Developing creative personalised learning pathways at Key Stage 4

The Provider:
The Kingfisher School, Worcestershire

• All pupils at The Kingfisher School have a statement of educational need, for behaviour, emotional and social difficulties (BESD).
• The school are one of two BESD schools in the county.
• Age range of pupils 7 - 16 years, although the school currently have no pupils younger than 10 years of age.
• NOR 50, with a capacity of 55.
• 50% of pupils are in KS4; 18% of the pupils are girls; 4% are of ethnic background other than white British; 72% of pupils are entitled to free school meals; 76% of the school's pupils are involved with the Youth Offending Service in some way.
• All of the school's pupils have been permanently excluded from at least one school before coming here. Some have been out of the education system for a period of months and have had very negative experiences of school and teachers.

Summary:

• When the school opened in January 2006 it followed a very traditional secondary school curriculum / timetable. The pupils in KS4 spent the majority of their time in school accessing traditional subjects. This was supplemented where appropriate by periods of work experience and time at a range of alternative providers. This was poorly co-ordinated and led to in-equality of opportunity and ineffective practice.
• The school employed a KS4 Personalised learning Co-ordinator. The impact has been immense. All pupils are interviewed either on entering KS4 or on admission to the school, to identify their preferred post 16 pathway. This pathway is linked where possible to the range of opportunities available both on site and off site through alternative providers and work experience, to give pupils a sound grounding in their chosen area before leaving school.
• The school also identifies issues and tries hard to resolve these to the benefit of each individual pupil and their needs. This includes pupils who are disaffected from school / pupils who have periods of time in a secure setting / pupils who have additional mental health needs and need a more nurturing approach to their education. This has been recognised by parents and other stakeholders as being a strength.

The Aim:

• As a school they are totally committed to providing each KS4 pupil with an individual learning experience and to achieve this aim the school see the appointment of the KS4 PLC as key. This role links the pupils needs with their wishes / desires to the vast range of opportunities that the school can access, ensuring a balance of learning opportunities for every pupil.
• The school's recent Section 5 OFSTED inspection report highlighted this aspect of the curriculum as innovative, engaging and rewarding for the pupils.
• The school's capacity to and willingness to share good practice and take a lead in this innovative curriculum has had a direct impact on the development of such individualised timetables for other pupils in secondary education around the county.

What do you see in the school?

