A STAFF HANDBOOK
A useful resource aimed at teaching
staff to support Building Learning
Power in Victoria Junior School.
BUILDING
LEARNING
POWER
Victoria Junior School
What is Building Learning Power?
Building Learning Power (BLP) is about helping our children to
become better learners. Our current curriculum is both very
challenging and knowledge-based. Therefore, BLP allows us to
give children the skills and attitudes to tackle and transfer
this knowledge and prepares them better for an uncertain
future. By creating a climate that fosters good learning
habits we will enable them to face challenges, difficulties
and new situations in a calm, confident and creative way – not
only in school, but way beyond into the real world of everyday
life and for future employment. Professor Guy Claxton’s (the
founder of BLP) research has shown that those who are
confident of their own learning ability learn faster and learn
more efficiently – whether this be learning to read or riding
a bike!
Learning about learning positively impacts on children’s
achievements!
What does Building Learning Power look like?
At Victoria Junior School, we are
working to develop four overriding
learning behaviours (known as learning
muscles) which have been identified
within research as being essential in
supporting children to become better
learners. We refer to these as the 4Rs
and each one is represented by a
different coloured hat. Underneath
each R are smaller learning muscles.
Resilience
Resilience is being ready, willing and able to lock onto
learning! It involves knowing how to work through difficulties
when pressure mounts or the going gets tough. In Victoria
Junior School, resilience is represented by a purple hat.
Your resilience is made up of your…
 Absorption Learning Muscle- you become engrossed in what you
are doing; you are unaware of time passing.
 Managing Distractions Learning Muscle- you know what
distracts you, you try to minimise distractions, you settle
back quickly after an interruption.
 Noticing Learning Muscle- you notice how things look, what
they are made of, or how they behave, you can identify
significant detail.
 Perseverance Learning Muscle- you are not put off by being
stuck, you keep on going despite difficulties and find ways to
overcome them, you recognise that learning can be a struggle.
Absorption
Being able to lose yourself in learning – becoming absorbed in what you are
doing; engrossed and attentive.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Become engrossed in what you are doing.
 You may not be aware of the passing of time.
 Find being absorbed satisfying and rewarding.
 Like the feeling of being stretched in your
learning.
Ways that we can foster the skill of absorption: Go with the children’s learning and follow absorption. Allow children time to
explore and follow their interests.
 Role model the enjoyment of learning. Try out new approaches and new
technology and share the awe, wonder and excitement. If the children are
excited, they will learn more!
 Engage children in activities through discussion.
 Make what good learners do explicit to children and treat learning as a
reward in itself and not just praising the outcome.
Language to encourage absorption:
You look as though you are really enjoying that…….
What do you really like doing? What makes you get absorbed in it?
What did it feel like last time you really got into something? What do you
think made you feel like that?
What do you like about…..? What would make you like… in the same sort of way?
What can you find out about…… that would help you enjoy it?
It feels good when you really get into an activity.
Managing Distractions
Recognising and reducing distractions; knowing when to walk away and refresh
yourself. Creating your own best learning environment.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Are aware of the possible sources of distraction.
 Purposefully try to minimise distractions.
 Know what conditions help you learn.
 Settle back into learning quickly after an
interruption.
Ways that we can foster the managing of
distractions: Start from the child’s own perceptions and make managing distractions a
desirable skill.
 Ask questions to draw solutions out of children and tackle vague and
sometimes difficult emotional issues.
 Include the ability to manage distractions in everyday teaching and learning.
Reward and model this regularly.
 Provide tips and possible solutions.
 Discuss issues which are not clear cut e.g. friends who are both a
distraction and a source of inspiration, whether fiddling is a distraction or
an aid to concentration.
Language to encourage manging distractions:What do you find gets in the way of your learning? What would help you avoid
these distractions?
Do you need a break? How are you feeling?
Is this getting in the way of your learning?
What can we do to help you focus? What can you do to help yourself?
