Thurrock Trailblazer Evaluation 2015/16

What impact is the programme having on outcomes for pupils?
“When looking at the project as a whole, we feel that the greatest lesson
to come from the experience is the knowledge that many of the deep
rooted fundamental barriers to improving writing cannot be changed in a
year. We have realised that this is an ongoing process to build on the
childrens’ skills and experiences year upon year.”
Michael Nunn, Deputy Head Teacher, Chadwell St Mary Primary School
Establishing a direct causal link between the cultural learning
interventions of Trailblazer and attainment in the core curriculum is
beyond the scope of this evaluation. However, by adopting an evaluative
approach, schools are beginning to gather a rich mosaic of evidence of
improved standards that is based on their own action research. The
effect of cultural learning on the spiritual, moral, social and cultural
(SMSC) values of these schools is to foster a climate that is beneficial to
learning. This reaches across all curriculum areas as pupils develop the so
called ‘soft skills’ that help them access higher levels of learning.
“The language we learned we used in our books...makes our writing more
professional and we might want to be authors and finding out about the
author who persevered has improved our perseverance.”
George, Year 5 student, Little Thurrock Primary School
Students performing at the Trailblazer culmination event FUSED
Photography. Brian Slater
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