• The school embraced the need for change by auditing the school curriculum, timetable, pupil engagement, attendance, behaviour and achievements.
• The school decided to embrace Personalised Learning Strategies as a way of developing working practices and raising pupil performance.
• The Governors agreed to appoint a Personalised Learning Coordinator to lead the project.
• Since the implications of adopting the Personalised Learning strategies effect the ethos of the school as well as the curriculum and timetable, very careful consideration had to be given to the construction of policies to support the work.The Teaching and Learning Policy reflects a commitment to the need to address all pupils as individuals and the need to assess the best way of allowing them access to learning.The PLC and KS4 Coordinator have embedded the Personalised Learning framework within the KS4 curriculum offer and ethos. This joint working strategy has added considerable strength to the development project for the school.
• The initiative was discussed with all staff prior to starting and INSET was developed to allow for a full explanation of strategies and potential outcomes.
• A steering group was put in place to drive the initiative.
• The PLC liaises with LA officers on the working of `alternative provision` for pupils within the framework and monitors alternative placements as well as keeping an overview of the ways in which funding affects pupil placements.
• The management of the PL work falls mostly on the PLC who shares the responsibilty with the school`s management team.
• Liaison with external agencies is critical to the work as is internal liaison with colleagues to create creative curriculum packages.
• Following the introduction of the PL strategy the management team decided to repeat the audit of pupil engagement, attendance, behaviour and achievement to see what difference the PL strategy had made.
• A pupil survey and a staff survey was conducted to collect data to compare with the original findings.
• Alternative education strategies are used on the PL programmes which enables all pupils to engage with the learning process.
• Reluctant learners and school refusers can be accommodated within the programme.
• The complex nature of the needs of the pupils created extreme tensions, before PL, as the fixed base school format was all that was on offer to pupils who found life and the learning process challenging. Since PL, most of the pupils have found a way of engaging with education in a positive way. This has led to increased achievement in skills, knowledge and understanding of themselves and the world around them.
• Pupils are more aware of their own needs and the opportunities that are available to meet those needs.
• The whole PL programme is monitored daily and weekly.
• Targets are set for individual pupils, for the Key Stages and for the whole school.
• The round of individual pupil reviews support the monitoring process.
• The school uses the monitoring sytem to assess progress of the PL programme and the NC programmes contained within it.
• Annual Reports, teacher assessment across subjects and individual pupil log books are all used as monitoring tools.
• The reasons for engaging in the PL programme is documented in `criteria 1`.
• The school is able to demonstrate:
• improved pupil attendance
• improved pupil behaviour
• improved pupil engagement
• increased external accreditation in Years 10 and 11 gained through school and external providers.
• This is generally a very positive outcome for the hard work shown by the school. Success can bring issues around increased pupil numbers as the school is finding. Creative discussions with the LA should take place to ensure that the successes are not inhibited by overcrowding or lack of funding.
• The school is one of a small number of schools supporting pupils with ESBD within the County.
• There is considerable pressure on such schools to take more and more pupils but this is set against the success of the PL programme based on the current school population.
• Sharing information and good practice to the local educational family is restricted but nevertheless the school promotes its work wherever and whenever possible.
• The school attends `consortia` meetings where information is shared.
• The schools shares work with other ESBD schools within the County.
• Results of the programme are shared with external agencies and providers.
• The school presented its work to educational professionals at an EEC conference in Northern Ireland and in Finland as part of a British Council visit.
• The PLC role was developed to link with the KS4 Coordinator and Administrative Manager to to ensure the practicality and quality of the provisions developed.
• Weekly planning meetings were developed.
• Performance targets were set for the PLC.
• The PL Coordinator post and the work involved in PL is now a significant strand of the school`s development plan for the future.
• The PLC post is seen as a prestigious role by pupils, parents, staff ,Governors the LA and outside agencies and providers.
• The post has been extended for another year and a further year`s extension has recently been agreed with the Governors. It is hoped that the post will become a permanent one within the school`s management and organisational structure.
• The school is highly committed to ensuring that even the most disaffected pupils are given every opportunity , through a range of strategies, to gain a sound educational base. The PL programme is continually looking to develop with the PLC engaged in ongoing discussions with providers and agencies to extend the range of qualifications offered by them to meet individual pupil needs.
• The school is currently engaged in a 12 month review of the PL programme.
• This will enable staff to refine the programme.

What difference does it make?

• A sign of the maturity of the programme is shown by:
• pupils sitting on Redditch Student Council
• alongside mainstream peers
• pupils taking part in mainstream events alongside peers with confidence and the lack of `labelling`.
• The impact of the programme can also be seen in:
• improved Post 16 outcomes
• the reduction in the number of school exclusions and
• the Governors seeking to extend the post of PLC for a further 12 months whilst searching for sustainable funding to maintain the work within the school.
• Since the PL programme has been running the confidence of parents in the school has risen.
• Parents show a greater interest in the learning process of their children. The success of the work allows parents to talk to the school about positive experiences rather than the negative ones seen in previous years.
• There is a greater contact with parents initiated by the PLC who are consulted about the programme and its impact on their children. They are seen as genuine stakeholders.
• The local community is more involved in the work of the school with school members going into the community on a frequent basis where appropriate.
• Greater integration into the local community is seen when pupils are involved in working on alternative curriculum opportunities.
• The reputation of the school is enhanced by the PL work.
• The huge changes brought about by the work has lifted the perception of the school`s role within the social and educational community.

From where is evidence collected to prove the Leading Aspect?

