“Incredibly engaging and Inspiring”
Katherine Letts, Assistant Head, St Laurence School
Cognition refers to “the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.” For teachers across all subjects, understanding how cognition influences learning is essential—not only for effective classroom practice but also for driving GCSE achievement.
Learning is a complex process involving key cognitive skills such as attention, working memory, problem-solving, and decision-making. These skills are vital for acquiring new knowledge, making connections between concepts, and applying learning in varied contexts.
The course will help to explain many of the principles cognitive science including cognitive load theory (CLT), dual coding, interleaving, spaced practice, retrieval practice, metacognition, and why and how these help students learn.
The course is designed to support measurable improvements in GCSE achievement, with a direct impact on Attainment 8 and Progress 8 scores. By strengthening cognitive skills, students are better able to perform consistently across the eight subjects that contribute to Attainment 8, including English, maths, science, humanities, and languages.
You may also be interested in our INSET courses on Metacognition – click here
Who is this INSET for?
This course is essential for classroom practitioners in all disciplines to aid their delivery and the revision strategies they share with their students at GCSE
🎯 Measurable Outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Implement cognitive strategies that improve student retention and recall across KS4 subjects.
- Support students in developing effective revision habits that enhance performance in GCSE exams.
- Contribute to improved Attainment 8 scores by raising achievement across the full subject spectrum.
- Positively influence Progress 8 by helping students make greater than expected progress from KS2 to KS4.
- Identify and reduce cognitive overload in lesson planning and delivery.
- Apply retrieval and spacing techniques to reinforce long-term learning.
INSET Outline
Understanding Cognition – how we learn
- Developing different types of Knowledge – declarative & procedural.
- Knowledge vs skills or knowledge through skills
- Cognitive load theory and why we need to consider it
- Dual coding in the classroom
- Chunking ideas to improve memory
Cognition : Constructing & Organising Knowledge
- Knowledge improves thinking and thinking improves knowledge
- Developing schemas and making them visible
- Explicit instruction and helping children understand how they learn
Improving memory & retention to raise GCSE achievement
- What do we think memory is? What are the different types of memory?
- Creating Desirable Difficulties to Enhance Learning
- Evaluating Rosenshine’s Principles & Dunlosky’s Strategies to boost learning
- Understanding why we forget
- Plenary: 10 strategies to improve memory
Looking for a course with more about Rosenshine’s Principles ? Take a look at our INSET on Applying Rosenshine’s Principles to the Classroom
Assessment & Retrieval Practice to boost GCSE achievement
- A meaningful assessment strategy to build knowledge & understanding
- Strategies to embed retrieval practice in to your curriculum
- Building metacognition & self reflection into summative assessments
- Long term strategies to improve student revision technique
So interesting and really up my street
Andrea Davis, SENCO, Bromsgrove School
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