Schools Facing Exceptionally Challenging Circumstances

Summary

From 2001 to 2004 the DfES funded an action research project with eight well managed schools in exceptionally challenging circumstances. The focus was on innovative ways to raise attainment.

Background

The schools were:

• Whitefield School, Barnet
• St Albans CE School, Birmingham
• The Ridings in Halifax, Calderdale
• Phoenix High, Hammersmith and Fulham
• The Channel School in Folkestone
• Campion Catholic High in Liverpool
• Havelock School in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire
• Pennywell School in Sunderland

These schools were chosen for their combination of:

• low attainment at GCSE level
• a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals 
• a high proportion of pupils with special educational needs and
• having good or better management according to the most recent Ofsted assessment 

Innovative practices tested in the project included:

• the use of School Improvement Groups in each school
• a new literacy programme for pupils unable to access the curriculum on entry because of low literacy levels
• the use of interactive whiteboards to develop new approaches to teaching and learning
• the sharing of materials, policies and good practice on line 

Creating a learning focus: strategies for improvement in challenging schools

This guidance was drawn up as part of the project. The materials were developed by Paul Clarke, Alma Harris, Belinda Harris, Anne Allsop and Paul Buck with technical support from Phil Vaughan. The methodological approach was adapted from the Improving Quality of Education for All (IQEA) school improvement design. Assistance from Sue James and the DfES Innovations Unit was also provided.

The guidance is available for viewing or downloading. Because of the very large file size, it is available in sections:

PDF Cover ( 62 Kb)

The following documents are all available in Word:

Introduction ( 150 Kb)

Module 1 - Getting Started ( 460 Kb)

Module 1 - Insert 1 ( 1.3 Mb)

Module 1 - Insert 2 ( 1.7 Mb)

Module 1 - Insert 3 ( 2.3 Mb)

Module 2 - Building strategic capacity ( 283 Kb)

Module 3a - Leading learning ( 1.4 Mb)

Module 3b - Leading learning (cont) ( 630 Kb) 

Module 4 - Deepening and extending the learning ( 554 Kb)

Module 5 - Embedding and sustaining practice ( 53 Kb)

Evaluation

The University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education was invited to provide a formal evaluation of the project.  The purpose was to analyse the impact of the various aspects of the programme at pupil, school and project level using qualitative and quantitative data. 

The report shows that the schools clearly benefited from the project and the lessons learned were built into subsequent initiatives such as the Leadership Incentive Grant, the School Performance Collaborative Project and a number of interventions funded by the DfES' School Improvement and Targets Unit.  The project also influenced the development of School Improvement Groups which are a central tool of the Secondary Intensifying Support Programme (SISP).

The full report is available to view or download:

Word version ( 1.3 Mb)

PDF version    ( 1.2 Mb)

Last updated 21 December 2006