School Closure
Bank current learning service
This was a free service we offered to embed as much as possible of the learners' current maths learning to cover a period where teaching is not happening or not ideal.
This service is for learners not already using timely practice, for learners already using timely practice please follow this link.
Service closed until October 2020
We have shut this service to make the service easier to use, but will re-open
Given lead time to get projects up and running in schools, we believe there is no possibility of the bank current learning service doing its job before the end of term.
Problem: the race between teaching/learning and forgetting
We at timely practice estimate that school closure from the end of March to early September, for low attaining learners, could well result in the loss of a complete academic year's learning (see 
box below).
Estimate of learning loss
Best estimate of learning loss of maths over the summer holiday is 6 weeks to 1.8 months of learning. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0907568218779130
March 2020 - September 2020 is a little over 4 times the length of the summer holiday - so learning loss could be 5 to 7.5 months.
September 2019 - March 2020 was 7 months, so it is not unreasonable to think that all the learning of the academic year 2019-20 could be lost to forgetting, unless we find a way for learners to retain learners' maths learning.
This is what the plan for the bank current learning service.
Hard to access on-line teaching and practice?
Many teachers and a few parents of low attaining learners (especially looked after children and those with SEN), have told us that their learners cannot access work sent home.
- For some this inability to access can be practical (no internet connection or finding their smartphone too difficult to manage).
- For others they feel overwhelmed (they find figuring out what to do confusing - without the support of the teacher and their peers) and then get upset and then give up.
My opinion is that if we don't do something to help the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, they will return to school with a much greater learning loss than their peers.
It is likely that for this school closure term
| retain learning from previous 2 terms and previous years | learn new maths skills during summer term | |
| high attaining learners | Existing skills are in danger of being forgotten, but including maths practice, such as eedi and Corbett maths 5-a-day along with new teaching will help existing learning be retained. Want to ensure current learning is retained? then why not use the bank current learning service? | Multiple ed-tech products are designed for this group |
| middle attaining learners | Some learners will get benefit from ed-tech products, but some learners will find new learning difficult without support from their teacher and peers. | |
| low attaining learners | Existing skills are likely to be forgotten, and practice which is intended as revision practice - may not be - if
This group is our target user - the bank current learning service is ideal for these learners. | Without careful reminder of existing knowledge, which in its turn requires careful pre assess, very little new learning is likely to happen. The longer the gap since teaching, the harder it will be for the teacher to plan teaching without pre assessment. New teaching using the assessment data from the bank current service is far more likely to lead to embedded learning. |
We at timely practice propose that the number one priority should be embedding learning to avoid learning loss.
purpose of retrieval practice
When learners attempt to independently answer as many questions as possible from their timely practice assignments - we quickly find and reconfirm their existing learning.
If learners go on to practice similar but different practice questions at carefully spaced intervals, then they will retain that learning for longer.
By extending the wait between one practice and the next the learner embeds that learning more deeply each time they practice.
TheSolutionpart1.pdf explains how embedding learning works after new teaching and learning. (The partner pdf's are found here).
The process for more deeply embedding existing learning is similar, but we wait longer between each practice with the embed current learning service.
What is required for the bank current learning service?
This is a service for learners not already using timely practice, for learners already using timely practice please follow this link.
For teachers of learners not already using timely practice please read on.
The teacher creates assignments containing questions for each learner - these are pdf assignments - so the teacher must assess them.
To achieve this remotely the learners can post in completed assignments (those without internet access), use school based portals/email to return completed assignments by scan/photo/write on pdf or less ideally email in answers.
For the banking current learning service, there is no need to give help or feedback.
We estimate the following to give you an idea of what is required
| finding existing learning phase | embedding learning phase | |
|---|---|---|
| the lowest attaining learners in year 6 or 7 | 7 x 15 question assignments | 6 x 15 question assignments |
| a learner who nearly gained a grade 4 at GCSE | 15 x 15 question assignments | 10 x 15 question assignments |
After the finding existing learning phase?
The school can go on to
- the embedding learning phase or
- use timely practice to both finish the embedding learning phase and teach using timely practice
teach options
timely practice teach options require
- more frequent creation of timely practice assignments (normally at least 3 times per week)
- feedback between the teacher and the learner be given when necessary before the next assignment is completed.
The options are
- remote teaching option (whilst school closure continues)
- limited topic trial (during 2020-2021)
- most maths lessons trial (which will require further training).
See Terms and Conditions for more information.