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On the right path: Pathfinder schools case studies
How is the DfESs new Transforming the School Workforce pathfinder project, running for one year in 32 schools in England, working out in practice? The package offered to all pathfinder schools includes several elements, such as laptops for every teacher, additional teaching assistants and administrative support staff, extra training for new roles and support to enable teachers to have more non-contact time. Perhaps the most exciting prospect for the pathfinder schools is that of new building on-site, specifically planned to help teachers.
Here, staff at four primary and three secondary pathfinder schools tell of their experiences, and whether their load is in fact being lightened.
Primary case studies
Corsham Primary School
Head teacher: Mrs Fiona Allen
Tel: 01249 712387
At Corsham Primary School in Wiltshire, resources are being used to recruit five teachers PAs. Their role will include tasks such as writing standard letters, photocopying and also marking work that involves straightforward right or wrong answers. Candidates are currently being interviewed, but, says head teacher Mrs Fiona Allen, Already theres been a big boost in terms of morale. Teachers are delighted at the prospect of, for example, not having to take, type up and distribute minutes at meetings.
Pathfinder primaries are also going to install electronic whiteboards in the classrooms so lessons will be lively and interactive, with teachers able to highlight text, for example, and easily call up reference material as and when required.
The delivery of individual laptops has been greeted, predictably, with great enthusiasm. We have 19 laptops in use and my staff are over the moon! says Mrs Allen. She acknowledges that there was some apprehension initially but that staff soon gained familiarity with their laptops and derived benefit through playing and making mistakes.
Extra IT training has helped teachers get acclimatised, but teachers are naturally good at sharing what they have learnt with one another. Its fantastic, concurs Helen Pearcey, who teaches Year 4 at Corsham. She appreciates the saving in repetitive tasks: I use my laptop to do weekly planning and it will be an invaluable time-saver next year, for instance, when we plan the curriculum and all well have to do will be to make a few little changes.
Miss Pearcey says she is also looking forward to the convenience of being networked throughout the school, which will enable the exchange of information between staff and consequent saving in paper.
Administrative staff at pathfinder schools are offered day-release bursarial training at the National College for School Leadership's new Learning and Conference Centre in Nottingham. The training should enable them to take on more management responsibility, which in turn will relieve heads and teachers of their burden. At Corsham the schools two administrative staff have decided to take up this training. We believe its important as schools become more businesslike, says head teacher Mrs Allen.
Langley Junior School
Head teacher: Ms Debbie Fuller
Tel: 01752 775478
At Langley Junior School in Plymouth, head teacher Debbie Fuller says that the appointment of four new teaching assistants and a resource manager at the end of the summer has greatly eased teachers workload. Its made a big difference, especially at the beginning of term. The school also appointed a part-time resident artist to help with displays, a task which takes up a great deal of staff time. She is also a qualified teacher so its a double whammy! She takes numeracy and literacy classes.
Recruiting extra staff has the biggest impact on children, believes Paul Smith, deputy head at Langley. He has a full-time class assistant and points out that support staff also help and are held in great esteem by children.
At Langley, resources are also used to buy supply so that teachers and teaching assistants can have meeting time. People need to feel fresh, says Ms Fuller. We organised an INSET stress management day with our infant school one of the best things weve ever done. We are also proposing to free up Wednesday afternoons from the start of the spring term as enrichment time. This will be managed by adding five minutes to the schoolday and shaving 20 minutes off the lunch hour.
Children will have stimulating activities such as robotics, astronomy, musical theatre and web design provided by qualified professionals, while teachers will have time to get together to plan lessons and trips.
Horton Lodge Community Special School
Head teacher: Mrs Caroline Coles
Tel: 01538 306214
Horton Lodge Community Special School in Leek, Staffordshire is a residential primary with beacon status, where childrens needs are very individualised. This calls for large numbers of support staff to aid teaching staff.
We are developing a completely new staffing model, explains head teacher Caroline Coles. Support staff are being freed up by supply staff to receive accredited training in an area of specialisation, and they are taking on a specific responsibility such as home/school liaison or homework. We are also appointing a coordinator to organise a system for resources to be accessed by everyone.
Teachers took delivery of their new laptops before the summer holidays and were able to familiarise themselves with them. They have already made a major impact on teachers planning and assessment work, says Mrs Coles.
In keeping with the schools emphasis on healthy living, the planned capital project is a new fitness centre which can be used by children and staff.
Newton Farm Nursery, First and Middle School
Head teacher: Mrs Rekha Bhakoo
Tel: 020 8864 8081
Staff at Newton Farm School in Middlesex will see work start in November on a new, light and airy high-tech extension overlooking the nature area. The two teaching administrators will be housed there and there will be workstations for seven teachers to plan lessons and access resources at any one time. Our building is 27 years old, semi-open-plan, with no nooks and crannies where staff can get away and find some quiet space. Theyre very pleased that now theyll have some quiet space, says head teacher Rehka Bhakoo.
