Student Organisation
To Raise Achievement
Swavesey Village College
Why change?
• Substantial growth 2001-2006: 900→1200 pupils
• Loss of identity and sense of community
• How many Year Teams were actually a ‘team’?
• “We’re a 70% school, popular, ‘high performing’ – it
ain’t broke!”
• 20% absolutely switched off. Culture of “Well,
what can you do with them?”
• ‘Us and them’ culture – lack of student engagement
Every Child Matters?
What about
me?
How do we ensure 100% of children
are known and supported?
included and active?
participate?
Getting to your
...it’s about structure
destination isn’t about
and organisation
accessorising...
SVC Road Map
Benchmarking – the outward looking school. Every member
of staff visited another school .. or prison!
Staff and student questionnaire – “Students are our greatest
strength”
Broader, personalised curriculum: Science (accelerated,
combined, triple, Btec…), Hair & Beauty, Construction,
Engineering…
Horizontal to Vertical – Year Groups to Houses
Peer mentoring, student leadership
AP
AP
AP
AP
SCIENCE
MATHS
ENGLISH & MFL
HUMANITIES
PE, Arts
AP
DESIGN & ENTERPRISE
Five Houses
PRINCIPAL
Wilberforce House
(Humanities)
Teachers and key
student support
staff are in one team
Streamlines :
• Accountabilities
• Meetings
• PM
• Strategic planning
• Monitoring
11 Tutor
Groups
240
students
48 per
year
group
20 per
form
Senior Tutor
Curriculum Leader
Student Support Assistant
Teaching Assistant(s)
Classroom Supervisor(s)
11 Tutors
Year Groups
30 per year in a form
30 students in a form
Houses
4 per year in a form
20 students in a form
The tutor is the heart of the school, the specialist whose
specialism is bringing everything together, whose
subject is the student him or herself, who enables the
student to make best use of the school and develop as
a person.
‘Tutoring to improve Learning’, SVC handbook
Advantages
• Pride and ownership – assemblies - developing
the ‘spirit’ of your ‘House’
• Raising expectations and standards – no more
gum & trainers!
• Better behaviour, less bullying
• Competition and fun - inter-House and interform scottish dancing, dodgeball, ABBA...
• Peer mentoring, support and guidance of
students by students ; students see what lies
ahead – IAG
Advantages
• Closer support of individuals – academic
mentoring by tutors
• Record and monitor extra-curricular
achievement – the SVC experience
• Improved home contact, supporting families
• Improving tutor times - PLTS (personalised
learning thinking skills)
• Student Voice – forums, lesson observations
• Student Leadership – within forms, Houses and
school
• ‘It’s good to succeed’ – a changing ethos
Concerns and Issues
• “It won’t make a bad
tutor into a good
tutor!”
• “We won’t be with our
friends!”
• “It won’t work at our
school!”
• New roles, new
expectations – raising
the bar
• Year group information
• Overviews of behaviour
• Consistency – quality
assurance
5A*-C
KS4 results 2003-2009 Stage Four
Inc E+M
99
100
94
95
90
85
79
80
75
75
70
71
69
65
60
61
61
54
55
50
2003
77
70
59
60
81
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Student organisation, support
& leadership within the House
Simon Russell
Newton House Senior Tutor
The Role
Monitoring all students within the Vertical Tutor Group
System
A recent major change has been to introduce mixed age tutor groups.
Students have reported very favourably on this and say that it has helped
them to build good relationships with students from other years and that
the small amount of bullying has reduced further as a result.
One student talked about ‘feeling part of a family’.
The change has also made the role of the tutor more effective in
supporting students’ academic achievement.
Bulletins
• Inform the Tutors of the events of the
week.
• Reinforce standards and expectations.
• Highlight meetings for the week.
• Maintain communication on pupils
that are causing issues inside and
outside the classroom.
Weekly Review
Week by week guide:
 A detention list is sent out each week and displayed on the House
Notice Board (Principles Detention – Isolation).
Four after-school detention = Red Report.
Pupils with poor Attitude to Learning Grades (ATLs) from their termly
report go on an Achievement Report.
Monitoring Hour.
Attendance – EWO.
Monitoring Standards: Attendance
House Evaluations
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Student 4
Student 5
What do we do to help
Year 11?
