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How should we really feel about the arrival of artificial intelligence in the classroom?

Claire Boyd, Head of Junior School, reflects upon the emotional response pupils, teachers and parents may experience as artificial intelligence, big data and augmented reality looks sets to change the educational landscape.

 

It seems to me that we can be in no doubt that the educational zeitgeist of the moment is the potential that artificial intelligence, big data and augmented reality holds for education. As Ben Turner, Assistant Head Pastoral, explored on the pages of this blog last month, the take-home message from the keynote speakers at September’s Grow 2.0 conference, was the unprecedented scope of new technologies to create a bespoke, tailored learning experience for individual learners.

The same sentiments were echoed by Priya Lakhani, CEO and founder of Century Tech, on stage at the annual conference of the Independent Association of Prep Schools in central London a fortnight ago. Patel evangelised on the capacity AI holds to democratise education and remove silos of learning from classrooms around the world.

Much closer to home, my path across the playground from the Junior School to Senior School each day serves as a compelling reminder of the exciting and progressive space Wimbledon High School is giving to pursue a new, non-binary approach to teaching the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, art and maths; creating space for new approaches of innovation and collaboration to flourish through Project Ex Humilibus. The cumulative effect of these realities cast a different landscape of education with which many parents and teachers in our school community will identify. Whilst recognition that the traditional ‘factory’ model of education, in which knowledge and skills are played off against one another as learners are spoon-fed a linear curriculum of discrete subject teaching, is outmoded and anachronistic, there is little clarity on the reality of what an AI, data-led education system will offer is not yet certain.

Pupils experiment with VR headsets at the recent WHS Grow 2.0 Conference

With wearable technologies and virtual home devices such as Google Home and Alexa becoming increasingly commonplace in households around the country as well as ‘customers who bought this also liked’ recommendations par for course of our online shopping experiences, the creeping pervasiveness of data driven AI devices is changing the face of many of our everyday transactional experiences beyond recognition. Heralded for the part these developments play in increasing convenience and expediting smart-living, the contribution these new products are making to modern life is widely celebrated across mainstream society. When the capacity and functionality of these data-driven technologies are applied to the educational realm, I wonder how closely the positive reception will be matched? How comfortable are we with the diagnostic skills of AI-driven learning technologies being applied to the classroom environment, taking up residence in the learning space traditionally driven by the expertise of the teacher as the professional?

Throughout history, schools, universities and other educational institutions have provided space for progressive ideas to germinate and new approaches to intellectual and emotional development to evolve. With this in mind, can it not be that the advantages afforded to us in our personal lives by big data and AI can be replicated in the spheres of learning and education? The potential for AI to collect, collate and analyse the data of individual learning profiles and build personalised learning pathways of attainment, progress and development is so large in scale that the possibilities for bespoke education is infinite.

The advent of AI in education should also not be feared because of what it represents for teachers and the teaching profession more widely. Instead of viewing this new frontier with apprehension or scepticism, we should, as school communities, feel excited and energised about what lies ahead. This is because, when most people are asked to consider the favourite teacher of their school days, their responses will most commonly focus upon the way that teacher made that individual feel; the way the believed in them and empowered them to achieve an ambition or succeed at something they would not otherwise have achieved. It is this capacity for relationship creation, based on the nuances of emotional intelligence and the domain of human-specific skills such as meta-cognition and social intelligence that human and the artificial hold the potential to equip the children of today with the springboard for the unfettered success in the future. In the words of UCL’s Prof Rose Luckin, the “holy grail for education in the future is accurately perceived self-efficacy”.

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GROW 2.0 – Being Human in an AI World

On Saturday 21st September we host our second Grow Pastoral Festival. The theme for this year is an examination of what it is to be human in a machine age. What questions should we be asking about the way technology affects our lives and what are our hopes for the future? More specifically, how will our young people develop and grow in a fast-paced, algorithmically driven society and what might education look like in the future?

 
In the morning session Professor Rose Luckin and Professor Robert Plomin will be giving keynote addresses, and then talk with our Director of Digital Learning & Innovation, Rachel Evans. Prof Luckin specialises in how AI might change education; Prof Plomin has recently published Blueprint, a fascinating read about genetics and education. We can’t wait to talk about how education might get personalised, and how that change might affect our experience of learning.

In the afternoon we’ll dive into some provocative debate with Natasha Devon, Hannah Lownsbrough and Andrew Doyle, addressing questions of identity, wellbeing and community in an online age with our own Assistant Head Pastoral, Ben Turner.

So what kind of questions are in our minds as we approach this intellectually stimulating event? Ben Turner brings a philosophical approach to the topic.


Is our ever-increasing reliance on machines and subscription to the ‘universal principles of technology’[1] eroding our sense of empathy, compassion, truth-telling and responsibility?



Our smartphones give us a constant connection to an echo-system that reflects, and continuously reinforces, our individual beliefs and values. Technology has created a world of correlation without causation, where we understand what happened and how it happened but never stop to ask why it happened. Teenagers are understandably susceptible to an eco-system of continuous connection, urgency and instant gratification. It is these values that they now use to access their world and that inform them what is important in it.

Are tech giants like Amazon, Google and Facebook creating a monoculture that lacks an empathy for its surroundings? If we all become ‘insiders’ within a technology dominated society, pushing instant buttons for everything from batteries to toilet roll, are we losing the ability to see things from a fresh perspective? By raising children in a world of instant access and metropolitan monism are we creating only insiders; young people who will never gain the ability to step back and view what has been created in a detached way. How as parents, schools and communities do we keep what is unique, while embracing the virtues of technological innovation?

Is social media destroying our free will?

If you are not a determinist, you might agree that free will has to involve some degree of creativity and unpredictability in how you respond to the world. That your future might be more than your past. That you might grow, you might change, you might discover. The antithesis to that is when your reactions to the world are locked into a pattern that, by design, make you more predictable – for the benefit of someone or something else. Behaviourism, developed in the 19th Century, believes in collecting data on every action of a subject in order to change something about their experience, often using punishment or reward to enact the change. Is social media, through its algorithms, gratification systems and FOMO, manipulating our actions and eroding our free will?

Social media is pervasive in its influence on the beliefs, desires and temperaments of our teenagers and you do not have to be a determinist to know that that will lead to a disproportionate level of control over their actions. Does social media leave our young people with no alternative possibilities; locked in a room, not wanting to leave but ignorant to the fact that they cannot?

Is social media the new opium of the masses?

Social media has changed the meaning of life for the next generation. The change in human contact from physical interactions to those, arguably superficial, exchanges online is having not only a well-documented detrimental effect on individual young people but also on the very fabric and makeup of our communities.

