"Roger and Tom were brilliant to work with; responsive, understanding of our setting and encouraging in tailoring the day to our needs.
The Thinking Moves Day engaged pupils from Year 3-8 in fun and challenging thinking activities that quickly acquainted them with the A-Z of metacognitive strategies. Since taking part in the day, pupils have continued to refer to different ‘thinking moves’ in their lessons and beyond! They absolutely loved learning actions and gestures, which made the concepts memorable and accessible. Teachers were able to use and adapt the resources that were shared to suit their learners, and many were impressed by the enthusiasm with which pupils approached abstract and philosophical problem-solving."
Tom Paterson, Head of TPE, Lancing College Prep
The Thinking Moves Student Metacognition Day
Since 2008, we've delivered workshop days hundreds of schools to improve students' critical-thinking, collaboration and creativity.
In 2018, we published Thinking Moves A-Z: Metacognition Made Simple (and it's since been translated into five languages) and began running days that introduced a whole school to the framework via workshops and twilight INSET.
We find it's an unrivalled way to create rapid buy-in from students and teachers alike — thanks to the fact it's demonstrated live in lessons.
What does the day look like?
- Gives you the expertise of Roger AND/OR Tom in your school for a day
- Introduces students to the Thinking Moves (whole school, or selected year groups) through both an assembly and lessons co-taught between Roger, Tom and teachers
- Enables teachers to see Thinking Moves in action with their classes, in their classrooms, on their topics
- Shares a wealth of pre-made resources for teachers to use on the day, and beyond
- Includes a twilight INSET session for volunteers to go into more depth on what was done during the day
Fancy a chat about it?
No obligation - just a chat about what might be possible!
What is "Thinking Moves A-Z"?
“Stunningly simple, yet remarkably rich.”
Thinking Moves is the easiest way to embed metacognition across all subjects.
It’s a framework for teaching thinking out loud: 26 distinct acts of thinking organised in a memorable A-Z - a periodic table of thinking.
Thinking Moves gives children a vocabulary for their thinking. Help them:
- become aware of their own thinking, and that of others
- take greater responsibility for their learning
- choose the right moves at the right time
The A-Z presents the fundamental building blocks of thinking - rather than long-term dispositions or character traits.
Understandable. Comprehensive. And most importantly, memorable.
The Thinking Moves Story
Roger Sutcliffe had been focussed on teaching thinking in one way or another for 40 years – as an English teacher, then a Maths teacher, then a Philosophy for Children trainer, and for some years as a consultant for Thinking Schools International.
In the last role he became increasingly frustrated with the various “thinking skills” approaches that were being advocated and activated. They varied between the over-elaborate and the gimmicky, and with very little coherence between them. Worse, not one of them was a complete system - not even Bloom’s famous taxonomy, which fails to include fundamental skills such as questioning, quantifying and justifying.
So, he set about creating a scheme that was simple and memorable, practical and complete – one that could be used by teachers to teach thinking more systematically and effectively, but also by learners to manage their thinking and, thereby, manage their own learning and lives better.
After eight years of reiterations, reflections and new resolutions, he finally published the Thinking Moves A – Z book in 2020, with Tom and Jason from The Philosophy Man. Despite the almost immediate constraints of Covid, the scheme has been gratefully taken up by teachers from Early Years to 6th form, and has already been translated into several languages, including Chinese and Arabic.”
This sounds great! How do I learn more?
Contact us using the form below and we'll get back to you as quickly as we can.
Interested in training?
Contact us today to arrange a chat - choose from any of the options below.
Feedback from our recent training:
"I cannot describe the buzz and vibe from the staff, all down to you."
"You really did create a huge buzz in school, which is a difficult shout on the first day back! You covered everything we wanted out of the training and gave us mountains of material to use in class. I loved the fact you gave each phase some planning time to discuss ideas and plan sessions and then trial them out of colleagues. You have definitely given us some inspiration and I am very excited to see what happens next."
"There was a buzz during the staff meeting, which for any member of staff attending a staff meeting knows this is a rare thing! All the staff said how enthused and excited they felt to get back into their classrooms and try out the methods they had been shown."
"The questions raised interested everyone and there was a real buzz in the room. Our training was full of practical activities and games, with the just the right amount of discussion about teaching techniques interspersed. What an inspiring day!"
"It is us who would like to thank you. It was such an inspirational INSET and the staff were truly excited. The enthusiasm is palpable!"