From Paper to Practice at Foxford School and Community Arts College, Coventry
"We want all teaching at Foxford to be rated as good or outstanding. This means it has to engage; be active, participative and creative; be adapted to each individual; and help pupils reflect on the way they learn so that ultimately all students make progress. To this end we are on a journey that is radically changing our approach. We have rejuvenated interest in the way young people learn and developed new techniques for engaging them in their learning, turning them into active participants. Our teachers are prepared to take risks and as a result are giving students a stronger voice in the co-construction of their learning and participation in wider school life. Our ambition now is to embed this change in our teaching practice for the long term."
-Julie Vaughan, Deputy Headteacher
Foxford School implemented this project with strategic support from two Cre8us Creative Agents, one in the role of Creative Practitioner, who worked with six members of staff from across the school, each of whom was considered to be both strong in their field with regard to the evolving curriculum.
At the heart of the change at Foxford lies creativity. Initially three teachers worked intensively with creative practitioners to approach the curriculum in a completely new way and kick start the transition to creative, engaging and interactive teaching. These teachers have now taken the best practices and techniques out to the whole of the school’s teaching community, adapting and implementing the aspects that best fit with the school and the pupils within it.
This in turn led to an Inset Day being dedicated to sharing techniques for integrating into lessons.
More recently the Teacher Learning Community has been formed. Comprising a range of subject leaders, this forum tries out new approaches, filters out the ones that don’t work and then shares the good ones across each of the faculties in school. This group, combined with the already well established School Improvement Group – a forum where teachers meet twice a term to discuss and share new ideas and practices – are a powerful force for improving teaching and sharing best practice throughout the school and ultimately improving the results and outcomes for the pupils.
Impact
Ofsted visited the school in November 2010 and reported that, "Variability in the quality of teaching has been reduced and a growing proportion is good or better". They further stated that, "Partnerships with organisations that support them (sic; students) in developing their imagination are successful and contribute greatly to their enjoyment of learning".
Results
"We get to say what we’d like to do more in the lessons."
-Amanpreet, Year 9
"I work better in miss' class than I do in others as we do things that are more interesting."
"It doesn’t do my head in, in those lessons anymore."
-Braydon, Year 8
"Students have been involved in developing the content for schemes of work and shape direction within lessons. They have been much more responsive to their learning as they have had an element of control with it."
-Ms O, Geography teacher
"The students have become much more reflective about their work, able to discuss their progress, their learning, what next steps they can take to achieve more and be able to reflect on where they have become distracted and why and what they can do to get themselves back on track."
-Ms W, English teacher
"I knew I was meant to be helping students to become ‘Independent Enquirers’... but I came to realise that I hadn’t really thought about what this meant. I didn’t realise what I didn’t know and therefore was operating at a level I came to describe as unconscious incompetence. Now I’m doing it without thinking about it, which I now describe as being at the level of unconscious competence."
-Ms J, History teacher
If you are interested in this project and would like to find out more about this project and others, please visit www.cre8us.org.uk
