Where is the real evidence for the success of Accelerated Learning? For those of us at Alite – now with a decade of experience of working with and in schools on Accelerated Learning - this question is very important. We feel we’ve gone beyond peripheral debates about water, music, brain gym and learning styles because we are sitting on some really solid evidence of learner success.

Here’s a snapshot of a school which doesn’t appear in magazine articles, academic journals or on television but gives you all the evidence you need for the success of Accelerated Learning.

Stamford High School is on the Mossley Road, Ashton-under-Lyne. If you happen to drive by and do so in a high gear you may miss the unprepossessing frontage to the school. Slow down because you are missing Tameside’s fastest growing and most improved school. That’s what the leadership team are proud to tell you when you visit. Their story provides the real evidence for the success of Accelerated Learning.

‘Four years ago even really good teachers found it hard to teach.’ Says James Inman, Assistant Head and Lead Learning Professional. ‘It was dangerous. We had falling roles for five years in succession. We had an awful OFSTED report which pointed out some major weaknesses and the fact that we had GCSE results which were amongst the lowest in the country. We had to do something’

In Autumn 2003 the Senior Leadership Team set out a vision for Governors. The ‘emphasis was going to be on Learning to Learn’. The mechanism for planning, delivering and evaluating learning would be the Accelerated Learning Cycle. Pupils would ‘gain an understanding of how they learn best and be encouraged to be active participants in the process.’ Staff would be encouraged to be creative, to provide ‘exciting, challenging and appropriate learning experiences.’ In the future they would be selected and appointed based on that vision. It was bold but would it work?

The impact on Year 7 was immediate. All lessons are now planned using the 4 stage Accelerated Learning Cycle. The Cycle is in all pupil planners. Engagement with learning has improved to such a degree that there have been recent sessions when pupils and teacher sit down to review lessons together and plan for improvements using the Cycle. A customised observation proforma helps teachers give each other evidence based feedback and has played a part in opening up honest dialogue. As the approach has spread, the school with very tight corridors and old fashioned classrooms has become a calmer place.

The benefits are growing. The school now accepts new pupils at a rate of 3 per week. Truancy is down. Staff absence is down. Teachers who had been sceptical are increasingly enrolling in the methods. As James Inman says, ‘for many who see the improvement in the pupils’ learning and attitudes it’s caught their curiosity and made it ok to try it out.’

Six months after starting out, an HMI visited the school, primarily to look at aspects of the Key Stage 3 Strategy, but also looked at the trial groups in Year 7. He was so impressed with what he saw that he intimated that this approach is already causing a significant cultural shift, and later observed that Accelerated Learning on its own is fine. Learning to Learn is a good idea. Put them together and you have something powerful. The outcomes have been written up in the ‘cameo file’ for other HMI to see.

When Alistair Smith visited the school, ten of the Year 7 pupils he observed and spoke to came into the school at below level one. They could all contribute to a discussion about their learning, many with insight and maturity. Alite consultant Oli Sparks visited six months later when the pupils were in Year 8 and spoke to some of the same pupils. She recorded a collection of their thoughts on video.

• ‘The teachers give me confidence to express my feelings and be myself.’
• ‘I can follow what we’re doing in the lesson ‘cos it’s in my planner’
• ‘We all learn in different ways and we know how. I’m trying to get better at the other ways’
• ‘We use the 5Rs in teams to help us work together and not argue or be left out’
• ‘transfer skills means take it to a different lesson’
• ‘peer support means you help each other’
• ‘success is when you start out with a challenge but it doesn’t really matter if you succeed because it’s the process what’s important’

Other teachers agree that Stamford’s evidence of success is there to see. Jen McIntosh of Longdendale School says the best thing about her visit ‘was seeing the culture of learning embedded in Year 7 and the staff.’ For Janet Biltcliffe of Harper Green it was ‘the connection between Learning to Learn lessons and the pupils’ very impressive knowledge and understanding of their own learning.’

Stamford High School has open days for those who want to see how Accelerated Learning and Learning to Learn can sit together and how it is possible to turn a school around. The next day is on Friday 25th November.