Great! I noticed you went back to your learning quickly after that
interruption.
Who is good at managing distractions? What is it you think they do that helps
them?
Stop, refresh yourself then continue with your learning.
Noticing
Perceiving subtle tones, patterns and detail in experiences.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Notice how things look, what they are made of or how
they behave.
 Are patient, knowing the details may take time to
emerge.
 Spot significant detail.
 Get a clear sense of ‘what’, before starting to think
‘why’ or how’
Ways that we can foster the skill of noticing: Recognise that looking, listening, watching and playing with ideas are the
key to successful learning.
 Prompt children explicitly to notice detail and to make comparisons at
different stages of the learning journey.
 Encourage children to ask themselves questions which will lead them to want
to look harder to find the answer.
 Reward the capacity to notice.
 Provide tips and model this regularly.
Language to encourage attentive noticing:What do you notice about the way….. is doing that?
What happened first? Next? What is this?
Touch it, smell it, listen to it, look at it. What are your senses telling you?
Just watch / listen to this for a while. What happens? Wait a little longer.
What’s happening now?
What do you think is the most important in this picture / article / diagram?
Let’s be patient a little longer and see what else we notice about…..
Can you see a difference between……. and ..……?
Great! You waited patiently, watched carefully and now you have found a
pattern.
Perseverance
Keeping going in the face of difficulties; channelling the energy of
frustration productively. Knowing what a slow and uncertain process learning
often is.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Are not put off by being stuck.
 Tolerate feelings of apprehension, frustration or
confusion without getting upset.
 Recognise that learning can be a struggle.
 Keep on going, despite difficulties and find ways to
overcome them.
Ways that we can foster the skill of perseverance: Use real life situations as prompts to talk about the process of perseverance
and how to use ‘stuck’ moments and mistakes as opportunities for learning.
 Ask children for ideas to help each other or the grown up in ‘stuck’
moments.
 Relate uncomfortable moments in learning in school to life outside school,
and vice versa.
 Help children uncover the reasons behind mistakes, to develop an awareness of
themselves and others and to support success.
Language to encourage perseverance:You look as though you are really enjoying that.
Everyone finds learning difficult at times.
We can do it! I can’t do it yet but I can learn how to….
What happened when you got stuck before? What did you do to work it out last
time?
That’s great! You were stuck and now you are not. I wonder what you did to move
it on.
I’m not really sure about how to do this. Any ideas?
It’s when you get stuck that you really begin to learn.
I made a mistake here… I wonder why that might be?
Reflectiveness
Reflectiveness is being ready, willing and
able to become more strategic about
learning! It involves taking a longer-term
view by planning, taking stock, and drawing
out your experience as a learner to get the
best out of yourself. In Victoria Junior
School, reflectiveness is represented by a
yellow hat.
Your reflectiveness is made up of your…
 Planning Learning Muscle- you think about what you want to
get out of learning, you plan the steps you might take, you
access which resources you may need.
 Revising Learning Muscle- you are ready to revise your plans
as you go along, monitor how things are going, change your
plans when you've had a better idea.
 Distilling Learning Muscle- you mull over experiences, draw
out useful lessons from experiences, think about where else
you might use these lessons.
 Meta-Learning Muscle- you are interested in how you learn as
an individual, know your strengths and weaknesses as a
learner, are interested in becoming a better learner.
Planning
Thinking about where you are going, the action you are going to take, the time
and resources you will need and the obstacles you may encounter.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Think about what you want to get out of learning
 Assess which resources you might need.
 Estimate how long it will take you.
 Plan the steps you might take.
 Anticipate what might get in the way.
Ways that we can foster the skill of planning: Frequently talk to children about planning throughout the day.
 Ask questions to prompt the children to think about what they might do next,
how to do it, what they need and who they may need to work with.
 Review how plans have gone.
 Encourage parents to use the language of learning at home too.
 On display photos put what learning capacity children are using.
Language to encourage planning:Think about what the activity is really about.
