"The development of personal learning plans are central to increasing the involvement of pupils in tracking and evaluating their own learning."
‘Our aspiration is to enable all children to develop their capacities as successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to society.’
A Curriculum for Excellence: The Curriculum Review Group (2004)
To enable our pupils to develop these capacities, we provide them with opportunities to take a greater responsibility for their learning. Personal Learning Plans (PLPs) actively involve the pupils in their learning, developing skills they will also need in their adult life. The pupils will learn:
A personal Learning Plan (PLP) is a record of the pupil’s progress in learning inside and outside of school. It is personal to the pupil and encourages them to take greater responsibility for their learning, reflect on their success and set realistic targets for the next steps in their learning. In discussion with their teacher, pupils will identify learning targets in reading, writing and maths twice per year. They will evaluate their progress and identify pieces of work which demonstrate this progress.
Personal learning planning is a process that involves children, teachers and parents/guardians in discussions about pupil’s learning. Parents and guardians have an important influence on children’s learning and PLPs provide an opportunity to enhance co-operation between learners, their parents/guardians and teachers.
Pupils will be encouraged to share their PLP with their parent/guardian and will bring it home to share and discuss targets, evaluations and evidence of reaching targets. You will be able to discuss this with your child and record comments on their progress. You can also talk to your child about their hobbies, responsibilities and achievements inside and outside of school and help them add to the appropriate section. Children will continue to add to this their PLP throughout the session.
Please remember to praise them when they are successful and encourage them to persevere when they find aspects of their learning difficult.
PLPs can help children to become successful learners as they become actively involved in their learning, identify what their next steps are and recognising when they have been successful. Recognising their successes and achievements can improve self-esteem and encourage pupils to become confident individuals. PLPs provide pupils with the opportunity to be responsible citizens as they take responsibility for setting learning targets and maintaining their PLPs. Through engaging in Personal Learning Planning, pupils are effective contributors to their own learning process.
Personal Learning Planning helps to develop a positive attitude to learning that will provide a firm foundation for lifelong learning.