In addition to the ongoing concerns about privacy, electoral influence and online abuse, it is becoming increasingly obvious that social media has all the qualities of an addictive drug. Psychologists Daria Kuss and Mark Griffiths wrote a paper finding that the “negative correlates of (social media) usage include the decrease in real life social community participation and academic achievement, as well as relationship problems, each of which may be indicative of potential addiction.”[2]

That is not to say that everyone who uses social media is addicted. However, the implications of the ‘heavy’ usage of social media by young people are increasingly painting an unpleasant picture. The UK Millennium Cohort Study, from the University of Glasgow, found that 28% of girls between 13 and 15 surveyed spent five hours or more on social media, double the number of boys survey who admitted the same level of usage. Moreover the NHS Digital’s survey of the Mental Health of children and young people in England[3], which found that 11 to 19 year olds with a “mental disorder” were more likely to use social media every day (87.3%) than those without a disorder (77%) and were more likely to be on social media for longer. Rates of daily usage also varied by type of disorder; 90.4% of those with emotional disorders, for example, used social media daily.

Panel Discussion

However, there is more to this than just the causal link between the use and abuse of social media and poor mental health. With the march of technology in an increasingly secular world, are we losing our sense of something greater than ourselves? Anthony Seldon calls this the “Fourth Education Revolution”, but as we embrace the advances and wonders of a technologically advanced world do we need to be more mindful of what we leave behind? Da Vinci, Michelangelo and other Renaissance masters, not only worked alongside religion but also were inspired by it. Conversely, Marx believed Religion to be the opium of the people. If social media is not to be the new opium, we must find a place for spirituality in our secular age. Even if we are not convinced by a faith, embracing the virtues of a religious upbringing seems pertinent in these turbulent times. Namely inclusivity, compassion and community, because if we do not, then very quickly the narcissistic immediacy and addictive nature of social media will fill the void left in our young peoples’ lives, becoming the addictive drug that Marx forewarned against.

References:

[1] Michael Bugeja, Living Media Ethics: Across Platforms, 2nd Ed. 2018

[2] Online Social Networking and Addiction – A review of Psychological Literature, Daria J. Kuss and Mark D. Griffiths, US National Library of Medicine, 2011

[3] November 2018

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All girls are born great at Maths!

Rebecca Brown, Maths Teacher at Wimbledon High School, explores the benefits of creating a positive stereotype.

“I’m great at Maths”

A statement seldom heard. In fact, quite the opposite, particularly when introducing yourself as a Maths Teacher!

Unfortunately, many people hold strong negative beliefs about maths that they do not hold about other subjects. I often hear intelligent, highly educated adults state (almost with pride) “I was never any good at maths”. Many people seem to have been traumatised by maths, further fuelled by misguided beliefs about mathematics and intelligence. Their experience of learning Maths varied drastically from the dynamic, exciting and personalised maths teaching of today. Researchers found that when mothers told their daughters “I was no good at Maths in school” their daughters’ achievement immediately went down (Eccles and Jacobs, 1986[1]). But why is it considered socially acceptable to be bad at Maths? And more importantly what message does it give the women of the future if their own parents, teachers and influencers unashamedly comment on how bad they were at Maths at school – or still are?

Fifteen is the exact age a girl loses her interest in Maths (Jones, 2018[2]). I am not referring to Maths anxiety, that Ashcroft (2002) defined as a ‘feeling of tension, apprehension or fear that interferes with maths performance’, but to the time girls decide that Maths is just ‘not for them’. Recent figures show that after GCSE, 20% fewer girls than boys continue studying Maths. Yet in junior schools, Maths is often cited as a favourite subject for many girls. So why are girls not continuing with maths and what can we do about it?

 

Why is Maths so important?

Maths is all around us. It is in everything we do and everywhere we go. From Music to Sport, from Geography to Biology. Coding, Algorithms, Programming, Problem-solving. It is our future. It is in the technology in our hands, on our laps and on our screens. It is shaping our world and is the beauty that surrounds us.

When it comes to Maths at A Level, girls account for just 39% of the national cohort. (Although at Wimbledon High School we’re proud that over 55% of the sixth form opt to continue with Maths after GCSE). 

A female underrepresentation as a nation at A Level means an underrepresentation of women in careers that involve Maths. By not taking Maths, girls limit their access to some of the more challenging, interesting and lucrative careers. For example, recent IFS research[3] suggests that, compared to the average female graduate, five years after graduation women with a Maths degree earn 13.4% more; those with an engineering degree earn 9.7% more, and those with an economics degree – another subject in which girls are significantly underrepresented and for which Maths is often a gateway subject – earn 19.5% more. Research has also shown that students taking advanced Maths classes learn ways of working and thinking – especially learning to reason and be logical – that make them more productive in their jobs (Rose and Betts 2004[4]).

Engineering jobs are predicted to grow at double the rate of other occupations, but there is currently a crisis of female underrepresentation in STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths careers; women comprise up only 14.4% of the total STEM population (WISE[5] ). This means that potential female candidates will have not only limited their own life chances, but also deprived the STEM disciplines of the thinking and perspectives that girls and women can bring. (Boaler, 2014a[6]). The current UK goal is for at least 30 % of people working in STEM careers to be women.

It is not just the raw state of Maths that is useful for the future, it is the skills that develop as part of learning the wonders of Maths; problem-solving, critical and lateral thinking, quantitative and analytical reasoning to name a few, that are part of the attraction. After all, we are preparing our children for jobs that do not yet exist!

The negative connotations that prevail about Maths seldom come from harmful teaching practices; they come from one idea, which is very strong, permeates many societies (although notably absent in countries such as China and Japan) and is at the root of maths failure and underachievement: that only some people can be good at Maths (Boaler, 2016 [7])

Growth Mindset in Maths

A ‘Growth Mindset’ in Maths is crucial. Perseverance, grit and resilience, are common skills identified in successful students in any field, made widely known by the work of Duckworth et al. (2007[8]).  ‘Economists refer to them as non-cognitive skills, psychologists call them personality traits and the rest of us sometimes think of them as character’ (Tough, 2013[9]). In Maths these skills are even more fundamental.

In her 2006 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck summarised her evidence from decades of research with differently-aged subjects, showing that when students develop what she has called a ‘growth mindset’ then they believe that intelligence and ‘smartness’ can be learned and that the brain can grow from exercise.

Everyone has a mindset, a core belief about how they learn (Dweck, 2006b[10]). People with a ‘growth mindset’ are those who believe that smartness increases with hard work, whereas those with a ‘fixed mindset’ believe you can learn things, but you can’t change your basic level of intelligence.

The fixed mindset thinking that is so damaging, cuts across the achievement spectrum, and some of the students most damaged by these beliefs are high-achieving girls (Dweck, 2006a). General mindset interventions can be helpful, but if students return to approaching maths in the same way they always have then the growth mindset about maths erodes away (Boaler, 2016[11]).

So, our focus should be on developing strong Mathematical mindsets within the classroom and at home.

What holds girls back from Maths?

Confidence, self-belief and mindset. It is lack of confidence and not lack of ability that deters girls from taking Maths after GCSE. Lack of self-confidence can limit a girl’s learning and her potential. We need to develop their confidence and self-esteem and teach them to not be perfect! Getting an answer incorrect does not mean failure. A mistake is a portal to better understanding, discovery and part of an important learning journey. Mistakes are invaluable lessons and help up us to develop. Generation Z is under pressure to look and act a certain way, a problem amplified by social media.  Role models are extremely important to young people and girls are often more influenced, judging themselves by more restrictive standards reinforced by the media and society at large, further reducing their confidence in the classroom.

