Sutton High School is an independent girls’ school based in the heart of Sutton, Surrey. As a member of the Girl’s Day School Trust, Sutton High School champions the building of independence and resilience in its students. A driving ethos behind the school is the personalisation of learning: focusing on the needs of each individual, and enabling them to be the best that they can be. This ethos has been the foundation of Sutton High School’s partnership with Up Learn. Since 2022, Up Learn has provided Sutton High with a complete suite of STEM courses: Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Mathematics, Economics and Psychology. Beth Dawson has been Sutton High’s headteacher since 2019 and a champion of Up Learn’s meaningful impact on her students’ independent learning, motivation and study skills.
‘Uplearn gives pupils a clear revision pathway, focusing on active learning.’
Since implementing Up Learn into free periods, Beth Dawson and her team have seen wonderful improvements in students’ attainment, driven by dynamic and engaging independent learning. One fantastic example has been students identified as suitable for ‘targeted intervention’, who utilised Up Learn to fine-tune and personalise their revision, enabling them to ‘reach their full potential’: a wonderful achievement for the girls and their resilience!
Providing students with a personalised revision plan is a key benefit that Up Learn provides for students’ independent study. Beth Dawson states that ‘Up Learn gives pupils a clear revision pathway, focusing on active learning’ which is of the utmost importance – especially in the transition from KS4 to KS5. Alongside effective time management, students’ ‘confidence’ in some of the trickier content they encounter increases with Up Learn’s application of cognitive science methods, such as mastery.
Students are not the only ones to benefit from Up Learn at Sutton High. Staff are able to use the handy tracking tools Up Learn provides teachers to monitor individual and group progress over time; Beth Dawson herself highlights that ‘pastoral staff can track a pupil’s commitment to revision, and subject staff can see the areas where a pupil is strongest and weakest’. From this, it is clear to see that Up Learn can empower a holistic approach to tracking student progress, staging interventions where necessary and celebrating successes!
On this note, Beth Dawson shares special success stories from Sutton High where they have ‘seen pupils’ grades increase in both Maths and Economics, through the practice offered on Uplearn. In one case, a pupil who undertook 96 hours on Uplearn in one term has increased her grade by two’ – a fantastic achievement for the students, staff and school.
The wonderful partnership between Up Learn and Sutton High is one of a shared vision: empowering students to recognise and reach their potential, regardless of starting point. We at Up Learn want to say a huge thank you to all of the staff and students at Sutton High; we cannot wait to see what successes you make in the future.
