocabulary within a sentence, discovering the origins of the words, or drawing a representation of the term’s meaning, can all be more engaging ways to pre-teach vocabulary and provide that scaffold for your next lesson. 

Utilise Prior Knowledge

Scaffolding is all about gradually increasing knowledge, so linking to what students already know is important. It can be useful to ask students about their past experiences, inklings, and ideas about the topic you’ll be discussing, to help them connect the subject to their own lives and bridge the gap between their existing knowledge and this new material. After all, a student’s personal experiences are the foundation on which understanding is built, so activating prior knowledge can strengthen new learning and increase engagement. 

Show and Tell

Many of us are visual learners and absorb knowledge best by seeing something demonstrated rather than just hearing it explained. Thus, modelling is a crucial scaffolding technique. Teachers should frequently demonstrate how to do tasks with their learners actively watching. Additionally, presenting modelled examples of complete pieces of work helps students to see what they’re aiming to achieve. 

Use Knowledge Organisers

Utilising common ways of organising information, such as Venn diagrams, flow charts, timelines, or quotations (to name just a few) help students to grasp concepts by arranging information in a logical way and breaking down big concepts into manageable portions. In this way, organisers act as scaffolds by offering a simpler introduction to information that can then be removed once a student has understood the topic. They help to shape and guide a child’s thinking to make the overall subject easier to grasp.

Pause, Ask Questions, Review

This strategy helps to check for understanding during your teaching so that you can be sure your students have grasped everything that’s been said so far before progressing to harder content. The idea is that at various points during teaching, you’d pause to let students reflect on what they’ve heard up to now, then ask some strategic questions to test their understanding, before quickly reviewing any areas that haven’t yet been fully comprehended. The questions you ask should be planned prior to the lesson and should be specific, guiding, and open-ended. 

One benefit of using this strategy is that it helps to keep students engaged and listening actively as they know they may be called upon to answer one of your questions regarding the material. 

How to Use Scaffolding in the Classroom

Although the strategies above give an insight into the kinds of activities you might include in the classroom to scaffold student learning, how you implement these strategies is equally important. 

Thus, keep the following tips in mind when carrying out scaffolding activities during your lessons.

Use Assessment for Learning (AFL)

Assessment for Learning (AFL) helps teachers to identify where students are in their learning so that they can bridge the gap between where a child currently is and where they want to get to. This can be helpful in the context of scaffolding as the results of AFL will help to improve your scaffolding strategy, which can be amended according to a student’s current knowledge. 

To learn more about AFL and the different types of assessment you can use to inform your scaffolding, read our article on How to Use Assessment for Learning in Schools.

Consider How and When you Remove Your Scaffolds

The purpose of scaffolding is to help progress students towards being able to work on a topic independently by gradually building on their knowledge and confidence. To do this effectively, it’s vital to strike the right balance between giving too much and too little support throughout the process. The aim is to very gradually remove the support so that the journey to independent learning is smooth and untroubled. 

Keep Track of Any Progress

To keep your scaffolding as effective as possible, it’s important that you keep track of everything you do to support the scaffolding process, such as the activities you’ve led in the classroom, when these were done, and any feedback given or received. It’s also a good idea to keep a record of student progress so that you remain aware of how well they’re advancing towards independent learning and how long the process is taking. This will all help you to identify which strategies your students respond best to so you can adapt and improve your scaffolding as time goes on. 

You can find more information about the importance of tracking and contemplating your activity in the classroom in our article on What’s the Importance of Reflective Practice in Teaching?

Use Multiple Methods of Scaffolding

As evidenced earlier, there are many examples of scaffolding strategies that you can implement in the classroom. It’s wise to use a wide range of these methods rather than relying on one or two. This is because each student you teach will learn in different ways, and will therefore respond to some scaffolding methods better than others. Using a mixture of various strategies in every lesson will help ensure you’re catering to different learning styles and giving every child the best chance at progressing towards independent learning. 

Review Confidence Before Moving Onto Another Topic

It’s no good going through the steps of scaffolding then moving on to your next topic if your students haven’t achieved the objective of becoming proficient and independent in this area. As such, you should always check each child’s level of understanding and confidence on a topic before leaving it behind. If a student is not yet able to comprehend the learning material and complete related tasks on their own, you may need to reinstate some scaffolding to support them until they can achieve this. Thus, it’s essential that you review each student’s confidence in a topic before moving on to the next one.

Scaffolding is a highly valuable tool in education for supporting students to become more independent and self-sufficient learners in a gradual way that is barely noticeable to the children themselves. The benefits of scaffolding are numerous as it helps to make information more memorable, keeps students engaged, and encourages skills – such as problem solving – that will extend beyond the classroom. There are many various strategies for implementing scaffolding in your classroom so remember to utilise various methods as well as monitoring and reviewing student progress throughout the process. 

Further Resources:

• What is Adaptive Teaching?
• 8 Teaching Methods to Use in the Classroom
• Courses for Teaching and Education
• What is the Problem-Solving Method of Teaching?

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