student organisation to raise achievement swavesey village college

Student OrganisationTo Raise Achievement

Swavesey Village College

• Substantial growth 2001-2006: 900→1200 pupils• Loss of identity and sense of community• How many Year Teams were actually a ‘team’?• “We’re a 70% school, popular, ‘high performing’ – it ain’t broke!”• 20% absolutely switched off. Culture of “Well, what can you do with them?”• ‘Us and them’ culture – lack of student engagement

Why change?

How do we ensure 100% of children are known and supported?

included and active?participate?

Every Child Matters?

What about me?

Getting to your destination isn’t about accessorising...

...it’s about structure and organisation

SVC Road Map

Benchmarking – the outward looking school. Every member of staff visited another school .. or prison!

Staff and student questionnaire – “Students are our greatest strength”

Broader, personalised curriculum: Science (accelerated, combined, triple, Btec…), Hair & Beauty, Construction, Engineering…

Horizontal to Vertical – Year Groups to Houses

Peer mentoring, student leadership

AP

PRINCIPAL

AP AP AP APD

ESIG

N &

EN

TERP

RISE

SCIE

NCE

MAT

HS

ENG

LISH

& M

FL

HU

MAN

ITIE

S

Five Houses

PE, Arts

Senior Tutor

Curriculum Leader

Student Support Assistant

Teaching Assistant(s)

Classroom Supervisor(s)

11 Tutors

11 Tutor Groups

240 students

48 per year group

20 per form

Wilberforce House (Humanities)

Teachers and key student support staff are in one team

Streamlines :• Accountabilities• Meetings• PM• Strategic planning• Monitoring

4 per year in a form20 students in a form

Year Groups Houses

The tutor is the heart of the school, the specialist whose specialism is bringing everything together, whose subject is the student him or herself, who enables the student to make best use of the school and develop as a person.

‘Tutoring to improve Learning’, SVC handbook

30 per year in a form30 students in a form

• Pride and ownership – assemblies - developing the ‘spirit’ of your ‘House’

• Raising expectations and standards – no more gum & trainers!

• Better behaviour, less bullying• Competition and fun - inter-House and inter-form

scottish dancing, dodgeball, ABBA...• Peer mentoring, support and guidance of students

by students ; students see what lies ahead – IAG

Advantages

• Closer support of individuals – academic mentoring by tutors

• Record and monitor extra-curricular achievement – the SVC experience

• Improved home contact, supporting families• Improving tutor times - PLTS (personalised learning

thinking skills)• Student Voice – forums, lesson observations• Student Leadership – within forms, Houses and

school• ‘It’s good to succeed’ – a changing ethos

Advantages

• “It won’t make a bad tutor into a good tutor!”

• “We won’t be with our friends!”

• “It won’t work at our school!”

• New roles, new expectations – raising the bar

• Year group information• Overviews of behaviour• Consistency – quality

assurance

Concerns and Issues

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 200950

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

60 61

54

5961

77

81

69

75

71 70

79

94

99

KS4 results 2003-2009 Stage Four5A*-C

Inc E+M

Student organisation, support & leadership within the House

Simon Russell Newton House Senior Tutor

The Role

Monitoring all students within the Vertical Tutor Group System

A recent major change has been to introduce mixed age tutor groups.

Students have reported very favourably on this and say that it has helped them to build good relationships with students from other years and that the small amount of bullying has reduced further as a result. One student talked about ‘feeling part of a family’.

The change has also made the role of the tutor more effective in supporting students’ academic achievement.

Bulletins• Inform the Tutors of the events of the week.

• Reinforce standards and expectations.

• Highlight meetings for the week.

• Maintain communication on pupils that are causing issues inside and outside the classroom.

Weekly Review

Week by week guide:

A detention list is sent out each week and displayed on the House Notice Board (Principles Detention – Isolation).

Four after-school detention = Red Report.

Pupils with poor Attitude to Learning Grades (ATLs) from their termly report go on an Achievement Report.

Monitoring Hour.

Attendance – EWO.

Monitoring Standards: Attendance

House Evaluations

What do we do to help Year 11?

