The Evidence People
Engagement
Making school less 'schooly': what's the impact on student attitudes?
Aim: Over a period of several years, we set out to transform the ethos of our school. Our hypothesis was that this could raise pupils aspirations and attainment. Adopting a range of strategies, we looked to change the attitudes of staff and pupils towards learning and the learning environment. Our sense was that there was no reason why schools have to feel 'schooly' with no toilet paper and graffiti. We aimed to create a school where we knew students by name and where adults routinely had conversations with youngsters.
Engaging primary school learners through a creative curriculum
Aim: At Wheatfield we wanted to tackle the underachievement of our more able children by reorganising our curriculum to motivate all learners and create opportunities for more challenge.
Factors that help children learn to read
Aim: To identify factors that influence childrens success in reading in the later stages of Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3, and to recognise and deploy strategies for maximising that success.
Can creative projects improve the language and literacy skills of our pupils?
Aim: The aims of this project were to improve the language and literacy skills of our pupils both written and verbal, extend pupils vocabulary, introduce pupils to a different way of learning, improve pupils confidence and self esteem and provide pupils with positive role models.
Enhancing student engagement
Aim: To investigate the impact of physical theatre skills on a group of Year 8 students identified as needing to develop their non-verbal reasoning skills further and to document the processes and problem solving strategies Year 8 pupils use when attempting to learn a new, creative physical skill.
Debriefing: Pupils' Learning and Teacher Planning
Aim: To investigate what and how pupils learn from debriefed lessons and how teachers plan and support such lessons.
Students As Researchers: How does being a student researcher affect learning?
Aim: From 1996 the school had tried to establish a Students as Researchers (SaRs) initiative to enable students to investigate, analyse and present student perspectives on aspects of school life and learning. This study records the attempts to evaluate the impact of participating in such research projects on the students learning. The aim of the research was to evaluate the impact of participating in such research projects on the students themselves in terms of:
Their attitude to the SaRs initiative;
Their social skills; and
Their academic skills.
Using computers to improve performance in science
Aim: To ascertain whether computers can improve the results of students in a Year 10 science programme and whether students in other subjects can benefit.