September 2003

Accelerated Learning newsletter, September 2003

This is the get off to a quick start special! We have some serious Formula One Philosophy from David Coulthard, guidance on how to keep calm in a crisis, Case Studies from a primary and a Special School plus Great Classroom Motivators. However, let's start with saturated fats.

Open the Box

The Atkins diet has failed to catch the imagination of the nation's schoolchildren. Nine out of 10 children's lunchboxes contain foods high in fat, salt or sugar, according to The Food Standards Agency.

In a survey of over 550 children from across the UK, it found children's packed lunches contained up to twice the recommended amount of sugar, half of their suggested daily salt intake, plus high levels of saturated fats. The most popular items in the children's lunchboxes were a white bread sandwich - found in 87% of packed lunches, followed by crisps (71%), a biscuit or chocolate bar (60%) and dairy items such as yoghurts or fromage frais, found in 48% of packed lunches. Fewer than half the children surveyed had a portion of fruit in their lunchbox. 80% of those who took a packed lunch to school tended to have similar things to eat every day.

The FSA found up to 40% of saturated fats the children were eating came from butter and other fat spreads, up to 25% from cheddar cheese, up to 19% from crisps and up to 14% from chocolate bars and biscuits. Salt tended to come from white bread, ham and crisps and the higher levels of sugar came mainly from fizzy drinks, ready-to-drink juice drinks and chocolate-covered bars and biscuits. And you wondered why they had problems concentrating!

Hot Buttons

A hot button moment is when you meet your inner monster close up. Your hot button has been pushed and you have got yourself worked up over some incident which at first seemed trivial but has triggered a raw emotional response. Stop! Ask yourself, 'will this matter in five years time?' If not park it up and leave it behind.

Here are some other useful questions to practise and eventually learn for your hot button moments:

• What would (someone you revere) think of my response?
• What would I think of my response if I were myself at 8 years of age?
• Will I still be carrying this tonight as I go to sleep?
• What do I look like at this moment?
• How would I want this moment described in my obituary?
• If I listened to what I am saying as a radio script would I laugh, cry or be impressed?
• What's the shelf life of this discussion?
• If I was dressed as a clown with a white face and large red shoes would my words carry weight?
• How would I explain this reaction to a colleague? To my partner? To my grandmother?

For those of you who are teachers you will be testing Hot Button theory in the coming months. We wish you luck!

Castles in the Air, Feet on the Ground

Jane Rolph, Angela Moore and Sara Stanley are, respectively, the Head, Deputy and AST at Chapel Break First School in Norwich and they have a tale to tell…

Once upon a time, far, far away stood a little school, an ordinary little school on an ordinary little housing estate, with ordinary little children but extraordinary staff with HUGE ideas and even bigger expectations! This is the story of how Chapel Break First School has followed a quest for what is best in teaching and learning, a quest for creating children who are hungry for learning, hungry for ideas and hungry to work together.

The journey began with a spell book entitled Accelerated Learning in Primary Schools. There were flurries in the staffroom and whispering in the corridors. Had we found some magic? Well, we have seen many magical events: staff and children transform into real, responsible learners, children who talk about their own learning and the processes they use, children who support each other, who know how to advise and help. The NLS and NNS are now our friends rather than our masters, and thinking and talking our new King and Queen! Key Stage test results are soaring 20% above predictions and Beacon status is a gift for self-development.

We operate a curriculum that does not put a ceiling on a child's achievement and that uses the performing and creative arts as a springboard for success and provides self-esteem for many of our children. The first and vital ingredient in our spell is positivity. Our first priority way back at the beginning of our quest was to improve behaviour and the attitude to learning; a circle-time model, a new behaviour management policy, and a sharpened focus on the language teachers and children were using all made an immediate impact. Children actively use a language of self and peer support and congratulation; they listen with sensitivity to adults and each other. Changing to a very positive language has changed attitudes. A second key is a carefully modelled language of learning, a language for learning and a fully embraced culture of talking for learning.

A language for learning is adopted by staff as a tool for teaching. Careful consideration (and overt teaching) has been given to the use of a shared vocabulary for planning, evaluation and the delivery of the curriculum. It is essentially child focused - there is no difference between teacher-speak and child-speak, we speak a common language.

