Learning to Learn

Mastering our learning powers makes us super learners.

At Cranfield Church of England Academy, we believe that lifelong learning is the birthright of our children. “Learning to learn” is an approach to developing our children’s understanding and capacity to learn in new and challenging circumstances throughout their lives. In learning how to learn, our children will be more proficient at learning!

In 2012, the staff of Cranfield decided on a series of learning behaviours, which we call “learning powers”. We strive in our school ethos and classroom teaching to develop these “learning powers”. We can think of the learning powers as being like groups of “learning muscles”. Just as we can build our physical muscles, so we can exercise our “learning muscles” to develop their  strength and stamina.

The Cranfield Church of England Academy learning powers are:

• Absorption – “I am super at not getting distracted when I am learning.”
• Perseverance – “I keep going with my learning, even when it is tricky.”
• Questioning – “I can ask myself and other people questions about my learning.”
• Imagining – “I enjoy discovering and trying new things.”
• Planning – “I think carefully about what I am doing next in my learning. I use tools to help me with my learning.”
• Revising – “I can make changes in my learning if I think of a better way to do things.”
• Collaboration – “I can listen and learn with my friends.”
• Empathy and Listening – “I listen carefully to my friends to understand and help them.”