Smithills School Strategy for Change.pdf

The
transformation
of learning
at Smithills School
A learning community
underpinned by four home bases
DECEMBER 2009

!
!
!
!
!
!
The Vision Statement
Smithills School’s Strategy for Change
Smithills School will not predict the future of its learners nor of its community – it will
shape it.
We shall develop high performance, socially cohesive learning communities, expand
opportunities for applied learning and ensure learners have access to resources
anytime, anywhere. We shall grow community leaders and create the most
appropriate and effective teaching and learning environment for our learners and
their community for any given time.
We shall build on the school’s traditions of musical excellence, futures-focused
curriculum innovation and the very highest quality of cultural and sporting provision
to engage and challenge our learners and their wider community.
We shall develop The Smithills Performing Arts Centre of Excellence, THE SPACE, to
provide a visionary twenty first century learning facility and cultural complex for
Bolton which will unlock creative talent, create talent pathways and support
collaboration between schools, further and higher education and the creative
industries (page 11).
Smithills School will be two things simultaneously:
1. A personalised, sustainable learning environment which:
• secures the engagement of each learner and develops their independence
• raises learner’s self-esteem and facilitates a personal responsibility for
learning and behaviour
• allows learners to internalise positive personal, social, moral and spiritual
values
• enables all to become active life-long learners and citizens
2. An integral part of Bolton’s community which:
• contributes to its economic prosperity
• acts as a cultural hub to narrow the gap and improve the life chances of our
disadvantaged communities
• operates as a focused learning organisation to transform services
• shares with all learning centres in Bolton
• builds community cohesion and grows cultural and community leaders
1

!
!
!
!
!
!
The Vision for Learners
• Building on present successes in developing co-constructed working in Essential
Skills (Years 7/8) and within Btec Assignments (Years 9/10/11), learners will
increasingly become co-constructors of their learning and enquiry based
collaborative learning will underpin the school’s curriculum philosophy.
• Building on present successes with mixed age teaching in the Performing Arts
and Applied Learning, e.g. Catering, curriculum developments will enable greater
opportunity for stage not age learning and thus provide greater personalisation.
• Learners within Years 7 and 8 will follow an interdisciplinary, enquiry based
approach to English and Humanities, i.e. Essential Skills; to Mathematics,
Science and ICT, i.e. MSI; to the Performing Arts and to Design Technology.
Learners within Years 9, 10 and 11 will follow personalised pathways.
• BSF will remodel the school to provide four Home Learning Bases. Here,
learners will study core subjects and spend between 40% - 60% of their week.
Learning within Home Bases will enhance learners’ sense of belonging to a
learning community, their social cohesion and focus on high performance.
• BSF will provide dedicated specialist provision for THE SPACE, Applied
Learning and Smithills School’s Cultural Hub and Community Heart. It is
here that learners will generally spend the remainder of their week.
• Creative and flexible technology will replace fixed ICT to facilitate more
independent learning. The technology will develop deeper learning, higher order
skills, personalised learning and ensure a more inclusive, collaborative approach.
• A new vision for an e-confident Smithills will be developed. Creative technology
will be the focus to ensure that learning is more effective and enjoyable. The
model for e-confidence will be adapted from the NCSL, based on five learning
methods; Concurrent, Cinematic, Collaborative, Communicative and Consensual.
The first step is to develop Smithills Learning Environment integrated with
the Authority wide solution to provide a Learning Platform (LP).
• Pastoral organisation will be as innovative as it is extensive. Buildings will be
remodelled as four Houses. All four will be purposely developed to provide
unique Home Learning Bases which will allow the blend of pastoral care in a
new and integrated fashion and provide learning spaces for delivery of the core
curriculum. It is here that learner voice, peer mentoring and the coconstruction
of teaching and learning will have its greatest expression.
2