Monitoring Standards
Passport to Prom
Passes to Leavers Day
Inclusion Centre
Passport to the Prom
Pupils that are underachieving or
behavioural issues (Year 11) go on the
Passport to the Prom.
Five whole school/curriculum area
detentions also lead to students going
on the Passport to the Prom.
Attendance must be greater than 90%
All coursework completed!
Detentions
Knowing our Students!
Curriculum based on the students needs:
 Reduced Timetable
 1:1 Tuition
 Work Experience
 Business Mentors/Staff Mentors
 Student Support Assistant
Timeout Cards
Inclusion Centre
Case Study: Shannon
What has Swavesey Village College done for me:
Monday
1:1 Tuition (Maths and Science)
Tuesday
Full Day Timetable – Hair 1:1 Afterschool
Wednesday Work Experience (picked up/dropped off)
Thursday Work Experience (picked up/dropped off)
Friday
Full Day Timetable – Maths 1:1 Tuition
Taking some exams early, regular meetings and supported
by Senior Tutor. Meetings with the Principal.
.
Case Study: Student
Celebration Assembly
Pupils show off their talents during a
Celebration Assembly.
It’s important to celebrate success!
Year Group Assemblies
Countdown in Year 11 – highlighting previous success and who has
already been successful!
Student Leadership
How we support students to achieve their best?
Chloe Barnard: Newton House Leader
Mark Barradell: Orwell House Leader
Agnieszka Florek: Newton Activities Manager
Jack Summers and Tom Poole Student Ambassadors
Student Leadership at SVC
• Based around the five houses:
BRUNEL – Technology and Arts
CAVENDISH – Science
NEWTON – Maths
ORWELL – English and Languages
WILBERFORCE – Humanities
• 46 leadership positions
• Application Process
Student Leadership
Student Leadership
Success:
Mentoring
Business Mentoring
Our Mistakes!
• Leadership Positions changed if required. No longer
have Head Boy/Girl.
• Monitors Mangers did not work.
• Year Book and Prom is being addressed with a new
role – recent change to events managers
• Staff have become better at handing over
responsibility.
Being High Profile
•
•
•
•
•
•
Black Shirts
Assemblies
Visiting Forms
Lunch Queues and Bus Monitors
Attend Working Parties and Curriculum Meetings
Present to the Governors on what has been achieved
in each house
Student Voice at SVC
• One rep per tutor
group
• Agenda set by
students
• Purpose: to feed
student opinions
and ideas to School
Council - creates
focus groups
• Groups of students
interviewed every week
• Chance to discuss and
feed back on current
school issues
• Initially led by LAD/later
blackshirts?
• Purpose: Opportunity
for every student to
have a voice
House
Councils
School
Council
Student
Discussion
Groups
Student
Focus
Groups
Student
Feedback
• Each group has a
particular project or task
• Students apply to
participate
• Led by black shirt + key
member of staff
• Purpose: to make
proposals to MB
• Whole school
questionnaire every two
years
• Shorter, more specific
questionnaires
• Student panels for new
staff
• Subject questionnaires
and lesson feedback
• Purpose: to gather
opinions from whole
cohort or specific
targeted groups
Focus Groups
Current Focus Groups
Uniform
Energy
New Technologies
Starting this Half Term
Resource Centre
Healthy Eating
Coming Soon!
New Cafeteria
SVC Experience
Led by the Student
Ambassadors
House Council
• Form Discussions airing views to the Form
Representatives
• Agendas and Minutes
• Assemblies
• Information Displayed (House Boards, Visible Digital
Screens and leaders trained to upload the website)
• Energy Monitors saving money in the school –
money is used in house council for a budget
House Council
School Council
•
•
•
•
•
•
House Leaders
Senior Management Staff
Ambassadors
Link with Governors
Half Term Meetings
Budget
How have we changed?
• Student Leadership Contract
What else do we do?
• Shadowing previous leaders
• Earlier training day
What have we learnt?
Personal Attributes
Opportunities
Experience
Responsibility
Purpose
The Role of the Form Tutor…
Vertical Tutoring…
Yr 11
NCB
Yr 7
Yr 8
Yr 10
Yr 9
The form group
• Communication
• Group work
• Cross-year support and advice
A sense of
family…
What is happening here?
What do the students think?
Monitoring
• Tutor interviews
• Individual Learning Plan
• Feedback and contact with parents
Sample
House Activity Day…
Form Boards and
mascots