What are you wanting / trying to achieve? What will help you do this?
Think about which resources will help you.
Do you need to find out more information before you start?
About how long might it take?
What might hold you up / stop you finishing / take you away from the task?
What will you need to do first?
What are you planning to do next?
That’s a good plan…..
Revising
Being flexible, changing your plans in light of different circumstances,
monitoring and reviewing how things are going and seeing new opportunities.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Are ready to change your plans as you go
along.
 Are flexible in your learning.
 Monitor how things are going.
 Review your progress and change tack if necessary.
 Change your plans when you have a better idea.
Ways that we can foster the skill of revising: Use a common language of learning frequently and consistently.
 Adapt ideas e.g. use a learning wall.
 Encourage children to watch themselves learning and adapt their plans when
they get a better idea.
 Find talents in all children. Encourage reflection on how they have succeeded
and what they adapted along the way so that they can use this awareness to
become more flexible in future situations.
Language to encourage revising:There isn’t just one way of doing it. Can you think of other ways?
What can you learn from this mistake?
Revise and adapt along the way.
Are you using the most efficient way of doing that?
Ask yourself am I happy / satisfied with what I have achieved?
Do I need to do something more to make it better / meet my success criteria?
Good learners are flexible. They watch how they are doing and change things as
they go along. Try to think about the success criteria as you go along and
check you are on track to meet them.
Ask yourself from time to time, is this going ok? Is my plan still working? Am
I satisfied with this? It’s ok to change your plan if you have a better idea.
Learning doesn’t always go to plan. Don’t be afraid to ditch your plan and try
something else.
Distilling
Looking at what is being learned – pulling out the essential features –
carrying them forward to aid further learning.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Mull over experiences.
 Draw out useful lessons learnt.
 Identify features that are likely to help you elsewhere.
 Think about where else you might use the lessons.
Ways that we can foster the skill of distilling: Encourage learning with a challenge that includes sharing ideas with others.
 Create a framework for learning with a challenge or desired outcome that
includes sharing key ideas with others.
 Give children choices and freedom, time to apply their learning and
opportunities for reflection.
 Encourage questions. Answer a question by asking another.
 Work alongside children to prompt, facilitate, challenge, and discuss both
the content and process of learning. Reflect back what they notice.
Language to encourage distilling
What do you think are the three most important things you have found out?
If you only had to tell someone one thing about what you have learnt today,
what would it be? Why did you choose that one?
Think back to when you…… what did you learn from that?
How can you use what you learnt last week to help you now?
How could you teach someone else the key things about…….?
Just think over what we have been doing. What went well? What could be
improved? What lessons can we learn from this?
Where else could you use this skill / knowledge / idea? Describe it so you can
take it away with you.
Meta-learning
Knowing yourself as a learner – how you learn best; how to talk about the
learning process.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Are interested in how you learn.
 Can talk about what skills you need to get
better.
 Can talk about how learning works for you.
 Know your strengths and weaknesses as a
learner.
 Are interested in becoming better learners.
Ways that we can foster the skill of meta-learning: Use real-life situations as opportunities to talk about learning. Scaffold
learning through questioning and change approaches to suit different children.
 Give children choices about how they learn and ask them to compare different
ways of learning.
 Give children time to relax and think about how they can do something best
but also continually push the boundaries and challenge children with new ideas.
Language to encourage meta-learning:How did you learn this? How could you best solve this problem?
Which learning muscles worked well for you? Which ones need more exercise?
Who can you notice learning well? What makes you say that? What did you see /
hear them doing?
How did what you were talking about help you to learn? Which way of learning
worked best for you? Why?
Hmm, that’s an interesting way to talk about your learning.
That’s exciting. You’re not sure what to do next. What might you do to learn
what to do?
What did you do then that really worked well for you? What didn’t work so well?
Can you think of reasons for that? What would you do in the future?
Reciprocity
Reciprocity is being ready, willing and
able to learn alone or with other
people! It involves using knowing when
and how to work independently and when
to work successfully with others. In
Victoria Junior School, reciprocity is
represented by a red hat.