The language of learning provides structures for child and teacher to share. They have been developed and modelled with the children and use language structures for self-help, self-evaluation and review. Our children have the words to use to ask for help, say exactly the point at which they are stuck and to talk about the processes they are using.

Establishing a culture of talking for learning is one of the most potent ingredients in our spell book. It is about giving space for talking between children, to express their own thoughts, to work through problems, to use self-talk to aid learning and to rehearse and reward success. This vital space is where we have been able to introduce an approach based on critical thinking, questioning and enquiry.

This valuable approach is Philosophical enquiry with Children (PwC). Philosophy is taught from the Foundation Stage upwards at Chapel Break (We also have an expanding waiting list of pupils wishing to join the after school Philosophy Club). Its aim is to challenge the children's autonomy in thinking. Philosophy taps into the child's natural spirit of enquiry through reasoning, problem solving and self review. Its benefits for democracy, self-esteem and moral citizenship are immense and its impact far reaching, affecting raised standards of behaviour and higher order thinking skills right across the curriculum. Philosophy sessions are preceded by experimentation with silence, relaxation and meditation methods. We believe strongly that children cannot do heavy thinking on top of heavy thoughts that might accompany them to school.

Through our discussions with the children we have discovered that they view Philosophy as hard, but there is no indication of fear, reluctance or anxiety. The children feel very academic and clever, they understand that it is difficult to think and talk philosophically. When asked to describe the processes of thinking up questions and making connections several of the children interviewed used the word "challenging."

PwC has proved itself to be a successful home-school link. The pupils keep a journal in which they record pictorially their thoughts and ideas drawn from the stimulus. These drawings lead into shared talk and the formulation of their questions. The journal goes home and parents are encouraged to talk with their children about the issues or questions raised. The points of view of child and parent are recorded and shared during the week, keeping the children alert to the concept. This shared homework facilitates communication at home. We have observed how the parents' involvement and depth of thinking has progressed alongside that of their children. We believe this sends an important message to families about the quest for lifelong learning, where it is not the answers that bear most importance but the adventures and experiences along the journey. Parents' comments have included:

"Philosophy has opened up communication at home because we are able to discuss things on an equal level, which doesn't happen with day to day problems."

"I think Philosophy will teach my child to question more things and not just accept them as they are."

"I thought Philosophy would be too hard for a six year old but I have been pleasantly surprised how much she is getting from it. I'm really pleased she wanted to join Philosophy Club."

So, you're asking, how can you possibly make such wizardry work? High achievement and attainment in traditional knowledge-based areas, a powerful and positive approach to self-development and learning in a shared community, a rich culture of spoken and visual language and higher order thinking skills? What, all this with such tiny children? The answer lies in the structures and scaffolds that we have developed. We don't believe that our children learn by osmosis, but need to be shown step-by-step how to achieve success. Staff at Chapel Break tackle this head-on and creatively. It's not magic really; our feet are firmly planted in practical solutions. We simply break areas of learning into steps, manageable chunks with manageable skills. We use targets that have real meaning and value, and there are tangible props to support learning. Classrooms are awash with prompts and processes for self-help, self-development and self-motivation.

Our ordinary little school, on an ordinary little housing estate, is not ordinary on the inside - it is a castle of dreams, overflowing with princes and princesses eager to reach the very top of the highest tower. And we wizards are here to help them.

Great classroom motivators

1. Sell the benefits. Explain what we all gain from the outcomes of the learning. What makes us better off by doing this?
2. Share the process. Explain the methodology for learning.
3. Being esteemed by an influencer. The basic unit of motivational currency is the interest of another human. Show your interest.
4. Educative feedback. Give specific bullet points for improvement that can be acted on there and then.
5. Praise that is private and personal not public and paraded is the best for many - especially truculent boys.
6. Proximity modelling. Role model close at hand. Don't pretend we can all bend it like Beckham if we try hard enough. We might be able to bash it like Bloggs and take it from there.
7. Chunked challenges. A little and often is the best way to improve. What 1% improvement steps are available for our GCSE coursework. Identify the 1% steps.
8. Little acts of kindness. Give something of value away to the most difficult student and expect nothing in return. A copy of the Angler's Mail may be enough to change the relationship.
9. Security of a ritual. In threat, a ritual makes us feel safe. In high challenge situations ritualised, shared moments help you cope.
10. Two-dimensional debriefing. Debrief tests and mock exams for knowledge and feelings. This lets students know that everyone gets stressed in an exam. And besides, they are more interested in the feelings dimension
11. Provide meaningful choice in lessons

At the end of the day students will engage in a lesson if

• The topic is intrinsically interesting
• The topic is relevant - students can see some purpose
• A connection (or connections) can be made
• If the students like you - relationships are important and take time to build.

