Advice for primary strategy managers in local authorities

Strategy Guide Meeting strategic education goals in England through study support Advice for Primary strategy managers in LEAs LEAs are always under pressure to provide the best for the children in their areas and to meet government education targets. But funds are limited, and identifying the most effective ways to tackle key issues can be confusing. Study support (also known as out-of-school-hours learning, extended, informal or extra learning) is a single approach that can help address many of these issues simultaneously. It offers informal, imaginative ways to help pupils learn by participating in clubs, outdoor activities and community projects. Study support benefits children in many ways, such as improving their attainment, increasing motivation and self-esteem, and reducing behavioural problems. The government recognises that study support and informal learning can make an important contribution to educational strategies, including the development of extended schools. It increasingly wants to see schools and LEAs embedding study support firmly within their development plans. This guide will help you to do that. This guide will help you meet your primary strategy objectives and incorporate study support into your work. It will show you how study support can be used to add value to the support that you give schools. About study support What is study support? Study support (also known as out-of-school-hours learning, extended or extra learning) can include: • breakfast clubs – nutrition, a sociable atmosphere, learning opportunities and improved attendance and concentration levels • homework clubs – help with homework in a calm, informal atmosphere • subject-based activities – such as reading or science clubs • creative activities – such as DJ workshops, street dance, steel bands • physical education and sports – working on young people’s skills ranging from numeracy and literacy to behaviour improvement, through activities in schools and in the community. The benefits of study support Evaluations of many study support projects have shown that it can help raise standards, improve behaviour and attendance, encourage parental and community involvement, and tackle social exclusion. It can help raise attainment for all students, and be especially helpful for those with particular needs. The relaxed out-of-class atmosphere can help teachers engage with children who are very shy, for example and also include parents or carers. The grid on the next page showing the key elements of the primary strategy gives more information. For more information about study support evaluations visit www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/studysupport and www.continyou.org.uk/onlinereference Study support can improve pupils’ attitudes to learning Study support recognises the connection between children’s educational achievements and what they learn through their informal pastimes when these are linked to learning and activities in the classroom and their communities. A key point about study support/out-of-school-hours learning programmes is that they are strategically designed to focus on meeting the needs of individual pupils and to tackle issues such as exclusion and low self-esteem. Children can be involved at every level, which increases their learning opportunities: deciding which activities take place, choosing what to participate in, and being consulted in how the activities or schemes run. How does study support help primary strategy managers? Study support is a key part of the government’s strategy to raise achievement. Between 1999 and 2004, it allocated over £150m in Standards Fund and £200m Lottery funding to local education authorities (LEAs) and schools to strategically develop their study support activities and programmes. As a primary strategy manager, you can help develop and sustain study support activities that will contribute towards achieving your targets. You might support activities targeted towards particular groups of children, or you may find ways to incorporate study support into your mainstream strategy. How does study support fit with the Primary strategy? Key elements of the strategy How study support fits with these elements or complements them Raising attainment in English, maths and science Study support helps children to develop their achievement through a wide range of activities, from reading clubs to developing numeracy through sporting activities. It provides excellent opportunities to give extra support to struggling pupils, as well as a stimulating environment to stretch more able students. Providing pupils with a broad and rich curriculum that engages and excites Study support, including outdoor, creative, subject-based and physical activities, enables schools to build a broad and exciting range of learning opportunities into the curricula they offer their pupils. When children can choose to take part in activities they enjoy, their confidence and self-esteem often improve, and the knock-on effect on their other subjects can be beneficial. Tailoring teaching to the needs of the individual learner Schools are becoming increasingly adept at identifying individual pupils’ learning needs and gaps. Study support enables staff to introduce flexibility into what they teach and the way that they teach it in order to address those needs and gaps. It takes place in a relaxed environment with a high adult-to-pupil ratio and offers good opportunities to provide one-to-one support. Engaging parents, carers and the wider community in supporting children’s learning Study support activities that involve partners in the wider community can broaden children’s social experience and increase tolerance of other cultural viewpoints. This complements the Extended Schools initiative, which aims to broaden what schools offer their communities. Family learning schemes enable parents to work on their own skills – for example, ICT skills – either in parallel with or alongside their children. Giving schools the opportunity to drive their own improvement through networking and sharing best practice Schools can collaborate with each other to give their pupils a broader range of study support activities, through sharing expertise and resources. Primary Strategy Learning Networks, which provide funding for schools to work together