KEY STAGE 4


Preparation: Philip Cantwell, principal of the Malcolm Arnold Academy, has orches- trated the move to a three-year key stage 4


Our strategy also involves shortening key stage


3 into two years rather than three, further focusing students on courses which lead to qualifications. For example, the academy’s year 7 students will


next year be taking the Archbishop’s Award – an excellent, assessed course including citizenship and community volunteering which will make an important addition to their CVs. Also, IT OCR National is now taught across year 7 and 8 – the fact that the course has barely changed since it was introduced several years ago means that today’s students are more than able to complete the assessment at the end of year 8. In addition, our PE staff are teaching students


towards a first aid course, which is not only an additional qualification but will also benefit the local community and wider society. Instead of teaching food technology, we are offering food, health and hygiene – a practical course which helps to teach students how to prepare good, healthy food for themselves rather than simply making cakes and scones to take home. Of course, there are barriers to overcome. There


were logistical challenges, such as rewriting the timetable, but a timetable should emphatically not be used as an excuse not to implement change. It is simply a tool to make what you want to happen, happen – and as an academy we have the advantage of being able to be flexible. The change has also involved setting more


A three-year plan


Moral support: Teacher Support Network From 1877 to 2012


The Teacher Support Network is 135 years


old. Julian Stanley looks back at the kind of problems teachers have been reporting since 1877


WE HAVE been busy preparing for our 135th anniversary celebrations, which has meant looking back over a lot of old photos and annual reports. It has been fascinating not only to see how much has changed for us, but also for teachers over the years. Back 135 years ago, it was recognised that there


was a need to provide an organisation for teachers that would “…encourage the spirit of self-help and thrift against times of sickness and disaster, to make due provision for casualties, (and) those who fell by the way, to provide succour and sustenance in times of sickness, adversity and sorrow, for those for whom there was none other to help; and for the bereaved families left behind”. So, in 1877, the Teachers’ Benevolent Fund (TBF)


was created. Later, this merged with the Orphanage and Orphan Fund to become the Benevolent and Orphan Fund of the National Union of Teachers. Originally, the purpose of the Fund was to provide


temporary relief and funds in cases of emergency, to make grants to the widows and orphans of teachers and in special cases to grant annuities to elderly or incapacitated teachers. This led to the opening of first a boys’ orphanage at The Poplars in Peckham Rye and then a girls’ orphanage in Sheffield at Firs Hill. In the 1920s, we know the main reasons for


teachers contacting the TBF were as follows: • Nervous breakdown: 394 • Consumption: 295 • Operations: 167 • Rheumatoid arthritis: 87 • Cancer: 17 Twenty years later, after the outbreak of war in


the 1940s, reports tell us that the number of teachers suffering from tuberculosis, nervous disorders and


“the sickness” increased, perhaps as an indicator of the situation at the time. Interestingly, it is only in the 1960s when the issues


that we are perhaps best known for supporting today begin to become more prevalent. The 1965 annual report states that “with many problems, much encouragement in matters of anxiety, improving prospects and solid and sustained attention to trends clearly indicate the imperative need for the services of the fund to the (teaching) profession”. Reports in the 1980s also focus on anxiety and


stress. The 1983 report states: “Unfortunately, there is a belief in some quarters that the TBF exists only to help the elderly. This is far from true. More often it is the young teacher who is the most vulnerable. An increasing number are experiencing difficulties caused by stress at school or problems with their marriage.” In the 1990s, stress and anxiety continued to be


an issue for teachers, but how we as a charity dealt with the problem changed. In 1999, the charity launched the Teacher Support Line for teachers in England and Wales. It was instantly popular, dealing with more than 11,000 calls in the first year. However, just as things have changed over the last


135 years, some things have unfortunately stayed the same. While we may not talk in terms of nervous


breakdown as they did in the 1920s and 40s, stress, anxiety and stress-related sickness absence are just as much causes for concern for teachers now as they appear to have been back then, if not more. Last year, we dealt with more than 22,000 calls


from teachers and their families, not to mention emails, online tools, workshops, and factsheet views. What the needs of teachers will be over the next


135 years remains to be seen, but in the short term we, along with colleagues, senior management teams, the government and the teaching unions, can help by being in the best position possible to meet the current needs of those working at the chalkface. In the words of the TBF in 1931: “To the future.


