Thinking Skills is a unique and exciting subject at Bartholomew School for all of our Key Stage 3 students. Students have one Thinking Skills lesson a fortnight, giving them a specific opportunity to develop their independent and collaborative thinking skills, fostering and encouraging curiosity and creativity.
The lessons are designed to give students the chance to think in new ways, to reflect on how they learn, and to feel encouraged and motivated about their learning.
In Year 9, there is a specific focus on developing independent study skills in preparation for their Key Stage 4 studies. Students experiment with different revision techniques, as well as looking at skills such as note-taking, organisation and time-management.
In the summer term, students will put their developing thinking skills into practise by exploring a new Climate Change Curriculum. The skills that the students develop through their Thinking Skills lessons are designed to enhance their learning in other subjects, throughout their time at Bartholomew School and beyond.
MAIN TOPICS COVERED
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YEAR 7
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- Thinking Introduction: What is Thinking Skills?
- Thinking Pictures: What can we see in these images?
- Thinking Questions: What types of questions are there? What makes a good discussion question?
- Thinking Links: Can links be made between these objects?
- Thinking Enquiry: Group discussion based on Philosophy for Children
- Thinking Reasons: How can we justify our reasoning?
- Thinking Codebreaking: Can we crack the code?
- Thinking Strategically: Learning a new board game
- Thinking Media: Can we trust everything that we see and read?
- Thinking Logically: Chess and Draughts
- Thinking Music: Can music effect how we think?
- Thinking Together: Can we work as a team?
- Climate Change Curriculum: What is climate change and what can we do about it?
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YEAR 8
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- Thinking Memory: What techniques can we use to improve our memory skills?
- Thinking Communication: What is British Sign Language? How can we improve our communication skills?
- Thinking Detectives: What happened to the Mary Celeste? How can things be categorised? Who’s telling the truth in the Three Little Pigs?
- Thinking Creatively: Can you design an invention to make our daily lives easier? Who can produce the best presentation and win Dragon’s Den?
- Thinking Survival: Can you use your thinking skills to solve this scenario?
- Thinking Reasons: How can we justify our reasoning?
- Climate Change Curriculum: What is climate change and what can we do about it?
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YEAR 9
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- Thinking Communication: How can we communicate effectively?
- Thinking Detectives: Who can win Cluedo?
- Thinking Revision: Mind Mapping, note-taking, timelines, flashcards, storyboards, and other key study skills
- Thinking Research: Can you use a range of resources to research your chosen topic?
- Climate Change Curriculum: What is climate change and what can we do about it?
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