Terms and Conditions
We are a small company creating a unique product. We aim to keep our terms and conditions simple.
timely practice
This is the name of the app created by SRS Learning Limited to enable learners to retain more of their maths learning for longer.
Bank current learning service
This service is free, until the end of September 2020.
We will support teachers to use timely practice efficiently.
We will prioritise help to teachers who use timely practice regularly.
purpose
If learners attempt to independently answer questions within the assignments created by their teacher this will give appropriately timed retrieval practice and this will embed the learners' current learning more deeply.
Feedback
For this service there is no need for the teacher to do feedback with the learners, the aim is merely to embed existing maths learning.
Accuracy of assessment
Data within the timely practice app is only as accurate as the teacher's assessment. If learners get unacknowledged help, then the data will not be accurate, but some embedding of learning is likely to take place. Teachers should encourage learners and their families to not give help for the bank current learning phase.
Follow on options
Once the finding existing learning phase is completed the school may continue with the embedding learning phase only or may continue with the embedding learning phase and take up the
- remote teaching option or
- limited topic trial option
These options require that help and feedback should be given to the learner - so are harder to achieve remotely.
Remote teaching option
Whilst schools are closed or whilst learners are not attending class, it is possible to use timely practice to do distance teaching.
This option is only available when teachers have completed the finding existing learning phase of the bank current learning service (see 
box below)
finding existing learning phase completed?
We understand that with remote teaching and learning there will be some learners who don't always engage with what is expected of them. We do not expect all learners to have completed the finding existing learning phase before the teacher can move on to remote teaching; however we do expect the teacher to not teach new learning to learners until they have completed the finding existing learning phase. Without the finding existing learning phase the remote teaching phase will be at best inefficient - and create un-necessary work for both the teacher and ourselves.
We offer free training and free use of resources and timely practice app provided
- the finding existing learning phase is completed (see box above)
- frequency of use is approximately as recommended (see box below)
timely practice needs to be done regularly - else the practice will not be timely
- practice which is too late leads to more forgetting and therefore requires more feedback,
- practice which is done too quickly (such as extra practice in the lesson) does not extend the duration of learning and leads to forgetting and requires re-teaching
- practice which is timely leads to efficiently embedding learning and firm foundations for future learning.
frequency of use
Unlike the bank current learning service, feedback will need to be given for the remote teaching option (this takes on average within the classroom less than a minute per learner per assignment).
A rule of thumb for frequency would be:
| timely practice & feedback | |
|---|---|
| Learners below the 15th percentile | at least 3 times per week |
| Learners at or above the 15th percentile | at least 2 times per week |
The teacher need not follow the embedding learning phase of the bank current learning service, as embedding of the learning found in the finding existing learning phase will happen alongside the remote teaching practice.
In the table below we compare timely practice and traditional teaching
| Advantages of timely practice | Disadvantages of timely practice | |
|---|---|---|
| Feedback | Teacher feedback to low attaining learners, will be more effective than generic feedback. | Teacher must do feedback - via video call/conference. |
| Assignments | Personalised PDF assignments are designed to optimally embed learning. | Assignments must be emailed/posted out to learners, returned and assessed by the teacher. |
| Engagement | Learners are more engaged when they can independently and accurately answer most questions. | No gamification |
| Noticing forgetting | From the assessment of timely practice assignments, the teacher will quickly learn when the teaching and apparent learning of the lesson, has been forgotten or partially forgotten. The teacher then has a chance to fix this through re-teaching or feedback (or indeed decide they have taught too hard or too much and that some new learning is best learned later). With traditional teaching we generally only notice forgetting when revising for or feeding back after tests - but by then it is too late to do anything other than re-teach. | Noticing forgetting can be an uncomfortable experience for the teacher and the learners. When the teacher and the learner only practise close to the point of teaching, they will generally feel that learning has been achieved. If retrieval practice (perhaps 2 days later) reveals learning as forgotten/partially forgotten, the teacher and learner can feel that they are not good at teaching/learning. |
| Efficiency | timely practice is efficient at embedding learning - recent trials show low attaining learners in GCSE closing the learning gap with their more highly attaining peers (within 2 years). The teacher's time will almost always result in embedded learning. | Traditional teaching appears efficient - if we measure learning directly after teaching. Teachers and learners to some extent need to change their mindset: be pleased when learners can remember what they have learned, but equally be pleased when we find out that we can find and fix forgetting. |
| Hope | Once the teacher and learners notice that the learners can independently and accurately answer questions on prior learning, they begin to have faith that they are good teachers/learners. | It takes time to build up hope in learners. |
Limited topic trial
We have a number of free trials available - the duration of the trail is likely to be about 18 school weeks (following on from the bank current learning service, otherwise 22 weeks).
