April 1996 – August 2013April 1996 – August 2013

To Isle of Dogs in Tower Hamlets as Principal of George Green’s School for 17 years. Always worked in inner London schools.

Ethnic make up of the school

40% White British (30% when I left)

40% Bangaldeshi (50% when I left)

20% others

Some of the issues in 1996Some of the issues in 1996

Endemic racismPoor attendance – 88%Challenging behaviour in and outside

schoolPoor support from many white working

class parents, better for other groups Underachievement of all groups (except

those of Chinese origin)

More issues in 1996More issues in 1996

Poor literacy & oracy skillsSmall numbers going on to FE or 6th

FormPoor attendance at Parent Teacher

meetingsA very loud vocal, often aggressive

group of white working class parents ….

More barriersMore barriers

Poverty (60+ FSM)Poverty of aspirationFear of failureFear of each other Fear of going off the island..Lack of emotional resilience

The barriersThe barriers

White working class pupils’ particularly boys quickly became demotivated & turned off by education.

High achieving white w/c boys at primary schools regressed or made little progress at secondary school

They were not ‘invisible’ but were targeted right from the beginning.

More barriers More barriers

Many white w/c boys & refused to be on the G&T lists and participate in various programmes

Many white w/c boys wanted to work with their Dads, Uncles etc in local garages, businesses etc. girls wanted to be hairdressers of beauticians….

Few white students wanted to go to 6th Form or College or University

More barriersMore barriers

The local FE college was not considered by white w/class pupils who saw it as a Bangladeshi college

Those who did go to college went far afield & subsequently dropped out because of long journeys

White w/c boys and girls underachieved massively

Many other issues to deal with!Many other issues to deal with! Getting the best teachers & training & developing them (in t imes of teacher shortage) Getting behaviour right so pupils felt safe in school Working with the community to ensure the neighbourhood was safe Making sure teachers could teach & pupils could learn

Where did we go next?Where did we go next?

We started with improving attendance – a very slow process (95% when I left)

Making seating plans the ‘law’Getting pupils on-side & giving them a voiceGetting parents on side (Holding parents

meetings during the day….)Developing good transition arrangements

Identifying problemsIdentifying problems

Using data and our knowledge of our pupils we identified individuals & groups who were underachieving

Distributing leadership & developing middle leaders so they could tackle the issues with their teams

Openess & transparency about the issues we identified although this was difficult in early years…..

Finding solutionsFinding solutions

Taking risks Reflecting & questioning our own practice Stop doing it if it was not working Learning from each other Working closely with local primary schools Looking at and using the research Learning from other schools who were doing

well by white working class pupils

Some solutionsSome solutions

Introduced Careers Education for all from Year 7 upwards

Harnessing the business community to provide role models –( more recently Future First)

Whole school language & literacy policy Focus on improving the quality of teaching Rigorous monitoring & evaluation processes

Changing our curriculumChanging our curriculum

A more relevant curriculumPathways suited to individual needs

(personalised)Regular assessments & data gatheringBRAG groups to ensure pupils knew

how they were achieving against their peer group

Collaboration between English & Maths

Interventions & extra –Interventions & extra –curricular activitiescurricular activities

An Extended School;Saturday schoolHoliday programmesStudy Hall until 6 pm every nightStudy/Revision Residentials

We monitored attendance & outcomes of these activities carefully and targeted white working class pupils who were obvious by their absence

InterventionsInterventions

1:1 Tuition Small group tuition Mentoring & coaching All boy group in English Various differentiated reading

programmes & whole school approachHowever, we got the point where we

focused in on two main issues:

Focusing on two main issues:Focusing on two main issues:

1. Further improving the quality of teaching & learning

2. Whole school approach to Language & Literacy

In order to ensure more pupils were able to reach top grades at GCSE & IB

Language & Literacy – some of Language & Literacy – some of the issuesthe issues

White working class pupils had poor literacy and oracy skills

They arrived from primary school with relatively good knowledge of grammar and punctuation but lost these skills in secondary school because subject teachers were not reinforcing them

They were not confident readers

Language & Literacy – The issuesLanguage & Literacy – The issues

Vocabulary & general knowledge was very limited in both ESW pupils & EAL learners

Most found writing extended pieces difficult and often repeated themselves

Pupils struggling with problems with their writing - grammar, vocabulary and structuring of their writing

Language & Literacy – The issuesLanguage & Literacy – The issues

Involving all teachers and support staff in delivering our whole school Language & Literacy Policy.

Training led by English & Media Faculty

The Literacy Toolkit for every teacher & TA

Improvements were seen across the board but still a long way to go!

A project in Tower HamletsA project in Tower Hamlets

Aimed originally at 6th Form students who are not reaching top grades at A Level & IB

Started as 1:1 helping students to develop their language skills

The Tower Hamlets ProjectsThe Tower Hamlets Projects

The project was very successful and now is being further developed with tutors coaching teachers to incorporate activities into their lessons that develop academic writing skills at KS4 & KS5.

If I was still a headteacher my next steps would be…..

So what’s the answer?So what’s the answer?

There is no one answer. What works well in one school may not work in another. Schools must be clear about the issues & context work together to resolve them. Ask the pupils for their views & involve them in the solutions.

Any steps you take will help all pupils..