For details contact Dave Watson (Deputy Head) at the school on dave.watson@stamford.tameside.sch.uk

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For more real evidence of the success of Accelerated Learning, the Close Up series of DVDs contains interviews and lessons from four secondary and (now) six primary schools. Twenty-four outstanding lessons accompanied by interviews in their own words with the teachers and leadership teams who made them possible. Go beyond theory and into practice!

Find out more:

• Close Up for Primary Schools
• Close Up for Secondary Schools

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A recent study suggests young children experience heightened stress levels when they enter childcare. Researchers tracked the reaction of 70 children to separation from their parents and homes. By measuring cortisol – a hormone related to stress - they found stress levels were still raised months after beginning childcare, even though outward signs of distress had stopped.

Researchers tracked the 70 children in Berlin, aged 15 months, from before they started childcare, through their first day and then as they adapted and became more accustomed to their childcare setting. The research found that stress levels increased when children entered childcare and, though lower, were still above normal several months later.

"It is stressful for both infants and children to start spending extended periods of time in noisy new environments separated from their trusted sources of comfort and support," comments Professor Michael Lamb from Cambridge University's faculty of social and political sciences.

Even though levels of "fussing and crying" subside after the first few days, and children stop showing “overt” signs of distress, Professor Lamb says children still have "heightened levels of vigilance or arousal even after they appear to have adjusted to daycare".

These children might also make more compensatory demands for interaction with their parents. The research suggests there are ways that the impact might be softened - including reducing the length of time in which children are with carers each day, more individualised attention from childminders, and childcare settings which are smaller and more home-like.

But there is also a reminder that stress exists in children even when they seem to have adapted to childcare - and that if children are going to be properly settled and reassured there is a need for parents to provide "child-focused emotional exchange", particularly in the hours before sleep.

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A visit to the newly built Halifax High School last Monday saw Alite Chair Alistair Smith confronted with a choice of thirty toilets. In a bid to stop bullying the designers deliberately constructed single unit toilets with washbasins and double lockable doors.

A survey by toilet manufacturers Armitage Shanks has revealed that the condition of toilet facilities in schools puts pupils off using them. The survey also found that 70 per cent of school toilet blocks are over 20 years old and only 3 per cent have been rebuilt this century.
Disabled-friendly toilets were found to be inadequate and almost 39 per cent of schools surveyed had no disabled facilities for their pupils. Tony Rheinberg, of Armitage Shanks, said, "It was the comments from the teachers and from the schoolchildren themselves that really brought home the effect of bad toilets." He said children had also revealed that the threat of bullying in toilets stopped them using school facilities. No chance of this at either St Aidan’s School in Carlisle or at Cramlington High School. Both employ assistants to ensure that the toilets are clean and safe.

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Research in primary and secondary schools commissioned by the DfES has concluded that pupils should be taught some subjects in single-sex classes to help counter the 'laddish' culture that prevents boys learning.

The four-year Raising Boys' Achievement (RBA) project, which was conducted by Cambridge University, found that separate classes can help pupils' concentration and boost their performance, as they no longer need to show off in front of the opposite sex. However, the researchers state that single-sex classes are unlikely to close the gender gap, because girls' performance also improves. The study notes, "Many girls and boys feel more comfortable in single-sex classes because of the lack of distraction of the other sex and feel more able to ... take part in discussion without fear of ridicule or embarrassment." The report advises that more needs to be done to tackle the problem of 'macho' boys who persuade classmates that it is 'uncool' to do well.

The researchers advise against generalisations, pointing out that "many boys continue to achieve extremely well at school" and that "the core of the issue in many schools revolves around a minority of pupils". However, they suggest that improvements can be made, particularly by underachieving boys, through:

• varying interactive classroom activities;
• speaking and listening as a means of supporting writing;
• group work and writing in pairs;
• teachers taking risks to bring more creativity and variety to literacy;
• more integrated use of ICT.

The authors state that they found little evidence to support the notion that the dominant learning style of boys differs from those of girls, or that boys prefer kinaesthetic learning.
However, they found that the 'learning style approach' works where:

• it is implemented carefully and holistically;
• teachers and pupils understand how learning takes place;
• pupils understand about different learning styles;
• teachers are able to plan lessons which encompass different learning styles.

