Case studies

The West Grove Way
How one school tore up the rule book
West Grove Primary School
Elaine Wilmot

Elaine began her teaching career in Doncaster in 1976 working in two very different Primary schools – one in an upper middle class area and the other on a run down council estate. Moving to London in 1980, Elaine then became the first Neighbourhood Nursery Teacher to be employed by the Borough of Enfield, before being appointed Deputy Headteacher of an Infant school after two years. During her five years at the school she was a member of the Primary Initiatives Group (PING) and was involved in the early work on School Development Planning and Curriculum Development projects with associated schools.

Her first headship was in a two-form entry Infant school, where she and her team developed their own curriculum, which was not skewed by the introduction of the National Curriculum. Elaine spent a year of her time there on part-time secondment to the LEA as an advisory Headteacher, undertaking Whole School Reviews.

Currently, Elaine is Headteacher of West Grove Primary, where she and her staff are developing an inclusive environment, catering for individual needs. Involvement with the Campaign for Learning’s ‘Learning to Learn’ project has supported this work. She also firmly believes in the continuing professional development of her staff and herself. Elaine is currently completing a Doctorate in Professional Studies.

West Grove is a relatively new school, having opened in September 1998 as a one-form entry school with a part-time nursery and one reception class. Since 1999 we have become two-form entry and in September 2003 we will be opening our first Year 5 class. We will be a fully operational Primary school from September 2005.

With the opportunity of opening a new school and creating a new learning community, I was determined to ensure that what we were going to build would be different. This is my third headship and I was dissatisfied and disappointed with national policy and the increase in prescription and was determined to do something positive about it. I wanted to be able to preserve childhood for my pupils rather than stand by and see them put through the 'sausage-machine' of formal education in this country.

We met, as staff and temporary governing body, before the school opened to discuss possibilities. We looked at the kind of world we would be preparing our pupils for, i.e. the knowledge economy and a more flexible future where there would be no such thing as a job for life. We discussed the kind of pupils that we wanted our eleven year olds to be in 2005 and beyond, and from the brainstormed lists we had created, we devised a list of curriculum opportunities that we felt needed to be included. Whilst the list contained literacy and numeracy it included so much more – parents and governors wanted our pupils to be rounded individuals:

• who would be confident about their own abilities,
• who would be good with people,
• who would be bi- or multi-lingual,
• who would be adaptable,
• who would be multi-skilled and
• who would be well adjusted.

They also wanted a curriculum that would be memorable!

So we decided that at West Grove we would not deliver the Literacy and Numeracy strategies as given (we do deliver the content but in our own way) and we would not deliver the National Curriculum as discrete subjects.

Our focus within the school is effective learning for all – children and adults. Staff and I have read and researched on the subjects of brain-friendly learning, accelerated learning, multiple intelligences, learning styles, neuro-linguistic programming, solution-focused thinking, and so on. We have set up mini action research programmes within our classrooms (staff have used these as part of their studies for Masters degrees) and reflected on the outcomes. We break up learning activities with brain gym and breathing exercises; we have considered learning cycles and the concentration spans of pupils; we have introduced fruit and water and music to our classrooms; we have worked with our cook on a healthy diet and we have extensive out-of-school-hours learning that encourages participation in sports and healthy lifestyle pursuits and creative activities. Most of our classes use yoga and/or meditation as a way of centring the learner before sessions begin. Perhaps most importantly, we have a lot of fun learning.

Our intention is to devise a curriculum that will fit individual children's needs so the children play a part in curriculum planning. In order to draw some relevance for our pupils we deliver our curriculum through broad and balanced cross-curricular topics. For example, Year 2 pupils look at 'How People Used to Live'. Teachers plan key learning objectives over the weeks of the topic on an A3 planning sheet to show National Curriculum coverage and then deliver it through a range of investigative activities. In this way, children still develop their learning across most subjects even though, in this case, the topic is History-based. As part of their study we include at least one visit off site to a place of historical interest, e.g. Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green or the Victorian School in Hertfordshire, depending on the interests of the pupils.

