The Delivering Social
Change Signature Project
Planning effective
intervention
Objectives:
• To highlight strategic planning as a crucial
factor underpinning the success of the
Signature Project.
• To suggest a planning framework.
• To develop teachers’ awareness of a range of
factors that inform effective intervention.
• To communicate a range of intervention
strategies.
Worst case scenario…
Rationale
‘Why are we doing this?’
Belief in the project is crucial.
The absence of a positive attitude to the work
will undermine the success of the project.
This is true of the leaders (the Heads of
Department, senior management, the principal,
the board of governors), the teachers and the
students.
A positive attitude to the project does not
arrive in an envelope with the Signature
teacher.
It has to be nurtured. This requires effective
leadership.
We affect each other’s attitudes!
Excuses, interruptions, slow pace, lack of
knowledge about the project, the perception
that one teacher is acting in a vacuum, the
absence of willingness to accept the role of
leader…these elements are hugely damaging.
Just do it!
Change often starts with just one person.
As Head of Department, I held a passionate belief
in the objectives of the Signature Project, the
potential for real social change and
the importance of GCSE English and Mathematics
as essential qualifications for our students.
This was, in part, a product of experiencing the
success of intervention strategies from 2012-2013
and the impact on tangible results:
moving from 33.8% to 60.2% A*-C in GCSE English.
Change will not come if we wait for some
other person, or if we wait for some
other time. We are the ones we’ve been
waiting for. We are the change that we
seek.
- Barack Obama
Education is the most powerful weapon
which you can use to change the world.
- Nelson Mandela
Or…
Weasling out of
things is important
to learn. It’s what
separates us from
the animals…except
the weasel.
- Homer Simpson
Getting started...
The board of governors, principal, senior
management and Head of Department will:
- decide on focused support for English or
Mathematics or shared support (in view of the
school development plan and departmental results).
- organise the interview procedure, short list
candidates, use the Signature Project funding to
appoint a new teacher.
- decide whether the seconded teacher or the new
appointment will provide targeted support for
GCSE students.
Getting started...
The board of governors, principal, senior
management and Head of Department will:
- develop a shared vision of the importance of
effective intervention to ensure that students
achieve their potential in GCSE English
Language and GCSE Mathematics.
- make links between intervention programmes,
for example, the principles informing the
SBALC action plan and the Signature project.
Who?
A leadership model for the Head
of Department
What?
Really?
How?
Now
what?
A leadership model
The Head of Department will:
- plan departmental meetings to
launch guidelines for the
department’s involvement in the
Signature Project.
- ensure that the teachers in the
department are informed about
the objectives of the Signature
Project, with emphasis on
measurable improvement in GCSE
results.
What?
A leadership model
What?
The Head of Department will:
- lead the teachers in the department in the
development of a shared vision for the
Signature Project.
- involve the whole department in planning,
monitoring and review.
A leadership model
What?
The Head of Department will:
- take account of the aptitudes of the teachers
in the department to allocate specific roles –
not just the Signature Project teacher but all
Year 11 and 12 teachers will provide targeted
support for selected students
- plan the Signature teacher’s timetable, for
example, to establish a balance between
English and Mathematics; to facilitate
sustained support or rotational support.
A leadership model
What?
The Head of Department will:
- involve the whole department in the selection
of students.
- lead each teacher to take account of the
needs of the children in the school.
Selection of students
What?
The Head of Department will ensure that the
selection process:
- is careful and thorough
- begins when students are in Year 10 (for example,
Assessment 3 results)
- reflects the effective use of data (for example,
Progress in English results, Yellis test results,
results of examinations, controlled assessment
results, predicted Grades).
Selection of students
What?
The Head of Department will ensure that
the selection process:
- reflects each teacher in the department’s
knowledge of individual students
- is not confirmed until the Signature teacher
has had opportunities to observe the selected
students in the whole class context.
Selection of students
What?
• Teachers’ relationships with students is an
important factor in the selection process.
• Often, students’ relationship with the specific
teacher was a deciding factor in establishing
those students who remain in class and those
who are withdrawn for support.
Selection of students
Really?
The Head of Department will ask the teachers
in the department, ‘Have we selected the
appropriate students?’
- review the selection of students
- ask the Signature teacher to reflect on her
observation of the selected students in the whole
class context before final decisions are confirmed
- review the selection process, ‘Do these students
have realistic potential to achieve Grade C with
teacher support?’ ‘Do the selected students need
support?
The Head of Department will:
Really?
- value the feedback of teachers who have forged
excellent relationships with students.
- invite feedback from individual teachers in relation
to the allocated roles, ‘I think my strength lies in…’
‘Paula and I can work together to…’
- review the decision making process, ‘Does it take
account of the needs of the children in the
school?’
Decisions must be based on data and informed
knowledge of students; decisions must not be
arbitrary.
The Head of Department will:
- plan the Signature teacher’s timetable:
will the Signature teacher give support to
GCSE English students or GCSE Mathematics
students or students in both subjects?
- consider the appropriate balance if subject
needs are to be shared
- allocate at least five planning and preparation
periods to the Signature teacher’s timetable
The Head of Department will:
- review the Signature teacher’s timetable, for
example, which students require sustained
support and which students just require
rotational support.
- plan departmental meetings to review the
selection process
The Head of Department will:
- invite teachers’ feedback – an
environment of trust is crucial
here.
- review data, for example,
controlled assessment
performance, practice paper
results.
- invite students’ feedback.
- take steps as a result of the
review process.
Now
what?
Who?
The teachers in the department
What?
Really?
How?
Now
what?