Your reciprocity is made up of your…
 Interdependence Learning Muscle- you know how much
interaction you need with others to assist your learning.
 Collaboration Learning Muscle- you manage your feelings when
working with others, you understand the ground rules of team
work, you are able to work effectively as part of a pair or
team.
 Empathy and Listening Learning Muscle- you put yourself in
other people's shoes to see the world from their point of
view, show you are listening by eye contact and body language,
hear feelings and thoughts behind someone's words.
 Imitation Learning Muscle- you are ready to learn from
others by noticing the approach and detail of how others do
things.
Interdependence
Knowing when it’s appropriate to learn on your own
or with others, and being able to stand your ground
in debate.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Know how much interaction you need with others to
help your learning.
 Make informed choices about working on your own
or with others.
 Maintain independent judgement when working with
others.
Ways that we can foster the skill of interdependence: Engage children of all ages in evaluating the effect of grouping or
individual work on their learning experiences and outcomes.
 Provide opportunities for different ways of learning, sometimes with
unexpected partners, but also involve children in decisions about who they will
work with and why.
 Become progressively more challenging in the expectations of independent
learning.
 Ask children what they have learnt about themselves as a result of working in
a particular way.
Language to encourage interdependence:What do you enjoy about learning with other people?
Do you prefer this to learning on your own?
When is it good to learn by yourself?
Do we need to be in a group to get that information?
What does it feel like when other people disagree with you? What would help you
to stick with your own ideas?
What makes you change your views and adopt / take up those of other people in
your group?
What sort of things do you find easier to learn on your own / with others?
Who do you learn best with? Why do you think that is?
Maybe this is the moment to go and think about this quietly by yourself, to
sort out your ideas before working with others.
Collaboration
Knowing how to manage yourself in the give and take of a collaborative venture,
respecting and recognising other viewpoints; adding to and drawing from the
strength of others.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Are aware how to respond to other people.
 Manage your feelings when working with them.
 Respect other people’s point of view.
 Able to work effectively as part of a pair or
team.
 Share information and ideas willingly.
 Understand the ground rules of team work.
Ways that we can foster the skill of collaboration: Make expectations of turn taking and collaboration explicit and include these
in individual children’s targets.
 Expect children to use each other as a resource.
 Look for, notice, comment on and value collaboration.
 Have high aspirations for the children and an improved understanding of
interactions due to the focus on collaboration.
Language to encourage collaboration:How could you help each other? Can you add your ideas to this?
That’s a good idea. You’re both finding it easier by doing that.
I really like the way that you count to 3 before you carefully explain why you
disagree.
We’ve got a problem – how can we fix it together?
It’s ok to ask other people for help.
I noticed you working collaboratively. Can you tell us what you were doing?
I know you are excited about this, but if you all talk at the same time we
won’t hear all the good ideas.
What might you say to show you respect the person but disagree with the idea?
What ideas could you add to this discussion? Why do you think your ideas are
better than / not as good as……?
Empathy and Listening
Contributing to others’ experiences by listening to them to understand what
they are really saying and putting yourself in their shoes.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Pay other people attention.
 Show you are listening by eye contact and body language.
 Reflect beck the main points someone has said.
 Hear feelings and thoughts behind someone’s words.
 Put yourself in other people’s shoes.
Ways that we can foster the skill of empathy and listening: Have fun!
 Allow children’s imagination free reign.
 Make the objective explicit – to begin to get inside other people’s minds and
understand them.
 Expect children to be able to put themselves in other people’s shoes and to
articulate very different points of view.
 Extend role play to develop other aspects of reciprocity and celebrate all
good ideas and collaborative ways of working.
Language to encourage empathy and listening:Thank you for listening so carefully.
Can you put yourself in …’s shoes?
I felt you were listening because you kept your eyes on me.
I found it easier to work out what I wanted to say because you waited for me to
finish.