on a specific learning focus, are one vehicle for this. Case studies Wake ‘n’ shake St Edmund’s School Sports Partnership Headteachers in the Salisbury area are very excited at the unprecedented increases in attainment as a result of the Wake ‘n’ shake’ programme, which operates across the St Edmund’s School Sports Partnership. ‘The effect has been astonishing,’ says Geraint Jones, Director of Physical Education and Community Sport at St Edmund’s School and Sports College. ‘Wake and shake’ is now a popular part of the school day in most of the primary schools in the district. Pupils spring into action early each morning, with great results for their attainment, confidence and self-esteem. Their eagerness to learn is re-charged each day by simple physical activities ranging from classroom stretches to a run around the school. The scheme operates across the St Edmund’s School Sports Partnership, which includes St Edmunds Sports College and over 30 primary schools that network and share their good practice among themselves. A fitness consultant runs a six-week course in each school to train staff to set the programme up and solve logistical problems. Each school receives a British Heart Foundation Primary School Active Pack, and a pack of ideas for quick exercises. The Wake ‘n’ Shake programme tackles these Primary strategy objectives: • Raising attainment in English, maths and science • Providing pupils with a broad and rich curriculum that engages and excites them • Giving schools the opportunity to drive their own improvement through networking and sharing good practice The effect The scheme seems to particularly help children with low self-esteem or poor academic achievement. The children are assessed every three months and those participating are making excellent progress in personal and social development. The physical activity relaxes and energises them, and interestingly, spelling has improved in a group of pupils who were monitored. On average, pupils’ spelling ages increased by twelve months in a three-month period. One pupil with severe learning difficulties showed an improved spelling age by 52 months during the same period. Back to nature Ellenborough and Ewanrigg Infant School Children at Ellenborough and Ewanrigg Infant School learn in an environment that bursts with inspiration – their unique school garden. Members of the Year 2 gardening club have helped build and maintain the garden and play an active part in deciding how it is run. The garden is linked into art, science and English classes, with activities such as painting the flowers the pupils have grown, or monitoring the number of goldfinches in maths classes. The project, run by a teacher alongside a gardener from a local community garden project, was conceived as part of the school development plan to help the school meet a number of broader objectives. It enables children to learn new skills, take part in decision-making, make an impact on their environment, and take responsibility for something they care about. Parents are invited to the club too. ‘The garden scheme is part of our whole-school philosophy of developing children’s listening and talking skills, and it’s also linked to other programmes, such as Healthy Schools,’ says Barbara Hepburn, Study Support Co-ordinator. The garden project activities tackle these Primary strategy objectives: • Raising attainment in English, maths and science • Providing pupils with a broad and rich curriculum that engages and excites them • Engaging parents, carers and the wider community in supporting children’s learning The effect ‘It’s helped develop the children’s sense of belonging, and has increased their independence, enthusiasm and self-esteem – giving them something to be proud of.’ A vibrant learning culture Caldicotes Primary School Despite being in the third-poorest ward in the country, Caldicotes Primary School in Middlesbrough has raised its achievement levels remarkably. Headteacher Leslie Howes puts this success down to a vibrant learning culture in the school, stimulated by a lively programme of after-school, lunchtime and breakfast clubs, as well as residential summer schools based on thinking skills and teambuilding. In 1999, the school came bottom of SATS in Middlesborough, and desperately needed to raise its standards. Today it is the sixteenth most improved school in England and Wales. The programme provides all pupils with a rich, sustained learning environment, but also specifically to develop their writing and thinking skills. ‘We provide targeted activities for children with special needs, such as those who are very shy or anxious,’ says Leslie. ‘Sometimes we target pupils with vulnerable parents who may need more support than others.’ The combined effect of the after-school activities tackles these Primary strategy objectives: • Raising attainment in English, maths and science • Providing pupils with a broad and rich curriculum that engages and excites them • Tailoring teaching to the needs of the individual learner The effect In the Key Stage 2 SATS, Caldicotes has achieved a phenomenal 100 per cent in science and 85 per cent in both English and Maths. The transformation of the school culture is evident everywhere: ‘There’s a tangible difference,’ says Leslie. ‘The staff morale is high and the children enjoy coming to school. They like their teachers, and they’re engaged.’ Easing transition Buckinghamshire Young People’s University Pupils from more deprived areas of Buckinghamshire are raring to move up to secondary school thanks to an exciting range of activities on offer from Buckinghamshire Young People’s University (BYPU). The scheme was created in 2000 in response to educational research showing the impact of study support on pupil achievement. The initiative was designed to develop pupils’ motivation, self-esteem, achievement and interest in new skills, and to address their transition from primary to secondary education. The BYPU holds classes on five consecutive Saturdays, and for a week during the summer holidays at schools across the county. Activities on offer include a science course called ‘Eruptions and Sparks’, and self defence, which incorporates some Tae Kwon Do but is mainly concerned with anti-bullying techniques. Children apply for a place at the course they want to attend, and evaluate it afterwards. The sessions are held in secondary