CLC Salford

Spent the morning working with Sue. We were planning a questionnaire for leading teachers of Gifted and Talented in the North West.

We are both involved with North West Gifted and Talented. The group is looking at how we can develop the support we give to schools in the area. Rather than second- guess what provision might be required, we decided to find out straight from the horses' mouth, so to speak.

Wellacre

It’s been great fun spending the last few days working with the boys at Wellacre School in Trafford. We’ve been using 3D images projected onto the whiteboard as a stimulus to creative writing. Using ‘Nightmare’ as our theme, allowed the boys to jump easily from one powerful image to another. This allowed me to use the best 3D images I could find rather than confining myself only to dinosaur images as I had originally planned.

The images were downloaded free form Google. The 3D glasses (red/cyan) were bought on the internet for about a pound a pair.

As well as providing the images as a spur to their imagination, we provided a ‘Super Sizzling Sentences Toolkit.’ If you’d like a copy, please leave an email address in the comment box.

Ensuring the Attainment of More Advanced Learners of English as an Additional Language

Travelled down to London to attend the launch of new materials for EAL pupils. The particular focus was on narrowing the gap between pupils from ethnic minorities and the rest of the school population.


For me, the highlight of the day was the workshop led by Leon Tikly, Professor in Education and Deputy Director of Research at Bristol University.


We looked at barriers to achievement of pupils of mixed heritage.

We began with a discussion of the very terms used to identify these pupils. ‘Mixed Race’? There is only one race so how can they be mixed? Mixed Heritage? That would include Irish/English parentage, for example, but this group isn’t encountering the sorts of underachievement we want to address.

We began by listing all the things that we thought might prove barriers to achievement of mixed heritage pupils. Here are the main ones I noted down during the feedback session:



• Parental ‘denial’: often parents regard their child as ‘Black’ or ‘White’ but not mixed. This obscures them from any data tracing being undertaken.
• Overlooked: they are not seen as a separate group and it is assumed that any barriers they have will be the same as those experienced by ‘black’ pupils.
• Lack of role models
• They are distributed evenly so it make targeting them more difficult
• Lack of representation in the curriculum.
• Who defines the children? Are we all talking about the same group of children?
• If they are not visible how do you celebrate them as a group?
• Peer pressure (easily led)
• Teacher attitude.

Our predictions were pretty accurate. One interesting point is that often mixed heritage pupils are lumped I with black pupils and so they become ‘invisible’: their particular needs aren’t met.

One thing that was really illuminating is that after class had been taken out of the equation children of mixed heritage are still underperforming. The underperformance cannot be explained away simple by class.

Although teachers often believe that these children have problems with their own identity, the research suggested that this is not the case and they are quite comfortable with whom they are.

Another common belief is that white mums can’t cater for their children’s ‘black’ needs (e.g. food). Again, this isn’t bourn out by the research. The mums were perfectly art ease and comfortable with black culture. It was suggested that what might really be happening ere was to stereotype and stigmatise white working class women.


Another suggestion is that mixed heritage pupils succumb to peer pressure by acting out stereotypes of extreme black identity, usually anti-academic in nature. Again, though, amongst black pupils the research suggested high academic aspirations.

What strategies can we employ?

Mixed race mentors
Personalised learning
SEAL
Regular updating of polices so that it become a process not a document
Use data to manage discussions. Don’t just point out difficulties but challenge stereotypes.

North West Gifted and Talented

Had a very enjoyable and productive afternoon at the Last Drop Mercure Inn near Bolton.

The sessions were expertly led by Jacqui Price and Christina Brettle, of the National Strategies.

The main purpose of the meeting was to examine the latest National Strategies materials for Gifted and Talented children.

The focus was the impact of the 'Narrowing the Gaps' agenda for Gifted and Talented education.

Of the 10% of pupils on the average school G+T register, children on free school meals (which is a key indicator of being disadvantaged) are significantly under-represented. In fact, secondary school children on FSM are only half as likely to be identified as eligible for inclusion in the register. We need to identify this 'invisible' group and then implement action.

Once the pupils are identified, one way to begin to ensure their needs are met is to pursue 'mainstreaming' of G+T education.


Far too many schools still see 'gifted and talented' education as an optional add on. The temptation is to consider that running an event for G+T pupils once or twice a year is meeting their needs. Some parents, too, need to understand what should be happening if their child is in the register. Many parents contact G+T coordinators asking what trips or clubs are being arranged for the G+T pupils.

What we have to do is to change the mindset of teachers (and parents) so that they see that G+T children need to be provided for in every lesson on a daily basis. Planning for the G+T pupil in your class should just be a normal, accepted part of planning, just as it would be for a child, say, who had additional needs to help them with their reading.

Gifted and Talented in the North West

Had a fantastic afternoon at Altrincham Girls' Grammar School, where they were hosting a Gifted and Talented day for children in the North West. I ran a poetry workshop.

We started by establishing my ground rules for poetry workshops:

1. No rhyming

2. You have to keep writing. If you can’t think what to write then just write, ‘I don’t know what to write.’

After a few warm up activities where the children had a great deal of freedom over the form they chose, we switched to more controlled form using first diamond poems and then I introduced them to cinquains. That section finished with the pupils writing cycles of cinquains based on the perspectives of characters from a story they liked (e.g. The Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, Grandma, The Woodcutter).

The final stage of the afternoon was spent using the old Dadaist cutup technique. The pupils wrote a piece of descriptive writing, cut up the words individually and then reformed them into poems. A low tech version of fridge magnets.

As usual, the children were the star of the show. However, they were run a close second by the staffroom at AGS. This looked like a suite from an expensive hotel and even had its own baby grand piano.

EAL Toolkit Launch

I was the Metropole in Leeds for the launch of the new Strategy resources for raising the achievement of higher ability pupils with English as an additional language. All part of the wider agenda to 'Narrow the Gap'.

After our introduction it was heads straight into some practical workshops introducing the new materials.

I really enjoyed the workshop that looked at analysing pupils' writing to identify how they could be helped to make progress.

We looked at a piece History writing. We had a checklist and used this to asssess features ranging from word level to content and organization. For each statement we had to decide to what extent the skill was being demonstrated (three choices).

Then we discussed which areas needed help and then looked at which of the areas would be most important for the pupils to improve in order to raise their grade.

This last activity highlighted the improtance of not focusing too much on spelling . Of course, spelling is important but it isn't always the case that this is main the issue holding back the child with English as an Additional language.

In the sample we looked at, for instance, the pupils really needed to understand more about the appropriate tone for a piece of academic writing.

The new resources then give a range of suggestions for how you might address the needs you have identified.

Really practical stuff that I will be introducing to the schools I am working with asap. Of course, it will be a very useful tool for first language speakers, too.

My colleague, Annette, attended the workshop on using talking to prepare for writing. She tells me it was excellent.

In the afternoon I attended another workshop. This one was on how to help the pupils improve their extended writing.

We finished off with a plenary led by Martin Pendegrast, who is leading the project.

A great day, full of practical ideas and resources.

Pre-Standardising

As well as being a Teaching and Learning Consultant for Trafford, I am a senior examiner for AQA English Paper One (foundation).

Being an examiner gives you tremendous insight into the examination process. You learn about the key features that divide, say, grade D form C. You also become very confident at assessing your pupils' work for the paper you mark.

I recommend all teachers to try it at least once and Heads of Department should encourage their team to apply for a post. By spreading themselves across the different papers a many new skills can be gained.



Mary is delighted to be told that she's got the marks spot on.