Curriculum focus
CASE STUDY:
KEEP LEARNING CREATIVE
Despite being in the top percentile for all the deprivation indicators, Berrymede Junior School in West London scored slightly above the national average in this summer’s reading and SPaG tests. ‘We increased resources,’ says
Headteacher Lubna Khan. ‘Our number one investment has been in CPD with targeted training for staff, followed by books. We’ve also placed specific resources into SEN, including Rapid Phonics and Dancing Bears.’ Lubna has also reduced class sizes. ‘We’re
a four-form entry school, but this year I had six classes running up to the SATs. We also ran extra classes for children with EAL.’ This doesn’t mean that enjoyment has
cope with it, especially if it’s introduced slowly, their writing is more appealing because they’re using a whole range of sentence structures. I think in the long-term, it will help them and it will certainly raise standards.’ Sarah Fisher, a secondary school
Literacy Coordinator says that the gain will be felt post-eleven. ‘I think
that children will start to enjoy English when they get to secondary school because they won’t be being drilled for a SATs exam and they can have fun. Kids love to write – they’ll say they don’t, but once they start you can’t stop them!’ So, let’s take a look at three very
different schools and how they are coping with the changes...
Turn to p48 for some
literacy-linked fundraising ideas.
into a hat. Each child selects a title and has 45 minutes to write a story.
4 5
Encourage children to read their work aloud to help develop structural techniques
– they will feel the natural pauses where punctuation is required, or know whether they need an exclamation mark by the tone of their voice.
Research by The National Literacy Trust cited that 39% of children don’t read
because they can’t find something
that interests them. Speak to the experts: school or public librarians are only too happy to give guidance. Anyone in the bookselling business is usually delighted to offer advice, and bookshops are full of hints and tips. Literary festivals take place all year round and can be a great place to inspire young readers. There are also some fantastic online resources, with book reviews, such as
lovereading4kids.co.uk, which children and parents can utilise to help make choices about what to read.
taken second place. ‘Creativity is something we’re pretty good at, and teachers do have some flexibility in how they teach. We offer a lot of extra-curricular activities. We work with the London Academy of Dramatic Art, developing oracy, and many of our children regularly participate in public speaking. In terms of writing, we use 'The Character and Virtues' programme from the Jubilee Centre (
jubileecentre.ac.uk). We go on trips, and when the children come back there is a talk and written tasks are set, and other creative things happen. And we have creative writing in The Brilliant Club (
thebrilliantclub.org) for the more able children.’ ‘You have to bring money in – there’s no
excuse. We do a lot of fundraising,’ says Lubna. ‘We also have quite a large Pupil Premium and it’s about clever use of that. But we’re very good at finding pots of money and people who will give us things. For example, United Way (
unitedway.org.uk/uk) provided £10,000-worth of books. They also gave us shelving and bean bags for our library.’ Sharing knowledge is also key. ‘I’d
absolutely recommend that all schools share their ideas and resources.’ Lubna is a founder of the Ealing borough-wide reading project, ‘Part of my remit is to go to the schools that are doing really well and see what they do. Many schools are doing something unique, and it’s about collating those ideas and sharing that good practice.’
FundEd SPRING 2017 17
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