When it comes to Maths, girls rate their abilities markedly lower than boys, even when there is no observable difference between them, according to Florida State University researchers.[12] The authors note boys are encouraged from a young age to pursue challenge, including the risk of failure, while girls tend to pursue perfection.

‘Sticking with it’ is something girls need to be encouraged to learn, says Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, whose mission is to close the gender gap in technology. “We have to rethink the way we raise our girls. We have to teach girls to be imperfect. Teach them to be brave and not perfect” (Saujani, R 2016[13] ).

As leaders in educating girls, at the GDST, we focus on developing the skills and character to prepare them for the future. As teachers, we are dedicated to inspiring every one of our girls and trained to unleash their potential. Especially in Maths.

At GDST Schools, girls can learn without limits. We can influence the next generation of women to have a positive view of maths.  We can all create and believe in a new stereotype– All girls are born great at Maths.

 

 

References: 

[1] Eccles, J. & Jacobs, J (1986) Social forces shape math attitudes and performance.

[2] Jones, P. (December, 2018). Phylecia Jones: All Girls Are Great at Math [Video File] Retrieved from https://www.phyleciajones.com/tedx/

[3] https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/13036

[4] Rose, H., & Betts, J.R (2004). The effect of high school courses on earnings. Review of Economics and Statistics, 86 (2), 497-513

[5] https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/statistics/women-in-the-uk-stem-workforce/

[6] Boaler, J. (2014a). Changing the conversation about girls and STEM. Washington DC:The White House.

[7] Boaler, J (2016). Mathematical Mindsets. Unleashing Students’ Potential Through Creative Maths, Inspiring Messages and Innovative teaching.

[8] Duckworth AL, Peterson C, Matthews MD, Kelly DR. Pers Soc Psychol. 2007. Grit, perseverance, and passion for long term goals.

[9] Tough, Paul. 2013. How Children Succeed.

[10] Dweck, C.S (2006b). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books.

[11] Boaler, J (2016). Mathematical Mindsets.

[12] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170406121532.htm Florida State University. “Under challenge: Girls’ confidence level, not math ability hinders path to science degrees.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 April 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170406121532.htm>.

[13] Sujani – Teach girls bravery not perfection. https://www.ted.com/talks/reshma_saujani_teach_girls_bravery_not_perfection?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

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Making a WISE choice

Mrs Mary McGovern, Head of Chemistry, looks at some of the reasons behind the low representation in the workplace of women in STEM roles, and how teaching STEAM Skills from early years can help to allow pupils to make informed choices.

In the UK and many other countries, there are long-standing patterns regarding who continues with science post-16. In the physical sciences — and engineering in particular — women, working class and some ethnic groups are notably under-represented1. Furthermore, women make up less than 20% of the UK STEM workforce (the lowest in Europe).

Women into Science and Engineering, WISE, enables and energises people in business, industry and education to increase the participation, contribution and success of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

A report published by WISE in November 2014 entitled “Not for people like me?” looks to previous research to explain why girls are under-represented in science, technology and engineering, arguing that a fresh approach is needed.

Understanding the research

It’s not what you think! It is a myth that girls and women are not choosing STEM subjects. In fact, girls outnumber boys in STEM subject choices overall and girls outperform boys in STEM qualifications at all levels, both academic and vocational. The real issue is that girls are NOT choosing physics post 16 – physics is the third most popular A-level for boys but only the nineteenth for girls, and of 14,000 engineering apprentices, only 450 were girls. Girls report being concerned that physics limits their career options. This means that girls are losing or rejecting the opportunity to choose engineering post 18, as well as making it harder to find jobs in technology. The data also suggests that the numbers of girls taking A level physics has not changed in the UK in the past 30 years despite various initiatives.

Graph - International popularity of STEM subjects

Data from UNESCO’s UIS. Stat database from 2013 was used to create the charts above. The charts show the uptake of STEM subject at tertiary level within the worlds nine largest economies (by GDP) for which data is available. Each plot represents students who chose to study one of the subjects and is divided by gender. As identified by the WISE research, it is not that women are not choosing STEM subjects; instead, it is that their choices in all cases support the fact that girls are losing or rejecting the opportunity to choose engineering post-18. In every country represented above, this section showed the greatest imbalance2.

“We are regularly bombarded with literature depicting young women in hard hats and high-vis jackets. This says to me – and I expect other women – that the sector is desperate to attract women. Instead of highlighting the problem, we need to get better at saying what’s brilliant about a career in engineering, regardless of sex.”
– Female engineer, quoted by the Royal Academy of Engineering

High-quality careers advice to young people is essential to demonstrate to students the benefits of studying STEM.3  Girls’ experience in schools and the quality of career guidance are critical elements in their decision making. Out of date or poor quality teaching and limited availability of triple award science reduce the likelihood of girls having the confidence and desire to progress beyond GCSE.

“Whilst many of the major engineering companies and institutes run school outreach programmes, these often see an individual with a particular expertise give a talk that is likely only to appeal to a very small percentage of the class. By allowing untrained and narrowly prepared speakers to address this key audience, it could be that these outreach programmes are doing more to discourage prospective engineers than to incite the intended excitement and interest.”
-Royal Academy of Engineering

Photo of female scientist
Women account for just 8% of engineers

What are we doing at WHS?

We firmly believe that to start raising the profile of science in Years 10 or 11, can in many cases, be far too late. With this in mind, we look to plant seeds at any given opportunity that incorporate a basic “scientific thinking” across as many subjects as possible, from Reception up.

STEAM_WHS Twitter

Alongside all the work and co-curricular activities (including clubs, competitions, workshops, guest speakers and departmental trips) our two Scientists in Residence are central to our ‘scientific thinking’ philosophy.  An approach we are working hard to weave across the Senior and Junior Schools and throughout all departments. Bespoke ‘STEAM lessons’ explore non-science/art subjects from a science perspective (plant/animal dyes in Joseph’s technicolour Dreamcoat, PTSD in war poetry/Mrs Dalloway, how the voice box works in music etc). This allows our pupils to connect subjects, seeing the inter-disciplinary potential of thinking creatively across a range of different areas.

Our STEAM Lead is a fully trained WISE ‘People Like Me’ trainer and has conducted the WISE ‘People Like Me’ survey with Year 8s, the focus being on opening minds to the possibilities of perusing careers in all areas of STEM. The survey involved the girls using adjectives to describe themselves, the results were then processed and the girls were provided with information on skills, places and job roles where ‘people like them’ work. This, therefore, raised awareness of where ‘people like them’ actually work and what their job involves.

STEAM_WHS Twitter

Moreover, our STEAM Lead is currently working on a fully funded project with The Wellcome Genome Campus on a project to reduce “unconscious bias” amongst parents and teachers towards influencing A level and career choices. This project starts with primary students.