schools to help introduce the younger children to ‘big school’ and help them make friends from other schools. BYPU activities help achieve these strategic Primary strategy objectives: • Raising attainment in English, maths and science • Providing pupils with a broad and rich curriculum that engages and excites them • Tailoring teaching to the needs of the individual learner • Engaging parents, carers and the wider community in supporting children’s learning • Giving schools the opportunity to drive their own improvement through networking and sharing best practice The effect Headteachers have reported a range of benefits for their students, including increased confidence and enthusiasm, improved behaviour and new skills. ‘Because it takes it out of their normal environment and with a different set of peers, the BYPU gives the children a chance to reinvent themselves,’ says BYPU director Sue Little. ‘Often, they behave very differently to how they would at school.’ Study support benefits pupils in a range of ways so it is good for schools and ultimately helps to raise standards. It has been described as a ‘viral strategy’, which is a good way to look at it: it embeds itself in, and adds value, to key government strategies. Government thinking about study support Because study support is has such a positive impact on students and schools as a whole, the government is encouraging local education authorities and schools to incorporate and embed it into their mainstream strategies, rather than thinking of it as an ‘add-on’ to their core activities. It can help schools: • improve and raise standards • improve pupil behaviour and attendance • develop full-service extended schooling • nurture creativity and enrichment • tackle workforce remodelling • ease transition between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 • foster parental and community involvement • tackle social exclusion • personalise learning • meet the Every Children Matters children’s services agenda • build schools of the future. Study support is an important strand of the breadth of services delivered by extended schools. The Government wants all schools (primary and secondary) to develop as extended schools. Its Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners, published in July 2004, sets out a core offer of extended services that it wants all schools to develop over time. These include study support activities. The Government’s Ten Year Strategy (Choice for Parents, the Best Start for Children), published in December 2004, reinforced this commitment, whilst emphasising that the extended services guarantee to parents goes beyond childcare. Many LEAs have proactively implemented study support in their strategies. Examples have included: • embedding study support within plans for education development • appointing local authority officers responsible for study support or extended learning • briefing advisors, training inspectors, and strategic staff across the education service to support schools in their out-of-hours work • developing a long-term strategy and action plan for study support that supports and enables schools in equal measure. Where to now... What you can do next • Contact your study support or out-of-school-hours learning co-ordinator. • Include study support activities in your behaviour improvement strategy plans. • Find out what study support activities schools in your area provide now and how these can complement your behaviour improvement strategy plans. • Consider how community partners could add value to study support provision to help improve your pupils’ behaviour. • Support schools in embedding study support by including it your INSET provision. • Host a workshop for headteachers to discuss how to develop study support that helps improve behaviour and to share good practice. Useful websites and resources ContinYou’s Extra Time services and resources ContinYou supports the strategic development of study support activities in schools, local authorities and their communities. There is a wide range of information and advice available on www.continyou.org.uk/extratime or telephone 020 8709 9900. Department for Education and Skills Study Support Team www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/studysupport Quality in Study Support (QISS) www.qiss.org.uk Tel: 020 7093 3905 University of the First Age (UFA) www.ufa.org.uk Children’s University www.childrensuniversity.org Progress on England’s Children’s Rights Commissioner www.therightssite.org.uk 4 Nations Child Policy Network For information on latest policy developments relating to children and young people across the UK www.childpolicy.org.uk teachernet www.teachernet.gov.uk Other countries Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Department of Education www.deni.gov.uk Northern Ireland Children’s Commissioner for Children and Young People www.niccy.org Scotland Scottish Study Support Network 76 Southbray Road Glasgow G13 1PP Tel. 0141 950 3186 or 01968 678 985 Scotland’s ‘National Priorities In Education For more information visit: www.nationalpriorities.org.uk Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People www.cypcommissioner.org Wales National Assembly of Wales (children and young people pages) www.wales.gov.uk Children’s Commissioner for Wales www.childcom.org.uk European countries The European Network of Ombudsmen for Children (ENOC) www.ombudsnet.org UN Convention on the Rights of the Child http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm Publications 14–19 Curriculum and Qualifications Reform, DfES, 2004 Code of Practice (England), DfES, 2004 Building the Future of Learning, Big Lottery Fund, 2004 Learning Pathways, 14–19 Guidance 37/2004, National Assembly for Wales, July 2004 This publication was researched and written by Eleanor Stanley www.eleanorstanley.co.uk Design: Navig8, www.navig8.co.uk ExtraTime Strategy Guides are published by ContinYou, a charity dedicated to building learning communities and promoting lifelong learning. ContinYou produces a variety of publications that support people working in the field of study support/out-of-school-hours learning. These are available through subscription. Find out more from ContinYou at 17 Old Ford Road, London E2 9PJ Telephone 020 8709 9900 Facsimile 020 8709 9933, Email info@continyou.org.uk www.continyou.org.uk Registered charity 1097596