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

Henryson SchoolThe case study visit took place in Summer 2006. By that time the oldest cohort of Project pupils were inYear 9. The school had however previously run its own pilot with higher attaining pupils entering KeyStage 3 tests in Year 8 prior to joining the Project. These pupils were in Year 11 at the time of the visit.Henryson School is a mixed, 11-16 school located in a city. Attainment at Key Stage 4 and progressfrom Key Stage 2 to 4 is above the national average. Levels of eligibility for free school meals arebelow the national average although the intake could not be described as advantaged.The school chose to adopt a two year Key Stage 3 for a number of reasons. In particular, a desire toimprove motivation, improve pace and progression, as a vehicle to improve the quality of teaching andlearning, to avoid a Year 8 dip and to open up a more flexible Key Stage 4 were all cited as reasons.The idea for a shortened Key Stage 3 pre-dated the Project. Originally it was adopted as a means toaccelerate learning although this subsequently changed as the programme was seen as a component ofdesigning the curriculum as a 5-year package with different pathways to GCSE.While the senior management team decided on the adoption of the policy, departments were able tochoose whether or not to take part. A two year Key Stage 3 was followed in English, mathematics,science and the humanities. Art, one of the school’s greatest strengths, was felt to depend in part onmaturity and so a three year Key Stage was retained. Music, drama and technology also retained theconventional format.In the case of English, all pupils followed a two year Key Stage 3 and all pupils working above Level 3were entered for the Key Stage 3 tests during Year 8. In mathematics and science however only pupilswho were anticipated to achieve Level 5 or higher were entered in Year 8.In English, an enrichment programme was then provided in Year 9 including, for example, creativewriting, media studies and poetry but also with some starting GCSE coursework. In Year 10 thedecision was taken as to who completed GCSE English Literature and Language at the end of that year.AS level film studies and English were then available in Year 11.The main benefits of the innovation were seen to be opening up a wider range of options in Key Stage 4with an earlier acquisition of qualifications (with pupils having from 1 to 5 GCSEs on entering Year11). In addition, the saved time allowed pupils to study for AS levels in Year 11. However, under thenew model it was acknowledged that the opportunities for transferring between groups were limited andso, when determining groups, it was important to take into account maturity as well as attainment.78