Case studies

Holistic Learning

The Grange School

Richard Gerver

After attempting to pursue a career as an actor Richard transferred his talents to another stage when he began teaching 12 years ago in Derby. Grange is his third school and first Headship. Throughout his career he has pursued the development of a contextual and skills based curriculum, often using his knowledge of acting and theatre to develop rich experiential opportunities.

He spent a year out of school working for Derbyshire LEA as a Literacy Consultant, where he led the development of the LIFE project, which used Premier League football clubs to provide inspirational writing contexts for underachieving pupils. During this time he also wrote Year 5 and 6 literacy lessons for the DfES Standards Site. He is currently working with the DfES Innovations Unit on projects related to Personalised Learning and the Primary Strategy. In the last year he has delivered speeches or workshops in Derby, Nottingham and Oxford. Richard also sits on the University of Derby TTA interview panels and is a member of the University's GTP steering group.

Whilst Grangeton has been a collaboration between all within the Grange community, Richard sees the project as a culmination of everything he holds dear in education. His professional motto is ïTo Teach is to Touch a Life Forever', a phrase emblazoned on a gift he received from a child after his first year of teaching.

The Midlands' newest town stands midway between Nottingham and Derby, yet you'll not find it on any map. It presents a new definition of the term learning community and has an unusual aspect, as it exists entirely within the bounds of a primary school. In the summer of 2002, the metaphorical foundation stone having been laid months before, Grangeton welcomed its first locals through the school gates.

In the years immediately preceding 2002 The Grange School had been a fairly large primary school of 430, struggling to find its way. Despite having a wonderfully talented staff and children with real potential, the lack of a permanent Head over the previous 18 months had taken its toll, particularly on morale. The acting management team had worked bravely to keep the school going, however it was a school causing the LEA serious concern and in 2001 its PANDA grades at KS2 were all E*. Blindly following the demands of the National Curriculum content and strategies had taken a heavy toll, planning often bypassing the needs of the individual. Learning needed to be contextualised and relevant to every child.

The school began by going back to basics; refocusing its vision and ethos based on the specific needs of the children. Our vision was encapsulated in three key words: LIVING, LEARNING and LAUGHING.

The next step was to redefine the way the school delivered its curriculum by using assessment for learning to identify the needs of the children. We created a system of assessment and planning that ensured that we considered the children's capabilities not only through attainment indicators, but through their abilities in using core skills as well. Every individual's learning profile (their personal skills as learners) was also included in our considerations. From this starting point with the learners themselves we explored and developed a highly experiential and contextual curriculum that is delivered through the majority of our timetable, a curriculum that harnesses the interests and cultures of our children using the principles of sensory involvement. For example, in Literacy we use Eastenders and the short scenes to teach children paragraphing, and film and pop music is utilised to teach children about sentence length and pace. In Numeracy, we use chocolate to teach fractions, so that children can ïtaste the difference' between whole, half and quarter. The emphasis has successfully been shifted to a skills-based curriculum through which we cover the content. This we call Tier One.

Tier Two is the stage that empowers children with the opportunity to utilise their newly acquired skills and knowledge in real contexts that excite and inspire, whilst also helping children to raise their aspirations and experiences. It harnesses the power of ICT, citizenship and vocational development to ensure that our children have opportunities to explore options for their future at a formative stage.

When we set about devising Tier Two we wanted to provide tangible links for the children that related life within school to life outside it. That life takes place in the area of Long Eaton, a town with a proudly independent identity that permeates the community. Creating opportunities for our children to develop their sense of purpose within this broader picture was important to us and so the challenge was to construct a meaningful framework within which this could occur. Like many schools we have a range of local businesses and cultural experiences which the children relate to on a day-to-day basis. Appropriate role models and skills that we wanted to involve in our new tier were all around us. The advent of citizenship education added to the growing feeling that the answers lay in the immediate vicinity. Before long, these fragments began to fit together into the ideas that would build Grangeton, our own town within the school gates. The concept was on the drawing board.

We decided that the town would eventually be run entirely by the children. It would include urban elements that contribute to success, both through a sense of public service and private enterprise. Most importantly, it would promote a sense of responsibility.

