Sharing learning intentions and traffic lighting in primary maths

Project summary

Rosehearty Primary aimed to build a cohesive staff and develop confidence by exploring learning and teaching through AifL. The school planned to increase interactive teaching through the sharing of learning intentions and the introduction of traffic lighting by involving all the staff.  The intention was that by reflecting on current practice, staff should become aware of the extent to which formative assessment was already embedded.  By exchanging ideas for improvement, staff wanted to gain in confidence to create a climate where pupils could identify their own successes and achievements. 

All staff from P1–P7 participated.  Parents were involved through newsletters and information leaflets.  A starter paper and examples of good practice initiated discussion, and staff committed themselves to professional reading in preparation for the project.  Staff identified possible starting points and shared ideas and experiences with colleagues. Discussion with the headteacher and monitoring procedures followed.

Case study extract

The project provided a focus for staff discussion about our approach to assessment. This challenged existing perceptions and highlighted the need for a greater degree of pupil involvement and for teachers to adopt a more interactive teaching style.  It has increased confidence in staff who have begun to see Assessment is for Learning as an extension of existing good practice rather than – as had been feared – a new development. Discussions were productive at whole school and individual teacher level – teachers had clearly spent considerable time in personal reading and using the AifL website. 

Members of staff agreed to move the development forward through introducing ‘traffic lighting’ – in a form adapted to suit the stage taught. This was seen as non-threatening and applicable throughout the school in a way appropriate to individual teachers’ classroom practice.  Initially it was agreed that traffic lighting would be piloted in mental maths. 

All teachers display traffic lights, ‘thumbs up’ posters and learning intention posters in their classrooms.  Actual implementation has been adapted according to stage and has been most successful at middle stages, though the response of all children is positive. 

Primary 3/4 children were introduced to thumbs up and traffic lighting through mental maths.  The children were very enthusiastic about thumbs up – responding quickly and transferring this spontaneously to other areas of the curriculum. The children at this stage and in P4/P5 have also taken to reminding their teachers if they forget! 

At the early stages children were encouraged to place a coloured dot at the end of work to show how confident they felt about doing the task.  At Primary 6/7 children were also introduced to colour-coding tasks according to their level of understanding. The secrecy involved in thumbs-up appeals to children who in the past may have been afraid to admit to lack of understanding. 

At first, younger children in particular tended always to go for green or thumbs-up regardless of their level of understanding, but gradually confidence has increased and we are aware of children being more reflective and honest in their understanding.  Teachers have found this beneficial in making it possible to target support – either further teaching or extension activities. There is a demonstrably higher level of interactive teaching in school. Staff are more confident and they find it easier to target the children who require support. 

We hope to maintain the momentum that the project has given to embed the reflective formative approach to assessment into the school culture, so that teachers and learners are reflective and focused. A continued commitment to further reading to promote discussion is planned.  We will move on to looking at learning intentions and success criteria, along with using ‘two stars and a wish’ and the school policy for marking children’s work will be revised to ensure that it reflects a formative approach.

Contact details

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