Key skill 02 / 08
Managing Information & Thinking
Finding things out, sorting what matters, and working a problem through. The quiet thinking that happens over the kitchen table, not in an exam hall.
01What it looks like at home
It rarely announces itself as "thinking." It's there in a question chased down, a plan made, a wrong answer caught.
- Looking something up because she wants to know, not because anyone set it. Curiosity is the start of it.
- Sorting a heap of information into what matters and what doesn't. And being able to say why.
- Weighing two options and giving a reason for the one she lands on.
- Noticing when an answer doesn't add up and going back to check. Rather than shrugging.
02From a moment to the log
Here are three real-shaped moments. You write a line when it happens, and Sustenance suggests the skill it shows. That is the whole job.
Wanted to know whether the new kitten could share the dog's food. Found two websites that disagreed and decided to trust the vet's one because "they're not the ones selling it."
Planning a day out in Galway, she listed everything everyone wanted to do, grouped the ones that were close together, and put them in an order that didn't have us doubling back across the city.
Halfway through the counties-of-Ireland jigsaw she said the count was off. Recounted the edge pieces, found two stuck together, and the frame came right.
A line is plenty. You don't tag it, write it up, or grade it. You note what happened, and the skill comes attached. Add a photo if there's one to hand.
03In the report
When review comes round, those scattered moments are already gathered under the skill, written up in plain, assessor-ready language. This is the Managing Information & Thinking section of a term report, drawn from the moments above and others like them.
Managing Information & Thinking
8 moments loggedAcross this term, Aoife showed Managing Information & Thinking mainly through gathering, comparing and ordering information for a real purpose. She seeks things out on her own initiative, notices when sources disagree, and can give a reason for the one she trusts. She is beginning to plan multi-step tasks in a sensible sequence and to check her own work when something looks wrong. Notable examples include comparing two conflicting sources on pet care and judging which was more reliable [11 May], sequencing a day's outing to avoid wasted journeys [13 May], and catching a counting error and tracing it back to its cause [23 May].
- Drawn from
- 11 MayCompared two conflicting sources and judged which to trust.
- 13 MayPlanned and sequenced a day out to avoid backtracking.
- 23 MaySpotted and traced a counting error to its cause.
- + 5 moreSorting recycling by rule, a tide-times check, a "which is cheaper" comparison…
When review comes round, the thinking she does all day is already on the page. You're not trying to remember what she worked out back in March.