Evaluation of the Two Year Key Stage 3 Project - Communities and ...

Abbotswell SchoolThe case study visit took place in the Summer of 2005. At that time the first cohort of Project pupilswere in Year 7.Abbotswell School was characterised by an interviewee as a non-selective school located in a largelyselective local authority. The prior attainment of the intake of the school is below the national averageand the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals above the national average. Key Stage 4results are below the national average although the DfES value added measure suggests pupils makeabove average progress from Key Stage 2 to 4 although not to Key Stage 3.Abbotswell School joined Phase 2 of the Two Year Key Stage 3 Project. In contrast to many of theother participating schools, at Abbotswell for most pupils the condensed Key Stage 3 curriculum wascovered during Year 8 and Year 9. Year 7 was used as a foundation year with a strong focus on literacyand numeracy. Condensed curricula were followed in English, mathematics, science, technology,history, geography, religious education, drama and modern foreign languages. A conventional threeyear Key Stage 3 was followed, in some subjects, by some higher attaining pupils.It was felt that the conventional National Curriculum was not meeting the needs of pupils atAbbotswell. The Key Stage 4 curriculum had already been adapted with, for example, differentpathways offering vocational and work based options. The new Year 7 programme was described astrying to tie pupils into education rather than turning them off it.For example, not all pupils studied a foreign language in Year 7. The four lower attaining groupsinstead followed an ‘Opening Doors’ programme delivered by the SEN department. Similarly a‘Learning to Learn’ programme delivered by the personal social and health education team focused onlearning styles and skills that would enable pupils to be successful in the classroom such as standing upand talking to the class, listening to others, teamwork and self-assessment.In addition, in other subjects the Key Stage 3 curriculum had been adapted to better engage pupils. Thechanges were supported by the staff interviewed because so many pupils struggled to access thecurriculum. The Year 7 programme included literacy, numeracy and a great deal of cross-curricularwork. To take the case of geography, cross-curricular activity included an art unit on geography inphotographs and drawing geographical images, and a mathematics unit concerning grid references.Similarly Year 7 science lessons for the lowest science set often used literacy-based starters such asanagrams or missing words and might be followed by the use of sorting cards or keyword definitions inorder to develop a vocabulary of science. It was suggested that this was more fun to teach and hadperhaps improved pupils’ behaviour.74