At the start of the academic year, Bridgnorth Endowed School introduced a new classroom tool to Year 10 and 11 students in the form of a GCSE Knowledge Book.
The essential go-to manual is divided into subjects and lays out the core topics in an organised and easily accessible way.
Teachers were asked to pinpoint the most important key facts in each subject to help students understand exactly what they need to know to be successful.
The concept stems from mastery, one of the school’s key drivers, and sets out to support the aim that “we work hard to get better at the things that matter.”
Students are encouraged to use them during Tutor Time, at the beginning of each day, and are also able to take them home if they wish.
The idea is to keep going through all of the information to instil the facts, based on the theory that the memory of learned knowledge is lost in a matter of days or weeks unless it is consciously reviewed regularly.
Assistant Head, Mr Street, explains: “To make the most of the knowledge books, students should be setting weekly goals and trying to overlearn by revisiting and testing themselves again and again.”
Although still under development, the reaction to the books has been very positive; they are useful tools to support students in retaining and retrieving knowledge for life-long learning.
Feedback from students includes:
The knowledge books are useful for revision.
They give a general overview for all aspects of the subject.
They are organised and everything is easy to find.
It’s easy to use and very helpful.
