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  • The High Performance Learning Framework

    • Based on research from across cognitive psychology, gifted education and neuroscience, and on 30 years of practical experience of educators in over 16 countries, the philosophy of High Performance Learning starts from the following key principles:

      • High academic performance is an attainable target for everyone
      • We can systematically teach students how to be ‘intelligent’ and how to succeed in school
      • World-class schools produce students that are both intellectually and socially confident, who are college-ready, workplace-ready and life-ready with a global outlook and a concern for others
      • There are 20 generic characteristics which students need to develop if they are to be high performers in cognitive domains (ACPs) and 10 values, attitudes and attributes (VAAs) that develop the wider learner dispositions needed for cognitive and lifetime success
      • Schools seeking these outcomes for students can only reach them by fostering a professional community of practice among their educators – no quick-fix, governance model, instructional technique or technology can substitute for this

      As well as an underpinning philosophy, High Performance Learning provides a practical framework that school leaders can use to transform learning – actively involving students and their parents in the learning journey and presenting schooling as a quest for cognitive success. The framework is not another school improvement process, or a step-by-step programme, but instead identifies the component parts needed to make high performance learning a reality, allowing each unique institution to exploit its own context and build on its own practice as it creates its own interpretation of the framework.

      Learners and pedagogy are at the heart of the framework. The ACPs and VAAs provide a clear structure for student development within each school’s individual vision, context and curriculum. Meanwhile, the seven supportive pillars help schools create a climate for success. The approach reinforces the professionalism of classroom teachers, while addressing what can be done at the whole-school level to optimise learning opportunities, individual support and personal motivation.


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      Towards Excellence in HPL Practice

      Every HPL school has, by choosing the HPL philosophy, adopted an evidence based approach to improvement, and set itself the long term aim of working towards making every student into a high performer. In doing so it is setting new standards regarding what it means to be a truly world class school. 

      To reach this eventual goal the school needs a long term strategy leading to the entire school community becoming highly skilled in exploiting the HPL methodology for maximum impact. We know that the more skilled the school community is in exploiting the HPL philosophy and framework the better the outcomes. In particular, depth and effective use of the ACPs and VAAs in classrooms coupled with the 7 Pillars is the recipe for success. 

      This Handbook contains a series of rubrics intended to guide schools, teachers and students as they use high performance learning to drive continuous improvements in teaching and learning and progress towards high performance for all.

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      HPL Introduction Flyer