Solving the Problem... of Progress and Independence in KS2 Continuous Provision

This morning I had a call with an assistant head/class teacher who I worked with in the summer (you can read her glowing testimonial here). Back one very hot and sunny day, I spent a day with her at her school and we workshopped how to move their KS1 continuous provision approach into KS2. She was to be the new year 3 teacher, taking her current year 2 class up, and she wanted to tap into my experience so that she had the best chance of getting it right.

So, after an autumn term focused on implementing everything we discussed: how are things going? (I asked, in itallics)

"The kids are loving it!" (she replied, in bold text)

And that's a very important start - half the battle won if you've got happy and motivated children.

But what about the adults involved? How were they finding it?

Similar positive vibes, I was glad to hear.

However, as with any new endeavour, there were a couple of problems to unpick - all part of the process of doing anything truly great.

"I'm struggling to move them on, particulary in their creative endeavours. for example, they are still bringing me cardbox box creations put together with masking tape."

Hmm, not ideal. I knew I needed to probe further: What have you done so far to help them to move beyond their year 2 skills?

"I've taught the masterclasses* and given them the apprentice tasks* - I've shown them the new skills exactly."

*for more on these, see this blog post: Case Study: Revolutionising Curriculum Delivery in KS2

Ah, a good start - we'd talked about this structure in lots of detail during the first day, so it was great to hear that this was in place.

And do you have a progression of skills in place? I just wanted to check that I hadn't remembered incorrectly, and that the school did have an idea of what differentiated year 3 art and DT skills from those in year 2. Yes, a skills progression exists, and that's what had been informing the content of the masterclasses.

So, why do you think the explicit teaching - modelling, giving examples, narrating thought processes - isn't translating into outcomes of the expected level?

"They're a 'young class' and they don't like to move outside of their comfort zone - they like speed and ease. We've been trying to encourage independence and have asked them to complete apprentice tasks without adult assistance. "

Ah! I spy the rub. I see where there is tension. I explain:

There are two separate goals there: one is independence, the other is high quality outcomes. At this point in the year, you might not be able to achieve both at the same time. If you want independence, then you might have to accept lower quality outcomes. If you want higher quality outcomes you might have to accept less independence.

I went on to explain that the journey to independence isn't a smooth one. That independence isn't transferable from skill to skill. That for each new skill taught, adults would have to provide more support before gradually withdrawing it and releasing responsibility to the child.

I gave an example from maths: we wouldn't expect a year 3 child to work independently on adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator within one whole just because they had gained independence in adding and subtracting whole numbers. In maths, we'd provide lots of support when they were moving onto something new. The same is true in art and DT, and all other subjects.

There needs to be an 'independence reset' when new things are being taught.

In this way, progress is in steps, but it is still upwards progress:

My attempt at illustrating how progress looks: for each skill, there is a level of support that is given before it is withdrawn to allow more independent working. Here we see how we might progress from a Y2 skill to a Y3 skill, bringing the adult support back when the Y3 skill is taught.

A primary goal had been identified: higher quality outcomes. Independence was to be a longer-term goal which would be achieved by support which is introduced and faded for each new skill taught. Adult support was back on the menu.

So, the next steps were to plan the support that would be provided, as well as how it would be phased out.

I posited a theory: But children won't all need the same amount of support. I probed again: How do you know if this is the case?

Formal assessment processes are in place, particularly when teaching the masterclasses and whilst children were working on apprentice tasks. During these times, adults are checking for understanding and this then informs them about how pupils are doing.

With the renewed focus on high quality outcomes and the provision of adult support, I provided the next bit of direction: current formative assesment practices can inform how adults interact with children whilst they carry out their apprentice tasks in areas of continuous provision.

I suggested that Sustained Shared Thinking, dialogic teaching, questioning and feedback (in fact, all the things I share in my blog post What Should Adults Be Doing When Children Are Working?) would form the bulk of adult involvement and that crucially, it would be these interactions that would eventually build independence as well as lead to children producing higher quality outcomes which displayed the new skills they had been taught.

Have you ever heard of Ron Berger's Ethic of Excellence? or of Austin's Butterfly?

No! I explained the practice of evaluation, feedback and iteration encapsulated in this video. I explained how taking this approach, how building the habits and routines of self-, peer- and adult- evaluation and feedback, and an iterative approach to drafting several pieces of work in a cycle of plan-do-review, as well as giving time over to this approach, could help children to slowly move out of their comfort zone.

"Ah! That would work really well - we already do peer assessment in maths and English!"

Brilliant - the children aren't alien to the concept of evaluating and adapting their work, even if they aren't always keen to have another go when they think they've finished!

"And we already use a plan-do-review approach, so we could build the self-, peer- and adult-evaluation into the review stage!"

But, I mused to myself in a moment of mutual rumination and silence (these moments are key in any collaborative workshopping session), what would best support pupils in their planning? In their doing? And in their reviewing? And, as the thoughts rushed into my mind: the process isn't as linear as that - it's much more cyclical as we've seen in the Austin's Butterfly example. Taking one thing at a time, I asked:

Have you thought about introducing success criteria for the apprentice tasks? This was not something currently in place.

Co-creation of success criteria between the stage of giving a masterclass and introducing the apprentice task can provide real direction for children throughout the process of working on their project. It guides planning, doing and reviewing - self-, peer- and adult-evaluation is always done best when it is against a list of must-haves. It keeps things focused and is clear cut as to whether or not the piece of work demonstrates excellence.

So, do you think we have a solution to pupils not producing outcomes which demonstrate the relevant year 3 skills?

A resounding yes. By reintroducing adult support during the time when pupils were working on their apprentice tasks, pupils could be guided towards using the new skills. They could also have them re-modelled if needed. By developing an iterative approach to working, coupled with evaluation and feedback, pupils could learn from their mistakes and spend time improving their outcomes. By introducing co-created success criteria, pupils would have a scaffold with which to guide their planning, doing and reviewing.

And there was a feeling of relief. A feeling of coming unstuck. A feeling of forward motion.

"I'm really excited to get back into the classroom to try it now!"

Success! Even if it doesn't all work out, it's a next step. An approach to try, and reflect on, and to iterate the next time we speak. It's not only children who need to try things out, evaluate them and then try again: it's the same for us adults too!

If you want that relief, to come unstuck and to move forwards in your classroom and school, then we can work together, just as Francesca and I do. The easiest way to make this happen is probably to click the 'Get in touch' button above and we can go from there. You can also use the link below to instantly get your date in the diary or visit my Services page to explore other options.

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