The Effective Learner Program

Brighton Grammar School has three key academic principles driving our teaching and learning approach:

• Academic engagement is the first amongst equals.
• Everyone has a role to play.
• The science of learning drives our shared understanding.

To bring these principles into practise, we have launched the Effective Learner Program in Secondary School this year.

The program is based on the science of learning and the simple model of memory, aiming to explicitly teach students how to be more effective learners.

The themes for 2024 include:

• Term 1 – Organisation
• Term 2 – Staying focussed
• Term 3 – Summarising & retrieval practice
• Term 4 – Exam/test preparation

The Term 1 focus of organisation was a response to learning behaviour data gathered in 2023 and the idea that the parts of the brain that help with planning and organisation typically develop a little later in boys (Reeves, 2022).

The foci for Terms 2-4 relate directly to the simple model of memory and helping students to remember more so they have more developed memory schema to think with – making them more effective learners.

To ensure we’re running this program effectively we’re looking to:

• Use a proven framework for promoting self-regulation in leaners, the McDaniel framework
• Seek regular feedback from students and staff
• Develop and use metrics of student uptake and effectiveness

Patrick Sanders
Associate Head of the Crowther Centre, Curriculum and Assessment