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Case studies
The Successful Implementation and Management of Accelerated
Learning
According to former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, “A
week is a long time in politics”. How does 20 years
in teaching compare? During my career I have encountered many
new approaches, been enlightened by several new curricular
an endured numerous courses, many of mind-numbing boredom.
In a review of that time, I can recall few memorable courses,
one of which was so unutterably awful I can’t forget
it, no matter how hard I try. Of the others, only two have
been inspirational and have had a profound effect on my view
of life. Only one has revolutionised my approach to teaching.
It is probably natural, you may agree, that after 20 years
at the chalk-face as a teacher, I might feel slightly jaded
and in need of a pick-me-up. This is exactly what I received
after attending Alistair Smith’s course on Accelerated
Learning. Alistair puts a great deal of drama and theatre
into his presentation, so I came away feeling I had had a
good day’s entertainment. In addition, there were dozens
and dozens of suggestions to apply to everyday classroom life.
Buoyed as I was by the day, I felt the euphoria and excitement
would not quickly fade and any possible benefits would not
be subsumed by the real world. I am very pleased to say this
has proved to be the case. More than a year later, I find
myself dipping into his books for more and more suggestions
to implement.
What I intend to do is highlight just a few of the approaches
I used over the year. In the space available to me it is not
possible to discuss everything I have employed. I have selected
some powerful strategies which have had a noticeable influence.
Of the eight Y6 children in the class, three were working
at L3 in all core subjects at the beginning of the year. The
rest were mainly L4 with two at L5. The SAT results saw all
children achieve L4 with a large number of L5s. One of the
girls, who was L3 English, came out as L5.
At the time of writing, I am a teaching head of a very small
school in North Yorkshire. When I was appointed, the children
had had my predecessor for one term and an acting head for
one term. I completed the last term of the academic year.
In addition to this, they also had to come to terms with a
totally different teaching situation. Prior to that year,
upper and lower KS2 children had been taught completely separately.
However, due to a falling roll, the teaching staff had been
reduced before my appointment, with the result that the whole
of KS2 were now taught as one single class for .6 of the timetable
and were separated on only four mornings per week. This extra
change proved very disruptive for many children and undoubtedly
contributed to the very poor behaviour of several of the children.
In such a small school – just under 50 pupils –
a handful of children misbehaving represents a major difficulty.
Standards of learning and behaviour were far below what they
should have been. Many of the children had potential but were
performing far below an acceptable level. So, it was with
this scenario in school that I went to the Accelerated Learning
course. I felt that my new school would prove an exacting
challenge, but since that day, I feel the children have not
looked back.
As stated, the course offered dozens of approaches which
could be introduced. In my situation, I felt I had to be very
selective and opted for ones which I felt could be used with
little or no extra planning time from myself. Being new to
the job, I was rather fazed by the mass of paperwork, the
demands of the many meetings and trying to cope with the introduction
of numeracy as well as the literacy hour, to be delivered
to the whole Key Stage. A daunting prospect, I am sure you
will agree. So, short, sharp approaches were what I went for.
I was hopeful results would be positive. I was amazed by what
I saw unfolding before my eyes. Within days of what I considered
quite minor adjustments, positive results began to flow. The
first noticeable effect was the upsurge in enthusiasm the
children displayed. They seemed to be saying “we have
been yearning to have our attention grabbed and you have succeeded.”
One of the building blocks of Accelerated Learning is the
development of self-esteem in a person. Many of the children
had become satisfied with low levels of achievement. Very
few seemed motivated to produce their best work over a consistent
period. As an experienced teacher, I felt able to develop
this area. With ideas provided by AL, I was confident I could
tackle this successfully. On returning to school, I introduced
the idea of the Aspirations Wall with the Y5/6 children. We
discussed what this meant and how it would be possible for
them to achieve their goals. We were able to establish that
whatever they wanted to achieve, there was a set of stages
or landmarks they would have to pass along the way. They could
then see clearly how they could map out their progress to
ensure they could stay on course. I got them to visualise
what they needed to do and to imagine themselves actually
performing the tasks. We had to spend several sessions on
this as they found it quite a difficult process to master
at first. I encouraged them to dream vividly and to set their
targets high. One girl, Hannah, wanted to be a nursery nurse
at first. A few months later she decided she would like to
become an actress and appear on TV. Asked why she had changed
she said she felt acting was extremely important to people’s
lives because so many people spent a lot of time watching
TV and films and then spent even more time discussing it.