“Parents have a huge role in influencing the career choices and aspirations of their children – a fact that to date has not been reflected in the outreach and engagement programmes run by the engineering industry. Mothers in particular wield significant power in directing their daughters down specific career paths.”
– Royal Academy of Engineering

At WHS we aim to ensure that every girl striding out of WHS leaves with ‘STEAM skills’, with the drive, passion and self-belief to work in whatever field they so choose.

References

1 WISE, 2012; Smith, 2011

2 https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/our-research/data-bytes/the-international-popularity-of-stem-subjects/

3 https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldselect/ldsctech/37/37.pdf (p21)

4 http://web.archive.org/web/20171016144625/http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/jobs/female-engineers-equalising-the-path-to-a-career-at-the-forefront-of-science-a6699671.html

Further Reading

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldselect/ldsctech/37/37.pdf (p35)

http://web.archive.org/web/20171009174614/https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/resources/2016/11/from-classroom-to-boardroom-the-stem-pipeline

http://web.archive.org/web/20171022143048/http://www.wes.org.uk/role-models

http://web.archive.org/web/20190402085722/https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stem-employers-doing-enough-retain-female-talent-anjlee-gupta?goback=%2Egna_6583012

https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/statistics/women-in-stem-workforce-2017/

http://www.aei.org/publication/gender-gap-in-stem-women-are-majority-of-stem-grad-students-and-they-earn-a-majority-of-stem-bachelors-degrees/

https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/sociology/people/pwhite/TheemploymenttrajectoriesofSTEMgraduatesFINALREPORT20180801.pdf

 

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How can we prepare pupils for Oxbridge entry?

Mr Richard Finch, Oxbridge Coordinator, looks at how WHS works with partner schools to develop effective Oxbridge admission support programmes.

We all have a responsibility for widening access to Oxbridge

These days, any article you read about Oxbridge entry focusses on widening access. The Sutton Trust[1], for example, recently reported that Oxbridge currently recruits more students from eight leading public schools than it does from 3,000 state schools combined. Few disagree (not least the universities themselves) that this needs to change. But it is not just the universities that have a responsibility for widening access.

At Wimbledon High, we work with our partner schools to share ideas and activities to develop our Oxbridge support programmes. These programmes seek to dispel myths about studying at these institutions and ultimately support students to be as well prepared as they can be for the application process. At the heart of any successful support programme is the ability to galvanise enthusiasm and guide independent exploration of their chosen subject.

 

How we help pupils decide if Oxbridge is right for them

In order to help pupils decide if Oxbridge is right for them, our introduction to Oxbridge starts in Year 10 with a day trip to either Oxford or Cambridge. As well as the tourist hot spots, we visit individual colleges (hosted by Wimbledon High alumnae) and receive a lecture from our link college admissions tutor to understand the realities of living and studying in these historic university cities. The purpose is to plant the seed for the right candidates to pursue an application in the future.

For those that do decide to take part in the programme, the real preparation starts in Year 12. Despite encouraging the girls to learn independently, the opportunity to discuss ideas with likeminded people is possibly the most valuable part of the programme. Each girl is therefore linked with a personal mentor (a teacher at the school) whom they meet regularly from the spring term of Year 12. Sessions vary greatly by department but the common format is a guided discussion using a particular stimulus (perhaps an artefact in Classics or a graph in Economics) chosen by the student. The idea is to allow the girls to forge their own path of academic discovery.

Building links with departments is vital

Pupils are also encouraged to engage with Oxbridge departments as much as possible. Cambridge, for example, offer subject “master classes[2]” which enable students to experience typical undergraduate teaching. Entering essay prize competitions are also a great way to engage directly with departments. Oxford, for example, offer a range of essay prizes[3] across a number of departments. We also link candidates with Wimbledon High alumnae studying their subject. Current undergraduates are well placed to suggest current reading lists and give specific advice on how to prepare for their application.

Confidence is key

Jasmine delivering her WimTalk entitled, “who legally owns your dead body?”

A common misconception among students, whichever type of school they attend, is that are not “clever” enough to go to Oxbridge. Of course, these institutions are highly competitive but girls especially often underestimate their abilities and fail to acknowledge that a deep academic interest in their chosen subject is possibly more important than a stellar set of GCSEs. The WimTalks programme is there to encourage WHS girls to express their love for their subject with confidence. Girls are required to present a series of short presentations to their peers on a topic of interest. They then have to field questions from subject specialist teachers. Encouraging the girls to develop expertise in a range of topics has proven a great way to boost self-confidence and prepare for interview.

 

The results

Percentage of cohort securing offersThese are just some of the ways in which our programme supports and empowers our girls. In an increasingly competitive environment, we have managed to increase the percentage of the cohort securing offers year on year. This bucks the national trend for independent schools and we think our support programme has helped our Oxbridge success grow. We continue to work with our partner schools to develop our programmes to encourage candidates to pursue an application and to support them wholeheartedly throughout the process.

Further reading:

https://www.nace.co.uk/blog/8-myths-oxford-university-busted – Myths about Oxford and Cambridge entry

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/oxford-cambridge-white-students-university-poverty-deprived-areas-diversity-a8779081.html – Oxford and Cambridge need to broaden access.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/oct/06/how-to-survive-a-cambridge-interview – How to prepare for Oxbridge interviews.

References:

[1] https://www.suttontrust.com/newsarchive/oxbridge-over-recruits-from-eight-schools/

[2] https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/events/masterclasses

[3] http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/teachers/academic-competitions-schools-and-colleges

 

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To assess or not to assess?

Front of WHS

Isabelle Alexander, Specialist Teacher Assessor and Head of Learning Support at WHS, considers the merits of carrying out a diagnostic educational assessment.

We have all seen the news articles and reports about parents or carers who try to get as much help as possible for their children in school, particularly when public exams are on the horizon.  It would seem that they want their children to have an educational ‘label’ and will pay considerable sums of money to experts such as Educational Psychologists to try to achieve this, assuming that in so doing their children will gain a competitive edge.

At the other end of the scale, there are those parents/carers who refuse to accept or acknowledge that their child might have a learning difference worthy of further investigation and who reject all suggestions and advice from their child’s school. These parents are often convinced that it’s the child’s work ethic or the teaching in a school that needs to be addressed and indeed sometimes it does, but to dismiss the likelihood that there may be an issue worthy of further investigation with a child, might put the child at a disadvantage.

It is also true that students with certain educational needs are eligible to receive access arrangements in their GCSEs, A Levels and beyond, but most importantly, only once strict, regulated criteria are met, including, and in fact beginning with, evidence and support from the school.

The process of having a student assessed is about finding out what their strengths and weaknesses are and what, if anything, is having a detrimental effect on their learning and stopping them from achieving their potential.

