Learning Characteristics

At Brunel Field Primary School, we use learning characteristics as an integral part of teaching and learning throughout the curriculum. In conjunction with our school values of respect, commitment, compassion and joy, this approach allows us to revisit and develop, each year, the essential skills our children need to learn to become confident, independent, resilient and resourceful learners. In addition to this, the children learn to develop their understanding of others, their critical thinking and teamwork skills.

Researchers at the University of Bristol’s School of Education studied why some people remain engaged in learning throughout their lives while others disengage early. They developed ELLI (The Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory), a well-researched set of ideas about how people learn most effectively. In essence, these ideas are:

• holistic and relational - looking at the ‘whole child’ and how the learner and the curriculum are inextricably linked;

• developmental - seeing learners as ‘on a learning journey’;

• drawn from research that consulted widely, amongst learners and practitioners as well as experts and research literature (University of Bristol).

The research identified seven key learning ‘dimensions’. At Brunel Field we refer to these as our learning characteristics and they are each embodied by a child-friendly learning character.

	Changing Chameleon Changing and Learning: effective learners understand that they can become better learners over time. Children may be asked how they would work, create or learn differently next time in order to improve.
	Teamwork Bee Learning Relationships: effective learners share their thoughts and ideas with others and work well together to solve problems. They also know when it is more effective to work on their own. Children may be asked to decide whether to work alone, in pairs or as a group on a particular task.
	Plan Ahead Owl Strategic Awareness: effective learners know what to do next by having their own strategies which they are able to choose between. Children may be asked to select for themselves the level/difficulty of their work to ensure they are working with the right amount of challenge. They will use their prior knowledge to support their next steps in the planning process.
	Stick at it Tortoise  Resilience: effective learners don’t give up easily when things start to get difficult. They will be encouraged to keep going and refer back to their prior knowledge and experiences to support them. They will be supported to view mistakes as learning opportunities.
	Creative Unicorn Creativity: effective learners love playing with possibilities and using their imagination to solve problems in different ways. Children use their creativity in English or Art or think about how to approach a problem in DT, Maths or Science in a creative way.
	Linking Spider Meaning Making: effective learners are great at being able to connect what they have learnt from one lesson to another and their lives outside of school. Children are encouraged to make connections across all of their learning.
	Curious Cat Curiosity: effective learners ask their own questions to find out what is really going on. Children will ask and be asked a number of questions to encourage them to think deeply about their learning e.g. ‘What is new?’ about a method they have been learning or ‘What is different?’ or ‘How do you know?’ etc.

In Reception, the children are introduced to the learning characters which support their understanding of the more abstract learning concepts. The learning characters are then used throughout school to discuss the skills and characteristics required to overcome whatever learning challenges the children (and adults) may face. This develops the children’s understanding of these abstract concepts over time and enables them to be articulate and reflective about their learning.

For further information regarding our school's curriculum please check the year group pages or alternatively please contact the school office.