Case studies

Peak Practice
Porth County Community School
Steve Bowden

Steve Bowden is Headteacher of Porth County Community School in Rhondda Cynon Taff. The school of 1500 students is in a Communities First area which, based on socio-economic indicators, indicates that it is in the top 10% of the most deprived areas in Wales. Porth County Community School and its cluster of Primary feeder schools are working together to develop a common teaching and assessment framework and are using accelerated learning as the means to transform learning.

Our journey so far has been made up of continually increasing peaks in the Welsh valleys. From the top of each one we can see others, still a little distance away and higher still. So we continue to travel onwards and upwards. When we look back on our progress we can see that we have come a long way…

When I was appointed to Porth County Community School in September 1996 there were many fundamental issues to be addressed. One of the areas that needed reviewing was the learning and teaching in the school. We began by focusing on working with Curriculum Coordinators to establish clear guidelines for schemes of work and in particular how work was being differentiated to meet the needs of all of our students. We made important changes, and an ESTYN inspection early in 1998 highlighted many positive developments but also a further need to develop the independent learner.

Like many schools we had improved examination results, but had we fundamentally affected the way in which our students were learning? This was already a question that we were wrestling with when the inspection team challenged our thinking in this area.

Following my attendance at a Campaign for Learning conference and listening to a range of speakers, my thinking was again challenged about the way in which we were teaching. Shortly after this conference we brought into school an organisation known as Positively MAD to work with our Year 11 students on revision and learning techniques. Following this, we arranged a series of staff training events with the organisation, which focused on the use of these techniques in the classroom and, in particular, the use of mind mapping. However, we needed to create the context to sustain and support their use and innovation; we had to create the climate to shift from teaching to learning.

Paths Towards the Peaks

We subsequently made a bid to the local education authority for funding to support a small-scale action research project into the use of multiple intelligences (MI) in the classroom, initially focusing on our Year 10 students and the core subjects. We wanted to measure the impact of their use on learning, and so discussed research methods with Professor Chris James of the University of Glamorgan. At the moment, one of our staff is reviewing the work for her M.Ed. dissertation, comparing the performance of students in the core subjects against previous cohorts.

We chose to explore MI for this project because the staff working party believed that this was an area where we could engage every department in the debate and let them build upon strategies already in use, however limited in their particular subject. After discussing research that clearly reinforced that people learn in different ways we wondered whether some of our students were constantly at a disadvantage because of the teaching methods used in our school. Kinaesthetic learners were clearly at a disadvantage simply because most learning activities were based upon reading, writing and listening. This was clearly evidenced in Student Trails that highlighted that the range of teaching approaches encountered in a normal day was limited and that we needed to challenge what was happening in the classroom.

The object was to encourage staff to use simple MI strategies as part of every lesson so that it would become part of the daily experience of all students. We wanted every member of staff to find it as natural for them to ask students to respond to a question with a Timed Pair Share (interpersonal) or a Kinaesthetic Symbol (Kinaesthetic strategy) as it is for them to ask for the more usual verbal response. However, even though this project focused our thinking we were not making significant changes to the learning and teaching approaches used in the classroom. The curriculum working party began looking in much more detail at the way in which we learn and researched work that was taking place in the application of MI to the classroom.

At the same time as our work with MI our cluster of schools (one Secondary and 12 Primaries) was considering learning and assessment and consistency of approaches to ease transition across all key stages. The cluster had been discussing the strengths of our pastoral links and the work that was undertaken to ensure that these were effective, but recognised the need to address the curriculum links, not only in terms of curriculum continuity, but also in terms of learning and teaching. There was unanimous agreement that the students in our schools deserved consistency of approach and that, as professionals, we should be talking the same language when planning our teaching and developing learning whether it was for a Year 1 class or a Year 13.

As a cluster we decided that we should run a number of joint training days and asked Alistair Smith to lead one of these sessions, which involved teachers and learning support assistants from all of our cluster schools. Alistair’s input had a significant impact on the school and staff began to take ownership for the development of accelerated learning in their own classrooms.

Cresting the First Peaks

The framework that accelerated learning provides was now something that all staff were aware of and understood; they could see that it draws on a range of different approaches. It provided the means whereby we could create the consistency of learning and teaching in our classrooms that our students needed.

The curriculum working party created a school learning cycle with seven stages and developed a toolkit for every teacher, drawing on the experiences and work done by Derek Wise and Mark Lovatt at Cramlington Community School. This learning cycle is now in print and on display on A1 paper in every classroom so that staff and students can constantly use it as a reference point for their teaching. Alongside this, every member of staff has a ‘Toolkit’ – an A4 ring binder that includes a range of resources, which reinforces our learning and teaching policy. The hope is that staff will add their own resources as well as resources developed within the school.

The Toolkit contains:

• A guide to the seven-stage learning cycle with a detailed explanation of each stage
• A summary of current theories regarding learning
• Classroom techniques to encourage the use of MI
• Lesson planning ideas for each of the multiple intelligences
• Affirmations to use in the classroom to raise self esteem and self confidence
• Suggested music resources to create a better learning environment
• Brain Gym activities
• Mind mapping guidelines
• Training materials from relevant INSET days
• Lesson plans for a lesson created by every member of staff
• Self evaluation report on progress to date

The Toolkit has evolved over the last 18 months and all staff had a direct input, as they were all expected to produce a lesson plan based on the seven-stage cycle for their curriculum area to share with colleagues. Time was created for this work to be undertaken at the end of a summer term; senior staff led a learning to learn day with Year 7 to 10 students, releasing all other teaching staff and effectively creating an additional staff training day.

