Put simply, metacognition is thinking about how we learn and think.   Equipping our children and staff with the skills to be reflective learners is at the heart of the Thinking Matters approach.  Our teachers actively teach children in Ashgrove metacognitive strategies to help them be flexible and adaptable learners.

We use a range of thinking tools including Thinking Frame, Thinking Hats, Habits of Mind, Thinking Routines and much more!

Thinking Frames are a particular type of ‘visual tool’ based on distinctive visual patterns, which help organise thinking/ideas. In the same way that we use physical tools in everyday life to complete specific tasks, (e.g. spades, rakes and secateurs each carry out particular functions when gardening, likewise a spoon, knife and fork each have specific purposes when eating), similarly visual tools represent particular types of thinking.

Eight Thinking Frames are used to help raise student awareness of the types of thinking required to complete certain tasks. Use of the Thinking Frames can help students to plan and structure their thinking and can enable them to look into their own thinking and to see their thinking displayed.

The Thinking Frames are based on an understanding of how connections are made within the brain to aid understanding and memory, especially where words and visual images are combined.