Richmond Hill Primary Academy
Let's Think in English Hub
Richmond Hill Primary Academy is delighted to be working in partnership with Let's Think in English.
Let's Think in English (LTE) is a teaching programme which helps primary and secondary pupils develop the higher order skills needed for success in English. These include inference, deduction and analysis together with confidence and resilience when responding to unfamiliar texts.
Let’s Think in English is a teaching programme created since 2009 to help young people develop the reasoning skills needed for success in English. As soon as they have learned how to decode letters, words and sentences, they need to develop higher-order reading skills such as inference, deduction and analysis. This gradually leads through the key stages to the ability to recognise and discuss how language can be used to create features such as characterisation, mood, tone, pace and irony and how texts can be structured for various effects.
Let’s Think in English draws on research by Piaget and Vygotsky that young people learn best when exploring ideas together. The lessons are based on structured challenge and include the development of understanding through discussion (social construction), problem-solving (cognitive challenge) and structured reflection (metacognition) which makes pupils more aware of their thinking processes and how they think most effectively.
The programme consists of suites of high-interest lessons all using authentic English texts – fiction, poetry, non-fiction and film – with lessons appropriate for each key stage from KS1 to KS4. They are designed to be used fortnightly and may be used in any order, as part of the scheme of work or independently. The lessons stimulate the reasoning patterns which underpin deeper understanding of English relating to the writer’s intentions narrative structure, figurative language, symbolism, genre, etc. They can lead to written work if the school wishes.
How Let’s Think in English Works
The lessons systematically develop pupils’ skills of inference, deduction and analysis, increasing their confidence, resilience, understanding and ability to express their ideas. They provide experience of ‘verbal drafting’ which develops pupils’ ability to draft analysis, answers in exams such as SATS and GCSE.
The programme works well with pupils of all abilities and particularly helps less able pupils. It also works well with pupils with EAL. Teachers repeatedly tell us how all these pupils thrive and make specially good progress.
Let’s Think in English is based on 30 years’ research at King’s College London which shows that structured development of pupils’ cognitive skills over two years raises their attainment by between 1 and 2 GCSE grades see Evidence of success. Previously called Cognitive Acceleration, it is one of only three programmes which have repeatedly been shown in international trials to have this effect. (The others are Philosophy for Children and Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment, but these do not relate directly to school subjects.)
Let's Think in English Programme
Let’s Think in English primary programme consists of a suite of high-interest lessons which are intended to be used fortnightly from Year 1 to Year 6. They are largely oral, based on reading, open-ended questioning and structured group discussion which increases pupils’ reasoning skills and metacognition (structured reflection). This makes pupils more aware of their thinking processes and how they think most effectively.
Lessons develop pupils’ ability to provide reasoned justifications for their views, predict, summarise and draw inferences when reading texts. Furthermore, through LTE pupils identify how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning, examine authors’ choice of language and other stylistic features and consider the purpose of the text. Pupils develop their higher-order reading skills (and subsequently writing) through group discussion and sharing their views.
Let’s Think in English primary programme supports a mastery curriculum. Pupils are provided with structured challenges where they develop their reasoning with the support of their peers while the teacher helps deepen their reasoning through mediation. LTE believes mastery can only be understood in terms of the development of cognition.
Over 400 schools in the UK as well as international schools in Brazil, Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Poland, Switzerland and Vietnam are using the programme. Training is available for individual schools or clusters of schools.
Let’s Think in English primary training is based on effective professional development and is specifically designed to enhance teaching and learning. It is centred on exemplar lessons, classroom practice and collaborative reflection. Teacher evaluations of the programme have shown significant gains in all aspects of teaching, but particularly in providing appropriate challenges for the more capable students, implementing alternative strategies in their classrooms, helping their students think critically, and adjusting their lessons to an appropriate level for individual students. Teachers believe the programme makes them more thoughtful and confident.
Let’s Think in English is a long-term teacher development programme and upon completion of introductory training schools are invited to join the primary Let’s Think in English Network. This meets each term at King’s College London to share experience of teaching Let’s Think in English and work on new ideas and approaches. There are also a growing number of other geographical hubs.
(Taken from the official Let's Think in English website: About Let's Think in English - Let's Think in English)
For more information on joining the programme, please click the links below;
Pedagogical Steps
Each LTE lesson follows the same structure, focusing on the five pedagogical steps below;
1. Concrete Preparation
2. Social Construction
3. Cognitive Conflict
4. Metacognition
5. Bridging
Frequently Asked Questions
Please click the link below to access the frequently asked questions.
An LTE Lesson
In order to get a flavour of LTE in action, please copy and paste the below links into your browser to see some short clips of a lesson.
For more information on the programme, please contact LTE@richmond.doncaster.sch.uk, or call Kelly Cousins (Head of School & LTE Hub Lead) on 01302 782421.