What do you think might be the reasons why….. thinks that?
That’s an interesting opinion. How many more points of view can we find out?
Can I just check out that I have got it right? What I think you have said
is…….
Look at their faces. What do you think they are feeling? How can you tell that
someone is listening to you? Why is listening important? How do you think this
makes …….. feel?
Try not to rush to a judgement about what someone is saying, keep an open mind.
Imitation
Constructively adopting methods, habits or values from other people whom you
observe.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Are ready to learn from others.
 Notice the approach and the detail of how others do
things.
 Compare skills and absorb ideas by observing other
people.
Ways that we can foster the skill of imitation: Believe that everyone has something to offer others and everyone can learn
from others.
 Use children’s ideas and children to find better strategies for more
effective learning; ask the children what the adults could have done
differently as teachers to make a skill easier to understand.
 Give children chances to reflect on how an expert would do the task they want
to do and mentally picture themselves doing the same.
 Model how to respond to others doing well.
 Model not being afraid to go wrong!
Language to encourage imitation:Look very carefully at someone you think is doing …… really well and think
about how you can do it like that.
I like the way you do that.
Who have you learnt something from today?
What would you like to be able to do that …….. can do? Who do you think could
be a good model for this?
What was it that ….. did next to make the difference?
What do you think ….…was thinking to be able to do it so well?
What sort of beliefs did ……. have that helped them succeed?
Picture ….. doing this. Ask them some questions in your head about how they did
it before you try.
Resourcefulness
Resourcefulness is being ready, willing
and able to learn in different ways! It
involves using both internal and
external resources effectively. In
Victoria Junior School, resourcefulness
is represented by a blue hat.
Your resourcefulness is made up of
your…
 Questioning Learning Muscle- you are curious about things
and people, you often wonder why, you play with ideas, asking
"How come?" and "What if?”
 Making Links Learning Muscle- you look for connections
between experiences or ideas, you find pleasure in seeing how
things fit together, you make patterns.
 Imagining Learning Muscle- you picture how things might
look, sound, feel, be; you let your mind explore and play with
possibilities and ideas.
 Reasoning Learning Muscle- you create logical arguments, you
deduce what might happen, you look for evidence.
 Capitalising Learning Muscle- you need to draw on the full
range of resources from the wider world – other people, books,
the Internet, past experience and future opportunities.
Questioning
Asking questions of yourself and others. Being curious and playful with ideas –
delving beneath the surface of things.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Are not afraid of not knowing.
 Are curious about things and people.
 Like to get below the surface of things and
come up with your own ideas.
 Often wonder why.
 Play with ideas, asking “how come?” and “what
if?”
Ways that we can foster the skill of questioning: Model using questions as the starting point of the quest for knowledge.
 Adults to admit they do not know some of the answers to children’s questions
and find out with them.
 Encourage open, hypothetical and ‘big’ questions.
 Consciously try to teach only what the children don’t already know.
 Ask questions of ourselves as adults.
 Reward good questions.
Language to encourage questioning:That’s a great / interesting / thoughtful / insightful question.
I don’t really know myself yet. I wonder what we could ask to find out.
If we had a real scientist / poet / author / mathematician here who could tell
us anything we wanted to know, what would we ask? When we find that out, what
might we ask next?
What do you think an alien would ask here?
What else might you want to know? What questions did we ask last time?
Is this a good enough answer? What could this be?
Why is it fun to ask questions?
Can you think of 5 questions that would give us this answer?
Making Links
Seeing connections between different events and experiences – building patterns
– weaving a web of understanding.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Look for connections between experiences or ideas.
 Find pleasure in seeing how things fit together,
make patterns.
 Connect new ideas to how you already think and feel.
 Look for analogies in your memory that will give you
a handle on something complicated.
Ways that we can foster the skill of making links: Model noticing connections and links and talk about them explicitly.
 Encourage the children to explain the links they identify.
 Remind children of the links between skills and knowledge.
