The Tassomai Triangle: School – Parent – Tassomai: “How We Did it…“ with Cara Steele
In the second episode of our “How We Did It…” webinar series Murray spoke to Cara Steele, Curriculum Leader for Science at Marple Hall School in Manchester who implemented Tassomai in 2019 when they were looking at overhauling homework and have been one of our top users ever since…
What made you choose Tassomai as your homework platform?
We first looked at the data, which looked really good, so we trialled it with some students and saw great results. We were also trying to build a real culture of retrieval practice within the department and it fit really well with that.
Did you find any challenges when you introduced it to all students and the teachers?
There are always challenges, as with any homework, especially a new thing. As soon as it became something that they got used to doing regularly with the introduction of Daily Goals, it became easier as it was part of their routine.
At what point did you start to bring parents onboard with Tassomai?
With such a massive cohort of students, we realised right from the beginning that we needed parental buy-in as we couldn’t chase up 300+ students, but I think it’s important whatever the size of your school. We started by sending an email to parents about the why, what and how of Tassomai and offering to answer any questions. The class teachers then update throughout the year. We’ve found parents are really interested and it’s fostered further parental engagement.
What have you found to be the main benefit of parental engagement?
It’s a mixture of things but mainly it’s quite simply that they’re involved. They can look at the Tassomai Tree, see the weekly stats, the strengths and weaknesses and help address any gaps in knowledge. It acts as another part of the support network and particularly at Key Stage 4 parents want this kind of information and how they can help their child.
When it comes to students that aren’t as engaged, do you have any approach to help with this?
We have a number of interventions to offer further help, such as sanctions in a class with computers so they have access to technology or simply having a conversation with the student so they understand the benefit and impact Tassomai can have. At the extreme, we run a class with all of those that aren’t engaging, get them all logged in and hold their hand as they go through the questions. Often, these students will then see something come up the following week and say, ‘I saw that on Tassomai!’
You mention Student Voice, how do you use this feedback in what you do?
It’s easy to focus on the negative comments but when asked the response was overwhelmingly how positive as they see the value of retrieval practice. So my takeaway from that was to foster the culture within the classroom that Tassomai is the norm and everybody thinking of it as really useful.
You say you did Teacher Voice surveys too, what did you learn from these?
Yes, we found that teachers didn’t feel the same level of ownership of Tassomai as we thought they did. This then allowed us in the Middle Leadership Team to change the way we did things and give them more control. They’re the ones that know their class best and what works for them in terms of rewards and sanctions.
On that note, how are your teachers using rewards and sanctions?
We’ve tried all sorts of things - from small giveaways like stickers and postcard to prize draws and vouchers. What the students actually like best are chocolates. So teachers get say, 6 boxes for the 6 weeks leading up to Christmas, and then it’s up to them how they give those out, which also gives them that ownership. We’re aware of not making it too onerous on the teachers but also highlight how quick and easy it is to check how the students are doing, where needs more of a focus and if they’ve done their homework.
Do you think parents find Tassomai important and useful?
Yes, we make it clear to parents that it’s really important and that it really works, and we even get parents contact us if they don’t get their weekly report, so they’re definitely invested in it. Teachers are expected to speak about Tassomai at parents evenings and when they do it’s very clear that parents really value Tassomai as well, and often we’re not telling them anything they don’t already know - they’ve picked up if their child isn’t doing very well at something, which makes finding a solution easier.
What advice do you have for teachers that are having issues with implementing Tassomai at their school?
The first thing is to not give up. Students don’t want extra homework but start by getting everyone from the teaching side onboard. From there, the support of everyone around the student will then rub off, but persevering at the start is the most important thing.
I also took advantage of the expertise and support from Chris Gunner, our Customer Success Manager. He was always on hand if I had any questions or issues so I would definitely say, if you’re struggling at all then contacting the team really helps because they’ve seen all of this in multiple schools and can really support you through the process.
Knowing what you know now, if you were to start using Tassomai now would you approach anything differently?
I’d try a slightly different approach giving other teachers autonomy and more of a role in initially speaking to the parents. With such a big department it’s easy to think that it’s easier to just do it yourself sometimes, but our teachers are really invested and want the best for their students.