Smithills School
!
!
!
!
!
!
The Educational KPIs and how the school will monitor and evaluate delivery of its
strategy, with appropriate targets and timescales
Key Educational
Performance Indicators
1.Transformational learning
engages learners
1.1 % of lessons observed using
enquiry based collaboration.
08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15
20% 25% 27% 29% 30% 35% 40%
1.2 CVA Score 1009 1017 1020 1023 1030 1030 1030
1.3 5+A*-C with EM 37% 44% 41% 46% 50% 55% 60%
1.4 5+A*-C with EM Girls 47% 52% 48% 50% 53% 56% 60%
1.5 5+A*-C with EM Boys 27% 36% 33% 42% 47% 54% 60%
2.Inclusive school reduces
disaffection
2.1 % Attendance 93 94 94 94 95 95 95
2.2 Persistent Absence 7.28% 6% 5% 4% 4% 3% 3%
2.3 Fixed Term Exclusions 83 84 80 75 50 40 30
2.4 Permanent Exclusions 2 1 1 0 0 0 0
2.5 NEETs 8% 6% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2%
2.6 Student voice satisfaction 80% 85% 90% 90% 95% 98% 98%
3.Specialist facilities improve
attainment
3.1 % A*-A in Performing Arts 5% 8% 12% 15% 25% 25% 25%
3.2 % A*-A in Applied Learning 5% 8% 12% 15% 25% 25% 25%
3.3.Progression Yr 11 to 6 th
Form
4. Community Heart
increases community
engagement
80.3% 82% 84% 84% 85% 85% 90%
4.1 Ownzone Uptake(hours) 4,307 5,000 5,500 6,000 10,000 10,000 12,000
4.2 Community Arts uptake
(hours)
9,720 11,200 12,400 13,600
4.3 The SPACE (hours) 16,100 18,600 20,000
4.4 Community voice satisfaction 90% 90% 95% 95% 98% 98% 98%
Monitoring and Evaluation
The school’s Governing Body will establish a sub-committee to specifically monitor
and evaluate both the schools’ and LEP’s KPIs annually and report to the full
Governing Body in the Autumn term.
3

!
!
!
!
!
!
The School Context
Smithills School is a large, mixed 11-16 Specialist Performing Arts School sited on an
easily accessible, attractive and expansive site to the north of Bolton, linked to the
Red Rose Forest and bordered by the West Pennine Moors.
• There are almost 1500 students on roll with 35% of students drawn from ethnic
minorities, 11% of Pakistani and 12% of Indian heritage. For 25% of students
English is a second language and 30% of students are entitled to free school
meals. 22% of learners are identified as having Special Educational Needs.
Social deprivation indicators place the school below the 80th percentile.
• On the Indices of Multiple Deprivation, 71.8% of students on roll at Smithills
School live in an LSOA in Bolton which is one of the most deprived 20% of LSOAs
in England. 38.5% of students live in an LSOA in Bolton in the most deprived 5%
of LSOAs in England (using Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2007, and student
postcodes in School Census 2009). 56.88% of students on roll at Smithills School
live in a Neighbourhood Renewal Target Area.
• LA demographic data indicates that the school population is likely to reduce from
1440 in 2008-09 to 1390 in 2012 and then rise rapidly to 1500 by 2017.
Current Characteristics and Student Performance
Students’ prior attainment on entry is consistently below the national average by, on
average, 1.4 points. This gap in attainment has traditionally widened by the end of
KS3. However, Contextual Value Added measures show significant improvements for
KS2 to KS4, School CVA =1009 for 2009:
• Significant numbers of students arrive in Year 7 with poor literacy skills
• The number of students from Minority Ethnic groups and the number of students
with SEN within school are steadily increasing
• White boys and British Pakistani boys significantly underperform
• The gap between boys’ and girls’ achievements is increasing
• Some Design Technology facilities are inadequate and here attainment is poor
4

