Sport Specialsts
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26 / 08 / 2008 | Author: dnorris
Specialist Schools – what are they.
The specialist schools programme was an initiative launched in 1993. By September 2006 over 80% of state secondary schools had become designated specialist schools.
The term can be confusing because the schools continue to provide a curriculum based on Maths, English and Science, but they believe that by emphasising a core subject they can improve standards throughout the whole school and make the curriculum more pupil orientated.
One of the most successful specialisms is sport.
The document called ‘raising your game – using the sport specialism to raise achievement in English, Mathematics and Science’ includes gushing quotations.
Kirkby Stephen Grammar School Sports College developed cross curricular work with Maths and Science around Cricket. Staff were impressed with the effect this had on the profile of cricket in the school and reported a significant decrease in minor disruptive incidents in Maths and Science lessons.
At Carisbrooke High School, GCSE borderline students who were likely to gain C or D grades were invited to take part in an activity week-end which would link maths and P.E. through various challenge based activities. 74% said the experience was likely to improve their performance in GCSE Maths.
Derby Moor Community Sports School used a sports themed film to produce some non fiction writing in preparation for Key Stage 3 examinations in English. The school reported a higher level of engagement and motivation in the students – particularly amongst the boys.
Such comments are likely to raise eye-brows. They create the impression that the scheme is a sop to motivate students who are not switched on by the orthodox lessons or traditional lessons, but there is a bit more to it than that.
Mount Bay School and Community Sports College developed a programme for targeting young people to improve their motor co-ordination skills in the belief that this would also benefit their overall achievement at school.
The areas where improvements occurred are revealing.
There was a 40% improvement in behaviour; a 56% improvement in organisation; a 65% improvement in concentration; a 60% improvement in handwriting and a 51% improvement in attainment.
What seems to be lurking in such conclusions is that there is a hidden curriculum where achievement is only part of the objective.
Increased cash allocation could be one issue. Low performing schools could be another. But it is worth looking at schools which have not considered changing to the status of a specialist school because some of them are voicing a desire to change.
Their target has been the tyranny of the national curriculum. The records of skill development are at odds with independent learning and creative learning. They too are looking at different options for change.
Change is, in fact, permissible within the Inspection Framework. Schools are expected to respond to local circumstances. Schools should contribute a pupils well being and development.
Some schools have embraced this to rewrite a curriculum.
St. John’s Comprehensive designed a series of 6 week modules. Classroom layout was altered; hour long lessons jettisoned and cross curriculum projects were introduced.
One example of this was a project on ‘the forest’. It incorporated visits; letter writing; doing safety assessments; carrying out health checks; writing tourist information leaflets in several languages; launching a cafe selling organic food; planning signs and of course keeping log books.
They didn’t have to rebrand the school. All they did was to start the initiative with the school under the auspices of the head teacher.
As with everything related to schools based education all that matters are results and inspection grades. This particular experiment yielded good and outstanding grades so there was obviously no need to pander to under achievers.
More significantly it marks the emergence of questions being asked after 10 years of the national curriculum. After years of managing with the present version, are we beginning to see the first shoots of a rebellion against its one size fits all philosophy?
