Personalised Learning

At St. Francis’ College, we recognise the unique strengths and learning needs of all pupils in our care.

More Able

We recognise that pupils have different strengths and some pupils may be more able in certain subject areas.

Our subject teachers recognise each pupil’s individual strengths and, where appropriate, pupils are set extended work to stretch the pupil and give them the opportunity to explore the topic in more depth. This ensures that everyone is working at their individual level of ability and can work to their own potential.

Pupils that have particular skills in subject areas also use extra-curricular clubs to further their interest. There is a plethora of clubs on offer to our pupils and the clubs stretch our pupils far beyond the classroom curriculum. A small selection of the clubs on offer include:

• Archaeology Club
• The College Magazine Society
• The Medic Club

Individual Needs

Our Individual Needs Department enjoys an enviable reputation for providing an exceptional level of support and care for pupils identified with specific learning difficulties (such as dyslexia and dyscalculia), ASD and ADHD.

For those pupils who require support, a comprehensive package is provided:

• One-to-one or small group support with a specialist teacher. Lessons are tailored exactly to pupils’ individual needs and are designed to raise knowledge, skills and self-esteem.
• Support is available in maths, English, revision, study skills and organisational skills. The work we provide ensures that pupils are given the skills to access the curriculum in an inclusive way.
• Teachers are fully appraised of each pupil’s needs and are provided with strategies to use in the classroom to enable each pupil to fulfil their potential.
• Parents are invited to termly review meetings to discuss progress in support lessons.
• Each pupil’s progress is tracked carefully using targets which are monitored and evaluated every term.

The following values underpin all we do:

• We believe that every pupil will:
• Be successful and confident
• Be self-aware and co-operative
• Have a continuing love of learning
• Be independent and work well together
• Be a solution finder
• Be creative

If you would like to discuss any aspect of your child’s individual needs, please contact Mrs. Fryatt, Head of Individual Needs: afryatt@st-francis.herts.sch.uk

Pastoral Tracking

Many of us are aware of IQ (Intelligence Quotient), designed to measure intellectual intelligence. People with higher IQs are more likely to do well academically without exerting the same amount of mental effort as those with lower IQ scores. A logical assumption, therefore, is that people with higher IQs will be more successful at work and through life. This assumption has been proven incorrect – there is more to success than simply being ‘clever’.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the measure of an individual’s abilities to recognise and manage their emotions, and the emotions of other people, both individually and in groups. Emotional intelligence has benefits:

• People with higher emotional intelligence find it easier to form and maintain interpersonal relationships and to ‘fit in’ to group situations.
• People with higher emotional intelligence are also better at understanding their own psychological state, which can include managing stress effectively and being less likely to suffer from depression.

There is no correlation between IQ and EI scores. Research has shown that people with higher levels of emotional intelligence enjoy more satisfying and successful careers and relationships. If you think about ways to enhance your EI, you are likely to become more interesting and attractive to others, and you will also give your self-esteem a boost.

At St. Francis’ we focus our pupils on their emotional intelligence as it could well be the most important aspect of their personal development. Each term half term the pupils are asked to think about an aspect of their emotional intelligence and set a target to work on. We ask the pupils to link the target to trying out a new skill in their extra-curricular activities for example, leading an activity, helping someone else to learn a new skill, listening to a friend in need or practising speaking out loud more often. The pupils review these with their Form Tutor as they would their academic targets and reflect how they have improved.

Academic Tracking

We believe it is important that all students feel personally responsible for their own learning. Every half term, students receive an attainment grade and an effort grade in each subject and spend time with their Form Tutors talking about their academic progress. This gives them the opportunity for an open dialogue about their aspirations, which underpins all target setting. By tracking their own progress in this way, pupils can focus on particular areas for improvement, and see their efforts convert into higher levels of attainment in the longer term.