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Select a category below to view questions relating to that category.
Teachers
LAs
Parents
Pupils
Other Study Support Providers
Funding
Research
Benefits
Teachers
Q: What is study support?
Q: What is its purpose?
Q: Why should I be interested in setting up a study support activity?
Q: What's in it for me?
Q: What's in it for my school?
Q: What types of activities could I get involved in?
| Q: What is study support? |
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| A: Study support is learning activity outside normal lessons which young people take part in voluntarily. Study support can include activities such as breakfast clubs, lunchtime and homework clubs and learning activities which take place during the school holidays. |
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| Q: What is its purpose? |
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| A: To improve young people's motivation, build their self esteem and help them become effective learners. Above all it aims to raise achievement. |
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| Q: Why should I be interested in setting up a study support activity? |
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| A: Study support offers many exciting opportunities and possibilities, but the prospect of setting up and managing a programme might seem to be too time consuming. While we know that it does take time and effort to set up and run a successful programme of activities the rewards can be enormous. In many cases a school's study support programme has evolved from activities that are already taking place. It may, therefore, be a case of auditing existing activities that take place in your school in consultation with your colleagues and others in the school with an interest.
Remember your plans don't need to be ambitious - they just need to meet the needs of the young people! |
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| Q: What's in it for me? |
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| A: Study support gives teachers the opportunity to work with young people free from the pressures of discipline, classroom management and curriculum coverage. It offers the opportunity to take risks and to experiment with different learning styles and contexts. |
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| Q: What's in it for my school? |
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| A: Study support has an impact at whole school level when participation ratesare high. It contributes most when it is an integral part of a whole school approach in and out of school.
Participation in study support is linked to better attendance, higher achievement, improved motivation and self esteem. We know from good practice that the best study support:
- offers young people a wide range of activities with many opportunities to succeed
- involves adults both within and beyond the school community
- gives young people learning experiences not otherwise offered in school
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| Q: What types of activities could I get involved in? |
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A: Study Support can include almost any activity, but the following are the most common:
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Homework clubs (facilities and support to do homework)
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Breakfast clubs
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Help with key skills, including literacy,numeracy and ICT
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Sports, games or adventurous outdoor activities
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Creative ventures (music, dance, drama and the full range of arts)
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Opportunities for volunteering activities in the school and community
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Opportunities to pursue interests (eg science, ICT, languages)
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Residential events/study weekends
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Learning about learning/thinking skills
All these activities can involve parents, local businesses and the community, museums, libraries and leisure centres. |
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LAs
Q: What is study support?
Q: What help can the LEA provide for schools?
Q: Why should schools want to provide study support?
| Q: What is study support? |
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| A: Study support is learning activity outside normal lessons which young people take part in voluntarily. Study support can include activities such as breakfast clubs, lunchtime and homework clubs and learning activities which take place during the school holidays. |
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| Q: What help can the LEA provide for schools? |
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| A: LAs have a key role in planning and developing coherent LA wide strategies for study support, including managing funding and co-ordinating provision in schools and other venues across the authority.
LAs can also provide advice/guidance and training or by assisting with day to day study support provision in schools. This could take the form of an LA Study Support Pack or Handbook and would typically contain the following:
- Definition of study support and its benefits
- The LA's strategic statement and commitment
- Details of the central co-ordination team responsible for study support
- Good practice/case studies at school level
- Audit/Evaluation tools for schools to use
- Funding
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| Q: Why should schools want to provide study support? |
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| A: We know that 97% of schools (MORI/BMRB, August 2000) already provide out of school hours activities because they recognise the benefits for young people. Children say they enjoy study support because it is different from the classroom, they can choose activities that interest them, work with their friends and learn at their own pace in a relaxed and informal environment.
Attendance at out of school activities also makes a difference in terms of attainment, attendance and attitudes to school. Research has found positive direct effects on all students who attend study support compared with those who do not (Impact of Study Support, June 2001). |
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Parents
Q: How can I find the ParentCentre?
Q: What is study support?
Q: As a parent how can I help?
Q: My child has to stay all day in school. Surely children can learn anywere - including at home?
