Thanks, Claig, it is something I might consider in the future, I do really care about our children's education etc but it's a real vocation and not something I would do lightly. Up late tonight. Easter Bunny and Feenie, thank you.
Without wanting to be negative, I do see some what I am discovering through my reading in the classroom. I believe that any average child should do extremely well in SATS etc. It shouldn't be the be all and end all if they don't of course, but I believe most will be capable of excellent results. I am seeing that you need to give a great deal of support and encouragement at home too. The results are not as important as the children being confident, enthusiastic beginner learners by then.
Easter Bunny it's about what can be messaged on a subconscious level (see above for details that concerns me. I get that teachers are teaching to the next objective and so many do so much more than they need to. We seem sometimes to see things in a linear, prescriptive way in terms of what children should achieve. For example I believe it's as possible for a child that enters year one at W+ (assuming there are no real underlying learning difficulties) to get a level 3 in year 2 as it is for one that enters the year at 1A, see Bill Claxton's research for details. Dips and spurts are (he says) the norm not the exception yet we expect the high fliers at 11 to be the 'best' at 16 or we've failed them.
The danger is that it may not be believed a W+ is level 3 material (on a subconscious level) there will be more 'concern' about them than a child who is 1A at the start of year one. Of course any teacher would be delighted to see a child do very well. This 'concern' can unwittingly be limiting for the child. There's a danger that the W+ himself might not have such an expandable view of his ability than the 1A. I see this in my own children via their view of 'ability' tables in the classroom.
Bill Claxton has proved that small adjustments in the classroom by the teacher can make a huge difference. He talks a lot about building learning power in children, which many teachers do and are doing already but not all. His excellent 'What's The Point of School' puts things much better than I do.
Christchurch Primary School in Wiltshire took on board some of Claxton's ideas and they found that their SATS results improved. Over the next 4 years the percentage of children achieving level 4 and above in their Key Stage 2 SATS rose from 59% to 86% in English, 55% to 86% in Maths and 67% to 94% in Science. Averaging all 3 core subjects the % of children over-achieving for their age (who got level 5) rose from 13% to 40%.
Claxton's idea that children who have great learning power (regardless of IQ) achieve beyond their years was bourne out by an experiment Jane Leo did with her year 6 children (St Mary's Primary School, Thornbury, Bristol). She had been working all year on building learning power in her class.
After they had taken their Key Stage 2 tests she gave them the Key Stage 3 Maths paper, (designed I think for 14 year olds). She said 'have a go, have fun'. Some of the questions were on unfamiliar topics, as you'd expect. Jane said 'by applying your thinking and using what you already know, you ought to be able to have a go at much of it'. The children who were not confident with maths at all were allowed to work in pairs. She allowed the children to ask 'clarifying questions' only, which she answered by encouraging them to trust their own judgement. Jane told Bill Claxton most of the questions stemmed from not believing the questions were as easy as they were!
The result? All bar 5 got level 6, many jumped a whole level over their performance in the actual KS2 tests they'd taken a week before. The other 5 all improved on their acutal SATS performance by at least 2 sub levels.
Jane Leo said:
'I believe their willingness to have a go stemmed from a year's worth of teaching them how to learn and knowing themselves as learners. Through Building Learning Power, they know how to tackle a challenge; what questions to ask themselves; how to apply what they know to new situations. They know themselves as learners, and they see learning as a journey, not an end - if they couldn't do a question it wasn't because they would never be able to but they hadn't seen the way there yet.
Jane's children didn't mind being faced with something they hadn't prepared for, one said 'strangely I really enjoyed that' and another 'that was good it makes you see the links between everything'.
Claxton talks about teachers modelling learning. Children need to become good learners not secure knowers (in traditional schools teachers modelled knowledgeability).
He believes it should be a requirement teachers are visibly engaged in some project that stretches their subject knowledge (as if they don't have enough to do)!
An English graduate might regularly pin up drafts of a poem they are struggling to get right, a science teacher might be running an experiment in the corner of her lab, something she is genuinely interested in and doesn't know the outcome.
Peter Mountstephen (head of a primary school in Bath) commits to learning a musical instrument that he has never played before. On the first day of each school year there is a whole school assembly and Peter tries to play a new instrument. Last year the bagpipes, everyone laughs as he makes a total hash of it. He says to the kids he is going to learn it and talks about what 'learning muscles' he is going to need, perseverance, commitment, time to practice, courage to ask for help etc.
He goes round to each class and asks the children what they find difficult and they talk about shared challenges and difficulties. They talk about themselves as learners.
His commitment is to be obviously bad at something and to be seen putting in the learning required to get better at it. It encourages kids and enables them to be 'bad' at something without feeling bad about themselves.
Sorry if I am going off point but wanted to include these examples, especially Peter Mountstephen. I think his is a brilliant idea, what a great Head!! This story really inspired me I am trying to do similar at home with my children.