 Pursue new knowledge enthusiastically in order to follow up connections which
children or adults identify.
 Be prepared to try something out to see if it will provide helpful
connections.
Language to encourage making links:How could it fit?
What does…….. tell you about ………..?
Can you see any connections? Can you see a pattern here?
What do you know already that could help? What else do you know?
Can you see a link between what we did in ………… and what you do ………… ?
How might knowing ……………. help you to do…………….?
How many ideas can we think of here?
Can you think of a metaphor for this?
Ask yourself, what is this like that I already know about?
Now that you know …….. has it changed how you think about ……?
Imagining
Using your imagination and intuition to put yourself through new experiences or
to explore possibilities. Wondering what if…?
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Picture how things might look, sound, feel, be.
 Let your mind explore and play with possibilities
and ideas.
 Build up stories around objects, facts, theories
and other stimuli.
 Rehearse things in your mind before doing them for
real.
Ways that we can foster the skill of imagining: Create an environment where children are more likely to engage the
imagination and wonder.
 Give children time to imagine and play with ideas.
 Use open-ended language and tasks, encourage the development of hypotheses
rather than a strict right / wrong. Ask “What could be?” and unanswerable
questions.
 Build learning capacity into every day, real-life tasks.
Language to encourage imagining:If we could fly, what would it feel like? How might the world look when we
landed?
What can we learn from our dreams?
I wonder what Teddy would do?
Listen to the music…. What does it sound like? What do you think …. felt when
he/she wrote it? What was he / she wearing? Where were they sitting? What else
do you imagine might be happening?
That’s a really useful idea. Try to picture ….. in your mind. Before you do….
try to picture yourself doing it really well in your mind.
When do you get your best ideas bubbling up into your mind?
Reasoning
Call up your logical and rational skills to work things out methodically and
rigorously; constructing good arguments and spotting others’ mistakes.
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Create logical arguments.
 Spot flaws in other people’s arguments.
 Deduce what might happen.
 Look for evidence.
Ways that we can foster the skill of reasoning: Structure experiences / activities so children have to work out a conclusion
from facts or clues which only give them some of the information.
 Structure the process of reflection to help children think through a problem
logically.
 Involve children in thinking critically about how and why changes to a
context have impact.
 Use precise language for thinking: analysing, comparing, judging, critiquing,
deducing, inferring, concluding, reappraising etc.
Language to encourage reasoning:If it’s like this here, what might it be like there?
What can you deduce from this?
Which of these things fit together? Why?
That’s a very good reason.
Can you find anything that shouldn’t be here? What makes you think that doesn’t
fit?
Can you think it through in clear steps from start to finish?
Let’s take it a step at a time… what might be the next step? And the next?
Is there anything that we need to do first?
How many reasons can you find for that? How have you come to that conclusion?
What evidence can you find to support your case / argument?
Which thinking tool will help us solve this puzzle?
Some clear thinking going on here – well done!
Capitalising
Drawing on the full range of resources from the wider world – other people,
books, internet, past experiences, future opportunities…
When you use this learning muscle, you…
 Learn from many different sources (people, books,
the internet, music, the environment, experience
etc.).
 Make intelligent use of all kinds of things to help
learning (e.g. posters, dictionaries etc.).
Ways that we can foster the skill of capitalising: Talk about the targeted learning behaviour with the
children before and during activities so they are able to articulate the skills
they are using.
 Give children criteria for peer / self - assessment.
 Give children time to play and reflect.
 Use open ended activities and language as much as possible.
 Develop more than one BLP objective in a lesson if possible.
Language to encourage capitalising:What else might we find out about that?
What can we use to help us with this?
Who could you help?
If you could find people to help with this, who would you ask? (Phone a
friend!)
That was great. What else could we have used to improve it further?
What led you to choose to use that?
If you could use anything you wanted, what would you use?
What skills do we need as a team to succeed at this task?
How could we make better use of this space?
Would making a ……. help sort this out?