The process

Educational Psychologists and Specialist Teacher Assessors assess for educational differences, some of which may lead to access arrangements in public examinations. They run batteries of tests that look at the child’s underlying ability, processing skills and attainment. They then produce a comprehensive report detailing the child’s profile. Other professionals may well be called upon in the instances where a student is displaying other symptoms, which could include difficulties with executive skills, socialising, maintaining attention, copying from the board, restlessness, excessive fidgeting, slow and/or poor handwriting – and school SENCos should be able to advise accordingly in these cases.

Advantages

The advantages of assessment are numerous regardless of any diagnosis:

  • Often a sense of relief is experienced by both parents/carers and child as the report clarifies why things have not always fallen into place or why, for example, it takes longer to complete a piece of work. Contrary to expectations, this can lead to an increase in self-esteem and confidence as there is a realisation that there is nothing ‘wrong’ with the child; they might simply process things differently.
  • Educational assessments provide a greater understanding of learning strengths and weaknesses (we all have them), which then enables teachers to make appropriate accommodations and differentiate their teaching so the student can maximize their potential.
  • Assessments may also explain why work takes longer and why the student can’t always finish a task in class.
  • Assessments may explain why the student has to work harder to keep up.
  • Assessments can also explain why the student might feel awkward or does not ‘fit in’. They provide them with at least a part of their identity that they might have been struggling to understand.
  • Assessments usually provide answers and as such, give explanations and ways forward.

Disadvantages

  • Naturally, parents and carers are concerned that any diagnosis will result in fewer opportunities, particularly when it comes to Further Education. It is therefore important to know that all universities, including Oxbridge, accept students with learning differences and neuro-diverse profiles and most significantly have departments that offer support where it is needed.
  • There is a fear that the child will be ‘labelled’. ‘Labelling’ has come to have such negative connotations but I have yet to hear it used in an adverse way in a school in the context of a learning difference or where a child has an educational need. A diagnosis is not about attaching a label, it is about getting the right support and expertise in place to maximize self-esteem and potential. Knowing that a child has, for example, ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), Dyslexia or issues with attention, no matter how mild, changes perceptions, and reactions for the better both at home and in school as it increases understanding and that has to be a good thing, doesn’t it?
  • It is possible that a diagnosis becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy; teachers and parents might expect less from a child with learning differences and stop challenging them or the child might assume that they are incapable and stop trying. However, focussing on the child’s strengths and positive personal characteristics and offering encouragement and support usually stems feelings of doubt and negative thoughts.
  • It is expensive. Maybe, but a great deal of time, professional expertise and work go into assessing a child resulting in a full diagnostic assessment. This major piece of work that identifies strengths, weaknesses, with recommendations for support, could and most importantly, does, prove invaluable.

Concluding remarks

Clearly, it can be argued that I have a vested interest in promoting diagnostic assessment; after all, it goes with my job and I have spent many hours training to do this.  However, I have not always worked in this field, I came to it following the assessment of my daughter, who at primary school could not learn rhymes, the days of the week or to read, but seemed intelligent. Her school recommended that she be assessed. The assessment revealed that she was indeed a bright child with excellent underlying ability who had dyslexia. Interventions were put in place at school and she attended sessions with a specialist tutor. The result is that at 21 years of age, she still has dyslexia. She also has the most amazing work ethic and organisational skills and has done extremely well academically. She firmly believes that diagnosis and intervention made a huge difference to her in a multitude of ways.

Learning differences and neuro-diverse profiles are often invisible and are not always easy to spot and are not always identified by the school, no matter how many checks are put in place. Young women and high achievers often mask their differences as they do their best to fit in. Not wanting to attract attention and stand out from the crowd, they work excessively at home to try to keep up. The views of parents are therefore relevant; if you notice for example, that your child is spending an extraordinary amount of time on their homework, or that their reading speed appears to be slow or that they have difficulty remembering things or communicating, call the SENCo at your school, discuss your concerns and observations and let them investigate further.

For me, there is no question or doubt in my mind. When a school suggests that an assessment might be useful, it will be; whether or not a firm diagnosis is made, you will gain a deeper understanding of your child’s learning profile and your child will ultimately feel happier in themselves.

Learning differences do not discriminate; they are not a measure of intelligence or ability and they can be present in anyone. They are certainly not a barrier to achievement. So why is there still so much stigma attached to them?

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Writing and grammar myth-busting: what roles do writing and grammar skills play in the curriculum?

Ms Lucinda Gilchrist, Head of English, considers the roles of writing and grammar across subjects.

For English teachers, addressing writing and grammar skills is our bread-and-butter. However, in 2012, Ofqual introduced directive that in History, Geography, and Religious Studies, 5% of marks must be allocated to what is traditionally known as ‘SPaG’, or spelling, punctuation and grammar. Meanwhile, all other subjects with a significant written component must ‘make similar requirements for appropriate grammar, spelling, punctuation and legibility’ (Ofqual, 2015: 4). And of course, even more importantly, we need to ensure that pupils understand what is going on around them and communicate clearly in the world outside school. Not only that, but literacy is a form of social and academic empowerment, ensuring that all of us are able to access and interact with texts in a range of academic fields and social situations.

In a recent survey of WHS teachers, 68% of respondents agreed that ‘writing is important in my subject’, and 64% agreed that ‘the crafting of writing has a place in my subject area’. But what is really interesting about this is that, despite clear agreement that writing and grammar skills are important, there isn’t really much consensus of what grammar actually is, how much time and energy teachers across subjects should dedicate to it, and why it is important. If writing and grammar are so universally agreed to be important, it’s even more crucial to unpack what we mean by these terms, and how therefore we should approach them in our teaching.

Defining grammar

So, what do we even mean by grammar? Even this is hotly contested. In the survey, what was particularly interesting was that there wasn’t much agreement of what grammar is, and therefore what role it should play, even within subjects, with even Maths teachers having different views on the importance of writing in their subject. Much of the literature suggests that this is also down to our own perceptions of our competence in writing and grammar (for more on this, see Wilson and Myhill, 2012). Of course, on the broadest level, there is the macro-level view of grammar as the ‘structure’ of a language, an idea which came up in 32% of responses to the survey. However, when it comes to teaching grammar for writing in academic contexts, there are essentially two main approaches to grammar, although, as there is with any debate in education, polarisation of these views is unhelpful.

Most common is the correction/accuracy model, which perceives language as a set of pre-determined rules of spelling, punctuation and grammar (or ‘SPaG’) to which writers must adhere for the sake of clarity and erudition. In a recent survey of WHS teachers, words and phrases associated with this model came up frequently, with 64% of responses referring to ‘accurate’, ‘correct’, ‘proper’ or ‘clear’ English as the aim of teaching grammar. Traditionally, this approach would result in grammar taught primarily through decontextualized practice questions, unflatteringly called the ‘drill and kill’ approach by Laura Micciche of the University of Cincinnati (Micciche, 2004). This has also led this approach to be characterised as a ‘traditional’ (Hudson, 2004) approach to teaching grammar, and although we have moved beyond yawn-inducing practice exercises in teaching English grammar, it is worth interrogating what this model assumes about language and how this informs the way we teach it.