!
!
!
!
!
Key Strengths
!
The school’s strengths lie in its provision, its location and its relationships. The
school enjoys an international reputation for Music. Extra curricular provision within
the Performing Arts is stunning. The school is a fully Extended Services School
and a key partner in Bolton’s “Find Your Talent”. Areas of Applied learning are
also a strength. The school is an Enhanced Healthy School, won the 2008/2009
Bury and Bolton Business Award for Enterprise Education and has been awarded
Artsmark Gold in 2009. The school is recognised by NCSL for its development of an
inter-disciplinary competency based curriculum at KS3. The school’s green belt
location provides easy accessibility to an expansive and attractive learning
environment.
Particular Issues the School Must Address
• Learning how to be a different kind of teacher, (see page 7). We have over four
years experience of coaching and implementing this development. Presently over
20% of teachers are involved (see KPI 1.1)
• Improve students’ increasingly poor interpersonal, emotional and behavioural
skills (see KPI 2.3)
• The underperformance of boys (see KPI 1.5)
• Poor literacy skills of students on entry (see KPI 1.3)
• Embracing an e-learning culture (see KPI 1.3, 3.1)
• Developing Applied Learning (see KPI 3.2. and page 11)
5

!
!
!
!
!
The Strategy
!
The strategy has developed from consultation and engagement with stakeholders
over a period of time and in particular from September 2008. The key issues
identified by stakeholders are:
• Young people and students’ Design Champions identified:
– Improved relationships, sense of belonging, competitions, self esteem and
security from Home Based learning and Vertical Tutor groups
– Dining Halls, school furniture, student storage, school uniform, learning
spaces with bright colours used in design
• Parents and Carers identified:
– ICT to be all pervasive with enhanced IAG from Vertical tutoring
– Sustainable School, Enhanced Healthy School, Extended Services School
– Applied Learning and Enterprise Education
• Teaching, Support Staff and students identified the following strategic intent:
Smithills School will strive to build high performance learning communities,
founded on pride and respect, in which everyone:
– feels valued, informed and involved
– nurtures a sense of belonging
– is engaged in learning
– develops as a self-reliant lifelong learner
– shows courtesy, consideration and care
• Community Groups and residents identified:
– Access to community facilities for recreation and learning
– Sufficient on site parking and drop-off facility to ease congestion in
locality
• Governors identified:
– Full support for the Smithills School’s Vision Statement
– House based Vertical Tutor groups
– Four Home Based learning centres to support Houses
– Performing Arts and Applied learning specialisms
• Partners, FE links and other groups have identified their wish to access:
– The SPACE
– The Applied Learning Centre
– Community Sports Centre
– Extended Services
6

!
!
!
!
!
!
The school’s strategy for raising achievement and tackling underperformance
is to:
• Transform learning by embedding collaborative, enquiry based learning and
embracing an e-learning culture within the curriculum
• Personalise Learning by introducing a House system, Vertical Tutoring
and Home Based Learning Centres together with stage not age learning
• Develop Smithills Performing Arts Centre of Excellence as a community
cultural hub
• Seek a second specialism in Applied Learning
Smithills School’s transformation agenda illuminates the absolute centrality of
relationships in human learning, human being and human becoming.
The change management programme will focus on the following key areas:
Learning How To Be A Different Kind Of Teacher
• We shall increasingly develop teachers’ expertise in curriculum integration over
subject isolation and the co-construction of knowledge and capability over the
expert delivery of pre-ordained subject matter
• We shall reach out to organisations such as the Coalition of Essential
Schools, the Human Scale Education and the Teacher Learning Academy
to support our delivery of high quality continuing professional development
The Centrality of the Home Based Learning Centres
Four Home Based Learning Centres
in Four Houses
The House is the focal point of each Home Based Learning Centre
House
Learning Centre
4 Houses
15 mixed-age tutor groups each of 25 learners
7

