Reflecting on learning in Dreghorn Primary School

Project summary

This teacher takes her own class for one hour per week. In order to give more time to this curricular area she undertook to deliver Modern Languages in the Primary School (MLPS) through ICT – 'a double dividend'. She was also aware of the thinking which advocates a variety of approaches and was keen to try gathering forms of evidence other than paper-based ones. She also wanted to encourage the pupils to reflect more on what they were doing, and what they could do to make learning easier. She consequently included a fairly lengthy session where pupils came up with ideas for making changes which they then voted on. She was surprised and delighted with the pupils' approach and variety of ideas.

Case study extract

This project has provided me with a valuable opportunity to reflect on my own classroom practice. It has definitely had a favourable impact on the pupils' learning experience, for the following reasons:

• Thorough planning of assessment tasks undoubtedly results in better quality learning and teaching.
• A variety of approaches to match different learning outcomes has made the project lively and interesting for all: for example, pupils working co-operatively and independently, and the use of summative, formative, self and peer assessment.
• Enjoyable activities such as competitions, songs, games and use of a video camera to record conversations also provided valuable evidence of assessment.
• Emphasising the pupils' achievements has increased their self-confidence and engendered a positive attitude towards modern languages.
• Assessment informed my teaching and highlighted areas of particular strength /weakness. We have become more aware of problems caused by barriers to learning and have taken steps to overcome them. 

I began by looking at my existing plan and highlighting opportunities to gather evidence to support the assessment, which was already ongoing.

My approach was to look at:

• The areas for assessment as laid down in the National Guidelines.
• The different forms that assessment can take.
• Practical ways of managing assessment within the classroom environment. 

I decided that the participating pupils should be involved in the planning process. Having outlined what I wanted to achieve with them my next step was to ask them how they thought we could improve our grasp of the French language.

It was an extremely interesting and fruitful debate as the pupils came up with some excellent suggestions, such as more work with a partner. They also wanted a vocabulary test on a Friday and more television programmes. We discussed each suggestion in turn and then voted on them. This activity helped the pupils to get an idea of what I was expecting, and gave them a degree of ownership over the project.

Contact details

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