BEHAVIOUR Tweets of the week and attendance Helping teachers to help pupils


Developing a deeper understanding of their pupils’ attitudes and motivations can help teachers to be more strategic about how they handle emerging challenges. The needs of “fragile learners” – a hitherto


“invisible” group, who have emotional barriers to overcome but do not overtly misbehave in class – can be identified for the first time, ensuring every child is supported to maximise their potential. It is only by measuring and ranking attitudes in


a robust and reliable way that a teacher can gain previously unavailable information about a student’s learning preferences, attitudes to the curriculum, and how motivated they are to learn. At a mixed comprehensive school in Flintshire,


the use of attitudinal surveys revealed the progression of some pupils was being hindered by low learner confidence and perceived learning capability. A youth leader was brought in to run team-building


activities and encourage children to take part in more extra-curricular activities. As a result, teachers observed an improvement in confidence and communication. Once a teacher knows the root causes of why a pupil is disengaging, they can intervene appropriately and help improve the overall outcome for the child. Teachers and schools can also identify opportunities to improve learner resilience and increase the prevalence of more desirable behaviours. Narrowing the attainment gap at a national level


is a complex and deep-seated problem that requires increasingly greater sophistication in use of data and targeted intervention. Improved identification and outcome evaluation from schools might seem like baby steps in comparison, but when it promotes effective operational change to the immediate benefit of young


people, it is certainly a sensible foundation to build on. SecEd


• Dr Glen Williams is a chartered psychologist at W3 Insights and developed the PASS attitudinal survey for schools. Visit www.gl-assessment.co.uk/pass


This week: Twittering teachers and students brace themselves for the term ahead


“Goodbye dashboard, Hello blackboard! Goodbye Facebook, hello notebook! Goodbye Twitter,


hello teacher!” @bridomingo


“Oh what a long three months this is going to be...” @mrilbaviosa


“Come on then spring term,


let’s have you. Busy, busy.” @djoddsox


“Because of January exams you really have to get in the library early to get in the


good seats.” @jackburstyn


“School is back in for teachers and staff. Have a wonderful school year and remember – teach a child and you open the world to them.”


@Francis_Ray


You can follow SecEd on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SecEd_Education


Because of this, they are able to be measured and then re-assessed at a later date. Attitudinal surveys are increasingly being used,


alongside more traditional “harder” assessment data, by schools and local authorities, wanting to get to grips with any emotional obstacles preventing children from aspiring to achieve. A conservative estimate would be that more than 3,000 primary and secondary schools are using these surveys to measure a set of core attitudes via short psychometric questions, specifically correlated with educational attainment. Key learner attitudes include:


• Feelings about school – sometimes called “school connectedness”, which can indicate feelings of social exclusion or of being bullied.


• General work ethic – the motivation to succeed in life.


• Perceived learning capability – a learner’s impression of their own competence and aptitude.


• Attitudes to teachers – how a young person perceives their relationship with staff in school.


Measuring mindsets


Assessing attitudes can help reduce a number of negative outcomes that lead to an increased risk of a child becoming another NEET statistic, and it was this desire that led to Rhondda Cynon Taf’s (RCT) current Building the Future Together project. As a borough of significant socio-economic


disadvantage, they use attitudinal surveys across all 19 secondary schools in the area to build a more detailed picture of what may be contributing to disengagement. Martyn Silezin, schools data officer at RCT, was


surprised by some of the results: “Many of the young people who scored poorly were already known to us, but we couldn’t have guessed that the most disaffected and disruptive pupils have a strong belief in their own ability to learn but a lack of belief in the system to help them. Knowing this immediately focuses our efforts in the right direction.” For schools (and indeed local authorities), being


aware of any areas of attitudinal concern can help enormously with prioritising effort and resource where it will help most – a school effectiveness pre-requisite in these times of austerity. For example, transition points can be notoriously risky, particularly when moving from primary to


SecEd • January 12 2012


secondary school and again between GCSEs and A levels or further education. Realising that a child is having a difficult time


adjusting to a new learning context, even though they may not be acting out in an obvious way, can help teachers step in before serious issues manifest themselves. Once a child becomes disengaged, re-engagement


becomes progressively more difficult so secondary schools will make use of this information to “spread risk” at the point of allocating students to transitional tutor groups or providing support at the point of entry into a new school.


Halting the decline


Before a pupil’s attendance and behaviour worsens, underlying learner attitudes may sometimes be the first thing to deteriorate. Knowing this helps identify those at risk, allowing early, targeted and effective intervention. For example, a school can deal with a pupil’s deteriorating attitude to attendance while they are still attending well in terms of the school register but before that child has started to actually truant, ensuring the problem is easier to manage and less draining on resources. Decreasing truancy is one of the areas in which RCT


is using the attitudinal survey information. Mr Silezin continued: “We know high attendance


is crucial to prevent disengagement or involvement in anti-social activities, but it’s also the hardest thing to crack. RCT is about two per cent below the average in Wales, so we are using attitudinal survey results to predict those at risk of playing truant in advance of it actually happening.” It is usual for this type of data analysis to filter


results to be broken down to show how a school compares nationally, as well as to show attitudes according to year group, gender and ethnicity. This can help schools to baseline and benchmark the efficacy of their interventions, use evidence to inform annual planning by heads of year, review how pastoral and guidance processes work, and better appreciate the bigger picture of how whole school policy links to behaviour. The end result is that available resources are


prioritised and deployed where they are most needed – and where they will have the greatest benefit.


STEM Secondment Opportunity


A secondment is available for a senior teacher with National Grid – one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world.


“A great opportunity to interact with people using high-end science and engineering skills & find out how they use the knowledge that schools teach.”


Length of Secondment: Two terms Location: Warwick


Funding: A bursary will contribute towards the cost of supply cover Start date: February/March 2012


For an application pack and further details, contact Estelle Khiari Tel:


Email: e.khiari@hti.org.uk Web: www.hti.org.uk


Quote reference: NG 11/12 024 7669 8524


Through its Stretch Secondment Programme, education leadership charity HTI is offering an exciting two-term secondment working within National Grid’s Gas Network Investment Team.


• An exciting opportunity for an established or aspiring school/subject leader with a STEM background and a passion for encouraging STEM students.


• A chance to work with, support and learn from one of the UK’s biggest engineering companies and build links for your school.


• You will lead on a knowledge-capture project among high skill design engineers, meet many National Grid staff and learn about the practical application of STEM in the workplace.


• You will be given significant leadership shadowing opportunities, gain real experience of how management and decision-making works in a FTSE top 100 organisation.


Based in Warwick, the Gas Network Investment Team consists of almost 100 people and is responsible for the planning and development of the Gas National Transmission System – an 8,000km high integrity network routinely carrying 40 per cent of the nation’s primary energy.


The secondment will help to enhance your leadership capability and the successful candidate would be expected to return to their school with a legacy for future pupils, including positive messages about STEM subjects.


Stretch is an initiative created by HTI to provide senior teachers and business with the opportunity to benefit from sharing and exploring transferable skills, knowledge and understanding, via flexible interim projects.


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