Literacy/English

Fostering ability

Aim: To identify more able students, develop teaching methods that encourage them to reach their full potential, and examine whether identifying the more able students enables teachers to be more effective in meeting their needs.

The enquiring school: Using action research to enhance Key Stage 1 pupils' speaking and listening

Aim: This project was essentially about what it is that supports a school to become research-engaged. There were two dimensions to this investigation: (i) The aim of the specific research activity at school level was: To investigate the impact of rhyme and rhythm on the development of speaking and listening skills in Key Stage 1 (ii) Beyond the specific research at school level, the overarching aim was: To investigate the features of research engagement in the school which were significant in supporting and enabling the research activity.

An investigation into the independent learning skills used by male students at English Language A Level

Aim: A group of very able boys in a particular cohort appeared to struggle with AS/A level English Language despite good performances at GCSE level. This study specifically aimed to investigate the factors that limit boys performance at English Language A level and identify strategies that can improve their independent learning and motivation.

Whole staff approaches to extended writing classes at Key Stage 3 - a case study in using and doing research

Aim: To use evidence from a long-standing whole school initiative on reading coaching and the wider body of research into reading coaching, to design and assess intensive cross-curricular interventions that would generate measureable gains in extended writing skills at Key Stage 3, that could be sustained into GCSE.