The town has a number of emerging elements. At its heart is a school council that acts in the way a town council does. At the head is an elected mayor who carries out ceremonial, as well as democratic, responsibilities. From the council stems the town's enterprises. Currently these enterprises are managed by teams of children from the junior department, all of whom have had to undergo an application and interview process. Next year we hope to hold our first job fair.

Each team is trained by professionals in their field, through programmes devised in partnership with the school. Many of the training programmes include visits to local businesses to explore what happens behind the scenes. Some of our partners include BBC television and radio, the local newspaper, ASDA and Erewash museum. Our enterprises include the following:  

Language Café

The children run this outlet, which is based on a Parisian street café. The team are trained in food hygiene, marketing and customer relations. They are currently undergoing basic French lessons with the staff and pupils at our secondary school partner. The café is open to pupils and contains French comics, magazines, television broadcasts and music, encouraging cultural immersion. Children wanting to use the café must order food in French.

School shop

Like the other enterprises, the children manage our school shop selling healthy food. They deal in every aspect of running such a business, from stock control to purchasing and marketing. The team was given a start-up loan of £250, which has now been fully repaid and, even though they are undercutting local shops, they are still turning a profit.

Museum

The school museum charts the history of the school within the Long Eaton community. It contains artefacts, photographs and multi media presentations and will soon have its own craft shop selling items designed and made by the children. The museum is open to the public and also to other local schools. The team of pupils that runs the museum have been trained in all of the legal aspects related to loan and donation of items.

Librarians

This team are trained to manage the computer-controlled library, an important resource in any school.

The Wombles

Fully endorsed by Elizabeth Beresford, creator of the Wombles, these litter picking teams are fully trained in issues relating to environmental hygiene.

Lunchtime Receptionists

Call in to see us or ring the school with an enquiry during lunchtime and you will be greeted by our pupil receptionist team who look after the office during this period.

The Media Centre

Our media team is in three strands: radio, television and newspaper.

•  The radio station broadcasts a community show three times a week around the school via the computer network and speakers on each playground. Shows consist of music, news and chat. The children use professional sound editing equipment during their work.

•  The television team have their own studio and editing suite. They produce an annual documentary that is burnt onto DVD and presented for broadcast. They are also available for ïfreelance work' including producing class stories and film clips as well as recording events around the school and within the wider community.

•  The newspaper team publishes termly. Importantly, the children have complete editorial control. Each edition is published on the website as well as being sold through the shop. Amongst the team's coverage this year was the launch of the Children's Literacy Festival, where some of our children performed a multimedia performance poetry piece developed with Kevin Phegan, which used the talents of our media team and our children's literacy work.

Whilst we are aware that not all schools are blessed with the space that we have, all of the concepts can be adapted. For example, you can create a TV studio with a digital camera, a computer and some software. To us, the importance of the project is in the thinking and the process.

Currently the Grangeton project is run throughout the Junior Department using some curriculum time but mostly as extra-curricular activity. From September 2004 we will be collapsing some of our formal curriculum and running the project on Friday afternoons for all year groups. Each year group from Reception upwards will spend half a term learning about and contributing to each enterprise. The half-day sessions will be run and tutored by the children at the top end of the school who manage the enterprises. Because our curriculum delivery is skills, not content, driven we are able to ensure that the skills the children will be learning and using during ïGrangeton afternoons' tie in with the same skills they are evolving during their other learning. In this way, the learning is meaningfully transferred and reinforced in context in a more holistic approach to education.

We set about to change our school climate first, to create a learning environment that was not only exciting but relevant to our children. We tapped into modern media, culture and interests to create a two-tier teaching and learning approach that empowered our pupil population. Fundamental to the process was really getting to know our children and to assess their needs far further than in just curricular attainment. They can see and understand the connections between their learning and the skills and understanding they need beyond the school experience. We have provided a powerful link between these two worlds.

To date the Grangeton project has been enormously successful. It has made a huge difference to our school community, creating a powerful sense of purpose and pride amongst the pupils, parents, staff and governors. The children have been motivated in ways beyond our expectations, mainly because it has given them a really powerful and tangible sense of ownership and responsibility. But most importantly of all, the school is creating an ethos that supports our vision for LIVING, LEARNING and LAUGHING.