TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

Celebrate your school and receive the TASC Accreditation Award!

TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

2© TASC Accreditation Procedure

What is TASC?

TASC means: Thinking Actively in a Social Context. TASC is a universal, inclusive, and well-proven framework for teaching problem-solving and thinking skills. Developed by Belle Wallace (from 1980 ff.), the TASC Framework is in line with what neuro-science tells us about how the brain works, and, consequently, how all children (and adults!) learn.

The last national survey conducted by Belle (2007/8) showed that over 10,000 classrooms in the UK were using the TASC Framework to successfully develop learners’ problem-solving and thinking skills, and many more schools since then have adopted the TASC approach. In the national survey, many schools reported a rise in Standards of Attainment (SATS), and have, consequently, received praise and positive comments from OfSTED, and learners, parents and governors!. (Office of Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, UK)

See the National TASC Website for more details: www.tascwheel.com

The National TASC Centre at Sheffield invites schools to celebrate their TASC success!

Many schools in the UK have engaged in TASC Training, and the newly established National TASC Centre, Sheffield, UK, invites schools to gain a TASC Accreditation Award that can be displayed as a School Achievement Award.

In addition the school will be allowed to use the international TASC logo on all their official documents.

TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

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How can schools gain the TASC Accreditation Award?

There are three entry points:

1. If your school has already received ONE FULL Day of TASC Training from a Nationally Accredited TASC Trainer, you are eligible to submit a portfolio of your TASC work and aim for a certificate accrediting your school with a TASC Silver Award.

2. If your school has received TWO FULL DAYS of TASC Training from a Nationally Accredited TASC Trainer, you are eligible to submit a portfolio of your TASC work and aim for a certificate accrediting your school with a TASC Gold Award.

For both the Silver and Gold TASC Awards, Belle Wallace will mentor and guide you in the preparation of a successful portfolio. The TASC way of working supports ‘rethinks’ and success! The portfolio must be submitted on a CDRom. Some additional material may be sent in hard copy, but only if this is necessary.

3. You can organise TASC Training with a Nationally Accredited TASC Trainer for one or two days for your school or cluster/family of schools, and you can then proceed to gather your evidence for your Silver or Gold TASC Accreditation Award over the subsequent academic year(s).

Details of TASC Training can be found on the websites: www.tascwheel.com

Following your TASC Training, Belle Wallace will mentor and guide you in the preparation of your portfolio at either Silver or Gold level.

As above, the portfolio must be submitted electronically. Some additional material may be sent in hard copy, but only if this is necessary.

TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

4© TASC Accreditation Procedure

Important notes

1. The aim is not to increase teachers’ workload! The evidence required in the TASC portfolio assumes that schools are already carrying out the following procedures as part of their normal TASC school practice. The TASC Accreditation Award will be an acknowledgement of this excellent work. So the Silver or Gold TASC Award will mean that schools can copy on to a CDRom, evidence of their TASC work taken from their normal planning and classroom work. Photographs, video clips and relevant reports are also important and valuable evidence. The portfolio will be organised in the TASC way!

2. Schools will receive detailed guidelines regarding the

required contents of the portfolio. These guidelines will also contain templates and examples of activities. Schools can also request additional templates.

3. Cost of TASC Accreditation We need to discuss this further, but as we agreed, we can make an introductory ‘Special Offer’ and we do need to ask for an advance fee in order to register and receive the guidelines Do we need to have a two level scale for small and medium/large schools?

TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

5© TASC Accreditation Procedure

A: Silver TASC Accreditation Award

This requires evidence gathered from special TASC days or weeks organised after ONE DAY of TASC Training by a Nationally Accredited TASC Trainer.

Schools will provide a portfolio of evidence to show that they have engaged all learners in special days or weeks of TASC problem-solving activities throughout the year, arising from a curriculum topic or any other school or out-of-school project. So when you plan ahead throughout the year, you can build in TASC projects as a matter of course.