• A high proportion of the pupil population have issues around the courts, social services, family dynamics and perceived personal identity. The PL programme allows for all issues to be accommodated albeit quite a complex process in many cases.
• A job and person specification was developed to recruit to the post.
• Accreditation Awards
• An audit over 3 months looked at collating information on all these issues.
• Annual Reviews and LAC Reviews are used as vehicles for monitoring pupil progress.
• Attendance and engagement in learning are monitored by the Administrative Manager through daily contact with school staff and outside providers.
• Behaviour points and staff feedback
• Copies of KS4 Annual Reviews are shared with external agencies.
• Copious records of KS4 PL work are kept.
• Discussions with KS4 staff, the PLC and the Connexions Adviser allow for pupils to air their thoughts about their needs and possible solutions to meeting those needs.
• Evidence can be seen in data from Student Council minutes, press coverage and letters from organisers.
• Evidence can be seen in:
• Exclusions data
• Governing body minutes
• Governors agreed to fund the post for 12 months initially ( see Governor minutes )
• Info from SLEUTH - the school`s behaviour management system
• Liaison with Connexions, Social Services, YOT and YIP teams, the Police and external providers is ongoing and forms a vital part of the role of the PLC.
• Minutes of consortia meetings
• Most of the evidence here is seen within the log of the PLC when calling on and talking to parents.
• OFSTED reports and Governor minutes set out the issues.
• OFSTED set targets via their reporting system to support the school at this time.
• Outside visitors develop a wider concept of the community for the pupils. These visitors are more readily accepted than used to be the case without PL in place.
• Parents are consulted to explain opportunities and the rationale behind daily and weekly programmes.
• Performance targets reflect the wide-ranging nature of the post and the potential outcomes for pupils.
• Planning meetings are regular, have a set agenda and have a revue element as part of the brief. The meetings are minuted.
• Post 16 provision data
• Providers send letters of approval for the work done on the programme as do Connexion Advisers.
• Provision data
• Pupils are consulted as to preferences and needs. Their social skills and home situations are taken into account when PL programmes are designed.
• Regular discussions with KS4 teams take place.
• Staff and pupils participated in the surveys.
• Staff felt that the marked increase in pupil attendance and engagement in learning contributed to pupil achievement and staff satisfaction in their own work.
• Steering group minutes are kept to inform on progress for staff and Governors.
• Success is measured through:
• The Admin manager coordinates financial issues and transport arrangements.
• The findings were kept to inform a second audit following changes to the school organisation.
• The LA supports the school in this development. Reports from LA officers support the success of the work to date.
• The Personalised Learning Coordinator reports to Governors on an ongoing basis but reported in 2007 on the development of the education strategy based within PL.
• The Personalised Learning framework is now embedded in school policy and forms a major part of the overall ethos of the school.
• The PL framework was developed as part of the school`s CPD for all staff.
• The PL policy fits within the overall Teaching and Learning Policy of the school.
• The PL programme requires continuous assessment and monitoring as pupil needs change regularly as a result of their personal circumstances and complex needs.
• The PLC provides half termly progress reports on each pupil and their individual programme.
• The policy on Personalised Learning reflects the way the needs of individual pupils are addressed.
• The programme offers a range of opportunities for pupils to engage in learning.
• The school collates evidence from teacher assessment data and individual pupil logs to document progress across the Key Stage.
• The SDP contains a detailed outrun of PL for the next 3 years. Every possibility is explored with the pupil, the staff, external agencies and providers to ensure that avenues to learning are explored in the hope of engaging the young people in learning, however circuitous the route.
• Time is assigned to the PLC to develop links and opportunities for pupils. This involves liaising with parents and carers and agencies to link with potential providers ( including the school ) to examine routes to pupil engagement in learning opportunities.
• The staff survey showed a marked increase in confidence amongst staff about the management and education of the pupils.
• The work of pupils in Sandycroft Residential Home is a significant school / community project.
• Through the SDP and SEF the whole school is involved in the monitoring process of the work.
• When compared with the original surveys the results showed that the PL strategies had had a very positive impact on pupil attendance, behaviour, engagement and achievement.

The Verifiers Comment

• The strength of the practice here is the commitment of the whole school to move away from, what are seen as traditional educational practices for pupils with ESBD, to a more holistic approach to the learning needs of pupils with extremely complex learning and social needs.