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Despite teaching a “quite motivated” Year 4/5 class Alison Bray was curious about those who just sat back and expected education to be “done to them”. Why should they be different from their classmates? And how could she inculcate them with a desire for learning and lead them to using higher level thinking skills? The answer would begin with their rural school’s motto.

The word ‘HARVEST’ ties together a sheaf of wheat on the school badge and each letter represents one of their basic philosophies. ‘A’ is for Aspirations, and was also a way in for Alison’s work. She encouraged the children to think about where they were going and how they would get there, using Aspiration Maps to provide answers for:

• What they would do when they’re older
• What skills they would need
• What good learners look like
• What qualities they have

Initially, specific members of the class were identified as good learners by the pupils and qualities such as being well-behaved and listening well were cited. Soon, though, they began to identify other qualities, ones that could be summed up under the headings of Resilience, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Reasoning and Reflectivity – the 5Rs. This was the cue to introduce these dispositions in child-friendly language to the class, to sell them as what’s needed to learn throughout life and then link them back to the children’s aspirations. This interactive process made the concepts more immediately accessible to the children. Other work then went on to concentrate on what the 5Rs would look like in a classroom, and culminated in a display with their Aspiration Maps and advice on how to be a good learner. This resource was readily available to refer to, as subsequently was The Professor, a life-sized effigy made by the children to be, literally, a model of a good learner.

With the 5Rs now understood by everyone, “I am a Good Learner” cards were given to every member of the class. The object was to fill the card with Rs, awarded when they were demonstrated in lessons. The particular R to be developed was discussed at the beginning of each session, together with the WALT, which was also recorded. An example of a task with a 3R result was writing a newspaper report, where there was the opportunity to show resourcefulness (transferring of skills learned for selecting information for the article and writing it in an appropriate style), reflectivity (does it need improving before handing it in?) and responsibility (completing the task in a certain time).

To make the learning more consistent, parents were included in the learning process as well. A letter was sent home, explaining what was happening in class and asking for their assistance at home. Each of the Rs was explained and the link made to aspirations and learning. There were also immediate benefits for both learners and parents to see.

They were also told of how beneficial their support could be, “as it is equally accessible and important to children of all abilities and aims to develop skills for life.”

Alison found that there was a clear correlation between those children who worked for their R at home – taking responsibility for their learning – and performance in end of week tests. Many positive comments were made by those parents who took part.

In class, Alison began to notice changes in the children’s learning: in numeracy, they were becoming more reflective in their answers; in literacy too they were reflecting on what they were doing, using effectively the reflective writer cards in self-evaluation tasks that encourage consistency in their punctuation. They also wrote a story to demonstrate their reflectivity, resourcefulness and resilience, and together they often reflect on why one person has done better than another, viewing success “using different terms of reference.” This too is part of the learning.

In her own reflections, Alison is extremely pleased with what the children have achieved. In an Outdoor Education project running alongside this work, she was thrilled to hear the children using the R language in relation to teamwork and other concepts that were an important part of the project. There was a clear link that the children had drawn out for themselves and linked to life skills. This highlights the success of the work for Alison, summed up in the word ‘connection’, and it has reinforced her belief in taking the time initially to thoroughly explore the Rs with the class, as these have now been transferred and synthesised into different areas of the curriculum and life. There has also been a noticeable improvement in the numeracy and writing skills of the children. As for those who she particularly wanted to reach, there was limited success hampered by self-esteem issues. These she’ll be addressing in the near future and working to maintain parental involvement.

Alison has been impressed with the children’s energy, enthusiasm and focus. She claims concentrating on the processes as well as the outcomes has added another layer to their schooling. Continuing with this work, she is sowing the seeds for success; shoots are already beginning to show and for many years to come her class will continue to reap the benefits provided by a focus on skills and dispositions for life.

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We are delighted that the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust have formally recommended L2 to Affiliate schools. We have agreed with SSAT to offer special benefits to those Affiliate schools who have not yet purchased L2.

>> Read more or email irene@alite.co.uk

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