To achieve the Silver TASC Accreditation Award, the portfolio should contain: Details of school address, email address, background and catchment area

1. Gather and Organise information

a. Current successes and awards, and vision for future school improvement;

b. Details of the challenges the school faces, ie. perceived learner, parent and teacher needs;

c. Number of learners on-roll and numbers of learners with particular needseg. second language learners, potential ‘high-fliers’, underachievers, learners with other special needs

d. Summary of the details of the latest Ofsted Inspection report.

TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

6© TASC Accreditation Procedure

2. Identify goals

Highlight relevant statements with regard to the school’s development plan

Insert an action plan grid for a. (months or terms? and headings.)

a. Plans for staff meetings to discuss TASC planning;

informing parents

involving governors

Any other plans?

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© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

7© TASC Accreditation Procedure

b. Outline what the school hopes to achieve with regard to effective learning behaviour: eg.

an increase in effective learning behaviour

confident problem-solving;

increased attention span and on-task behaviour;

increased learner ownership of their learning;

increased learner independence and motivation.

Any other goals?

EvidenceDetails of evidence

(filename if electronic, page number if hard copy)

Tick

a. Description of the topics chosen

b. Examples of teachers’ planning and learners’ work

c. Evaluation and Assessment details

d. Comments from children, teachers, parents and governors

e. Evidence of teacher and learner working with TASC (written reports, photographs, video clips, power-points)

f. Evidence of learners working through all the TASC stages of thinking and problem-solving using the whole TASC Wheel plus examples using separate and combined stages of the TASC Wheel.

TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

8© TASC Accreditation Procedure

5. Comments by teachers, learners, parents and governorsComments from all the stakeholders, letters, relevant key points from discussions, video clips are all relevant evidence for the portfolio.

Insert ‘Learn from Experience’ wedge of the TASC Wheel.

6. Final statement

A final paragraph summarising the impact of using the TASC Framework on:

a. teacher and learner enthusiasm and motivation;

b. confident problem-solving behaviour;

c. Increased learner on-task behaviour;

d. improvement in learners’ self-confidence;

e. increase of independent learning and achievement.

Additional evidence can be given through short case studies that show a change in a particular learner’s attitudes and effective learning.

Any other relevant evidence can be included.

Please go to the TASC website http://www.tascwheel.com/ideas and you can download a free booklet listing a wide range of TASC activities that have been carried out in schools.

Please ensure that all photographs have an explanation of what they actually convey, ie. changed behaviour, excitement in learning, self-confidence, independent or cooperative learning.

IMPORTANT NOTES

•All queries should be sent to Belle Wallace: belle.wallace@btinternet.com

•Belle will also supply feedback on all portfolios until they are completed.

•Schools must submit a portfolio on a CDRom/DVD plus hard copy if necessary to:

Belle Wallace: TASC Accreditation Award Meadowlands, Main St, Thorpe, Newark NG23 5PX

•Please keep a copy of your portfolio since your final portfolio will be held at the National TASC Centre, Sheffield and used for exhibitions.

TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

9© TASC Accreditation Procedure

B. Gold TASC Accreditation Award

TASC across the curriculum

The aim of the TASC Gold Award is to acknowledge schools that have embedded the TASC Problem-solving Framework across the curriculum. Learners should be using the TASC Framework not only for full TASC projects on special days, but also as and when they perceive the need in all school lessons.

Important Note: The required evidence to achieve the TASC Gold Award is an extension of the requirements for the TASC Silver Award. So you can develop the portfolio for the Silver Award and then add the additional evidence to achieve the Gold Award.

So if TASC is already well-embedded in your school, you can decide to aim for the TASC Gold Award straight away!

Once again, the aim is not to impose extra work but to acknowledge and reward excellent practice.

The evidence required in the TASC portfolio assumes that schools are already carrying out the following procedures as part of their normal TASC school practice. The TASC Accreditation Award will be an acknowledgement of this excellent work. So the Gold TASC Award will mean that schools can copy on to a CDRom, evidence of their TASC work taken from their normal planning and classroom work. Photographs, video clips and relevant reports are also important and valuable evidence.

TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

10© TASC Accreditation Procedure

a. a wide range of Key Questions;

b. a wide range of Advanced Thinking Skills with the language appropriate to their stage of development;

c. a wide range of Learning Tools and Strategies.

d.appropriate ICT programmes (The suggestions provided in the diagram of the extended TASC Framework are suggestions only.)

e.

f.

g.

h.

To achieve the Gold TASC Accreditation certificate, the portfolio should contain all the evidence outlined for the TASC Silver Award with the following additional evidence.

1. Details with examples of planning showing that the TASC Framework is incorporated into lessons across the curriculum. Sections of the TASC Wheel can be used in lessons where appropriate, eg. Generate and Identify can be used to introduce a lesson, or, Communicate and Evaluate can take up a whole lesson. Please incorporate examples of learners’ work.

2. To complete this section of the portfolio, please refer to the diagram of the Extended TASC Framework. Teachers are already developing the full range of learners’ basic thinking skills through their usual classwork activities. This extended diagram shows how all the other elements of the TASC Framework blend together to make a whole curriculum framework.

The extended TASC diagram provides a wide range of key questions, advanced thinking skills, useful learning tools and strategies, and some free e-learning software that schools can access to support their TASC work.

Undoubtedly, can add to this extended TASC Framework – and please feel free to do so!

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© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

11© TASC Accreditation Procedure

3. Evidence of celebrating all children’s gifts

TASC is inclusive and encourages the celebration of all learners’ gifts and talents across the curriculum. Schools need to provide evidence of TASC planning and learning activities that allow learners the opportunity to use their strengths across all the multiple abilities. Some TASC projects are obviously cross-curricular, so often several of the abilities are combined together. For example, creating a poster would involve language, visual/spatial and possibly mechanical/technical abilities; creating an assembly could include all the abilities! Also the social, emotional and spiritual abilities can be combined into activities that essentially fall into personal and social education (PSE).

language (both oral and written);

mathematics (including activities such as games and puzzles);

science (investigations);

mechanical/technical (building and constructing);

visual/spatial (arts and crafts);

physical/movement (including dance and gymnastics);

auditory/musical (including home-made instruments and popular music);

social, emotional, spiritual (these can be separate activities or grouped as personal/social activities.

TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

12© TASC Accreditation Procedure

4. Evidence of the assessment of the impact of TASC on learning

This should reflect assessment from the point of view of, for example:

learners,

school council,

child focus group,

staff meetings.

teachers,

parents,

governors,

performance management,

inspectors.

TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

13© TASC Accreditation Procedure

5. Final statement for TASC Gold Award

This should include a summary of development with regard to:

1. increased depth and breadth of planning to include TASC problem-solving and thinking skills;

2. increased learner involvement and ownership of learning, eg. learners making decisions about the direction of their learning, learners using the thinking language of TASC;

3. increased differentiation of learning activities;

4. increased on-task behaviour demonstrating the key learning priorities of the school;

5. reports to parents and governors;

6. if appropriate, relevant highlights from an Ofsted report.

7. learners’ levels of attainment.

IMPORTANT NOTES

• All queries should be sent to Belle Wallace: belle.wallace@btinternet.com

• Belle will also supply feedback on all portfolios until they are completed.

• Schools must submit a portfolio electronically plus hard copy if necessary to:

Belle Wallace: TASC Accreditation Award Meadowlands, Main St, Thorpe, Newark NG23 5PX

• Please keep a copy of your portfolio since your final portfolio will be held at the National TASC Centre, Sheffield and used for exhibitions.

Any school that obtains the TASC Gold Award can apply to be credited as a TASC Training Centre. Further details of this will follow in due course.

TASCThinking Actively in a Social Context

© Belle Wallace 2000

TM

14© TASC Accreditation Procedure