Den’s Road Primary School

Dundee, Scotland

Engagement:

Colleagues at Den’s Road Primary enjoyed 3 x 90-minute virtual professional development sessions on the theme of memory with a focus on retrieval practice. The sessions were delivered after school over the course of an academic term. Each session consisted of practice strategies which colleagues trialled and adapted after each session. Subsequent sessions allowed colleagues to feedback and ask questions about techniques before then learning about additional techniques such as spaced and interleaved practice.

Feedback:

Stuart worked directly in partnership with the school’s Numeracy Lead and SLT on building a bespoke block of training to support the school’s understanding of what retrieval practice is, why retrieval practice works and (most importantly for teachers) how to effectively implement and embed retrieval practice at a practical level in our classrooms. Thanks to Stuart’s knowledge and guidance, retrieval practice is now taking place at a whole-school level and children have responded well to this strategy for sustainable learning. We are steadily seeing an improvement in confidence in both teachers and learners through the use of retrieval practice thanks to Stuart’s support.