|
Homework
Monitoring
Difficulties with homework were a major
source of friction between staff and some SRB students. To try
to remove this source of friction (and hence barrier to achievement)
those students who had difficulties were monitored. We checked
that homework was being written in Homework Diaries in the first
place (all staff assisted here) and that it was understood by the
student (regular tutorial sessions were used for this). Also,
parents were contacted and asked to assist in making sure homework was completed. Where parents
were unaware that homework had been
set, another copy of the homework timetable for their child was sent to them so that they can check if any
had been given and
if it had been done. Additionally, parents were told about Homework
Club (see below), sent a colour brochure about it, and asked
to encourage their child to attend. These strategies were more or less successful, but
did serve to focus attention on a
this area of difficulty.
Homework
Club
 Homework Club
was introduced in 1997 as part of the innovations associated with the SRB
Project. It grew in popularity and usually ran on Tuesdays and Thursdays
after school between 3:10 and 4:15. At its most popular (before its split)
numbers
reached 60-70 students per session. Normally, it was staffed by teaching assistants
and a student support teacher.
Homework Club facilities
SRB students had access to the PC network and the Internet. They also
had access
to additional 
help from the staff who assisted at homework club. Access to
the Encarta multi-media encyclopaedia proved a homework
life-saver on more than one occasion although the language level
of most articles was an obstacle to some students.
In the academic year 2001-2002 Homework
Club was divided so that Years 10 and 11 work in one area and Years 7, 8
and 9 in another. Both groups continued to have access to the PC network
and the Internet. Staffing of the Club increased with more student
support staff involved, so that more help could be given to students who asked
for guidance. Students helped each other also.
For the UK Government's take on Homework
look at http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/homework/
Additional Literacy and Numeracy Support
SRB students with literacy or numeracy
difficulties received additional support. This took place both
during Homework Club (see above) and during their one-to-one
tutorial sessions. Year 7 and 8 SRB students with literacy and
/ or numeracy difficulties used modules from the Successmaker
ILS course, subsequently updated to the better Enterprise version. This ILS course
was supplemented with additional computer
programs. In particular, the
Assessment Disk from 4Mation
and Starspell
2001 from Fisher-Marriott
were used as we felt the original Successmaker spelling module was not well
structured for some of our students. Also used was the
GAMZ Player CD - an excellent
software suite. This is much more than just a spelling and reading program (or
programme). The philosophy behind it is that learning is easier when it is
fun.
More recent and valuable additions included Word
Mania and textThing
both from Topologika, Discloze from MAPE
/ Mike Matson, and Word
Shark and Number Shark
from White Space.
The Successmaker maths module
was more suitable
and was liked by most students who used it. This,  then,
was the
main source of numeracy support for them. However, they also had access to additional numeracy software such as Math Mania
from Topologika
and other software listed on the Educational
Software page of this site. The aim here was to try to encourage
greater responsibility for their own learning.
Their work in English and Maths lessons was
also monitored and close links were kept with subject staff
in these important areas.
Non-computer resources used included the
highly detailed and structured Toe-by-Toe
and Word-Wasp.
The Student
Support Toolkit contains more resources.
Years 10 and 11
The Successmaker course is more appropriate
for lower school than upper, but some Year 10 students choose
to use the spelling and / or maths modules.
Attendance monitoring and troubleshooting
SRB student attendance was monitored by the SRB Support
Co-ordinator and Attendance Co-ordinator (who was aware of which students
were involved in the SRB project). Attendance was not a major problem for most of the SRB students, but,
where it was, parents were contacted as soon as possible to check
that the absence was legitimate. Where a barrier to attendance was identified steps
were taken to remove or at least minimize this.
The SRB Project base was used by some students as a refuge whereas before
they might have walked out of school.
Additional one-to-one guidance and counselling
tutorials
This was probably the core strategy for
SRB students.