Q: What types of activities could I get involved in?
| Q: What is study support? |
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| A: Study support is learning activity outside normal lessons which young people take part in voluntarily. Study support can include activities such as breakfast clubs, lunchtime and homework clubs and learning activities which take place during the school holidays. |
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| Q: As a parent how can I help? |
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| A: Many parents help in organising events, working as volunteers, or by simply providing a supportive environment at home. |
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| Q: My child has to stay all day in school. Surely children can learn anywere - including at home? |
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| A: Study support activities could can help children develop skills and qualities leading to improved school achievement and higher self-esteem. They may even become involved in running some activities and so develop practical skills in leadership and organisation. |
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| Q: What types of activities could I get involved in? |
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A: Study Support can include almost any activity, but the following are the most common:
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Homework clubs (facilities and support to do homework)
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Breakfast clubs
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Help with key skills, including literacy,numeracy and ICT
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Sports, games or adventurous outdoor activities
-
Creative ventures (music, dance, drama and the full range of arts)
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Opportunities for volunteering activities in the school and community
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Opportunities to pursue interests (eg science, ICT, languages)
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Residential events/study weekends
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Learning about learning/thinking skills
All these activities can involve parents, local businesses and the community, museums, libraries and leisure centres. |
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Pupils
Q: What is study support?
Q: I already have to attend school all day. Why shoud I take part in something that happens out of hours?
Q: What types of activities could I get involved in?
| Q: What is study support? |
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| A: Study support is learning activity outside normal lessons which young people take part in voluntarily. Study support can include activities such as breakfast clubs, lunchtime and homework clubs and learning activities which take place during the school holidays. |
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| Q: I already have to attend school all day. Why shoud I take part in something that happens out of hours? |
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| A: Taking part in after school activities is not like normal school. It's much more relaxed, and you will be able to learn at your own pace. You can choose what to get involved in, and will have the opportunity to relate differently to the adults involved (whether teachers, parents or others). You will have access to resources that you won't always find in school, and will be given responsibility for your own learning. There is no pressure - and no exams at the end, although many young people find they do better in their formal school exams as a result of doing study support activities. |
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| Q: What types of activities could I get involved in? |
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A: Study Support can include almost any activity, but the following are the most common:
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Homework clubs (facilities and support to do homework)
-
Breakfast clubs
-
Help with key skills, including literacy,numeracy and ICT
-
Sports, games or adventurous outdoor activities
-
Creative ventures (music, dance, drama and the full range of arts)
-
Opportunities for volunteering activities in the school and community
-
Opportunities to pursue interests (eg science, ICT, languages)
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Residential events/study weekends
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Learning about learning/thinking skills
All these activities can involve parents, local businesses and the community, museums, libraries and leisure centres. |
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Other Study Support Providers
Q: What government funding is available for study support?
| Q: What government funding is available for study support? |
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| A: All government funding for study support is paid direct to schools and LAs through the Department's Standards Fund. Total funding for 2003-04 was £75m, which includes an additional £19m for Excellence in Cities areas and Excellence Clusters.
From 2004, funding for study support was incorporated into the new School Development Grant, which allows schools and LAs greater flexibility in determining how funds can best be deployed to meet local needs.
LAs can retain a proportion of the total allocation for strategic use in developing study support across the area.
Organisations other than schools and LAs which are interested in providing study support activities are advised to contact their LA to discuss possible partnership working. |
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Funding
Q: What government funding is available for study support?
Q: What other sources of funding are available?
| Q: What government funding is available for study support? |
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| A: All government funding for study support is paid direct to schools and LAs through the Department's Standards Fund. Total funding for 2003-04 was £75m, which includes an additional £19m for Excellence in Cities areas and Excellence Clusters.
From 2004, funding for study support was incorporated into the new School Development Grant, which allows schools and LAs greater flexibility in determining how funds can best be deployed to meet local needs.
LAs can retain a proportion of the total allocation for strategic use in developing study support across the area.
