Winning in the Game of Life™ (WITGOL) is an early-intervention programme that improves standards of achievement for school children. The programme helps pupils gain a head start in life, empowering them to make positive life decisions through the development of their emotional intelligence.
We designed Winning in the Game of Life™ to fit easily into a primary school’s curricular activities. Consisting of twelve lessons taught by teachers using videos and workbooks, the programme engages with children through a number of interactive mediums.
Each class taking part in the programme receives materials to support their learning. This includes a teacher’s handbook, containing an outline of the lessons along with a series of videos to support each of the lessons. Pupils are provided with a workbook for their classwork and homework with activities corresponding to the video lessons. Children are also encouraged to jot down private notes about the things they have learned throughout the programme in their reflective journals.
Complementary workbooks for parents and carers are also available, giving them an opportunity to understand the learning process behind the programme and expand on the lessons with their children at home.
We have designed Winning in the Game of Life™ to adhere to UK government guidelines on children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development, incorporating activities into the programme which provide an understanding of British values.
In 2012, the UK Government introduced revised guidelines for children’s SMSC development as part of the primary school curriculum.
The purpose is to ensure that every state-funded school offers a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based [1] and which:
[1] See Section 78 of the 2002 Education Act: which applies to all maintained schools. Academies are also required to offer a broad and balanced curriculum in accordance with Section 1 of the 2010 Academies Act.
[2] See National Curriculum Consultation Framework
Following these revisions, the Department for Education in 2014, suggested that schools promote the development of fundamental ‘British values’, which would ensure young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain [3]. According to Ofsted, these values are:
[3] See the Department for Education’s guidance on promoting British values.
Winning in the Game of Life™ has been proven to help children develop their emotional intelligence, improve conduct and decrease negative behaviours.
Crucially, research suggests that the programme helps children develop these skills on a cognitive level, meaning that the resulting behavioural changes endure. These developmental changes help to give children an understanding to work from when managing the opportunities, challenges and responsibilities that they are to face on a daily basis as they continue to mature.
In 2013/14 and 2015/16, we ran a successful pilot of the programme with the support of 32 primary schools across the country.
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