Despite financial stress and heavy burdens we have quiet confidence and fervent hope. The needs of stressed teachers will require alleviation and they shall look to their professional brethren who are blessed with health and strength and in turn, they will surely not look back in vain.”


• Julian Stanley is chief executive of the Teacher Support Network. Visit www.teachersupport.info or call 08000 562 561 (England), 08000 855088 (Wales).


From June, students at Malcolm Arnold Academy will start key stage 4 courses in year 9. Principal Philip Cantwell explains the rationale behind the decision


T 14


here were several strands of reasoning behind the decision to extend the time our students have to study their key stage 4 courses. First, there has been real con-


cern at a national level about a dip in performance when students enter


secondary school after the big push for key stage 2. Without having the target of a test, some measures of progress seem to suggest a slowing down, or even a backward step, particularly in year 8. In addition, year 9 has always been something of


a complex year. The abolition of key stage 3 testing means that some students realise they have nothing serious to prepare for, and many lose momentum and focus. The combination of these two factors meant we felt a need to look at a solution that would enable our students to make the kind of progress that will allow them to fulfil their potential. Our answer to these issues is based around the


idea of completing key stage 3 in two years, freeing up an extra year for key stage 4. It is my belief that classes which set high expectations encourage students to grow up, and can help push for early entry for examinations if they are ready. Individually tailoring an assessment plan is a good


policy that gets results. Studying for assessed courses at an earlier stage helps students to understand how the system works and to build their own confidence in their ability, particularly if they come in with below-average attainment – which the majority of our students do. If they can be convinced in years 8 to 10 that


they can “pass”, their self-esteem is improved, and they become increasingly engaged in their learning. We have seen this over the last two years as we increasingly personalised the academy’s curriculum and assessment programmes. The main criticism of this policy is that schools


are focusing only on achieving Cs, rather than waiting until students are able to achieve a B, an A or an A*. This is certainly not the case here. Rather than seeing a C as the ceiling, we are driving


students to achieve their full potential. If a student achieves a C in year 10, they retake the exam to get a B, and are then pushed to improve to an A or better.


challenging progress targets for both students and staff, something we believe schools should be doing in any case. We are reviewing these on a regular basis in partnership with students – which is entirely necessary if students are to achieve all they are capable of. Our whole curriculum change is also about


opening up the right options to the right students. The government’s announcement that vocational qualifications will no longer count towards league tables in the same way has caused many schools to drop such subjects. However, we have opened new courses because


‘


they are the best choice for some students – just because the government does not count them, it does not mean they are not worth doing. By lengthening key stage 4, we can run these courses more successfully for those students for whom they are appropriate.


Studying for assessed courses at an earlier stage helps students to understand how


the system works and to build their own


confidence in their ability, particularly if they come in with below-average attainment


Staff have had to buy in to these ideas and believe


that they are possible. However, they have found that this is, in fact, to their benefit. By teaching in this way, lessons throughout the first five years of school are linked directly into GCSE courses – for example, the food, health and hygiene and first aid qualifications discussed above both prepare students for studying the full GCSEs in food technology and PE respectively, and validating them as such is a real bonus. Staff have been unanimously delighted to be given


’


extra time to teach the courses, especially as they assess their own teaching on the results their students achieve. Implementing new policies meant we also needed


the support of parents and we involved them in individual interviews and information evenings ahead of the change. By involving parents to this extent, the response


was hugely positive. They understood the dip in progress and many had already noted it, which meant they were able to buy in to the solution we were proposing – there was very little in terms of negativity. And the response of the students? Their main


concern was that this might mean more and harder work for them. This was another very good reason for making the decision.


SecEd


• Philip Cantwell is principal of the Malcolm Arnold Academy in Northampton.


SecEd • May 3 2012


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