Monitoring Standards Passport to PromPasses to Leavers DayInclusion Centre

Student 1

Student 2

Student 3

Student 4

Student 5

Passport to the Prom

Pupils that are underachieving or behavioural issues (Year 11) go on the Passport to the Prom.

Five whole school/curriculum area detentions also lead to students going on the Passport to the Prom.

Attendance must be greater than 90%

All coursework completed!

Detentions

Curriculum based on the students needs: Reduced Timetable 1:1 Tuition Work Experience Business Mentors/Staff Mentors Student Support Assistant Timeout CardsInclusion Centre

Knowing our Students!

What has Swavesey Village College done for me:Monday1:1 Tuition (Maths and Science)Tuesday Full Day Timetable – Hair 1:1 AfterschoolWednesday Work Experience (picked up/dropped

off)Thursday Work Experience (picked up/dropped

off)Friday Full Day Timetable – Maths 1:1 TuitionTaking some exams early, regular meetings and supported

by Senior Tutor. Meetings with the Principal..

Case Study: Shannon

Case Study: Student

Celebration Assembly

Pupils show off their talents during a Celebration Assembly.

It’s important to celebrate success!

Year Group Assemblies

Countdown in Year 11 – highlighting previous success and who has already been successful!

Student Leadership

How we support students to achieve their best?

Chloe Barnard: Newton House LeaderMark Barradell: Orwell House Leader

Agnieszka Florek: Newton Activities ManagerJack Summers and Tom Poole Student Ambassadors

Student Leadership at SVC

• Based around the five houses:BRUNEL – Technology and ArtsCAVENDISH – ScienceNEWTON – MathsORWELL – English and LanguagesWILBERFORCE – Humanities

• 46 leadership positions• Application Process

Student Leadership

Student Leadership Success:MentoringBusiness Mentoring

Our Mistakes!

• Leadership Positions changed if required. No longer have Head Boy/Girl.

• Monitors Mangers did not work.• Year Book and Prom is being addressed with a new

role – recent change to events managers • Staff have become better at handing over

responsibility.

Being High Profile

• Black Shirts• Assemblies• Visiting Forms• Lunch Queues and Bus Monitors• Attend Working Parties and Curriculum Meetings• Present to the Governors on what has been achieved

in each house

Student Voice at SVC

• Whole school questionnaire every two years

• Shorter, more specific questionnaires

• Student panels for new staff

• Subject questionnaires and lesson feedback

• Purpose: to gather opinions from whole cohort or specific targeted groups

• Groups of students interviewed every week

• Chance to discuss and feed back on current school issues

• Initially led by LAD/later blackshirts?

• Purpose: Opportunity for every student to have a voice

• Each group has a particular project or task

• Students apply to participate

• Led by black shirt + key member of staff

• Purpose: to make proposals to MB

• One rep per tutor group

• Agenda set by students

• Purpose: to feed student opinions and ideas to School Council - creates focus groups

House CouncilsSchool Council

Student Focus

GroupsStudent

FeedbackStudent Discussion

Groups

Focus Groups

Current Focus GroupsUniform Energy New Technologies

Starting this Half TermResource Centre Healthy Eating SVC Experience

Coming Soon!New Cafeteria Led by the Student

Ambassadors

House Council • Form Discussions airing views to the Form

Representatives• Agendas and Minutes• Assemblies• Information Displayed (House Boards, Visible Digital

Screens and leaders trained to upload the website)• Energy Monitors saving money in the school –

money is used in house council for a budget

House Council

School Council

• House Leaders• Senior Management Staff• Ambassadors• Link with Governors• Half Term Meetings• Budget

How have we changed?

• Student Leadership Contract

What else do we do?

• Shadowing previous leaders• Earlier training day

What have we learnt?

Personal Attributes

Opportunities

Experience

Responsibility

Purpose

The Role of the Form Tutor…

Vertical Tutoring…

Yr 11Yr 10

NCB

Yr 7 Yr 8 Yr 9

The form group

• Communication• Group work• Cross-year support and advice

A sense of family…

What is happening here?

What do the students think?

Monitoring

• Tutor interviews• Individual Learning Plan• Feedback and contact with parents

Sample

House Activity Day…

Form Boards and mascots