Making sense of Learning
Intentions and Success
Criteria
What makes good
Learning Intentions and
Success Criteria?
Learning Intentions + Success Criteria
What is a Learning Intention?
A learning intention describes what pupils should know,
understand or be able to do by the end of the lesson or
series of lessons.
Learning Intentions:
• Identify and define new learning
• Focus on transferable skills
What is the Learning?
Learning Intentions can be written for:
‘knowledge and understanding’ or ‘skills’
or ‘attributes and capabilities’ or any
combination of these.
Defining the Learning Intention
• Activity: What are we doing?
- Playing a game of Snakes and Ladders.
• Learning Intention: What are we learning?
- To take turns fairly.
• Context: Vehicle for the learning
- The Game
What does a good learning intention
look like?
•
•
•
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Linked to the actual learning, not the context.
Not simply a description of the activity.
Often describe transferable skills.
Reflect the language of the experience and
outcome and the skills and knowledge within it.
• Focused, straightforward and easy to
understand.
• Agreed in discussion with the learners.
What do good Success Criteria look
like?
• Linked to the learning intention.
• Emphasise the process, rather than end product:
knowing, thinking or using skills.
• Reflect the skills and knowledge that you will see the
children and young people employing.
• Avoid repetition of the learning intention.
• Not a general description of the end product or the
skill (neat writing, four out of five right).
• Agreed in discussion with the learners.
Success Criteria
How do we know we have met the
learning intention?
What has been the impact of the learning
experiences?
How can we measure how much and how
well children and young people have
learned?
Giving feedback through
Learning Conversations
Learning conversations.......
• Are quality interactions which deepen understanding
of learning
• Should be ongoing throughout the learning experience
as well as at the end.
• Can be peer / class or teacher to learner.
• Use open questions to encourage reflection on
learning
• Should reflect on learning and inform next steps in the
learning journey
Discussion Activity
Within this experience and outcome, which skills and
knowledge might you and the learners choose to focus on?
How can you ensure that learning builds on what has gone
before? How might it look and feel different at different
levels?
What learning experiences might you set up to engage and
motivate learners?