Building Learning Power (B.L.P)

What is BLP?

At Perryfields Primary School, we are on a journey to grow our ‘Learning Power’.  In other words, we are all learning to be better learners.

Lifelong learning and the promotion and development of independent learners is a key objective for our school.

In our school, we follow Professor Guy Claxton’s work on Building Learning Power (BLP). Guy Claxton’s work suggests that there are four key learning dispositions – Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reflectiveness and Reciprocity. The four Rs of learning. Each of the four Rs is made up of a number of areas of learning which are called muscles.

At Perryfields, we teach the children all about these skills and learning muscles and how that just as we can build our physical muscles with the right kinds of exercise, we can also exercise our learning muscles to develop their strength and stamina.

We will use BLP to develop our ‘Language for Learning’ in school and this will enabled us to engage all pupils in a dialogue using a common language to support and develop our understanding of how we learn. It is our intention that the children use the language for learning to explain ways in which they achieved or approached tasks and how they can move on to the next chapter in their learning.

We hope that this information helps to make you aware of the language we use and you can use the same language to discuss and support your child’s learning.

You may have already heard these Rs in praise assemblies. Here’s a bit more information about what they mean.

Resilience

The key elements of this disposition are PerseveranceNoticingManaging Distractions and Absorption.

The children will learn how to stay locked onto their learning, the importance of never giving up and the benefits of learning when getting un-stuck.

Resourcefulness

The key elements of this are disposition QuestioningCapitalisingMaking LinksReasoning and Imagining.

The children will develop their ability to ask and answer questions, use resources around them to help them with their learning, make links between the different areas of their learning and of course, use their imaginations!

Reflectiveness

The key elements of this disposition are PlanningMeta-learningDistilling and Revising.

The children will learn how and why they learn and will be encouraged to regularly look back on their learning to see whether they have met their targets and objectives. They will be asked to think about future targets and areas for improvement.

Reciprocity

The key elements of this disposition are ImitationInterdependence, Listening and Collaboration.

The children will learn how, why and when it is best to learn on their own, with a partner or within a group and develop the skills they need to be a valued member of a team and a learning community.

We hope that this information will give you an idea of Building Learning Power.