!
!
!
!
!
!
Personalising Learning
The school has clear evidence of sustained improvement in achievement. This
success is underpinned by innovations in teaching and learning methodologies and in
curricular designs which better reflect the needs of its learners, thus providing a
much more personalised learning experience:
• The Year 7 and 8 curriculums will build on the transformational learning
innovations of Essential Skills and MSI. Programmes of Study across all
subjects will develop learning skills and skills for life, namely, PLTS, SEAL
competencies and subject concepts and processes. Learning will embrace
enquiry based, collaborative project work.
• The Year 9, 10 and 11 curriculums will build on the development of Performing
Arts and Applied Learning options and will increasingly reflect stage not age.
Learners will begin modules of both Performing Arts and Applied Learning
Diplomas in Year 9 and will complete a Level 2 Diploma during Years 10 and 11.
The Smithills Performing Arts Centre of Excellence, THE SPACE, (see page 11)
and Applied Learning facilities, (see page 11) will provide for both Level 2 and
Level 3 Diploma learners across Bolton.
• The Smithills Learning Environment will enhance both collaborative and
individual learning by incorporating new creative learning environments and
technologies to provide anywhere, anytime learning and a more personalised
approach for all learners.
SEN and Inclusion
Under BSF we will build an inclusive community by remodelling the school as four
Houses providing learners with a secure sense of belonging, a focus on high
achievement and the development of good social and emotional skills as evidenced
by our KPIs. The development of Vertical Tutoring and a mentoring programme
will build further capacity within the workforce and provide parents with excellent
home-school communications and long-term supportive relationships. In addition,
BSF will improve SEN provision through enhanced disability access and by
remodelling and relocating Learning Support within the Community Heart,
providing a more integrated and cohesive multi-agency provision. Creative
technologies and Smithills Learning Environment will further support inclusion
by removing barriers to learning, tracking learner performance, mapping provision
and effecting better communications.
8

!
!
!
!
!
!
Integrating Children’s Services and Extended Services
Smithills School will build on its experiences as a fully Extended Services School
and Find Your Talent partner by expanding Ownzone, the school’s fully
constituted extended provision, to provide year-round, high quality, cultural and
sporting activities. We shall develop Family Learning and facilities for health
information, advice and guidance.
The Transformation Journey
Smithills School’s journey to place itself at the heart of its community began in the
mid 1990s. Early successes included:
• receiving £2.4 million of Sport England lottery funding to develop a Community
Sports Centre in 1999
• recognition of the school’s international reputation for Music and its success with
community and partnership working when the school was awarded Performing
Arts specialist school status in 2003
• further recognition of the school’s success in partnership working, in attracting
additional funding and of delivering high quality community provision when the
school was chosen to pilot the Extended School’s Initiative in 2004
• adoption of Smithills School as a key partner of Bolton’s “Find Your Talent”
programme and it’s Headteacher as a FYT Board member.
The transformation of learning has built on the realisation of the fundamental
importance of student-teacher and student-student relationships, i.e. of the vital
need to place cohesive learning communities at the heart of the school’s
development.
• In 2005 the school devised an inter-disciplinary, competency based, English and
Humanities curriculum for Year 7 learners. This work built on the Essential
Learning’s framework, the RSA’s Opening Minds curriculum and The Critical
Skills Programme. This innovative curriculum, entitled Essential Skills, is
delivered by a single teacher in two, three hour blocks and one, two hour block.
Feedback evaluations from learners, teachers and parents have been very
encouraging
• In 2007 the concept of providing a single teacher with extensive learner contact
time together with the opportunity to use time more flexibly was extended to
Year 8 learners and to the development of a complementary curriculum initiative
in Mathematics, Science and ICT, entitled MSI, for Year 7 learners
9

!
!
!
!
!
!
• The very same principles underpin curriculum developments at KS4. Increasing
numbers of learners opt to study BTEC First Diplomas and First Certificates,
allowing learners greater opportunity for co-construction of learning, flexible use
of time and extended contact time with a single teacher
The Pace of Change
Smithills School has agreed its strategic intents through staff, student and governor
consultation and has already carried out over eighteen months of development in
implementing its vision. The Senior Leadership Team has been extended and has
proven experience in transforming learning and managing change in readiness for
BSF development.
• Develop consultation programme, March 2009
• Appoint Sustainable Schools Coordinator, May 2009
• Appoint Student Leaders, Design Champions, to collaborate with Sorrel
Foundation in developing students voice design brief, June 2009
• Implement new Applied Learning and Performing Arts options in the Year 9
curriculum, September 2009
• Introduce new Creative and Media Diploma in Year 10 curriculum, September
2009
• Appoint Maths, Science and English Champions to support the developments of
MSI and Essential Skills, May 2009.
• Extend Essential Skills to all students in Years 7 and 8, September 2009
• Extend MSI to all Year 7 students, September 2009
• Use assemblies and INSET days for further consultation on Vertical Tutoring and
House System, September to December 2009
• Use Parent Consultation Evenings to consult on BSF developments
• BSF Newsletter distributed to 3000 local residents with invitations to attend
consultation evenings, October 2009
• Agree a new leadership structure, roles, responsibilities and curriculum to support
the introduction of a House System and Vertical Tutors, September to
December 2009
• Further workforce reform and professional in house training re. mentoring roles,
January to April 2010
• Introduce Vertical Tutors and Houses, September 2010
• Introduce new school day to support role of Form Tutors, Pastoral Curriculum
and Mentoring Strategy, September 2010
• Further changes to timetabled week to integrate weekly CPD, September
2010
10