English
Figure 1: should we mark to a ‘single version of English’?

The main assumption is that there is a single version of English which is universally agreed upon to be the ‘correct’ version of English. When we mark pupils’ work, of course we have to contend with the bug-bears of misused apostrophes, comma splices and ‘would ofs’ instead of ‘would haves’, but this could end up being a very reductive view of what language actually is. Linguistically speaking, what we are judging pupils’ work against is Standard English, which is essentially just another dialect of English, in the same way Scouse, Mancunian and Estuary English are all dialects – dialect here referring to the grammar and vocabulary as opposed to the pronunciation. However, unlike other dialects, Standard English has less to do with geography and more to do with class and social groupings; it is a prestigious form of language descended from 1950s BBC English, into which we have to induct pupils so that the writing they produce means they can be taken seriously as scholars.

However, Standard English is more complex than that. Compare the sentences below:

  • Father was exceedingly fatigued after his lengthy peregrination.
  • Dad was exhausted after his long journey.
  • Dad was well tired after his journey.
  • Father were very tired after his lengthy journey
  • My old man was knackered after his trip.

Evidently, the first is not Standard English; the register is absurd for most everyday language contexts, and many of us I’m sure would caution pupils who were writing like this against ‘over-writing’. And it would certainly not be fair, or even politically correct, to tell a Cornish or Welsh dialect speaker that the way they were speaking was ‘wrong’. The only one of those examples which most would agree is Standard English is the second, but it’s hardly eloquent prose.

More than just correcting errors

An added layer of complexity here in that we are asking pupils to actually develop a good understanding of different types of English within the dialect of Standard English; using phrases such as ‘CO2’ and ‘ox-bow lakes’ would sound very weird in a Philosophy essay. And this isn’t just at the level of vocabulary: in different subjects, there are different syntactical structures which are held to be more prestigious than others. For my MA research, I undertook some analysis of the indicative content in GCSE mark schemes in History, Geography and Religious Studies. You can see some of the key features in the table below, where you’ll notice that there are quite clear differences in the expectations of language usage for each subject area.

Figure 2: exam board mark schemes for History, Religious Studies and Geography, showing the differences in the expectations of language usage.

Evidently, it’s not as simple as being right and wrong when it comes to grammar – but that doesn’t mean that the other main model of grammar teaching is a case of throwing the rule-book out of the window in abandon, even if what is traditionally known as ‘SPaG’ isn’t explicitly part of the mark scheme in the English Literature iGCSE; the only reference to the quality of writing in the mark scheme is for AO4, worth 25%, which refers to a need to ‘communicate a sensitive and informed response’.

Figure 3: a sign at Victoria Station, London.

Before we throw our hands up in horror, let’s unpack the genre-based model of grammar first. This model essentially posits that different academic subjects have their own very specific rules and conventions, which pupils will need to confidently use to write convincingly within their subject areas. Thankfully, 92% of responses to the survey disagreed that grammar should only be taught in English; with the genre-based model, part of the requirement of all teachers, regardless of subject area, is to teach pupils how to successfully craft their language for the academic genre they are using, and many subjects have several academic genres: consider the difference between a case study and a discursive essay, for instance. We can see this from our everyday language too: examples of non-Standard English which would be acceptable in a text message or shopping list would not be acceptable in an email or formal school communication, but that doesn’t make them ‘wrong’ in the appropriate context. In this approach to teaching grammar and writing, teaching grammar is a case of making explicit the different ways of writing in different subjects and the appropriate generic conventions.

What next?

So, how do we do this? Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer here, and with increasingly challenging examination specifications and curricula, nearly 50% of us cited ‘curriculum pressure’ and ‘time’ being the main hindrances preventing us from tackling grammar as much as we would like.  Other major hindrances are our own confidence and knowledge of grammar; given that in the 1980s grammar teaching had all but disappeared from the curriculum, many teachers were either not explicitly taught any grammar, or taught by teachers who themselves were not explicitly taught any grammar, hardly an auspicious start for teaching an area which we so overwhelmingly agree to be important.

Figure 4: “it’s not as simple as being right and wrong when it comes to grammar”

However, I think there is also scope to be excited about this challenge, to help pupils see their writing within subjects less as ‘Is this right?’, and more as ‘How much do I sound like a trustworthy and intelligent scholar within this academic genre?’ In English, we regularly consider this through the lens of literature: how do modal verbs e.g. ‘shall’ convey the forcefulness of Old Major’s political speeches in Animal Farm, or how do reflexive verbs highlight Ralph’s self-control in Lord of the Flies? It’s a process which can work just as well applied to subject-specific writing, and to do that, we need to open up the dialogue about grammar, seeing it not as a closed and monolithic body of knowledge possessed by a prestigious few, but as something that within our own subject areas, we absolutely are experts in.

References

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Should the periodic table be turned upside down?

Chemistry beakers

Isabel, Y10, explores the comprehensibility of Dmitri Mendeleev’s traditional periodic table and whether it would be more accessible for younger children and enhance learning methods if it were flipped around by 180˚.

The Periodic Table is an important symbol in Chemistry and since Dmitri Mendeleev’s discovery of the Periodic system in 1869, it has remained the same for 150 years; but could turning it 180˚ make important concepts easier to understand, especially in teaching younger children?

This year has been announced the Year of (Mendeleev’s) Periodic Table which has become the generic way of arranging the elements. However, some scientists like Martyn Poliakoff and his team have started to question the comprehensibility of it. After extensive research, they decided to flip the traditional arrangement upside down, so that the information is more understandable and intuitively ordered.

The research team argues that this presentation is more helpful and has many benefits. Firstly, when the table is flipped the properties of the elements such as atomic mass and proton number now increase from bottom to top therefore making more numerical sense. Secondly, it represents the Aufbau principal more accurately, which states that electrons fill up ‘shells’ from low to high energy. Finally, when young children are trying to learn from the table, the more relevant elements to them are located towards the bottom of the table, making its use quicker and more accessible. Therefore, in lessons, students will not have to look all the way to the top of the table to be able to find the right information.

Above: Inverted Periodic Table. Source: University of Nottingham
Above: Traditional Periodic Table

However, when I compared the two versions of the periodic table myself, I found that the traditional form of the table made more sense to me for many reasons. For example, in both situations I found my eyes drawn to the top row of elements, so it did not matter that the elements that I use the most were on the bottom row. However, this could be put down to a force of habit, so I also asked my 10-year-old brother to look at the two perspectives of the table and see where he looked. He immediately pointed to the top of both and when I asked him the reason he said that from top to bottom ‘is the way you read’ so the properties make more sense going down from top to bottom. He also seemed to prefer the traditional table, commenting that it was like a ‘pyramid’ in the way the numbers were arranged and was a much clearer way to display the elements.

Whilst some may argue that the arrangement of the table is more effective if it were upside down, for me the traditional version of the periodic table works just as well. Testing this principle to a larger group will allow different models to be tried to see if it makes understanding the periodic table easier for younger learners.