The topics are set from Years 1 to 6, but each time the topic is covered it is slightly different because we build on the pupils' previous knowledge. When teachers begin to plan their topic-based curriculum, the children in their class are asked to brainstorm the answers to three questions:

• What do you already know about this topic?
• What would you like to know? (key questions)
• How do you think you will be able to find the answers?

The outcomes from these brainstorms are mind-mapped either as a class activity or individually by pupils, depending on their age, and they are referred to throughout the topic as a review tool and at the end of the topic to enable the children to evaluate their learning. The mind maps can also be added to as the learning progresses if new key questions occur or develop. Building from these brainstorms allows the learning to be tailored to each individual’s needs. Further ownership and relevance is provided when children express a particular interest in a part of a topic. They can pursue this aspect through their own research and present on that interest.

Most of our classes run an integrated or semi-integrated day, where a range of learning activities are on offer that allows children to rotate from activity to activity, rather than having everyone working on the same thing at the same time. This enables the adults to work with small groups who need additional support, whilst others continue unaided. Our KS2 children also set weekly learning targets for themselves and then discuss these with an adult, providing evidence that previous targets have been met. When agreed, the new targets are recorded on the wall in the children's groups, so that they can see when other individuals are working on ones similar to themselves. The children are given time each day to work on them.

The focus of our curriculum is more about the development of the process skills of being an effective learner rather than on the content. Children are encouraged to reflect and self-evaluate their developing key skills and record their own achievements. Below is the sheet we devised for our KS1 pupils to monitor these areas. They highlight the 'I can' statement that they feel they have achieved. KS2 children keep a learning log of their learning targets.

PEPI – FOUNDATION STAGE AND KEY STAGE 1

Presentation Skills
I can dress myself smartly.
I can write my name neatly.
I can speak clearly to a group.
I come to school ready to learn.
I always remember to title and date my work.
I can mount my work.
I can speak clearly to a variety of audiences.

Time Management Skills
I can listen at carpet time.
I can finish my work on time.

Research Skills
I know how to find out things.
I know lots of ways to find out things.
I can sort and use information.

Communication Skills
I can talk about something of interest.
I know how someone else is feeling.
I can make my talk interesting.

Organisation Skills
I can get what I need for my work.
I can set up my table for work.

Team Working – Interpersonal Skills
I can share with others.
I can work as part of a group on a piece of work.
I can organise a group.

Children are motivated to learn because they are given the responsibility for planning and monitoring a portion of their learning and they contribute to the teacher-led part of the curriculum.

Staff are motivated because they are allowed creative freedom and they are encouraged to take 'risks' that will further their own learning and professional development.

In order for parents to support learning beyond the school day and classroom walls, we involve them in ongoing assessments of their children. They are asked to keep an observation diary, where they record play or learning behaviour they witness at home and any language that their child might have used. This is done as regularly as the parent is able to manage. They then bring the information into school to contribute to the developing picture of their child and discuss with staff the next learning steps. Parents can access training on effective learning by attending workshops run by my Deputy and me, and if they wish they can also train to be parent helpers in classrooms. Parents must be happy with what we do because the school is always over-subscribed and we have a waiting list for each year group.

Standards within the school are above or in line with the national average at KS1 in reading, writing and maths. We do not yet have any KS2 data but I would expect the results to be comparable. But more importantly, our children have a love for learning and can speak confidently about their future learning needs and they can be self-critical whilst maintaining high self-esteem – skills that will stand them in good stead throughout the whole of their lives.

What did Ofsted say? Our inspection week in March 2001 was an interesting one. We carried on as normal, the inspectors arrived, read our paperwork and policies and planning, and observed in classrooms. Every morning I would meet with the Registered Inspector and his comment would be "we're finding it very difficult because you don't fit into our boxes". My reply to him each morning was "that's not my problem, they're your boxes". We decided that they would continue observing in classrooms and talking to pupils about their learning and at the end of the week when they were making their judgements if they were still having difficulty then I would discuss our 'modus operandi' further with them. Their judgements at the end of the inspection were:

I firmly believe that schools need to stop following government dictats blindly and should start looking at what's best for their children (and staff) and take control of their professional responsibilities again. After all, isn't that what we all came into the job for in the first place?