Year 1 have been embracing their HPL skills and attitudes in all areas of their learning. In their recent Outdoor Ed sessions, they’ve particularly impressed the teachers with their linking skills during scavenger hunts. As they explored the outdoors, the children excitedly searched for different natural objects, thinking carefully about how they were connected. They spotted similarities in colours, textures, and names, and had great discussions about how the items might relate to different seasons. It’s been wonderful to see their empathetic attitudes shine as they make these thoughtful connections!

We use HPL all the time during our school lessons and co-curricular activities.

In Maths this half term, we have been analysing word problems to work out whether we have to add or subtract to solve them.  We also link our knowledge of our number bonds to ten when we are calculating using 2-digit numbers.

In Science, we analysed photographs of animals looking carefully to match the mother with its baby.

During English lessons, we link what we learn from a model text to our own writing.  For example, in the ‘Humphrey the Whale’ character description, we spotted noun phrases and adverbs and then tried to write our own.  

During Computing lessons, we have been creating our own Bee-Bot maps and then wrote algorithms to give clear instructions.  We worked collaboratively on this task:

We get creative all the time during our Humanities and Art lessons.  Recently, we learnt about how sea creatures have adapted to survive in their environment.  We then worked in Art to link this knowledge by creating our own camouflaged sea creatures using oil pastels.

Can you spot the camouflaged sea creature?

In Art, we imagined that we were scuba divers and created an underwater scene, using a range of artistic techniques.

At the start of the term we used the story book ‘Clean up’ in our English lessons and showed great empathy by thinking about how we can look after our oceans and seas.  We wrote persuasive letters asking the Queen’s children to do litter picks and to take care of our beaches, which we read to the Year 3 and 4 children.  We then linked this to our poster designs during a Humanities lesson.

During our HPL week, we loved the challenge of including an electrical plug during our ‘Creative Day’.  We managed to include this mystery item into our poem, ‘Ten Things Found in a shipwrecked Sailors Pocket’.  One child wrote the line, ‘An insignificant electrical plug’ into her list poem.

In swimming lessons, we use our meta-thinking when we monitor and self correct our technique so that we get better.

We love using the HPL characters to help teach us new skills in Year 2!

This week in Year 3 we used the HPL skills and attitudes in the following ways:

In Year 4, we ensure that every day is a HPL day! 

In our classroom, we have a display of all the HPL superheroes. We put our name next to the HPL skill or attitude that we would like to focus on. When we achieve a house point for that skill or attitude, we are then able to move our name to a new HPL superhero and have a new target! 

In English, we are consistently linking the skills we have been taught to ensure that our writing is the most creative it can be. For instance, in our most recent piece of work, a diary entry, the children worked hard to envision an imaginative school.  In Maths, we use our analysing skills to logically think through processes to ensure we get the correct answer. However, if we make mistakes, we are agile with our thinking and are able to think around the problem to explore a new way of resolving the question. In Science, we use our realising skills to accurately and automatically analyse living things. During our PSHE lessons, we have focused on how we can implement British Values into our everyday lives. By following British Values in our class, we have developed key empathy skills that help us look after each other. Through this, we have also developed meta-thinking as we are now able to express ourselves confidently when discussing opinions in our class. 

In Year 5, High-Performance Learning (HPL) principles manifest as students actively analyse data in Maths to uncover patterns, demonstrating hardworking dedication to refining their English writing, and remaining agile during Science experiments, adapting to evolving results. They showcase empathetic collaboration in group projects, creating innovative solutions in design technology, and realising the interconnectedness of subjects by linking concepts across Maths, English, and Science. Crucially, they engage in meta-thinking, reflecting on their learning processes to optimize their understanding and approach, embodying HPL’s focus on deep, efficient, and adaptable learning.

This term, the focus in PE (cross-country running) is on Meta Thinking, encouraging children to develop awareness of their own pacing and strategic decision-making. They are learning to self-regulate their running pattern, balancing effort across different stages of the run to maintain stamina. Additionally, they are developing a strategic approach to varying terrain, adapting their pace and technique to suit hills, flat sections, and uneven ground. By thinking ahead and adjusting their approach over an extended period, they are building both physical endurance and mental resilience, key skills for both sport and wider learning.