References:

Martyn Poliakoff et al, Nat. Chem., 2019, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-019-0253-6

 

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Are we entering a golden age of careers education and guidance in schools?

Like a boss mug

Mrs Nicola Cooper, Director of Higher Education and Careers at WHS, explores the impact of the Gatsby benchmarks on careers education in schools.

If like me, you finished school before the turn of the millennium, I suspect that your experience of careers education and guidance as a teenager may well have been rather uninspiring. My only recollection is of a hurried conversation with my form tutor in which I enthusiastically expressed an interest in becoming an air hostess, only to have it swiftly dismissed as a totally unsuitable career for an academic student. Even at university the options put forward by the advisers seemed limited to accountancy, retail, teaching or law.

Thankfully those dark days of careers education, information and advice as – at best –  a desirable added extra, are long gone. Nowadays all schools are well aware that helping students to think about and prepare for their working life is a central part of what we do.

The importance of careers education in schools was given a significant boost in 2013 when the Gatsby Foundation commissioned Sir John Holman – Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of York, senior education adviser and former headteacher, to produce a report setting out what career guidance in England would look like if it achieved a ‘good’ rating by international standards.[1]

The eight ‘benchmarks’ proposed by Holman in his report represent a clearly defined framework that significantly raises the bar in the area of careers work in schools.[2] Subsequent to the publication of the report, the Gatsby benchmarks were explicitly referenced throughout the Department of Education’s Careers Strategy[3] and now form a key part of new Statuary Guidance for careers.[4]

The Gatsby Benchmarks
Figure One: The Gatsby Benchmarks

[1] https://www.gatsby.org.uk/education/focus-areas/good-career-guidance

[2] https://www.gatsby.org.uk/education/focus-areas/good-career-guidance

[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-strategy-making-the-most-of-everyones-skills-and-talents

[4] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-provision-for-young-people-in-schools

Implementing Gatsby

In the last couple of years addressing the so-called ‘Gatsby benchmarks’ has become a strategic objective for all schools (they will form part of the Ofsted framework from 2020). For those of us tasked with leading CEIAG (careers education, information and guidance), their robust nature presents an exciting, if somewhat daunting challenge. Our response here at WHS has been to view the framework as an opportunity to take a completely fresh look at our provision. An initial audit of existing activities against the eight aspects identified by Holman helped identify a number of key areas in which we could develop and extend our programme.

Personalised guidance

Gatsby identifies personal guidance and addressing the needs of each pupil as a key feature of excellent careers advice and guidance. Student review and reflection, already a key feature of the pastoral system at WHS, will in the future also include discussions around more careers related values, interests and aptitudes.  Along with formal 1 to 1 guidance interviews for every student at both KS4 and KS5 and access to labour market information through online platforms such as Fast Tomato and Unifrog, we can now be confident that all our girls have access accurate and up to date advice appropriate to their individual requirements.

‘Real life’ experiences

One of the biggest challenges all schools face in addressing Gatsby is increasing the level of engagement students have with employers and the world of work.  There is a strong empirical base for the benefits of ‘real life’ experiences, on self-development, employability, earnings potential[1] but a combination of health and safety and safeguarding concerns along with the timetable demands placed on teachers by new more rigorous GCSE and A level specifications can mean organising opportunities to meet with employers and experience the world of work can be difficult.

We have had to think creatively and look for innovative ways of bringing the world of work to our students. Running off-timetable enterprise and employability days for Year 9 and 10, inviting speakers (often parents and alumnae) to talk to groups of students informally over a series of lunchtime ‘Getting into…’ talks and sending Year 8 girls off to spend a day at work with a parent or family member are just some of the ways we have sought to increased understanding of working life.

Developing partnerships

One of the more unexpected consequences of the increased focus on CEIAG has been the added impetus for collaboration between schools. This year, working with a colleague at Raynes Park High School, we have established the Merton and Kingston Schools’ Careers Advisers Hub. Sharing expertise, working together to liaise with local chambers of commerce and opening up events like our recent higher education evening to partner schools has not only been an extremely satisfying and enjoyable but also mutually beneficial experience, to both staff and students.

The Striding Out Programme

Striding Out LogoThe biggest impact of Gatsby has been to act as a framework on which we have built our brand new Striding Out programme, which embraces the concept of a truly holistic approach to career and higher education preparation.

The programme consists of three strands; Explore, Equip and Experience – E3 with the key aim of providing all students, from Year 7 through to 13, with opportunities to explore the vast range of higher education and career options available, equip themselves with the skills required for a successful career in the 21st century and gain valuable experience of the world of work.

Response to the changes from students, parents and staff has been overwhelmingly positive so far. Moving forward, having established a coherent and cohesive structure, we are now in a strong position to grow, adapt and develop the programme. This will include working more closely with Heads of Department to explore ways of embedding CEIAG into the curriculum.

A Golden Age?

So to address the question proposed at the start of this article: are we entering a ‘brave new world’ of careers education in schools?

I am convinced that Gatsby has been a force for good; it quite rightly puts CEIAG at the heart of what we do in schools. The core principles of access to up to date information, personalised advice and the opportunity to meet with employers and experience the world of work certainly represent the Gold Standard. However, there is no doubt that addressing the benchmarks is an ongoing challenge, it requires time, resourcing and the cooperation of colleagues across the school, particularly senior management. I have been very fortunate to have had unwavering support for all of the new initiatives we have introduced but I know that for other colleagues, particularly those working in the state sector, money and time is in short supply. So a golden age? We might not be there quite yet but there is an army of dedicated and inspiring careers leaders working in school who now have a robust framework to work towards. As such, from where I am standing, the future certainly looks bright.

[1] http://www.educationandemployers.org/research/the-employer-engagement-cycle-in-secondary-education-analysing-the-testimonies-of-young-british-adults/   http://www.educationandemployers.org/research/work-experience-impact-and-delivery-insights-from-the-evidence/

 

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How do Independent-State School Partnerships (ISSPs) improve education for all?

ISSPS partnership

Nicola Kersley, co-ordinator of Charities and Partnerships at WHS, celebrates the government’s recent push for more ISSPs and looks at their value to all of the schools involved, and looks at how Wimbledon High is embracing partnerships.

ISSPs on the political agenda

Hard to remember though it may be, there was a time that the government talked about things other than Brexit; back in those halcyon days, Theresa May had her focus well and truly on education [1]. Her plans were intended to provide the backbone for her social mobility agenda, and included: the expansion of selective education in the form of grammar schools, the removal of barriers to good schools (for example selection based on faith), and universities and schools in the private sector giving more back to the state sector [2]. Acting swiftly on her ‘education, education, education’ moment, it took May’s government only two months to publish a green paper outlining its plans for the last of these, the partnerships strand to the strategy [3].

Partnerships between state and private schools were first formally given government backing in 1998 [4] when there was funding provided, and they have gone in and out of vogue ever since. May’s new initiative is in the process of renewing their position in the political limelight, and more power to her. Partnerships between schools should be a key feature of our education system, benefiting not only schools as institutions, but also the children they have a duty of care to, and even the wider community as a whole. This article addresses the arguments in favour of these partnerships and cites examples from Wimbledon High to demonstrate the successes that our reasonably young Teach Together partnership program is already having.

