Case studies
Stamford
High School
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 okay 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.
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. Dates are: 17th November 06,
2nd March 07 and 29th June 07. For details contact Dave Watson
(Deputy Head) at the school on dave.watson@stamford.tameside.sch.uk
, tel: 0161 330 7437 or click
here to download a flyer.
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