We worked it out together, Liam and I.
I watched and listened as he explained what he found hard; he practised as I modelled and supported him to coordinate himself. Getting there took time, resilience and his growing self-confidence in his ability to learn.
When he finally managed it successfully, on his own, we were both delighted. And once he had learned how to do it, he helped me teach the rest of the class.
I am describing a moment in my early years as a teacher, when a pupil and I worked together to help him master the forward roll. I often think back to this moment (one of many) that helped me learn about how to be a teacher.
No amount of cognitive science would have helped me understand how to teach Liam how to do a forward roll. I didn’t need a detailed scheme of work, with dual-coded presentations, interspersed by regular retrieval practice activities.
The skills I drew upon were much more subtle: an understanding of how to listen to what Liam was telling me, an understanding of assessment for learning, the willingness to get down on the floor and show him what I couldn’t explain effectively through words and the determination not only that he would be able to master it, but that helping him to do so mattered.
Achievements matter
Of course, forward-rolling was not an educational attainment outcome that was measured by any statutory assessment test, but it was an achievement that both Liam and I were extremely proud of - and it was important for that reason alone.
Achievements matter. As the reports, there are many factors that are positively associated with the academic attainment and educational outcomes that schools are held accountable for. These include less tangible factors, such as attention, memory, conscientiousness, self-esteem and self-regulation.
There are also risk factors to be aware of. The report suggests that being placed in a lower set for English and having a birthdate towards the end of the school year, combined with schools’ use of non-age-adjusted assessments, are associated with poorer educational outcomes and growing inequality.
All of this is something to bear in mind at the start of Year 6 Sats week.
An imperfect measure of academic attainment
We have to remember that Sats provide a limited measure of educational outcome: they are an imperfect (non-age-adjusted) measure of academic attainment in some subjects at a single point in time. They should, therefore, not be the purpose or the moral driver of the work we do in schools.
For some children, achievement will never be measured by a Sats paper. Yet, the sense of achievement they might have when they finally learn to do a forward roll can matter more than we might think.
It was clear to see that Liam was developing his attention, his conscientiousness and his self-esteem as he mastered the skill: all factors that the evidence suggests contribute towards positive academic attainment outcomes.
So, to all the Year 6 teachers in the country this week - good luck! I am with you all in spirit and hope everything goes as smoothly as possible.
Next week, you can look forward to getting back to being experts in achievement of all sorts.
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