CENTURY ignites independent learning and boosts outcomes at Invictus International School

Invictus International School, Spring Hills is an all through school with a mix of Malaysian and international students. Last year we spoke to Katie Roebuck, Head of Primary School, about the power of CENTURY to develop self-reflective learners. We met up again to hear how the school continues to build on that initial success:

How does Invictus International School use CENTURY?

We use CENTURY in the following ways:

• Homework: CENTURY is used regularly for homework, with students expected to complete a minimum of three nuggets a week at home. Teachers can assign specific tasks or allow students to follow their own personal learning journeys.
• Extension Tasks: CENTURY is used for extension tasks for students who have finished their work and need an additional challenge. This is particularly useful for EAL students who need additional support with language.
• Morning Work: Most classes use CENTURY for morning work once or twice a week for about 20 minutes. This allows students to do something productive while the teacher works with students who need additional support.
• Assessment: CENTURY is used for assessment, particularly when the results of a written assessment do not match the teacher’s view of a student’s performance. The diagnostic tests provide useful data.

How often do teachers check the data in CENTURY’s dashboards?

Most of our teachers check the data at least once a week to see if students have completed their assigned tasks. We also check the intervention graphs to identify students who may need additional support. Different teachers prefer different dashboards, depending on what they are looking for.

How do students engage with CENTURY?

Student engagement with CENTURY is a combination of teacher-assigned work and independent study. Some classes, such as those with more EAL students, tend to have more assigned tasks. Students are confident in navigating CENTURY and logging in.

How does the school encourage students to use CENTURY consistently?

We use several strategies to encourage students to use CENTURY consistently:

• Clear routines and expectations: We have clear routines and expectations for homework, including the number of nuggets that students are expected to complete each week.
• Competition: We launched CENTURY with a competition, which generated excitement among the students. The students saw CENTURY as a game, which motivated them to do more learning.
• Leaderboards: We display leaderboards to further motivate students.

Watch Katie speak in the video below:

What changes have you noticed in students’ learning, attitudes, and outcomes since using CENTURY?

Since using CENTURY, we have noticed the following changes in students’ learning, attitudes, and outcomes:

• Improved homework completion: Homework is completed more consistently. This is particularly helpful because a lot of our parent body can’t speak English, so they can’t help with homework.
• Increased student independence: Students are more independent and better able to learn on their own.
• Increased student confidence: EAL students in particular can arrive with low self confidence as they are learning in a completely new language. CENTURY allows them to improve in a low-stakes environment as it’s not public and they can repeat a nugget and improve.
• Exam preparation: CENTURY helps to prepare students for online assessments, particularly GL assessments.
• Improvement in topic tests: We have seen an increase in students’ results in topic tests.

What advice would you give to another school looking to successfully embed CENTURY?

I would advise other schools to initiate implementation with a competition, either an inter-school external competition via CENTURY or an internal one, to create a positive launch and generate excitement. I would also recommend taking up the offers of the follow-up training and ongoing support, so teachers can ask specific questions once they have had an opportunity to use the platform.

Can you share a specific success story about a student or teacher?

We have EAL students who come out of the classroom to have specific lessons until they reach a certain level. It can be a tricky period between the time they don’t need to be in the pull-out class anymore, but they aren’t quite ready to be in the full classroom. CENTURY has acted as a useful tool in this transition, and one particular student has thrived as he’s been completing a considerable amount of work and learning new vocabulary. 

What specific tactics or activities helped the school boost student performance in CENTURY competitions?

We use the following tactics and activities to boost student performance in CENTURY competitions:

• Displaying leaderboards: We display leaderboards to motivate students.
• Making announcements: We make announcements in the morning lineup to update students on their progress.
• Motivating students: We motivate students by communicating our current position and encouraging them to improve, sometimes mentioning other local schools to add to the element of competition.

What does Invictus International School like most about CENTURY?

We love that CENTURY is a valuable tool for both teachers and students. It saves teachers time by marking work and providing data, and it also supports student learning. The teachers find CENTURY easy to use, as the teachers understand it and want to use it, which is important for any successful implementation.

For more information about how to embed CENTURY in your international school, click here. To learn more about a CENTURY pilot, click here. If you are already a CENTURY customer and want to learn more about how Invictus International School has integrated the platform at their school, contact your Account Manager.