We are working hard at embedding the learning cycle in all lessons to avoid the methodology becoming a bag of tricks, used when we are being observed or to impress visitors. It is the main priority in our school development plan for the next three years.

During a recent training day curriculum areas shared their work with colleagues. They were asked to illustrate the learning cycle in their particular curriculum area – not a comfortable experience for most teachers, but very profitable in terms of evaluating and sharing interesting practice. The self-evaluation report produced by the leadership team highlighted the very many positive developments and these were recognised publicly in the main body of the report. A separate appendix for each curriculum area identified strengths but also areas for development (see Appendix 1 for a selection of the positive developments).

The Climb Ahead

We are now in a position to move forward, and some departments are leading the way as a team. This was clearly seen by all staff when they reflected on the good work being undertaken by all staff in the English, Science, and Health and Social Care departments. A number of other departments are developing good practice, but there are some that still need to put the theory into practice.

Progress in the Primary schools has been variable, but we are at least all working to same agenda. Year 6 teachers from the cluster and representatives from our school meet regularly for joint INSET on Teaching and Assessment policies. We have also completed a joint assessment and marking policy and a common assessment portfolio has been created across KS1 and KS2 for English. More joint INSET planned on teaching and learning is timetabled for this term, so that we can share approaches and agree lesson planning approaches. The work within the cluster has been the hardest area in which to make progress, in terms of managing the links between the schools. Researchers recognise this as the most challenging, but most critical, aspect of transition, so we will endeavour to push onwards with this work as well.

The Accelerated Learning Cycle undoubtedly encourages good practice. It has the potential to give coherence to what happens in every classroom across our cluster of schools as long as we are not thrown off course by other forces for change. We believe that the learning cycle we have adopted can accommodate any curriculum initiative that the DfES or the NAW can generate!

Appendix 1

VAK
Visual approaches used:

• Picture stimuli to start lessons – English
• Interactive boards in Science rooms
• Interactive use of ICT seen in departments, both with and without interactive whiteboards
• Mind mapping to start a topic – Drama, English, Science

Auditory approaches used:

• Appropriate use of music to introduce topics – Indian music or Arabic language tapes in RE
• Authentic language – use of assistants and tapes in MFL

Kinaesthetic approaches used:

• Movement to different areas of a room – introduction to healthy eating options in GNVQ; disagree/agree statement issued and students move accordingly used in RE
• Staff dressed in traditional costumes to introduce a topic – ethnic clothing used in RE and costumes used in History and Science
• Handling of artefacts – the Koran in RE, day to day items in MFL

Multiple Intelligences
Kinaesthetic – learning by doing

• Clothes line techniques for portraying a story or a theme, as used in English
• Catching games to engage all learners in the activity, as used in GNVQ question and answer sessions
• ‘Freeze Frame’ mime used in RE to act out a story and stopped by the teacher calling out ‘Freeze Frame’ at which point students share their thoughts and feelings
• Practical directions being used with input from students in MFL
• Engaging students through the use of the interactive whiteboards
• Mix and match word games to create sentences used in English and MFL

Logical / Mathematical – problem solving

• Use of timelines in History
• Graphical orientations in Design and Technology, using an interactive whiteboard
• Manipulation of data in Geography and History
• Creation of board games in RE to create a representation of the journey through life

Visual – creation of images and scenes

• Picture stimuli to improve verbal and written skills in the teaching of languages
• Creation of mind maps at different stages of a students work
• Vivid images to encourage descriptive writing, as used in English
• Collection of articles and pictures from the media to make a collage in RE on topical issues
• Video cameras are used in PE, Drama, GNVQ and RE to record activities and analyse the event or the presentation
• Interactive displays used in Science lessons
• Power point presentations created by students in business studies

Verbal / linguistic – learning through listening, reading and writing

• Regular use of writing frames which are differentiated for the needs of the student
• Vocabulary quizzes are used in Languages and Science
• ‘Show me boards’ to test understanding and spelling are used in English, Science, Mathematics and RE
• Keywords displayed around the walls of the classroom
• Song writing is encouraged in GNVQ and RE to assist learning
• Word mats used for different year groups and topics in English and RE
• A variety of word games are used in the languages but also in Science to test and reinforce learning

Interpersonal – learning through working with others

• Hot seating where students are divided into teams and prepare questions for other groups
• Teams prepare questions to ‘beat the teacher’
• Group presentations on topics used in GNVQ, Science, Business Studies
• Pair work is used intensively in languages to teach each other, but is also used when undertaking assignments in GNVQ

Intrapersonal – learning through the use of reflective processes

• Autobiographical writing is used in English and the languages
• Self evaluation and self assessment was evident in GNVQ subjects and Science
• Peer assessment used in languages
• Discussion of moral and ethical issues in the Humanities, English and Science

Musical – learning through the use of rhythms

• The use of appropriate music to establish and maintain mood, energise, calm or to accompany work is being used by a number of departments. The important word to stress is appropriate, as this has to be clearly controlled by the teacher.
• However, the ability to discern pattern in sounds and enjoy experimenting with them, compose songs, express our thoughts, feelings and emotions in musical form (i.e. rap, chant, jingle) is being used by some departments with a great degree of success.
• MFL and Welsh use songs to learn the target language
• In English it is used to learn grammar, etc.
• Rap is used to learn information in RE
• Changing the lyrics of well-known songs has been used in GNVQ