THE EXCHANGE


EXCHANGING EXCELLENCE®


The benefits of breakfast clubs by Jasleen Dhillon, Executive Assistant – Education Policy and Practice


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EXCHANGING EXCELLENCE® PROGRAMME


Exchanging Excellence® is a framework for sharing best professional practice.


It is HfL’s umbrella programme for finding and sharing best practice and professional learning with shareholders and customers.


This work covers a range of current and relevant topics, which are arranged into six key themes. These can be found on the HfL website, with case studies and resources to help identify


interesting practice taking place within current Hertfordshire schools and beyond.


The Magic Breakfast Project, provided by the Education Endow- ment Foundation (EEF), has found that pupils in schools that provide breakfast clubs can experience two months of additional progress over those that do not. These clubs are more effective than the government’s £1 billion infant free school meals policy, according to the study. As part of this year-long project, 106 primary schools, which had


35% or more pupils on free school meals, provided a before-school breakfast club for all Year 2 and Year 6 pupils. These schools were provided with free food, a grant to cover start-up costs, and support from a Magic Breakfast school change leader. The impact of the project was evaluated against a randomised control trial involving 8,600 pupils. One of the key findings was that Year 2 pupils in breakfast club schools made around two months of additional progress in reading and maths, compared with other schools in the trial. For Year 6 pupils, the results were also positive but the improvement may have been


due to chance. However, in writing and English, Year 6 pupils experi- enced around two months of extra progress which, similar to the Year 2 findings, are likely to be because of the breakfast project. Attendance at the participating schools also improved, resulting in about 26 fewer half-days of absence per year for a class of 30. These findings could be attributed to improved concentration


and behaviour, as well as the social and educational benefits of attending the club. The study suggested that breakfast clubs would also improve outcomes for children who do not even attend them, by improving the behaviour of those that do attend, resulting in a better classroom environment.


The full EEF Magic Breakfast Report can be found here:


https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/our-work/ projects/magic-breakfast


If you have an aspect of interesting practice in your school that could be shared, or


want to find out more about a case study, please get in touch by emailing:


exchangingexcellence@hertsforlearning.co.uk Improving outcomes in phonics through a balanced literacy diet


The phonics screening check project by Ruth Goodman and Kirsten Snook, English Teaching and Learning Advisers


In spring 2016, Herts for Learning delivered the phonics screening check (PSC) project, designed to support schools in analysing screening check data, and using this to fine- tune phonics provision in Year 2, to close gaps for as many pupils as possible. The project consisted of two half-day


training sessions, an individual half-day consul- tancy session for each school and a mid-point cluster session. During the project, schools used their screening check data and individual anno- tated response sheets to carry out error analysis and match provision to need. With their link HfL adviser, they planned, carried out and reviewed key actions for individual children and groups of children. The project supported schools to embed strategies through robust action planning, ensuring future success and building sustainable improvements in provision.


The aims of the project The HfL PSC project aimed to support participating schools with: • Understanding what their school phonics data is telling them and the key actions required


• Developing a rigorous whole-school approach to the teaching and assessment of phonics


• Reviewing the quality of the early reading curriculum in the school


• Monitoring the quality of phonics teaching in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1


• Reviewing strategies used for supporting SEN children with phonics


• Sharing practice in order to raise attainment


Key to the project’s success was heightening subject knowledge and pedagogy. Whilst the government has asked schools to assess, track and support children with phonics, and has provided some guidance around supporting children, leaders still report feeling rather "in the dark" about how best to support pupils who do not meet the check threshold. Which action is best? What is the latest – and most effective – thinking around how best to help struggling readers catch up with peers? HfL Teaching and Learning advisers drew upon their deep subject knowledge in these areas to help schools with the practicalities of day-to-day provision when closing gaps. The project set out not only to assist schools


with addressing specific phonic gaps for specific children, but also to generate tailored action plans for improving future cohorts’ phonic skills and developing sustainable prevention strategies.


Selected schools


Nine schools were selected to participate, based on their past year’s PSC results (averaging 51%), as well as for a range of other factors that may have affected their results, e.g. small schools, inexperienced staff, unusual cohort profiles, etc. All schools welcomed the opportunity for support, and for some schools they already had a focus on improving PSC results. Schools were accepted on a first come,


first served basis, and agreed to the roles and responsibilities around project lead and delivery, attendance at all sessions and the gathering of anonymised evidence.


Planning and tailoring provision


Throughout the project HfL link advisers liaised with each school’s project, lead (normally the headteacher or other member of the senior leadership team) and project teacher to deliver tailored consultancy support on making adjust- ments to teaching and provision, based on the results of data analysis. School visits reviewed the wider literacy diet and offered personalised practical advice around further "adding value" through maximising progress and application of phonics. Examples of kinaesthetic strategies and tools were discussed and shared, key current practice was supportively evaluated and provi- sion planned for. New resources were specifically tailored to the group’s needs – all using knowl- edge drawn from across the wealth of findings about "What Works Well" in the world of interven- tions and highest-quality phonics teaching. The learning environment was also checked


to assess how supportive it was for independent application, e.g. the nature of the phonic prompts and tricky words on display, and the resources that pupils have access to. Discussing all these points in detail helped teachers focus not only on how to best support each child identified for the project, but also on wider implications for all pupils in Key Stage 1. In the group training sessions, teachers


discussed the general progress of the pupils and teaching methods that had been successful and those that had not. HfL advisers shared current research and theories in reading, phonics and fluency, as well as possible methods of adapting the screening check for each child.


Impact


Data indicated that participating pupils were making good progress in phonics, with the majority of pupils who were re-checked termly attaining higher scores each time. Schools had a mean increase of +24 percentage points (ppts), compared with last year’s PSC results (with some percentage increases being 40 ppts and over). The greatest increase was by a school that achieved an average of +49.3 ppts. This compared with a Hertfordshire-wide improve- ment of +3.2 ppts. The majority of teachers felt that the


improved results were a reflection of the knowl- edge they built in the HfL PSC project, which supported them to close gaps and build their pupils’ confidence in reading. 33% of schools reported that the specific fluency training at the mid-point review twilight had made a big difference after just three weeks. Overall, schools felt more aware of how to deliver the phonics screening check content in an inclusive manner, improving the use of permissible access arrangements. A headteacher from a participating school


commented: "We have had a really good result with our Y1 phonics screening this year – 96%! – which we think is largely down to being part of the project this year, as we used lots of the ideas for Year 2 with Year 1."


The full report will be available soon. To find out more, please email either ruth.goodman@hertsforlearning.co.uk or kirsten.snook@hertsforlearning.co.uk


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