‘Personalised learning’ is a term often referred to in the world of education. Typically, schools use it to explain how teachers adapt their lessons or approach with students to help them reach their potential.

What this means in terms of ‘personalised learning’

We try to understand what resonates with the individual, from their academic interests and aspirations for the future, to their hobbies and what excites them extra curricularly. By learning about what is ‘normal’ for our students and how they usually behave in school, we can encourage them towards pathways which will help them thrive, but also offer them extra support if we notice they may need it. Every student is on a different learning journey and has a different set of circumstances influencing their progress. Academic outcomes are never linear, they naturally fluctuate and by closely monitoring this journey we can personalise our approach to keep things moving in a positive direction.

Knowing our students on an individual basis also gives us insight into the things which are impacting different year groups or social groups within them, and shape our teaching in acknowledgement of that. For example, if use of social media is particularly prominent in a particular year group and we wish to address how to use it healthily, we might tailor some of our lessons for that year group, whilst other year groups will focus on issues or topics most relevant to them. It means that we are never simply teaching ‘off the shelf’ material, we are shaping our teaching to what matters to the individuals in that class.

Similarly, we appreciate that world issues will impact every individual differently. In this last year alone, our students across the school have encountered challenges they will never have experienced before. It would be unrealistic to expect that they will be unaffected by this, academically, emotionally and socially. Our relationship with our students and our history of speaking with them on an individual basis means we can recognise when there are issues like this which need to be addressed. We can open up the conversation and help students to process what is going on. We frequently incorporate topics around culture, world news and debate into our teaching so that our students feel supported through big conversations and can discuss them in a positive environment.

Find out more

Visit our Curriculum page to read more about what is being studied in the different Key Stages and how our teachers help students to achieve their best.