At The Farnley Academy, the Purple Zone is a fundamental aspect in our teaching and learning. Staff have been overwhelmed by the return of students and their efforts/commitment in the Purple Zone.
The Purple Zone represents the hardest part of every lesson and can last anywhere between 10 and 45 minutes. During the Purple Zone, students work independently from the teacher to build their resilience and to ensure they develop acute listening skills. These skills are essential for our students in their examination success; the ability to push through challenging content is pivotal in their development and preparation for GCSE and onwards.
For the first ten minutes of a Purple Zone task, the teacher will observe how the students are progressing, making notes on their seating plan and planning what needs to happen next. After 10 minutes the teacher can provide written feedback if necessary – advice and/or challenges – for students, to enable them to make maximum progress within the lesson.
The Purple Zone has been kick started for year 7 this week within their Core subjects! As year 7 join the Academy having often not engaged with the Purple Zone, this is something we build into their lessons gradually. Now they’ve adapted to life at The Farnley Academy, they are completing these independent and challenging tasks, and they are thriving. We are really proud of our students and their determination within this.
Here are some examples of Purple Zone ranging from year 7 to year 10.
