Setting Targets

First of all I must apologise for the lack of posts on this blog - I will get writing again! As most of the country's children return to school for a new term and will be being set targets, I thought a post about setting targets and setting myself some would be a good start for posting again.

So, what is a target and why are they set? The Compact Oxford Dictionary defines a target as "an objective or result towards which efforts are directed" and the The Standards Site (for the Department of Children, Schools and Families) says that "Setting targets for pupil achievement puts standards at the centre of school planning, and helps staff focus on practical ways of raising them".

To be effective, targets need to be SMART targets. This means they should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable and Realistic, and set against an appropriate Timescale

Children are likely to have targets relating to the stage they are at: some might be "learning the sounds the letters make", "learning the times tables", "writing the letters the correct way round", "counting to 5", "recognising the numbers to 10", "reading the key sight words", "remembering finger spaces" - the list is endless. If your child is struggling with a particular target - check out some of the resources at Littlesheep Learning that might help!

Adults set themselves targets too - my husband is currently trying to reach his fundraising target and then next Sunday will be trying to complete the London Marathon in his target time, I have friends going back to college / university to work towards qualifications to help them in their careers and to be honest my to do list each day is a target!

So back to this blog and my (Specific) targets:

By the end of April (Timescale) I will have written five blog posts (Measurable) - (Achievable (hopefully!) and Realistic (one every other day should be manageable).

By the end of May I will have developed a routine for posts in themes eg new products, teaching and learning ideas, product reviews or news.

By the end of June I will be posting five posts a week.

I am intending a series of posts relating to different areas of children's learning and the targets they might be being set - so watch this space!

What are your targets?