Knowledge Organisers

At Overseal, we want all our children to work hard and achieve. Across the curriculum we use a tool for learning called a knowledge organiser. We understand that a school curriculum is rich in knowledge. research shows that children may forget a lot of what they learn each day in school, around 70%. Therefore a tool like a knowledge organiser- used effectively by our teachers- can help children remember for the long term important key knowledge during a unit of work. This helps them achieve and will help prepare them for the next phase of their education as they will be able to build on prior learning and knowledge across subjects. 

What are knowledge organisers?

Knowledge organisers are concise summaries of key information and facts that pupils need to learn for a specific topic or unit of work. They serve as a cognitive memory tool, aiding in recall and understanding by providing essential knowledge, key vocabulary, and visual aids like images and diagrams. These organisers help our children build a strong foundation of core knowledge, which can then be applied to more complex tasks and deeper learning.

Who uses knowledge organisers?

Knowledge organisers can be a valuable tool for both children, staff and parents. Subject leaders support teachers to structure the knowledge organiser, and then work with teachers to set out their expectations of what pupils should learn about a topic – this is with reference to our school progression documents which can be also found on the website. 

In lessons, teachers make meaningful use of knowledge organisers to help children build a core understanding of knowledge for a topic. This may be through retrieval questions, stem sentences or tasks. 

Knowledge organisers are a really clear and easy to understand way for parents to be more aware of what their children are learning at primary school and thus to support them.

How can I as a parent use the knowledge organisers?

Talk to your child about what they are going to learn, ask them afterwards what they have learnt .

Ask them which facts they can remember.

Ask them to tell you what they learnt yesterday/ last week or last month

Our knowledge organisers are saved within class pages under the children's menu. They can also be found in subject pages. These are continually reviewed and updated as the year progresses. As a school we use knowledge organisers for the subjects in which we know they have a positive impact upon progress. 

Pupil Voice

'Knowledge organisers have key information to help you learn about a topic'

'The vocabulary triangle on them is useful to add words to your sentences.'

'Sometimes there are diagrams to help you understand.'

'They show prior knowledge to refresh your memory.'