The new laptops are being put to good use too. Gill Bland, who teaches Year 6, enjoys the immediacy of being able to enter ideas on her laptop as and when they occur. The children often give me ideas and I can put these on a floppy for future use. Or sometimes when Im at home Ill get an idea linked to a lesson weve had and I can quickly enter it on my laptop. Its very quick and enriching. Mrs Bland adds that she encourages the children to key in their ideas, too.
Secondary case studies
Cirencester Deer Park School
Head teacher: Mr David Carter
Tel: 01285 653447
At Cirencester Deer Park School, Gloucestershire, head teacher David Carter says that the use of laptops has reduced the number of staff meetings by 40 per cent.
We used to have a staff meeting six times a year, for 65 people. Now I send out an email with a briefing attachment every Monday and it works because people have the incentive to pick up their messages and save time. If I want to change the duty rota, for example, I dont need to call people in, I can do it by email. People are seeing quite significant changes and morale is very upbeat.
The use of an Intranet at Deer Park also extends to pupils, who can log on and see the modular curriculum and homework for the whole year, and will also soon be able to check each morning what work is due. It helps them with their workload and they learn about time management.
Pathfinder schools are also installing electronic whiteboards in every classroom. Teachers can call up lessons planned and stored on their laptops, quickly access online resources and video clips, and highlight and alter text on screen.
Sarah Watt, head of languages at Deer Park, has been using an electronic whiteboard only a few weeks but says she is delighted. Already I can see how powerful it is. Sometimes things come into teaching that are clever, but not useful. The whiteboards really are both, and they are good for pupils as well as staff pupils can write directly on screen with special pens, and handwriting can be converted to type. And it doesnt matter where Im teaching, anywhere throughout the school I can quickly call up resources on screen at the click of a button.
Four extra support staff have been recruited at Deer Park, one of whom supports non-teaching staff. They are part of the faculty team, says Mr Carter. Their role is not just to reduce teacher workload, but to make teachers more effective.
Additional learning support comes from gap-year students who have just graduated or are ex-pupils from the sixth form college on the same site. The school also pays former students, now at the sixth form college on the same site, to run homework clubs after school. Its an active role, with students helping pupils, and perhaps getting an introduction to a teaching career.
In the Year of the Teacher the school takes this recruitment further in that 20 pupils in year 10 who express an interest in a teaching career are put through an after-school Learning to Teach programme. We aim to give them some work experience and a real insight into teaching, explains Mr Carter, who is planning a conference for 500 similarly interested Year 10 pupils from other pathfinder and beacon schools.
Many of these pathfinder initiatives are not about money, and would have happened without the funding. But being part of the project gives us permission to be radical, to think outside the box as David Carter expresses it. The most valuable assets are time and teachers.
Etone Community School
Head teacher: Mr Peter Kingham
Tel: 024 7638 2008
Peter Kingham, head teacher at Etone Community School, Warwickshire, calls the delivery of individual laptops a major boost to staff. Ive never seen so many staff working together to share what theyve worked out.
Laurence Hazell, assistant curriculum learning manager for science at Etone, mentions just a few of the typical benefits to teachers: Access to pupil data for monitoring across the department, quick analysis of GCSE and other test results, teaching resources which can be created any time, and also put on disk for colleagues to share.
My laptop has also reduced the amount of paperwork such as school calendars, schemes of work, syllabus, staff handbook. Its all to hand, so time is saved because I dont have to scurry around looking for it!
The school is also going to open a large flexible teaching centre, where two classes will be able to combine for a lecture. The centre can be rapidly transformed into a space for small groupwork.
A group of teaching assistants has been trained to take over the task of invigilation. A part-time exam coordinator is in charge of the group and everything else relating to internal and external exams. Laurence Hazell used to invigilate, Now Ill be pleased to use the time effectively to plan for the next academic year.
Philip Morant School and College
Head teacher: Mr Russell Moon
Tel: 01206 545222
Philip Morant School and College in Colchester has a no-cover policy to lessen the load on teaching staff. Staff are already feeling the benefit. Says Peta Smith, Key Stage 3 English coordinator Im far more in control knowing I wont be presented with any last-minute cover slips. I can plan my time and prepare for following lessons. I feel more relaxed and can be more responsive, so students gain.
At present the school buys in supply cover, but a new Learn Centre opens soon which can take up to four classes at once. Most cover lessons will take place here, staffed by teachers and support staff. Pupils will have workstations with computers linked to the online curriculum.
We are building up a teacher centre of material to draw on, explains head teacher Russell Moon. We buy in content and we also have material on our own website which can be accessed from school and home.
At Philip Morant, known for its good prefectorial system and strong sense of pupil responsibility throughout the school, resources are paying for trainers from World Challenge to further develop this strength and build pupils organisational skills. The more pupils can be encouraged to organise activities, the more teachers will be freed to teach. And this initiative extends beneficially beyond school to foster good citizenship.
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