Later in the year, Hannah took a speaking part in the school
production and performed with real confidence. In the years
before this, she was known to struggle at maths and had been
sent home suffering from migraines several times. These headaches
often occurred in maths lessons and she had medication for
the condition. Throughout the year, she never experienced
another migraine attack and was often seen to smile in maths
lessons! At the start of the year, the teacher assessment
was for a low L3. In the SATs she gained a comfortable L4
in both maths and science and L5 in English.
Nursery nurse was the first choice of another girl, Joanne,
because she said, she liked being a child-minder for the younger
children in school. Later in the year, she too changed. This
was after several months of the AL approach. Joanne was a
very diffident girl who said she found schoolwork difficult
and had been labelled “a plodder”. She was clearly
working at L3 in the three core subjects and was reluctant
to get fully involved in school life. She was mainly interested
in swimming. She was particularly reluctant to answer questions
in class and tended to sit and blush rather than articulate
an answer. At the end of the year, she told me she had worried
in case she made a mistake. Her new ambition was expressed
in written form thus:
“What I hope to achieve is to become a teacher. I know
I am doing well because my mum and dad and teacher tell me
all the time. I know I can do this because now I know I am
as good as anyone.”
Joanne’s parents told me at parents evening that all
the kids in school are now really motivated and it was all
down to me. Their daughter’s confidence had zoomed over
the year and she was volunteering to play a leading role in
the swimming club, whereas previously, all she wanted to do
was to go swimming and them go home as quickly as possible.
Next, I introduced positive labels for the children. I told
them I had been thinking about them and how they performed
at school, mentioning their attitude, involvement in school
life and approach to others as well as the work they produced.
I could see they were encouraged simply by having themselves
discussed in positive terms in front of everyone else. They
were visibly delighted when I wrote their adjective up on
the board. The words I selected were complimentary, such as
“Industrious”, “Achiever”, “Successful”,
“Interested” and “Intelligent”. One
boy, whose behaviour had been a cause for concern both at
home and at school, could well have proved to be difficult
to label in a positive sense. I had to think quickly as he
responded “I bet you can’t think of anything nice
to say about me.” I answered “It’s easy,
Richard. You are ‘Lively’. You always answer quickly.
You get involved in lots of activities. You are very keen
and you help to keep all lessons lively. Well done, Richard!”
His reaction was one of a satisfied smile. Over the year his
behaviour improved dramatically.
All children wrote their labels on the computer and stuck
them to their desks. I referred to them regularly as “Intelligent
David”, “Successful Stephanie”, or “Improving
Tracey”. As the year progressed, one or two of the cards
vanished whilst other children looked after theirs fastidiously.
Later in the year I reviewed these labels by asking if, in
their opinion, the words were still an accurate description.
All agreed apart from one boy whom I described originally
as being “Interested”. He said he had changed.
The conversation ran like this:
Ian: “I think my word is wrong now.”
Me: “Why is that, Ian?”
Ian: “I think my word is ‘Excited’.”
Me: “Really? Can you explain?”
Ian: “Because I am.”
Me: “When are you excited?”
Ian: “I always get excited about coming to school.”
Me: “What makes you feel that way?”
Ian: “The work. We always do such fun work at school.”
Towards the end of the year, I suggested writing out new
labels to replace the lost ones but there was no need, as
all the children who did not have them on display still had
them in their desks and knew exactly where they were. This
was just one method of boosting the children’s self-esteem
as Alistair had suggested and it had a palpable effect.
Aside from the SAT results, which were undoubtedly pleasing,
the main benefits the children derived were increased confidence,
improved behaviour and a greater sense of self-worth. They
also displayed an interest in their lessons and were very
keen to learn. However, throughout the year I also noticed
more and more of the KS2 children were enjoying school. Parents
reported them as being keen to come to school. This was largely,
I feel, because during the year, we had managed to generate
a lot of fun and laughter in class – I know how I feel
about attending a place where I know I am going to enjoy myself.
I addition to this, I also felt energised and motivated. I
am committed to this approach and look forward to applying
more of the wide range of activities, both in my class and
throughout the school. I know our levels are going to improve.
I also feel strongly that more children and more teachers
should have access to AL. It is a fascinating way forward
for pupils and teachers alike.
Cliff Hopwood
Headteacher
St Nicholas CE Primary School
West Tanfield
North Yorkshire
October 2000
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