Achievement

Boys will be boys? Raising boys motivation and achievement in Key Stage Three Design Technology

Aim: Decrease the gap between boys and girls achievement at Key Stage Three. Increase the number of level 5 and level 6 achieved by boys in DT in their Key Stage Three Standard Aptitude Tests (SATs). Improve the behaviour and effort of boys during DT lessons. Increase the number of boys opting for DT - possibly within food and textiles.

What are leaders, teachers and students learning from collaborative approaches to personalisation?

Aim: This research project set out to explore a collaborative learning journey towards what may now be recognised as the partnership-based component of personalisation. Specifically it explored the following key questions in relation to the development of partnership-based approaches to the delivery of personalised learning: What has been the impact of the experience of partnership on the leaders' leadership? What has been the impact of the experience of partnership on the teachers' teaching? What has been the impact of the experience of partnership on the students' learning?

Use of drama and story telling techniques to improve writing at KS2, with an emphasis on boys' achievement

Aim: To investigate strategies for helping KS2 pupils, particularly boys, to overcome barriers to writing. In particular to explore whether: Using drama and storytelling techniques can enable pupils to bridge the gap between what is spoken and what is written; A range of oral communications skills including persuasion, description and narrative can be transferred to the written form through shared and tiered writing sessions; and The existing influence of T.V. and video viewing can promote the transfer visual images into the pupils writing.

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.