How CENTURY helps students at Repton International Malaysia become self reflective learners

Repton International School, Malaysia, first became aware of CENTURY by participating in our FOBISIA English competition, where they finished third globally. Since then, following a successful pilot, they have gone on to purchase CENTURY. We spoke to Katie Roebuck, Head of Junior School, about the different opportunities that competitions and pilots represent and how they helped to successfully embed CENTURY within the school.

Hardware set-up – 1-1 devices from Year 4

Models of use – Using CENTURY:

• in class to stretch/extend as well as support 
• home learning 
• assessments to check student progress

Advantage of competition

• Generates student excitement about the platform

Advantages of a pilot

• Teachers experiment with how they will embed the technology into their teaching
• Gather student feedback 

General advantages 

• Saves teacher time producing challenge resources
• Gets students to be self reflective
• Personalises learning for students

How has the school reacted to taking on CENTURY?

It’s been really positive. If I’m in the classroom doing a bit of cover, the children have been saying, ‘When we’re finished, can we go on CENTURY?’. That’s the main thing for us, that the children are engaged and they’re really excited by it.

How did the students find the competition?

It was really great, because it was a good period – long enough to get the children involved in it properly and understand what they were meant to do. We focused on a daily leaderboard and the students were competing against themselves, as well as the other schools. 

Did the training encourage staff to make use of the platform during the competition?

I think someone coming in to explain the technology is so much better. You’ve just got so much more knowledge about how the system works and what the benefits are, and little tips and tricks. I think a personal visit or a zoom call is really nice because the teachers feel like you are really invested in what we’re doing.

How did you find the data gathered during the competition?

The graphs that I find the most interesting on CENTURY are the ones that plot effort against performance. For example, a child might be putting in a lot of effort, but actually, they’re underperforming; or they’re putting in virtually no effort, but they’re actually really performing. It allows us to really understand that child. Most of the data was exactly what we were expecting it to say, which gave people confidence in their own data and their own assessment of the children. 

What initially prompted you to pilot CENTURY after the competition?  

We liked the idea that English and maths and potentially other subjects are all under one roof. We use a couple of other programmes where we have to set work and drive it. It might give us the score, but it doesn’t help us with what to do next. CENTURY is able to analyse the students and give them a learning journey, which we can personalise if we want to. Finally the children loved it. After the competition, we did the pilot and thought that after a couple of weeks the children might get bored, but they’re still really engaged in it. 

Did the pilot help with the rollout? 

The students were really advocating for us to buy CENTURY, which is great. The pilot gave the teachers the chance to look into the different modules and set things and see how they would integrate it into their classroom. We were able to trial different methods, such as using it as AfL at the end of a lesson, or using it as your challenge or support. The pilot was an opportunity for teachers to have a look at how they would use it on a daily basis.

How are you using CENTURY regularly? 

It’s a combination of in class and homework, depending on the year group. From Year 4 upwards, they all have devices, so they’re using it in the classroom. Some teachers are using it as a challenge at the end of the lesson. Some of them are using it as a revision tool; the teacher may have set them something that they will have studied as a class earlier in the week. Some of it is being set for homework, where students complete work recommended by CENTURY. 

What kind of impact have you seen so far?

It’s definitely helping in terms of consolidation; giving the students the opportunity to go back and revisit things. Some students in Year 5 and 6 are actually self reflecting. They are going back to their teachers and saying, ‘I’ve done some revision on CENTURY and I’d like to go back and do that bit again.’ It’s actually making them think about it, which is really great as they want to improve. 

Has CENTURY reduced your teacher workload or saved teachers’ time?

It’s definitely saved time on data analysis. We combine CENTURY assessments with White Rose where there are end of topic and beginning of topic assessments as well. We’ve got the combination of the three, so we can triangulate the data and see where students are. Also, we spend a lot of time searching for resources that challenge students, especially problem solving questions that are presented in language that EAL students can cope with. CENTURY is more supportive than a worksheet and students can be supported in a better way.

For more information about how to embed CENTURY in your international school, click here. To learn more about a CENTURY pilot, click here.