!
!
!
!
!
!
The Education Brief
The intended interaction between learners, staff and community requires integrated,
systematic planning. Learning will not only require dedicated, practical spaces for
performance, rehearsal, exhibition and applied learning, but also agile learning
spaces, flexible and adaptable for a range of learning needs.
Smithills School requires:
1. The Remodelling of Existing Buildings
a) Remodelling of all buildings to give maximum priority to the four dedicated
Houses
Vanessa Rogers! 1/16/09 3:32
Formatted: Bullets and Numb
b) Solutions to facilitate the complementary interaction between the Houses and
the shared but disparate practical learning spaces
c) Learning spaces to be agile and to be reconfigured to meet the needs of Home
based Learning Centres
d) Complementary furniture of the highest standard
e) Remodelling of Learning Support and multi-Agency work
f) Development of a Social Learning Resource Centre, SLRC
g) Outdoor learning spaces to maximise applied learning opportunities, to
complement the LA Sport and Leisure Activities strategy and to widen the
community offer
2. Designing THE SPACE
Smithills Performing Arts Centre of Excellence, THE SPACE, will be a creative hub
for Bolton. This visionary, twenty first century, mixed media centre will provide a
fully professional performance hall, extensive theatre training, professional rehearsal
and exhibition spaces, high tech drama and dance studios and design suite equipped
to the highest specification. THE SPACE will provide a unique opportunity to create
a talent pathway linking young people in Bolton to Salford Media City, Manchester’s
Oxford Road Creative Corridor and the Creative Economy.
Vanessa Rogers! 1/16/09 3:32
Formatted: Bullets and Numb
3. The Applied Learning Centre
Smithills School requires imaginative solutions to Art and Design Technology in order
to reflect activities and cohesion seen within twenty first century design processes.
11

!
!
!
!
!
!
Learners’ work will link with The SPACE, Hospitality and Catering, Hair and Beauty,
Child Development, enterprise, media and community learning.
4. Smithills Learning Environment
The school will establish a Smithills Learning Environment which will encourage all
learners to engage with creative technologies to push the barriers of learning. The
learning environment will enable advanced web technologies which will encourage
higher order skills and the five Cs.
The system will enable learning to take place anytime, anywhere. Smithills will
become the electronic centre of the learning community. The Smithills Learning
Environment will encapsulate all learning from students, teachers, parents and the
local community. The aim will be to develop independent learners for the future,
preparing learners for a future world.
The Smithills Learning environment requires;
a) A wireless solution to enable anytime, anywhere learning
b) A unique learning environment that will enable the five Cs for all learners
c) An environment to enable broadcasting to the learning community
5. The Community Heart and Cultural Hub
The interaction between school and community requires integrated planning to
enable engagement within the Community Heart. It is here that by interaction
with the community, e.g. through Family Learning, the school will contribute to
Bolton’s economic prosperity, act as a cultural hub to narrow the gap, improve the
life chances of our disadvantaged communities, operate as a focused learning
organisation to transform services, share with all learning centres in Bolton and build
community cohesion.
This requires community access to:
a) The Applied Learning Centre, The SPACE and Smithills Community Sports Centre
b) The Social Learning Resource Centre and Smithills Learning Environment
c) The Faith Room
12