Students had regular meetings
with
the SRB Support Co-ordinator. These meetings might have been timetabled
withdrawal from normal lessons or might have been ad hoc meetings to solve
an urgent problem. The SRB Support Co-ordinator was available
before school, during morning break, at lunchtimes and after school on 2 ½ days each week. Where necessary, some students
had the co-ordinator's mobile number to contact him when difficulties occurred
on the Co-ordinator's days away from school. SRB students knew they could come to him with difficulties. Because the Co-ordinator
was timetabled
flexibly he could respond quickly to need and stop a small difficulty
becoming a major problem. This flexibility did help to keep some students in school
who would otherwise have drifted away.
In lower school, (and to some extent in
upper school) these sessions were also
used for Successmaker work and other literacy and /or
numeracy support. They might also have been used to enhance a piece of
work the student was engaged on in any subject.
In upper school, (Years 10 and 11) these
sessions could form a cooling down counselling period to prevent
escalation of work-related problems. They were also used for a
revision programme in any subject where the student felt the
need. A PC software revision library was built up to assist
SRB students. Access to revision sites on the internet was also valuable
but could be restricted by inadequate bandwidth for a 500 station
network. Of equal importance for upper school students was the mentoring
scheme (see below).
Additional
Contact with Parents
Contact with parents was seen as vital to
SRB success and so they were kept informed of the additional measures
which were in place for their child – so that they could encourage
them to take part in them fully.
Where their son / daughter was achieving
good results this was passed on to the parents. Equally, where
a problem arose with coursework, homework or classroom behaviour
this was also notified to the parents so that they could work with
us to try to minimize it. Parents were encouraged to phone or email
either the school or the SRB Support Co-ordinator at any time
(day or night!)
Response to this closer contact was noticeable, particularly where homework was a problem. By letting
the parents know immediately a homework problem arises they were able to help us minimize it. Regular reports
were sent home to keep parents
informed of new strategies which we introduced.
Any information which was sent home was always
personalised for that student and family. "Dear Parent / Guardian"
and "your son / daughter" are not exactly necessary, even with
large mailings, in the mail-merged 21st century!
Revision sessions for GCSE candidates
Help was available for GCSE candidates who
felt they needed help with structuring their revision. The need
for this was identified either by liaison with subject teachers,
contact with the home or during one-to-one sessions with the
student themselves. Where a need was identified, additional resources were
purchased if this was felt necessary. Particular attention was given to independent learning resources where the student
could work through them with minimal help (or direction) from teachers.
Equally, where extra in-class support was needed this was also
arranged.
One-to-one mentoring by mentors from business and
the local community
This was a highly successful strategy
liked by all of the students involved. Each student had the opportunity to
have their
own mentor who came into school on a regular basis. How often
the mentoring sessions took place depended on the individual student
and mentor. They averaged out at two or three sessions per month.
The mentors we had were all excellent and proved themselves
very capable student advocates – helping to remove barriers
to achievement before they’d really developed!
 In June 2005 the Project fulfilled the criteria for the Excellence in Mentoring Award (now merged into the Approved Provider Standard quality award) from the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation. (This new organisation was launched on Wednesday 15th June 2005 at HM The Tower of London.).
Space for private mentoring sessions became
available as part of the new Student Support Suite.
For more detail, have a look at mentoring.
Email
and Texting Support
A small trial used email to support students who encountered
difficulties
out of school hours and who needed to exchange information with
the SRB coordinator. This was gradually extended
to the increasing number of students with access to email.
Increasingly, parents and mentors were contacted by email.
Fresh Water
Bottled mineral water was available to
SRB (and other supported students) to counter the dehydration and consequent
poorer performance which some students experience.
Lunchtime
refuge
 Each lunchtime, students
were able to drop in to the Student Support Suite. Here they could eat their packed
lunch, talk to their friends and to support staff who ate with them in a
friendly, family atmosphere.
Students could also use the
Suite's computers to catch up on work or simply to play a range of
educational games.
Transparency
The SRB Project believed strongly in
openness. We tried to make sure that nothing happened that was hidden from those
involved in the Project and that all had a valuable contribution to make.
This section of the web site is part of that transparency.
Simon Midgley
SRB Raising Achievement Enhancing Employability
Co-ordinator 1997 - May 2006
|
