Using and Managing Plenary Sessions
Key Stage Three Strategy built on the work of the KS1/ KS2 Literacy Hour.
Lessons had five elements.
The first four took place in the classroom: introduction (or an 'additional' first session of whole group exposition); whole-group exposition; independent/ small group work; plenary.
The fifth took place outside the lesson: independent work/ homework.
Read the following Ofsted evaluation quotation about the Key Stage 3 Pilot:
From the outset, plenaries were often the weakest part of the lesson. Good planning was critical to the success of plenaries. Often there was insufficient time for them, typically because teachers underestimated the time required for activities in the main phase of the lesson. Plenaries were often the least active part of lessons. Teachers tended merely to sum up what happened during the main phase and pupils did not have the opportunity to articulate what they had learned. When pupils had such opportunities, they proved an important part of the learning process.
Characteristics of plenaries
Plenaries:
• draw together the whole group;
• summarise and take stock of learning so far;
• consolidate and extend the learning;
• direct pupils to the next phase of learning;
• occur at strategic moments in the teaching sequence;
• often occur at the end of lessons but can occur at other points in the lesson;
• highlight not only what pupils learn, but how they learn;
• help determine the next steps in learning.
Purposes of plenaries
Plenaries are vital elements of lessons because they fulfil a wide range of purposes.
In particular they:
• help pupils to crystallise, understand and remember what has been learned;
• refer back to the learning objectives;
• create a sense of achievement, gain and completion;
• take stock of where the class has reached in a task or a sequence;
• take learning further and deeper;
• provide an opportunity for the teacher to assess learning and plan accordingly;
• recognise and value the achievements of individuals and the class;
• prompt deep thinking by pupils about how they have learned.
Other uses of plenaries
Plenaries can also help teachers as they seek to:
• develop and instil a habit of reflection about/on learning;
• stimulate interest, curiosity and anticipation about the next phase of learning;
• help pupils to change what they have learned into a form which they can communicate;
• draw out applications of what has been learned;
• highlight and change misconceptions which have developed;
• highlight progress made and revise personal or group targets;
• develop assessment for learning;
• help develop pupils’ perception of themselves as learners.
| Challenges/hazards | Suggested solutions |
| Class time runs short (therefore allowing the plenary to be overrun or taken over by other closing activities such as homework setting). | Use a pupil as a timekeeper. Plan specific times for the sections of the lesson and stick to them. |
| Pupils feel the lesson is over and don’t treat it seriously. | Plan the plenary properly – you are less likely to neglect it. Tell pupils in advance what they will have to do in the final plenary. |
| It’s just business – getting back in seats, collecting in materials and repeating the objectives. | Involve more pupils in running or contributing to the plenary. Identify individuals and forewarn them that it is their turn to manage the plenary. |
| It’s grown dull because it’s always the same routine. | Change your routine. Go for novel plenaries which re-engage attention. Set homework at the beginning of the lesson. Plan varied styles of plenary. |
| ‘Show and tell’ sessions result in low-level exchanges. | Design each plenary to suit the lesson and its objective. Sometimes use the plenary to whet pupils’ appetites for the next lesson. |
| The teacher does the activities and the underpinning thinking instead of pupils. | Be explicit and demanding, sharing the success criteria for a high-quality feedback. Use probing questioning. Require justification. Place emphasis on the new skills and knowledge that have been acquired. Resist the temptation to answer questions as well as ask them. Ensure that pupils are primed and have time to prepare. Require pupils to do the questioning. |
| The learning remains implicit. | Ask ‘What have we learned in today’s lesson?’ List the explicit learning points in your planning. Ask pupils to articulate the main things that help to achieve the objectives. |
| The teacher simply repeats everything; nothing is gained. | Quickly recap key points yourself, then ask pupils to articulate the consequences or implications. Ask how this new learning might be applied in another context. Concentrate on generalisations and key concepts. Ask different groups or individuals to offer new points or comment on other aspects (to deter repetition and require depth). |
| Pupils with SEN can be disadvantaged if they are working at levels below that of the rest of the group. | Pitch questions at a level that pupils can respond to. Provide support to help pupils to feel confident about making a response. Use teaching assistants, if you have them in class, for support. Use group activities that involve challenges for pupils and opportunities to describe and explain what they are doing at their own level. Emphasise the importance of everyone contributing. |
Twelve keys to successful plenaries
1 Plan for the plenary as a distinct element of the lesson but specifically designed to help deliver the lesson’s key objectives.
2 Choose the type of plenary which best fits the lesson’s purposes.
3 Ensure that pupils feel confident and expect that they will all contribute to the session.
4 Provide opportunities for pupils to review and clarify their learning.
5 Allow and encourage reflection on what has been learned and how.
6 Use varied strategies rather than a repeated routine (remember the kinaesthetic learners).
7 Extend pupils’ feedback by probing and extending questioning. This is to avoid low-level reiteration.
8 Synthesise in order to be explicit about big concepts and to aid transferability.
9 View the plenary as a key means of delivering progression – make sure the plenary draws out the progress made in the current lesson and extends thinking further, particularly over a series of plenaries.
10 Develop pupils’ strategies to organise and remember what they have learned.
11 Build up a ‘meta-language’; a language to help pupils talk about their thinking and learning in a way which helps them with future challenges.
12 Make sure the place of the plenary is secure (ensure time allocated is not swamped by other activity).
Suggested activities
• Ask pupils to draw out the most important points, explaining why significant.
• Ask pupils to think of consequences, implications, parallel issues, exceptions.
• Ask pupils to generalise from their own experience.
• Ask pupils to apply their learning to a new context.
• Give the main points and ask pupils to illustrate each one.
• Ask pupils to explain the objective and how it can be achieved.
• Ask pupils to devise golden rules or tips for others attempting the same task.
• Ask pupils to write up their findings on the board, on posters or in a PowerPoint presentation and then allow time to view, interrogate and/or prioritise.
• Provide ‘prior warning’ about what the plenary will involve.
Something to think about
Clearly, inspectors expect a plenary at the end of each lesson. But compared with primary lessons ours are very short. We can't even do the Literacy Hour at St Peter's! Not only that, but the material we are handling - the knowledge and the concepts - are (supposed to be) more advanced: you'd surely expect us to have longer lessons, not shorter ones!
Secondly, teachers see the 'gaps' in the fortnight's timetable as a hindrance. Let's not. Lessons will never be evenly distributed (and why should they be?)
Why not think of your three- or four-lesson cluster as a focused spell of work on a clear and tightly-focused set of objectives? Why not use part of the final lesson as your plenary, reviewing the work of the whole cluster?
Why not indeed?