Priority will be given to schools which have used the bank current learning service and who have at least 2 maths teachers who have completed our on-line training.
We will work with the user or another teacher to plan a trial to compare another form of teaching (usually following the school's current scheme of learning) and the teaching and learning made possible using the timely practice app. To begin the trial we will require schools to have
- used the bank current learning service (or add an extra 4 weeks of approximately 15 minutes per lesson prior to the trial)
- trained at least 2 maths teachers (if there are more than 2 maths teachers in the school, else 1 maths teacher and one line manager)
- agreed a trial plan with us.
We are committed to make the trial as fair as possible. We need to find a balance between showing what timely practice can do, when used as advised
- teach small bites of new learning taking into account mastered prior learning,
- return to teach more on each topic only after prior learning is mastered,
and yet allow teachers to teach close to the school's scheme of learning.
Whilst school closures are in place - a limited topic trial could be planned to compare the embedded learning of timely practice with another on line teaching app or indeed with learners who do not engage with distance learning during the school closures.
Most maths lessons trial
This trial takes the longest to achieve comparable data - so we only will offer only a very limited number of free places.
This trial is for schools who are convinced that they want to change their scheme of learning for some learners and wish to use timely practice regularly. This will usually be following on from the limited topic trial.
Since embedding learning in low attaining learners takes time, it takes time to show that classes of low attaining learners are closing the learning gap between themselves and the more highly attaining peers. We therefore want to ensure that the school and the teachers are committed to the training, teaching style and frequency of use of timely practice before we offer this option.
Paid for account
This facility is currently not available.
The definitions and other small print
The user
This will usually be a designated teacher within the school.
The user may ask for learners to be deleted from the timely practice app or ask for the password from each teacher's account (see Privacy Policy).
The user may see data from all the teacher accounts, ask for the password to be changed, ask for learners or classes to be moved between accounts.
The teacher and the teacher's account
The teacher's account is set up under (usually a school) email address.
The teacher has their own log in and password (see Privacy Policy).
The teacher interacts with the app
- creates and assesses the assignments,
- plans pre assess and teaching,
- adds layers to be pre assessed or which have been taught,
- may decide layers are best learned later during assessment or within a learner's progress page.
The teacher (or our staff) will set up the class(es).
The teacher may ask our administrator (or others within SRS Learning Limited) for learners to be moved from their account, only the user may ask for learners to be deleted from an account.
The class
These usually correspond to classes of learners within a school or other learning institution but sometimes may be just one learner.
The learner
The learners' assessment for learning data is represented alongside the learners' names within the app.
The app builds up a picture of the learners depth of learning of layers within topics over time by the teachers assessment of the learners assignments (see Privacy Policy).
Our administrator
Our administrator creates and deactivates teacher accounts.
Our administrator (is currently the only person who) can move learners from one class to another or delete learners information.
The data
Data is collected by the timely practice app to ensure that learners learning becomes firm learning foundations.
Some of this data: the depth of learning data for each layer for each learner is accessible by the teacher and the user, but much is not (see Privacy Policy).
Fair use
When timely practice is not regularly used the data within the app becomes less accurate.
Our data is kept in the cloud (see Privacy Policy) so while cannot be held responsible for loss of data we will endeavour to hold the data for each learner for 3 months after the last use of the teacher or the end of the service (which ever is shorter). We recommend that the user (perhaps on a termly basis) stores the depth of learning data for each learner (this can be via print out or copy and paste into a spread sheet).
Training and advice
We offer Explaining and Training on using the app and the efficacy of teaching and learning, using our best knowledge, with our best intentions.
If teachers do not follow our advice we will
- in the first instance let the user know and offer training to the teacher,
- if this is not successful, we will let the user know and may freeze the teacher's timely practice account. (See Fair use above).