Benefits to Schools

The benefits of general collaboration have been explored in depth by Alex Farrer in November 2018’s WimTeach article [5] so I will avoid rehashing the details and rather stick to the more niche scenario of inter-school collaboration. Most obviously, collaboration provides opportunities for economies of scale [6]; if Wimbledon High hosts an Explore lecture and opens it up to attendees from its partner schools the cost per capita is reduced. The same applies for training days for staff and trips to visit universities.

Schools benefit from partnerships because staff benefit from partnerships [4]. It is through the breadth of experience that teaching practice flourishes, and working with pupils and staff from different schools, and indeed different socio-economic backgrounds, epitomises this. Working in ISSPs ensures that we do not become complacent in our own bubbles and that we are aware of other educational landscapes, often to mutual benefit [7]. For example, an ISSP can enable significant sharing of experiences and strategies regarding pastoral policies. Whilst independent schools are more susceptible to some issues pastorally and state schools are more susceptible to others, neither are immune to anything; the larger the knowledge base the better [6].

Figure 1: Local Primary teachers come together to test out new Science resources in our STEAM space

Partnerships also allow for resource sharing; it is undeniable that we in the independent sector are able to access resources and facilities closed off to many state schools. One prong of our partnership work at Wimbledon High is in the provision of access to facilities like our swimming pool, our music facilities (including the secondment of staff), and our Latin teachers allowing for immeasurable benefit to state school pupils, staff and departments. In the Physics department, our highly experienced lab technician is providing support to non-specialist technicians at some of our partner schools, the impact of which is hugely beneficial to those Physics departments and their ability to provide experience in practical work for pupils.

Figure 2: Physics teachers from WHS’s state school secondary partners share CPD and teaching ideas

Benefits to students

At Wimbledon High, one of our most wide-reaching expressions of partnership work is in our Teach Together program. This sees our pupils deliver well-prepared lessons and support to younger partner school pupils, supported by experienced teachers to ensure that benefit is maximised. The WHS girls involved are knowledgeable and respectable sixth formers and year 11s who the younger state school pupils can look up to, not only as ambassadors for their subject but also as aspirational role models. An excellent example of this is the work that WHS girls do every week mentoring Year 8s at Tolworth Girls’ School, a hugely successful project that sees our girls use their peer-counselling training to help Tolworth pupils think through their problems logically and level-headedly. For the state schoolchildren involved there can be only good done by attending extra sessions in a subject in which they need more support, be that academic or pastoral.

Figure 3: WHS sixth formers help Ricards Lodge KS3 students with Maths extension activities in an after school club

The benefits to the independent school participants are less obvious but certainly no less meaningful. Teachers know better than most that you do not really understand something until you have taught it, and it is in this assertion that the greatest benefit to the pupils lies. By preparing and delivering sessions for younger learners, the pupils are not only reinforcing their understanding of a topic [8] but also enhancing their ability to express their knowledge clearly, an undeniably important skill not least for university and job interviews. At Wimbledon High, we have a vast range of projects that allow our girls to inspire younger pupils with their chosen subjects, such as teaching Science to local primary schools at St Boniface and St Matthews. The girls are able to really develop their academic rigour when preparing the sessions, then hone their communication skills as they deliver them. When we work with other cohorts more similar in age, the abilities to collaborate and compromise are necessities. These skills are essential in projects like our science scheme with Ark Putney Academy (APA) in which our Year 11s, 12s and 13s are working with Year 10s from APA to collect real data about melting ice caps for scientists at the centre for polar observation and modelling [9]. Work like this is an invaluable practice in confidence building and teamwork.

Figure 4: APA and WHS students work together to collect data for the Institute of Research in the School’s MELT initiative

Measuring impact

The question for us working in partnerships is not whether or not there is a mutual benefit provided by partnership work because we know it to be fact. Rather, the question is how to demonstrate quantifiably this benefit. As an independent school, not only are we interested in measuring the value of each of our projects for the sake of growth and improvement, we are also required to report to the Independent Schools Council about the impact that they are having [10]. Evidence gathered is often qualitative and anecdotal making the impact difficult to quantify [11], but by using questionnaires issued to both staff and pupils, we have been able to track certain success measures such as interest in the subject and confidence. We are also able to look at tracking data of those pupils that we are working with and hope to see progress by using baseline data and tracing attainment over the course of the year, albeit a method made problematic due to significant external variables.

Conclusion

The government’s renewed push for ISSPs is a truly welcome initiative that we are embracing at Wimbledon High. By sharing resources and widening our circles of communication, staff and schools are already benefitting. Partnerships allow cohesion between the two sectors, and a breaking down of barriers and negative preconceptions. They enable teachers and support staff to benefit from high-quality professional development and the sharing of expertise [4].

Partnerships are also great for pupils involved, providing opportunities for learners from widely differing backgrounds to interact with each other in a positive and often innovative learning context. Those activities relating to academics are beneficial to all parties involved, providing support to the younger pupil being taught, and a revision opportunity and confidence builder for the pupil delivering the lesson. They foster imaginative, creative and exciting classroom and extracurricular provision. Mentoring projects give our girls excellent experience in peer counselling and provide positive role models for the state schoolchildren.

The challenge that we face moving forward is how to measure the impact that we instinctively know that we are having. We will be working over the next year on formulating meaningful measurement tools to provide quantifiable data, whilst we continue to expand the program to ensure that it is as wide-reaching and impactful as possible.

References

[1] T. May, “Why I’m giving education a huge boost,” The Telegraph, 7 March 2017.
[2] Lexington Communications, “Theresa May’s education education education moment,” 19 January 2019. [Online]. Available: http://lexcomm.co.uk/theresa-mays-education-education-education-moment.
[3] Department for Education, “Schools that work for everyone,” Department for Education, London, 2016.
[4] Ofsted, “Independent/State School Partnerships,” Ofsted, London, 2005.
[5] A. Farrer, “The Importance of Collaborative Learning,” Wimbledon High School, London, 2018.
[6] D. P. Armstrong, “Effective school partnerships and collaboration for school improvement: a review of the evidence,” Department for Education, London, 2015.
[7] J. Turner, “Building bridges: A study of independent-state school parterships,” National College for School Leadership, Nottingham, 2004.
[8] K. Kobayashi, “Interactivity: A Potential Determinant of Learning by Preparing to Teach and Teaching,” Frontiers in Psychology, Shizuoka, 2019.
[9] P. B. Parker, “IRIS MELT – Introducing the Challenge,” IRIS, [Online]. Available: http://www.researchinschools.org/projects/melt.html. [Accessed 02 03 2019].
[10] Department for Education, “Schools that Work for Everyone, Government consulation response,” Department for Education, London, 2018.
[11] M. Bourne, “Independent State School Partnerships – impact of and lessons learnt,” Department for Education, London, 2017.