Every parent wants their child to be truly known at school: not only through the marks on their report card, but through their curiosity, the moments when they hold back and the areas in which they feel confident. Our personalised learning model starts from this expectation and rests on a single principle: “Every child is different and learns differently.”
Our personalised learning model embraces the diversity among children as a strength and plans all of its work around the fact that every child is unique and one of a kind. The same framework applies at our school from kindergarten to Grade 8; what changes from level to level is the content of each stage, according to the child’s age and developmental stage.
In this article, we describe the three stages of our personalised learning model, how they are put into practice at each school level and the place of parents in the process.
Three stages, one cycle
Our personalised learning model consists of three core stages:
- Getting to know the student
- Content focused on developing knowledge and skills
- Assessment and progress monitoring
These stages are not steps that are completed once and then closed. Suitable content cannot be planned without knowing the student, and without assessment and monitoring it is impossible to tell whether the plan is working. The information gained through monitoring becomes part of knowing the child better, and supporting work is re-planned when needed.
One dimension of the system concerns teachers: within our personalised learning model, the learning leadership of our academic staff is kept up to date through professional development workshops. A system that knows the child is only possible with teachers who keep developing themselves.
Stage 1: Getting to know the student
Everything begins with getting to know the child. Each student’s cognitive, physical, social and emotional development is assessed by our Psychological Counselling and Guidance (PDR) unit through tests and inventories based on scientific evidence. The results are shared with our teachers and parents; the aim is to support the child’s healthy development in all areas.
The emphasis of this stage varies by level:
- In kindergarten, the child’s interests and abilities are discovered. Their performance in art, sport, music and robotics workshops is observed; through a joint assessment by our PDR unit and subject teachers, the areas the child shows an aptitude for are identified and shared with the family. During the settling-in period, a gradual transition led by the PDR unit is used; in the first days, we work with parents to make sure the child feels safe.
- In primary school, as children take their first steps into academic life, it is important that they develop a positive attitude towards lessons. Our PDR unit and the class teacher follow each child’s learning style, attention development and social adjustment through regular observation.
- In middle school, getting to know the student turns into discovering their strengths and setting academic goals. Our PDR unit assesses each student’s strengths, areas for development and personality traits; this information is shared with subject teachers and personalised learning plans are created.
A development file made up of development notes and observation records is kept for each student, and the process is shared transparently with the family.
Stage 2: Knowledge- and skills-focused content
The aim of the second stage is to build academic knowledge together with 21st-century skills: problem-solving, creative and critical thinking, collaboration and communication. The method, however, is shaped by the child’s age.
In kindergarten: learning through play
The 360 Early Childhood Programme, designed for children aged 36–72 months, is a play-based, eclectic programme built on the MEB (Turkish Ministry of National Education) curriculum. Its modules give children room to discover their interests: Science, Discovery and Curiosity; GEMS (Great Explorations in Math and Science); Financial Literacy; First Steps in Entrepreneurship; Forest School; Art and Sport; Life Skills; and Play-Based Learning. From age 5, preparation for primary school begins with phonological awareness activities, pre-writing line work and correct pencil-grip practice.
In primary school: learning by doing
In primary school, play-based learning, project-based work and experiential learning are used together. Students are offered as wide a variety of visual, auditory and tactile materials as possible. Learning to read and write is planned according to each child’s readiness; in mathematics, the aim is logical thinking and reasoning rather than memorisation. The Life Skills, Leadership Skills and Robotics-Coding programmes are also part of this stage.
In middle school: learning through research
In middle school, project-based, research-focused and technology-supported learning comes to the fore. Every subject is taught by subject-specialist teachers. Leadership Skills lessons, the Science and Technology and the Art and Sport programmes, social responsibility projects and club activities support students’ all-round development.
Stage 3: Assessment and progress monitoring
The third stage is about seeing whether learning has really taken place. Through assessments carried out at set intervals, each student’s academic and social development is monitored, and progress is regularly reported to parents through spoken and written feedback.
- In kindergarten, our teachers prepare development reports twice a year, for the first and second terms. At the Portfolio Meetings, also held twice a year, children see their own progress and show and tell their families what they have been doing at school. Social and emotional development is shared with the family at regular intervals through verbal and printed inventories.
- In primary school, the Academic and Social Monitoring System observes and reports not only academic performance but also social skills, problem-solving and interaction within the group. Supporting work is planned when needed, taking each child’s individual learning pace into account. Termly development reports and one-to-one meetings form the basis of communication with parents.
- In middle school, regular exams, project assessments and the individual progress tracking system come into play. Parents can follow exam results, homework tracking and PDR feedback through the digital student tracking system on the mobile app. The practice exams held every week during preparation for the LGS (Türkiye’s national high-school entrance exam) are also among the assessments we use to monitor students’ progress.
School and family: a shared language
For our personalised learning model to work, consistent communication between school and family is needed. Our guidance unit stands by families through regular communication, parent education sessions and publications. Orientation, friendships, developing responsibility, expressing and regulating emotions, bullying prevention, privacy education, and attention and thinking skills are some of the topics of our PDR work.
Routines are also part of this shared language. In kindergarten, Monday is Toy Day, Wednesday is Book Day and Friday is Responsibility Day. In primary school, the week begins with reading time and setting a weekly goal; Wednesday is devoted to problem-solving and brain games, and Friday to responsibility and sharing. In middle school, we follow weekly plans made up of reading hours, study camp days, question-practice hours and club activity days.
Small steps you take at home also strengthen this shared language:
- Talk through development reports with your child, without making comparisons.
- Ask about the areas where they are strong as well as the topics they find difficult.
- Compare feedback from school with your own observations at home; if you see a different picture, share this with their teacher or the guidance unit.
Why does it matter?
Two children in the same class may learn the same topic at different speeds and in different ways. An approach that offers everyone the same thing, at the same time and in the same way, may bore some children while leaving others behind. Our personalised learning model looks not only at what a student learns but also at how they learn. This means that both a child who needs support with reading and a child who grasps a topic quickly and is ready for more can be noticed in time, and a plan can be made to meet their needs.
Let’s meet on our campus
What really shows our personalised learning model is what happens every day in our classrooms and in the guidance unit. We welcome you to our school (Güneşli, 1297. Sk. No:8, Bağcılar/İstanbul) to see first-hand how the system works at your child’s level. Our campus visits take place on weekdays, 08:00–18:00, and on Saturdays, 09:00–13:00. You can fill in the enquiry form on our website or contact our admissions office on 0553 929 29 95 or 444 2 655.
