A WHOLE school has been goal setting in an innovative approach to building their characters and maximising their learning.
Hundreds of pupils at Barnard Castle School spent a morning off timetable reflecting on their approach to studying and how to boost their endeavours even further.
Called Apollo, after the son of Zeus, the powerful Greek god of music, archery, healing, and light, the app-based system provides a constant reminder for students to study with purpose and develop character traits such as gratitude, resilience and courage.
Each pupil uses technology to keep an individual record of their learning experience based on four key elements.
These include:
Feel – how they feel within in terms of gratitude, courage and resilience
Be – who they are and how they behave, including humility, integrity and humour
Share – how they interact with people, exhibiting compassion, service and leadership
Go – how they learn and make progress, involving curiosity, creativity and endeavour.
The goal setting day saw every single student benefit from one-to-one time with their tutors to explore their progress and any barriers to successful learning.
Pupils took part in sessions covering pastoral care, academic study, mentoring and co-curricular activities as part of an off-timetable initiative designed to assess progress, propose any necessary interventions and support regular tutor-student meetings.
“Key to the success of Apollo are the relationships between students and tutors and the conversations they have,” said deputy head Mark Robson.
“For the students it’s like keeping a diary which is monitored by the tutor. We look together at goals, assess the progress and consider whether there is anything else we can do to strengthen the actions needed for them to achieve them.
“It stretches beyond academic to develop their life-skills socially, or in sport or music too. They look at what they have achieved, what have they learned and whether they would do anything differently next time.”
Students can record their experiences by making notes and enhance them by uploading photos, video, audio files, or PDFs.
“All the time the students are getting better at recording their reflections and staff are getting better at helping them achieve their goals,” Mr Robson said.
“It also helps sixth formers keep a record of what they have done which makes life a lot easier when it comes to writing their personals statements and completing UCAS applications. The app will even auto-curate their CV. They complete so much at Barney that it is easy to overlook what they have done and how they have developed their character.
“It also helps tutors understand what students might feel anxious about or what they are finding challenging in their lives. It helps pupils differentiate what controls they have over their lives so they can keep an eye on their mental wellbeing.
“We want them to look at their learning behaviours, then they will be able to maximise their full potential. Using Apollo they will know what they need to do and where they need to focus.”
He said the one-to-one sessions were enabling students to be more honest and talk about issues they might not speak of in groups of their peers.
“They get tutors’ undivided attention and that makes a massive difference, that is the power of the system,” Mr Robson said.
“This unseen development is intuitive. It brings academic ambition and character development together, that is the fundamental thing about it. They can show integrity and curiosity in the classroom, on the sports fields or outside school. We also encourage humour and humility alongside service and leadership. It pervades all elements of school life."