In Year 5/6 at Whittington PS we aim to arm our students with the tools necessary to tackle an ever changing and developing world as they prepare for the Secondary School education and their futures. We are preparing our students by developing the skills of: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Collaboration, Agility and Adaptability, Initiative and Entrepreneurship, Effective Communication, Accessing and Analysing Information, and Curiosity and Imagination.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Students develop their skills at seeing problems from different angles and formulating their own solutions. Regardless of the field they choose to enter for their careers, the ability to think and act quickly is an indispensable tool for the future. The problem should ideally lend itself to multiple solutions, as we do not want to teach students that there is only one answer available, but instead that problem-solving can be a creative and personal experience. Situational problems in mathematics provide a good example of these skills at work.
Collaboration and Leading by Influence
The ability to lead others can definitely help a person to advance and become successful in their chosen career. To best prepare students in this area, more than just the typical teamwork is required. Students are encouraged to take on different roles within groups, the classroom, school and the community.
Agility and Adaptability
Our students need to be comfortable with the idea of change and be willing to adapt to the changes around them. Teachers create a very dynamic environment within the classroom that can help to prepare students for the future. Varying the teaching strategies we use, the setup of the classroom, the ways that learning is demonstrated by students, and even the guidelines for work can help students learn to adapt.
Initiative and Entrepreneurship
Students need to be able to take initiative and contribute to the world. We encourage these skills within our classroom and our community. Our students are incredibly creative and interested in shaping their experience in the classroom. Students should never be afraid of trying because they are afraid of failure.
Effective Oral and Written Communication
Despite advances in technology, these skills never diminish in importance. Consider some of the best communicators you have seen – what makes them rise above the rest? We need to teach our students how to speak confidently and clearly. This doesn’t come naturally, but with practice; enunciation, speed, volume, gestures, and eye-contact can all be taught and learned. As for written communication, we need to continue to emphasise the rules while also teaching students how to use the technology available to them to help check their writing. The difference between formal and informal writing is quite important for students to apply.
Accessing and Analysing Information
Students have access to unimaginable amounts of information today. The Internet provides an incredible research tool that can be their best friend or worst enemy. Accessing information is easy, but accessing good information tends to be more complicated. Students need to be taught how to sift through the millions of web pages available on a topic and find what they need (and be able to trust what they find). They need to learn the difference between factual information and factual-sounding opinions.
Curiosity and Imagination
Our students come to us naturally curious about their world and wanting to explore it. Their imaginations are vast and untamed, creating endless amounts of practical and impractical things. Our task as educators has less to do with teaching them how to be curious and imaginative, and more to do with not taking that away from them. We need to continue to encourage them to develop these skills, as well as teach them how to apply them creatively and purposefully
These 7 skills are consolidated in our everyday practices, by providing an engaging curriculum that is inquiry focussed we are confident that our students will be active citizens in the future.