Study Plus: helping pupils achieve their potential

For one group of pupils at Walton-le-Dale Arts College, school has suddenly become cool. The 22 Year 10s were hand-picked by their teachers to form the first Study Plus group – a course for pupils who were achieving below benchmark levels in English and mathematics at Key Stage 4, but capable of attaining higher-grade GCSEs.

Walton-le-Dale, in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, is one of 100 secondary schools in 27 local authorities to have trialled Study Plus during the last academic year. An estimated 400 more will introduce the approach this month, outside of the pilot, with more coming on board in 2008 and there is already a growing body of evidence that the approach has a clear impact on pupils’ learning.

Based on the results of GSCE modular tests in mathematics and English coursework assignments, 72% of the pilot schools are confident that the Study Plus pupils are achieving more highly than was predicted when they were in Year 9. Teachers are also pleased to report that their students are becoming more confident and engaged learners, which should raise their attainment across a range of subjects.

Street cred
Headteacher Tony Hill said: ‘We have taken this very seriously in the way we have approached it, and the training we have given teachers and classroom assistants. The impact on the students has been very positive. We explained to them very clearly why they were being chosen – that we believed they could achieve more. Far from feeling stigmatised, the pupils feel part of a chosen few. There seems to be a certain amount of street credibility attached to it.’

Study Plus at a glance Study Plus is an approach rather than a course. There is no published syllabus or specification. The process will require SLT commitment and a planned structure. The approach requires an effective teacher to plan and deliver Study Plus. The approach requires effective TA/learning mentor support. The process is designed to improve cross-curricular numeracy and literacy. It is not a solution for low attainers or behaviourally challenging pupils/groups.

Study Plus has been designed for use with students who have the potential to improve academically, rather than pupils who are disengaged or poor attenders. Those who are likely to benefit most could include teenagers from some ethnic minority groups, who have English as a second language or have gaps in their learning because of time off, through illness, for example.

Study Plus does not follow a syllabus but is tailor-made for the group of pupils identified as needing support. Teachers can draw on subjects and issues that are topical, pertinent to pupils or that they find particularly interesting. And although it focuses on English and maths, improvements are expected across the range of subjects as pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills improve.

The approach can be implemented in a number of ways, though the most popular model has proved to be as an option subject, used by 58% of schools in the pilot, or by taking time from other subjects in the curriculum, chosen by 30%. It was the latter model that was implemented by Walton-le-Dale, with time being taken out of ICT and PHSE lessons to allow pupils to attend Study Plus classes.

The school was recommended by the local authority because a number of pupils were finding it difficult to make the leap from Key Stage 3 to 4.

‘We have a lot of students at the school who are from the middle-ability range, and who were probably not going to reach grade C at GCSE without intervention,’ Tony Hill said. ‘We serve a large area but are disadvantaged by selection by stealth locally, and parents who are more articulate and motivated choosing church schools. So our intake is skewed slightly with a high proportion in this ability range.

‘Part of the luxury of Study Plus has been to give pupils more time, attention and resources and already we have seen a huge improvement in their coursework grades.’

A structured approach
Initially two teachers were selected – one from each subject of English and maths – and two teaching assistants, for training in Study Plus. Tony Hill added: ‘There was a lot of work involved initially with setting it up, and in the training and planning, but teachers have commented on how it has helped them get the students through their coursework and the aspects of literature they found difficult, because it is such a structured approach.’

A unit in writing for example, might involve pupils writing a letter or a short magazine article about the imposition in their area of a 9pm curfew for teenagers, and they will be asked by their teacher to be mindful of how they use paragraphs and to plan their writing so that they get all their thoughts across. In reading, a unit on comprehension might involve them writing a dialogue or role-play to demonstrate their interpretation of a text.

In mathematics, pupils might look at how a natural disaster, such as an earthquake or tsunami, has affected the population of an island. By calculating the number of people affected by the disaster and the aid they will need, they will practise a range of skills including the use of statistical data and percentages.

A neat fit
Study Plus fits in neatly with recent teaching developments such as assessment for learning and personalised learning, in which teaching is tailored to the needs of individual children. Pupils progress through the programme for up to six terms, at least twice a week, completing a series of around 20 English or maths units – or a mix of both – with each unit lasting up to four weeks.

David White, a senior adviser with National Strategies, who has worked on developing Study Plus, said: ‘If you take grammar schools out of the equation then there is no school that could not use Study Plus. We have even had a high-attaining girls’ school piloting the course because it has identified a group of pupils at serious risk of underachievement. Where it has been applied properly – and that has been in the vast majority of the pilot schools – there has been an excellent response from pupils, despite the fact that many were originally suspicious of it.

‘In many children’s minds any kind of special provision is associated with being “a bit thick”, but schools have been very successful in overcoming this attitude to the point where those taking Study Plus courses are actually perceived with envy as being the lucky ones.

‘One of the main reasons for this is that teachers are not constrained with sticking rigidly to a syllabus and can adapt courses to the needs of children. Pupils don’t feel pressured into completing pieces of coursework for fear of failing their examinations, or as though they are grinding with their teachers through a syllabus they must complete. Pupils have even asked why all their lessons can’t be like this.’

Each school will have at least one teacher who has been trained in Study Plus and to use the materials supplied by National Strategies. Some have opted to train one English and one mathematics teacher so both subjects are covered separately. The role of teaching assistants in the classroom has also developed. David White said: ‘Teaching assistants aren’t just there to support the class in a general way, but actually have a specific role to play in helping individual children or small groups. This has raised their profile and confidence significantly.’

Rigorous evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation of Study Plus has been carried out through routine visits by National Strategies and local authorities’ advisers. Pupil progress has been checked by comparing performance in each unit completed against the unit’s targets.

A report on the first year of the pilot found that leadership and management of Study Plus was outstanding or good in more than eight out of 10 schools.

Observations of lessons found that Study Plus did not guarantee improvement in the quality of teaching and learning and its success depended on the appropriate selection of pupils, group size and the ability of teachers to plan lessons to match the pupils’ learning needs and interests.

However, in 76% of schools learning and teaching was reported as being outstanding or good. Pupils were found to be motivated, engaged and felt more positive and confident. They were also less passive in the classroom, more likely to ask questions, and better able to reflect on their own learning and progress. Behaviour and attendance had also improved. This was attributed to good teamwork between the teacher and teaching assistant, creativity in lesson planning, use of guided group work, better use of ICT and one-to-one tuition where needed.

Positive impact
About three-quarters of the pilot schools felt confident about reporting a positive impact on attainment in English and maths, and just over half were already seeing knock-on improvements in other areas of the curriculum. However, the findings showed that Study Plus did not work if implemented outside the normal school timetable and some schools needed to develop better ways of identifying pupils who would benefit most from the courses. They also needed to devise more effective strategies for ensuring the impact of Study Plus was felt across the curriculum.

The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, when the first cohort of pupils is entered for GCSEs next summer. Where Year 10 pupils have taken a GCSE maths module this year, there are already some good indications of progress.

David White blamed a combination of factors for some pupils underachieving in recent years and failing to meet their potential at GCSE. ‘It is not the national curriculum that has been at fault as such, as it is general enough to allow teachers an amount of freedom,’ he said. ‘It is more to do with the pressure of ensuring pupils meet the content of GCSE syllabuses in the short time available. And while most teachers are able to engage and inspire their pupils, some learners need extra support. That is where Study Plus can help.’

Further information
If you would like more information visit: www.nationalstrategies.co.uk/sp1 or to receive a copy of the Study Plus handbook please telephone 0845 6022260 quoting publication reference 00327-2007PCK-EN.