Organisations other than schools and LAs which are interested in providing study support activities are advised to contact their LA to discuss possible partnership working. |
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| Q: What other sources of funding are available? |
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| A: Other possible sources of funding include the Single Regeneration Fund; Neighbourhood Renewal Fund; Community Chest; European Social Fund; Excellence in Cities; Excellence Clusters; and Education Action Zones. Some schools and LAs have formed partnerships with local businesses able to provide financial assistance, while many charities and charitable trusts have funds available for local groups. Your local Council for Voluntary Service, Local Authority, or library may have a software program that offers an easy way to search for the appropriate charity. |
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Research
Q: What is study support?
Q: What research has been undertaken of study support provision?
Q: What is the effect on GCSE performance?
Q: What is the effect on pupils' school attendance and attitude?
Q: Is participation influenced by gender or ethnicity?
| Q: What is study support? |
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| A: Study support is learning activity outside normal lessons which young people take part in voluntarily. Study support can include activities such as breakfast clubs, lunchtime and homework clubs and learning activities which take place during the school holidays. |
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| Q: What research has been undertaken of study support provision? |
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| A: The Impact of Study Support, published in June 2001, is a research report based on a three-year longitudinal study (the Study Supprt National Evaluation and Development Programme) on the impact of participation in study support on the attainment, attitudes and school attendance of secondary school pupils. The study covered 8,000 pupils in 52 schools, and found firm evidence that pupils who participate in study support do better than would have been expected from baseline measures in academic attainment, attitudes to school and attendance at school. Study support appears to be especially effective for students from minority ethnic communities. |
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| Q: What is the effect on GCSE performance? |
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| A: The Study Support National Evaluation and Development Programme found that pupils who took part in study support did better in their GCSEs than pupils of equal ability who did not take part. They scored, on average, a total of 3.5 grades more on their best five GCSE results, or achieved one more A - C pass. Attainment in Maths and English rose by around half a grade. |
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| Q: What is the effect on pupils' school attendance and attitude? |
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| A: Participation in study support has been shown to have a positive impact on school attendance irrespective of pupils' backgrounds or the school they attend. Pupils who participate in study support have more positive attitudes to school; this is particularly the case for Year 11 pupils, and is evident most strongly in subject-related and drop-in provision. |
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| Q: Is participation influenced by gender or ethnicity? |
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| A: The Study Support National Evaluation and Development Programme found that previous participation, and the school attended, had a major effect on the likelihood of a pupil choosing to participate in study support. However, within the research sample, participation in study support was found to be proportionally higher amongst pupils from minority ethnic groups and to have a more pronounced effect on their GCSE attainment.
Gender also appeared to have some influence on the type of activities undertaken. Girls attended more subject-focussed classes and participated more in aesthetic activities. Boys were more likely to opt for sports or to choose drop-in sessions. |
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Benefits
Q: What is study support?
Q: How can study support raise standards in education?
Q: What is the effect on GCSE performance?
Q: What is the effect on pupils' school attendance and attitude?
| Q: What is study support? |
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| A: Study support is learning activity outside normal lessons which young people take part in voluntarily. Study support can include activities such as breakfast clubs, lunchtime and homework clubs and learning activities which take place during the school holidays. |
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| Q: How can study support raise standards in education? |
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| A: Study support has an important part to play in helping young people to achieve. It can offer new opportunities to participate and succeed in activities outside the classroom and help to increase young people's self-esteem and motivation to egnage in in-school learning, resulting in a positive effect on their achievements in school and on their employability on leaving school. |
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| Q: What is the effect on GCSE performance? |
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| A: The Study Support National Evaluation and Development Programme found that pupils who took part in study support did better in their GCSEs than pupils of equal ability who did not take part. They scored, on average, a total of 3.5 grades more on their best five GCSE results, or achieved one more A - C pass. Attainment in Maths and English rose by around half a grade. |
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| Q: What is the effect on pupils' school attendance and attitude? |
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| A: Participation in study support has been shown to have a positive impact on school attendance irrespective of pupils' backgrounds or the school they attend. Pupils who participate in study support have more positive attitudes to school; this is particularly the case for Year 11 pupils, and is evident most strongly in subject-related and drop-in provision. |
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