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Leading international schools group Nord Anglia Education has launched ‘Flag Time’, a new research project focused on metacognition—the process through which children understand how they think and learn best—in early years education (ages 3-6).
The research involving 21 Nord Anglia schools explores how structured moments of reflection can allow young children to assess their own learning.
Founded and led by Dr Anne Baldisseri, Head of School at Avenues São Paulo, Flag Time is a 20-minute daily classroom routine where students engage in targeted tasks designed to build on their strengths, support areas for development, and improve their self-awareness.
Teachers place a flag with each child’s name and picture in a part of the classroom where a specially chosen task is waiting. Each day, children work individually, or in groups with others who share an interest or need to develop the same skill. For example, a teacher may use a student’s interest in adventure to develop their maths skills by having them use magnifying glasses to find and solve as many maths problems as possible—hidden in pictures of adventure locations before the timer rings.
These tasks are tailored to each child's interests and learning needs. At the end of Flag Time, students reflect on their progress and set personal learning goals—building a habit of continuous improvement from the earliest years.
Key research objectives of the Flag Time research project include understanding how:
Promoting self-regulated learning encourages young children to reflect on their progress and set learning goals.
Enhancing student independence and confidence helps early learners take an active role in their education.
Dr Anne Baldisseri said: “Research shows that metacognition plays a critical role in student success, yet its application in early childhood education remains underexplored. Flag Time provides young learners with the structure and language to reflect on their thinking, understand their own strengths, interests, and needs, and make intentional choices about their learning. By embedding these practices into daily routines, we are nurturing self-awareness, independence, and a foundation for lifelong learning."
Dr Kate Erricker, Group Head of Education Research at Nord Anglia Education, said: "By embedding reflection, choice, and self-assessment into everyday routines, Flag Time is equipping our youngest learners with the skills to think deeply, learn independently, and approach challenges with confidence.”
The research findings will be published by Nord Anglia in the summer of 2025, including recommendations for how teachers can integrate metacognitive strategies into early years learning.
Flag Time is Nord Anglia’s third metacognition research project, following its metacognition research project with Boston College, which launched in 2023 and examines how metacognitive strategies enhance student learning across Nord Anglia’s global network of schools. Its first-year findings were published in “Building Better Thinkers”, highlighting the benefits of embedding metacognition into teaching practices through student and teacher data.
Flag Time also complements Nord Anglia’s yearlong research collaboration with Project Zero—a research centre at the Harvard Graduate School of Education—on the DELTA project, exploring how metacognitive strategies can enhance student development across Nord Anglia’s ‘Learner Ambitions’: creativity, curiosity, collaboration, compassion, critical thinking and commitment.
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