Complete Learning

What do we mean by Complete Learning?

Why do we want our students to build fluency?

There is a limited purpose to learning that is too partial to be useful, or learning that is lost or forgotten. Such unsuccessful experiences of learning can also lead to students becoming disengaged with the learning process.

Therefore, our aim is to ensure that all our students are building fluency

Fluent learning is recognisable by its automaticity. It is immediately retrievable and effortless. It requires a minimum of conscious effort and allows the learner to move on to further successful learning.

At Wilmslow High School we believe that all children can gain fluent knowledge and skills and it is our job to ensure that they do

Whatever their social background or prior achievement all the children we teach are capable of mastering knowledge and skills through attention, effort and practice.

How do we assess our students’ journey to fluency?

We assess our students’ journey to fluency against the body of knowledge and skills in our Curriculum Journeys and as set out in our Knowledge Organisers.

For some students their bodies of knowledge will be much wider and deeper than others, but our aim is that all our students have a fluent body of knowledge – even if, for a small number of students, this is relatively small.

What does the journey to fluency look like?

It is important that we understand that the journey to fluency refers to the stage of learning and is not a label for the learner.

Any learner starts at the first stage of this journey when they are learning something new, and any learner can acquire fluency through learning routines such as paying attention and deliberate practice.

What are the five stages to fluency?

Stage	What is going right?	What might feel difficult?	How accurate will you be at this stage?	How much will you remember at this stage?	What type of practice should you be doing at this stage?	What style of teaching is required for this stage
Learning is initial	Well done: You are learning new knowledge This is the most difficult stage of learning. It’s the right thing to ask lots of questions at this stage so that you can check your understanding	This new learning will feel difficult. You won’t feel very successful at this stage of learning but be determined. It will get easier!	Not very You will make a lot of mistakes at this very early stage	Not much You will need a lot of prompting from your teacher	You are at the ‘I DO’ stage where you need the teacher showing you what to do and how to do it	Lots of ‘I DO’ Any practice should be highly scaffolded Lots of ‘live’ checking for misconceptions Build in high success rates to build confidence
Learning is establishing	Keep going: This new knowledge is starting to take roots. It’s still the right thing to ask lots of questions so that you can learn from your mistakes at this stage	Learning will still take a lot of effort. You won’t feel as successful as you want to be but carry on being determined.	Still not very You will still be making mistakes at this stage	Still not much It will still take effort and prompting to remember at this stage	You are at the ‘WE DO’ stage where you should be doing guided practice with your teacher	Lots of ‘WE DO’ Practice should still be very scaffolded Lots of ‘live’ checking for misconceptions Keep success rates high to maintain confidence
Learning is substantial	Well done. You now know this knowledge quite securely. You are now at the stage where you can start to practice independently	Although you know this knowledge quite securely, it might be hard to apply it to other contexts or to use it to solve problems.	You are quite accurate now – although you are still making a few mistakes	You should be getting better now at recalling this knowledge with less prompting although it still takes effort	You are at the ‘YOU DO’ stage where you can now practice independently	Moving, through fading practice, into ‘YOU DO’ with practice becoming less scaffolded and more independent. Checking for misconceptions can become more episodic at this point Encourage the student to build confidence in independent practice at this stage
Learning is complete	Great news: This knowledge is now secure	You now need to focus on transferring this knowledge to other contexts and using it to solve problems	You can apply this knowledge accurately with almost no mistakes	You can recall this knowledge independently with effort	You are at the ‘YOU DO’ stage where you should be practising independently	The focus should now be on ‘YOU DO’ practice to build fluency. You may want to do ‘I DO/ WE DO’ practice with the student to encourage transfer of knowledge to other contexts and more difficult problem solving
Learning is fluent	Fabulous: You are now not just secure, but fluent in this knowledge	You need to focus on transferring this knowledge to wider contexts and using it to solve more difficult problems	You can apply this knowledge accurately with no/ very rare mistakes	You can recall this knowledge independently with relative ease You need a retrieval plan so that you don’t lose this fluency	You are at the ‘YOU DO BETTER’ stage where you should be focused on automaticity, speed, accuracy, depth etc.	The focus should be on building automaticity through ‘YOU DO BETTER’ practice

Why do we focus on the ‘substantial’ stage?

Our aim is for curriculum teams to plan their Curriculum Journeys carefully so that students can build fluency. By paying attention, and through guided practice and teachers’ use of ‘I do/ we do’ tasks, every student should be able to acquire substantial knowledge of the material they have been taught. It is then through ‘you do’ tasks and further engagement with independent practice away from lessons that students build their knowledge to a level where they have learned material completely or fluently.

What do teachers mean by ‘I do, we do, you do’?

This refers to the process by which students move from guided to independent practice:

I do

(explain and model)

At this stage the student is reliant on direct instruction from the teacher.

The student needs the teacher to show them what to do and how to do it.

This needs to take place in the classroom with the teacher.

I do/We do

(acquire knowledge)

At this stage the student can practice WITH the teacher but still needs plenty of guidance.

We call this guided practice where the teacher and student are doing it together, “extending the handover” until they reach the point where the teacher knows the student is ready to practice independently.

Checking for Understanding is vital at this stage.

This needs to take place in the classroom with the teacher.

You do

(apply knowledge)

At this stage the student can practice WITHOUT the teacher.

We call this independent practice.

This does not need to take place in the classroom with the teacher and is often better done away from the teacher so that the student can become independent.

Full independent practice does not happen immediately. This is why we refer to fading practice where the student is gradually becoming less dependent on teacher guidance.