Free download of:Excellence in English - Department for Education

create the characters and atmosphere. At each stage, the teacher and
assistants engaged the attention of, and sought response from each student in
turn, with their choice-making often recorded by a digital camera to be
annotated later. The lights were dimmed and windows shaded. The electronic
whiteboard showed a gothic castle as the backdrop. Students responded in
varying degrees to the different stimuli but all were engaged throughout the
lesson and especially at the climax, when one of the pupils screamed.
88. The richness of the taught curriculum at Round Oak is complemented by an
ambitious set of enrichment experiences for students. They had visited
Stratford upon Avon to get a sense of the history and tradition behind their
study of Shakespeare. They recounted watching laundry and sewing and then
helping to prepare food in the kitchen. They also remembered the museum and
theatre. Other students had visited the Globe Theatre, toured backstage, met
staff and watched a performance of Macbeth which they remembered vividly.
The school enters the Shakespeare Festival each year. Some students currently
work one morning a week with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Students have
also visited a local radio station and radio staff have visited the school. At least
one theatre group visits every year; there is a thriving drama club and activities
such as a ‘girls only’ reading group using age-appropriate magazines and
fiction.
St Paul’s Academy, Greenwich
‘Love is like an old trainer’: success with boys in English
School data School
Excellence in English: what we can learn from 12 outstanding schools
May 2011, No. 100229
National
(secondary)
Number on roll 790 984
% Free school meal eligibility 22.1 15.4
% Pupils from minority ethnic groups 68.7 21.7
% Pupils with English as additional language 37.3 11.7
Deprivation indicator 0.4 0.22
% all pupils attaining A* to C at GCSE English 83 68.1
CVA three-year average School Significance
English 1,003.5 Sig.+
English (boys) 1,003.5 Sig.+
English (girls) 1,003.2 Sig.+
89. St Paul’s Catholic School in Greenwich was established in a Victorian school
board building in 1968. By the early 1990s, shortage of space had become
acute. The need to expand, together with a decision to replace a community
school in Abbey Wood, led to the establishment of St Paul’s Academy in 2005.
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