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leader’s role was to encourage others and to clarify, predict and question.
Pupils shared ideas and knowledge, noting things down in their logbooks. As
‘teacher’, the group’s leader took on considerable responsibility. If anyone else
seemed stuck, it was his or her role to suggest an answer.
54. In the second group, pupils individually drafted questions based on the
chapters being read that week and set them out in their week’s log. They had
prompts to help them home in on important aspects; however, they also had
some freedom to pursue their own lines of enquiry. The third group worked
with the teacher, reading aloud and then, after discussion, answering teachergenerated
questions in their logs. In the fourth group, pupils paired up to tackle
the questions drafted by their partner on day two. They discussed and
evaluated each other’s contribution, drawing conclusions about what seemed
important and what was simply of passing interest. Pupils in the fifth group
worked individually, reviewing their week’s log, using a clearly structured
framework to check that they knew the meaning and appropriate use of new
vocabulary.
55. Pupils responded very positively to the clarity of this structure, to the sense of
progress it conveyed, and the opportunities they had to show initiative. As one
explained: ‘Because we’re doing it ourselves, we’re in control. We get the
responsibility.’ This approach, which makes significant demands on the pupils’
oral abilities, complements the use of visual texts in the school to provide an
original and distinct curriculum that has enabled all pupils in the school,
including those learning English as an additional language, to achieve very
highly in English.
Jump Primary School, Barnsley
Providing opportunities for literacy in the nursery and beyond
School data School
National
(primary)
Number on roll 264 241
% Free school meal eligibility 20.2 18.5
% Pupils from minority ethnic groups 3.3 25.7
% Pupils with English as additional language 0.6 16.1
Deprivation indicator 0.28 0.24
% Eligible pupils attaining Level 4+ in English 97 8 80
8 The 2009 figure.
Excellence in English: what we can learn from 12 outstanding schools
May 2011, No. 100229