Learning Skills
World Class Learners at GEMS Metropole
We are an accredited HPL World Class School using the High Performance Learning philosophy and framework to provide enhanced teaching and learning. World Class status indicates that we are one of the leading schools in the world.
The ethos of HPL mirrors our school’s vision, to be ‘an inspiring and inclusive community hub, developing future leaders’. This means that we believe that all the students can be high performers, and we teach with these expectations in mind.
Using the research-based High Performance Learning approach developed by Professor Deborah Eyre, helps us to systematically build the cognitive competencies that lead a young person to thrive in school and later life. Through a combination of our curriculum and the HPL approach, we are able to raise the performance of every student. We embed the HPL philosophy throughout our school to create globally-minded enterprising learners, advanced performers, and accomplished leaders.
What is HPL?
Professor Deborah Eyre published a policy paper for the independent Think Tank Policy Exchange, in which she suggested that evidence from neuro-science and psychology demonstrated conclusively that the brain is exquisitely plastic and we can grow our intelligence. She challenged the system to stop categorising students by ability and instead expect high performance from everyone and systematically build towards it. Rather than a system which focuses on early detection of signs of failure, with pupils guided immediately into less demanding work, the system should be structured to provide the conditions that generate high performance and pupils steered towards this objective. She called this approach High Performance Learning and created a framework based on her lifetime's academic research on cognition. It identifies attributes, values and practices that can be developed in schools to enable more students to achieve highly to help schools make the philosophy a reality.
At GEMS Metropole Motor City, we believe that developing effective learning skills is essential to preparing our students for success, both in school and beyond. Through a carefully developed progression of learning skills, we encourage our children to become motivated, creative, reflective and responsible learners who embrace challenges, work collaboratively and strive to achieve their personal best.
FS–Year 2: Forest School Learning Skills
In our early years and lower primary, children develop four key learning skills through our Forest School approach. These are brought to life through four memorable characters:
Hardworking Hedgehog – Always trying our best, showing determination and taking pride in our learning.
Creative Caterpillar – Using our imagination, exploring ideas and finding creative solutions.
Agile Ant – Being adaptable, flexible and willing to try different approaches.
These skills help children develop positive learning habits, confidence in expressing their skills and a love of learning from the earliest stages.
Years 3–6: Learning skills supporting Our School Values in action
As children progress through primary, these foundations are further developed through our Values-based learning skills progression. Students learn to demonstrate values in action by developing learning skills that promote each of the 5 core values of our Values School:
- Always Learning – Developing curiosity, creativity, open-mindedness and a lifelong love of learning.
- Care – Showing kindness, forgiveness, hope, charity and humility towards others.
- One Team – Working collaboratively, demonstrating fairness, respecting different perspectives and standing up for what is right.
- Excellence – Developing perseverance, self-control, bravery, honesty and grit.
- Leadership – Demonstrating vision, service, empathy, resilience and respect.
Our progressive approach ensures that learning skills develop alongside academic knowledge, enabling students to take increasing responsibility for their learning, relationships and actions.
Our aim is to develop learners who are curious, compassionate, resilient and ambitious, equipped with the skills and values to make a positive difference in their school, community and the wider world.