Excerpts from Accelerated Learning: A User's Guide, Smith, Lovatt and Wise, NEP, due October 2003

Distance Learning

Kath MacAlister is Deputy Principal of a Reception to Year 12 Area School in Roxby Downs, South Australia. She was prompted to drop us a line after reading the Wakefield EAZ article last month. She empathized with their dilemmas of distance and thought she'd provide an insight into her school's situation. Now, you might want to get the atlas out to fully appreciate this…

Roxby Downs is in the north of the state, inland, and about six and a half hours driving time from the South Australian capital city, Adelaide. Our district includes schools on the Aboriginal lands like Oodnadatta and Mintabie, opal mining communities like Cooberpedy and Andamooka, schools in the Flinders Ranges such as Hawker and Quorn, and coastal communities like Cowell. Our District is, in fact, so large that our District superintendent flies his own plane in order to get better coverage. Most of the meetings I attend are in Port Augusta, which entails a five hour round trip - up at 5am to leave home for 6am to begin a meeting at 8.30 am, finish the meeting at 4.30 or 5 pm then travel home. This is fairly normal practice for Principals/Deputies when on a weekly or fortnightly basis we would travel for at least one meeting. We do as much of our district/system work through tele or video conferencing but really enjoy the opportunities to network face to face.

At least Roxby Downs is a small town. We have a supermarket and a couple of Hotels (pubs/clubs). Go a bit further north to the smaller towns and they have to have food orders delivered by rail once a fortnight - a good way to save money when there is nothing to tempt one.

I guess the thing that rang most bells for me when reading the Wakefield EAZ article was the similarities not differences. Over the last five to six years our District, and this school in particular, has really focused on training and development for teachers that centres in on teaching and learning. From the Values Based Accelerated Learning programs to 4MAT and Brain Theory it is exciting to see the techniques and strategies incorporated into classroom practice and shared with beginning teachers or those seeking to revitalise their practice.

How to Reach the Hard to Teach

Anne Copley is Headteacher of Oakgrove School, Stockport and works with the Stockport Behaviour Support Service. She is running a one day How to Reach the Hard to Teach workshop for Alite

I have specialised in working with children with difficult / challenging behaviour for the majority of my 26 years in teaching. Throughout that time I have gained a great deal of practical knowledge and skills which I have used to support such children in various learning environments from mainstream large Comprehensive schools and Primary Schools to Special Units and Primary and Secondary Special EBD provision, both day and residential. Throughout that time I have often felt uncomfortable with the notion of constantly focusing on children's behaviour rather than their learning.

Four years ago, as a Head, I opened a new Primary EBD School and Support Service in Stockport. At last an opportunity to be truly innovative across the complete spectrum of need relating to those pupils who are labelled EBD or difficult or challenging! At this point I knew little about Accelerated Learning, yet instinctively I knew that the children who would receive support from the Service and School would all have one thing in common: 'underachievement' in the school environment, often despite the fact that they were bright and more than capable of learning. I also knew that they would be displaying high levels of challenging behaviour and accessing less and less learning, forming a vicious circle of frustration and underachievement. I set out with my team of staff to focus on changing these children into successful learners. After all, we are teachers not counsellors / social workers. Whatever a child's difficulties our role is to ensure each child has maximum access to quality learning. If they could become successful learners they could shape their future, change their own behaviour…

One of the major factors affecting the learning of pupils in my school is the high level of stress in the classroom environment, often demonstrated by the pupils resorting to the 4Fs: Fight, Flight, Flock and Freeze behaviour. Stressors such as these listed lead to the behavioural problems we used to encounter daily:

• Unpredictability
• Excessive risk
• Perceived threat
• Lack of feedback
• Poor progress measures
• Inability to connect to past, present or future needs
• Lack of self-belief

