Master of Retrieval

Maritime Master of Retrieval - Strength

As part of the Key Stage 3 curriculum at Maritime Academy, students are required to gain key knowledge in all of their subjects. This knowledge will equip them not only to understand each subject in more depth and set the foundations for GCSE study, but will also help them to understand the world around them. At Maritime Academy we understand that learning knowledge takes time and this part of the website is dedicated to providing resources to help students revise the content needed each term.

In Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, students will be provided with a ‘knowledge bank’ from the following subjects each term:

  • English
  • Maths
  • Science
  • History
  • Geography
  • French
  • Computer Science
  • Art
  • Music

As part of their weekly homework students will be expected to revise from each knowledge bank. As part of our 5 'Waves' for Teaching and Learning, this knowledge will be quizzed using their One:One device and Carousel retrieval quizzes.

At the start of every lesson our students will use their One:One device to activate prior learning through our online learning platform Carousel.Teachers have carefully sequenced the key knowledge that our students need to know and retrieve. The key knowledge is uploaded into Carousel to create Maritime specific revision support and retrieval quizzes this enables our students to use the science of memory to rehearse, retrieve and use prior learning effectively to be successful. 

Following the quiz at the start of the lesson, our students gain instant feedback on the accuracy of their retrieval this provides the opportunity for our teachers to address common misconceptions to further support our students retrieval of the key knowledge in the future. 

Why is Retrieval Important?

Retrieval practice is a strategy in which recalling information to mind from memory subsequently enhances and boosts learning. Deliberately recalling information forces us to retrieve our knowledge and examine what we know. Often, we think we’ve learned a piece of information, but we come to realise we struggle when we try to recall the answer. It’s precisely this ‘struggle’ or challenge that improves our memory and learning – by trying to retrieve information, we exercise and strengthen our memory, and we can also identify gaps in our learning.

  • Retrieval practice helps students ‘use it or lose it’, just like practicing a language or an instrument
  • With retrieval practice, struggling is a good thing for learning (what scientists call a ‘desirable difficulty’)
  • Retrieval practice improves students’ understanding of their own learning process (what scientists call ‘metacognition’)

A Culture that Celebrates Knowledge

As soon as you learn something new, you start to forget it. This is a normal and natural part of human cognition, and it  happens to all of us. In school, this is a particularly vexing phenomenon, as we want students to remember everything  that we teach them. In response to natural processes of forgetting.

Retrieval practice is the act of forcibly trying to summon – or retrieve - a memory from your long-term memory store. We expect all of our students to engage in this retrieval as active, responsible learners, to develop them as knowledgeable young people. Within the classroom accurate retrieval is discussed and celebrated with all students as well as weekly reward certificates issued to those who have retrieved knowledge accurately.