Knowledge Organisers

At Atherton High School, homework is retrieval based and intended to support what pupils have learned in school. We set homework that supports pupils to become independent learners, who understand key knowledge and can apply their knowledge in learning activities. Therefore, we recommend the use of Knowledge Organisers alongside the use of Reading Plus to support your child’s learning at home.

The use of Knowledge Organisers in homework is to support retrieval practice. Regular retrieval practice helps to build a pupil’s long term memory. Knowledge organisers support your child’s knowledge of the curriculum. Our curriculum is knowledge rich which requires our pupils to gain a secure understanding of knowledge. When we talk about knowledge, we do not mean knowledge for the purpose of recalling lots of facts, but to ensure that learners can retrieve key knowledge and then use this knowledge to apply in their learning.

Knowledge Organisers

Knowledge Organisers are the ‘go to’ document that contains key knowledge and vocabulary that pupils need to learn. This knowledge will be laid out in chunks which will contain the knowledge that is taught at each point on the subjects learning journey.

Using Knowledge Organisers at home

• Support with homework

As homework at Atherton High School is based on the retrieval of important knowledge, pupils can use their Knowledge Organisers to support their homework and use them if they have forgotten a key piece of knowledge. Retrieval practice is a powerful technique that boosts learning by recalling information from a pupil’s long term memory. This ensures that the key knowledge that is taught, sticks, and can be retrieved and used at different times.

• Pre teaching

If pupils are able to recall the facts prior to the lesson, then within the lesson they can take this further through application.

• Revision for tests and quizzes

Pupils can use Knowledge Organisers to help them prepare for assessments and quizzes by self-testing at home, to see how much they can remember.

• Vocabulary checks and preparation for spelling tests

Knowledge Organisers can be found on each subject page on our website along with clicking the links below for each subject.