Using this list you can easily identify how Accelerated Learning techniques focus on alleviating the main stressors. In grassroots, practical terms that means at Oakgrove we use:

• Individual lesson by lesson Task Sheets
• Clear structures
• Sensitive "safe" questioning techniques
• Individualised targets and reward systems
• Frequent reviewing
• Teachers "Taking the Risk"
• Supportive teams

Although there still are issues relating to some very challenging behaviour from all of our children, our mantra remains that successful learning will change behaviour. Managing behaviour doesn't change it. Oakgrove is gradually becoming a positive learning environment where achievement is not just about Individual Behaviour Plans, but essentially about creating successful learners who are taken beyond the "token economy" and into the realms of self motivation.

P4RD (Philosophy For Racing Drivers)

David Coulthard (McLaren). Intercepted at the Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne, March 9, 2003
Coulthard: Anybody there?
Pit: [after long pause] Hello
David Coulthard: Who's that?
Pit: Robin.
Coulthard: Robin the wheel-bolt guy?
Pit: Yes.
Coulthard: How are you, Robin?
Pit: Well, I'm pretty busy right now, what with...
Coulthard: Robin? Can I talk to you for a while? .
Pit: Well, perhaps it would be better if. . .
Coulthard: Do you ever think about the universe, Robin? I mean, really think about it? Like, the concept of an infinitely expanding space?
Pit: I just do the wheel-bolts.
Coulthard: Only, sometimes when I'm out here, behind the wheel, and there's nothing ahead of me but road, I get to wondering about the vast-ness of everything. Because if the Earth is but a grain of sand within the universe, what does that make all of us, Robin? What do we all amount to?
Pit: I have to go now.
Coulthard: But if all we are is specks of dust, then explain why... [Radio contact lost]

July 6

David Coulthard (McLaren). Intercepted at the French Grand Prix, Magny-Cours, July 6, 2003.
Coulthard: Is Robin there? Robin the wheel-bolt guy? .
Pit: [after extremely long pause] This is Robin.
Coulthard: Do you think there's such a thing as objective reality, Robin? Or is the world just the way we each of us perceive it in our own heads? So it's like we're all going around the place, thinking we see the world as it is. But in fact we're only seeing the world in the way that we see it. And maybe the way that you see the world and the way that I see the world have nothing at all in common. That's a terrifying thought, isn't it, Robin?
Pit: [pause] I just do the wheel-bolts.

Excerpts quoted Daily Telegraph, pS7 July 19th 2003

MiH: the Personal Insight Programme

MiH is a personal insight programme which provides intelligent tools to help you understand patterns of behaviour in your life and, should you wish to, change those patterns for the better. MiH will not make you richer or more influential, but it will help you become more insightful, particularly about yourself. MiH draws from diverse perspectives, it recognises the complexity of any personal change and has a powerful learning model embedded throughout.

MiH takes place as an open course from January 2004 at Moor Hall, Cookham, Berkshire.

For more details or to reserve your place, please email: MiH@alite.co.uk or click here.

Moving on with Accelerated Learning

Moving on with Accelerated Learning introduces the four stage accelerated learning cycle. Devised and developed by Alistair Smith, this programme shows how the cycle can be used to accommodate thinking strategies, formative assessment and group problem solving. Alistair runs a small number of one-day programmes during the year. The next event will be in London on 10th November, followed by Leeds on 28th November. For full details, please email events@alite.co.uk, or click here.

How to Reach the Hard to Teach: Accelerated Learning and challenging behaviour

This one-day course is designed for professionals who would like to increase their flexibility in helping pupils who exhibit challenging behaviour. It starts from the premise that successful learning occurs when effective teachers successfully motivate students. During the course you will find out what effective teaching looks like in the most challenging of circumstances. You will be given techniques for motivating the disillusioned, re-directing the disruptive and managing the disturbed.

Anne Copley, who leads the course, has 26 years of direct experience of dealing with difficult pupils in different settings and across all age ranges and abilities. She provides a unique offer of accelerated learning with emotional intelligence and inclusivity.

The first open course takes place on 15 October in Leeds, followed by 6 November in Manchester and 17 November in London. The course is also available as an INSET. For full details, please email events@alite.co.uk, or click here.

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