David Livingstone Academy

David Livingstone Academy is committed to improving the life chances of all children. Where we have the capacity to make a difference, we are morally bound to do so. To develop a united partnership of excellent academies, where empowered leaders place our learners at the heart of everything and all are supported to be successful.

• Passion: Passionate about learning
• Urgency: We recognise the importance of every moment
• Positivity: We spread positivity to all around us
• Aspiration: We dare to be great
• Commitment: We are committed to improving and progressing

To invest in the personal, academic and cultural capital of all academicians to ensure that they leave David Livingstone Academy with a range of experiences and knowledge that enables them to engage with all sections of society and community academically, intellectually and socially. The name STEP, an acronym, reflects the aspirational nature of the organization – Striving Together for Excellence in Partnership. Inspired by the commitment to improve children’s life chances, STEP Academies work together to provide high quality learning experiences for all their pupils.

Each member of staff has a responsibility to

• Care for pupils in their class and teaching groups
• Ensure that there is a fair and consistent approach towards dealing with discipline
• Implement Academy rules on uniform and behaviour
• Ensure equality of opportunities for all
• Report progress, achievements and concerns to parents
• Meet parents to ensure the best possible education and welfare
• Challenge pupils to achieve higher standards academically and to develop greater involvement in extra-curricular activities within the Academy and the wider community

Learning has three elements: it involves retention, transfer and change. Learning must be durable (it should be long-lasting), flexible (it should be applicable in new contexts) and liminal (it stands at the threshold of knowing and not knowing).

Cognitive development happens incrementally; the only way for a teacher to find out whether a student’s understanding of the world has changed is to wait. If we accept that learning is the retention and transfer of knowledge over time, we must also accept that learning cannot easily be observed in a single lesson. We must look at what students can do elsewhere and later.

Therefore, it follows that to know whether something has been learned, we should ask ourselves three questions

• Will students still know this next week, next month, next year?
• Will students be able to apply what they have been learning in a new example, a new subject, a new place?
• How will this transform students’ understanding of the world?