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

Elsiemaud SchoolThe case study visit took place in the Summer of 2006. At that time the first cohort of Project pupilswere in Year 8.Elsiemaud School is a very large mixed, 11-18 comprehensive school located in outer London. ItsGCSE results are close to the national average though its score on the DfES value added indicator isbelow average.The school joined Phase 2 of the Project and a two year Key Stage 3 was introduced in all subjects andfor all pupils at the school. This decision was taken by the headteacher and senior management team,reportedly in response to teachers’ frustration at the curricular content of Key Stage 3 and also pupils’behaviour.Options were brought forward to Year 9 although plans for Key Stage 4 had not been finalised at thetime of the visit. Thus, for example, pupils had made their Key Stage 4 option choices in Year 8 andcould thus drop some Key Stage 3 National Curriculum subjects. This would mean that, for example,not all pupils would study history in Year 9. However, in terms of the teaching load of the historydepartment the impact was, initially, minimal as the Key Stage 4 time allocation was greater than that inKey Stage 3 and thus fewer groups required teaching more often. In addition, it would mean that thepupils continuing with the subject would have actively chosen to do so.It was felt that a two year Key Stage 3 would allow greater flexibility and focus at Key Stage 4 but alsoallow teachers to slim down the Key Stage 3 curriculum which was seen by some as too content heavy.It was hoped that this would enable staff to plan more interesting lessons for Key Stage 3 pupils andavoid a Year 8 dip. Departments had thus been encouraged by senior management to reduce thecurriculum content.Different subjects had adopted different approaches to the condensed curriculum. In one department thepossibility of transfer between sets was seen as particularly important and so, for example, it wasdecided that all pupils should be entered for the SAT in Year 8. In another it had been decided to teachmore varied curricula to different sets. It was decided to enter all pupils for the Key Stage 3 tests inYear 8.Plans for Key Stage 4 were still under discussion with staff debating the merits of early entry to GCSEand, concomitantly, how to use saved time in Year 11. In the case of ICT it was planned that some Year9 pupils should produce mock GCSE coursework while higher ability pupils might be entered early forexaminations. Possibilities for using saved time arising from early entry to GCSE included offering ASlevel critical thinking skills in Year 11. This would offer a generic course to pupils who had enteredGCSE examinations early but who did not wish to continue with them beyond GCSE level.76