The Groundwork:
Allocating Teachers’ Roles
Who?
Identifying the Signature teacher
Which teacher will deliver the Signature
Project – the new appointment or the
seconded teacher?
This teacher must be identified as the
Signature teacher.
This teacher must receive training and
support.
The Groundwork:
Allocating Teachers’ Roles
Who?
Not just the Signature Project teacher but
all Year 11 and 12 teachers will provide
targeted support for selected students.
Each teacher in the department must be
aware of his or her role.
Each teacher in the department must have
clear knowledge of the students that he or
she will support and agreed strategies to
support these students.
The Signature teacher will:
- observe the selected students in
the whole class context to gain
information about the children’s
attitude to their work, work
ethic and specific areas of
strength and weakness.
- in view of students’ needs, set
targets for the Signature
project, in relation to Grades
and performance in individual
units and tasks.
What?
The Signature teacher will:
- in view of students’ needs, set
targets for the Signature
project, in relation to Grades
and performance in individual
units and tasks.
It is important that the
Signature teacher perceives
the targets as achievable, with
sustained effort. The teacher
needs to feel motivated!
What?
The Signature teacher will:
Really?
- reflect on the observation to inform effective
selection
- reflect on the observation stage to inform
planning for intervention strategies
The Signature teacher will:
- either give support to GCSE English students
or GCSE Mathematics students or students in
both subjects.
- provide sustained support for a small group of
set students or rotational support for students
in a specific class.
- suggested model: sustained support for at least
one group of students throughout Year 11 and
12. These students will be withdrawn from the
wider class on a permanent basis. In addition,
rotational support for students who need some
support to address specific weaknesses.
The Signature teacher will:
- develop secure knowledge of the requirements
of each unit: examination, controlled
assessment
- avail of a range of resources, including the
examination mark scheme, controlled
assessment mark scheme, examiner’s reports,
up-to-date guidance from the examination
board, moderator’s reports
- plan effective teaching strategies, for
example, focus on specific questions in the
examination
The Signature teacher will:
- examine students’ timetables to allocate
additional support.
- Which students require further support?
- Can students be withdrawn for other classes?
for example, PR, a component which a child has
completed (such as First Aid, which some
students have completed outside of school).
The Signature teacher will:
- in consultation with the Head of
Department and other teachers in
the department, review the
targets established for the
Signature project.
Now
what?
The Groundwork: Students
• Strategic plans for the selection of students.
• Selection should begin in Year 10.
• Relationships with students are crucial.
Rogers – three core conditions –
genuineness is paramount- need to know
that you care about their achievement. “I
did it for you, Miss” is a wonderful thing
to hear.
The Groundwork: Students
• Relationships with students are crucial. Carl
Rogers – three ‘core conditions’ refer to the
adult’s attitude to the child, of which
genuineness is paramount.
• Students need to know that you care about
their achievement.
• You won’t believe in the potential for
success if you don’t have effective
relationships with your students.
• “I did it for you, Miss” is a wonderful thing
The Groundwork: Parents
• Parental support must be encouraged.
• Letter for parents.
• Parental involvement – how to support your
child. Training provided in St Joseph’s
College.
Student self-assessment
• The teacher cannot expect student self-assessment
to be effective as a matter of course.
•The teacher must provide clear structures and clear
guidance for students.
Example: Am I prepared to meet the requirements of
the Unit 3a controlled assessment?
• The teacher must first provide scaffolds to help
students to understand the mark scheme.
Student self-assessment
• Guide students to answer the question, ‘How do
I achieve Band 3/4/5?’
• Involve students in realistic but ambitious
target setting.
• Focus on the requirements of the targeted
Band.
• Examine the examiner’s language with students
and guide students to understand how to
demonstrate the skills required.
• Students must grasp the importance of high
standards not just for this qualification but
for their life. To say THEMSELVES without
being told, that’s not good enough, I can do
better.
Paragraph structure
SP, PQC, PQC, CS, PQC, PQC, CP
Teaching Methodologies
• Active Learning strategies.
• Learning intentions are drawn from the
Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities
framework.
• The English teacher plans activities that lead
students to not just ‘look’ but ‘see.’
• These activities encourage students to think,
discuss and evaluate.
What is Active Learning?
Active Learning is where
you’re not sitting writing
notes but sitting in a group
discussing things.
- Finn Campbell
Active Learning is what you
learn while you do it. You’re
learning actively while you
look at the work and you
pick up little things.
- Michael Kostek
Active Learning is when you
are working and finding your
way of learning, participating
and you’re really interested in
the task set.
- Christine Mc Atamney
It’s the fastest and easiest way of
learning. It also means sharing
and getting ideas from different
sources or groups.
-Esther Bambidele
What is Active Learning?
Active Learning is, I think,
working with your class,
sharing your own ideas and
thoughts and being active
with everyone in the class.
Ashley Lo
Working in groups,
speaking out and
helping each other
understand.
- Conor Boyle
It helps you to learn by
activating parts of your brain,
for example, creativity and
imagination that you would
otherwise not use everyday.
- Shauna Breslin
Active Learning is when you’re not
writing as much as you would
usually write in English. It is when
you are being active and having fun
at it but you are learning at the
same time.
- Courtney Wetherall
Thinking, Problem-Solving
&
Decision-Making
Managing
Information
Working with Others
Being Creative
&
Thinking, Problem-Solving &
Decision-Making
Managing Information
•
•
•
•
distinguishing fact from opinion
making links between cause and effect
generating possible solutions
justifying methods and conclusions
• asking questions
• breaking down a task
• evaluating information
Working with Others
•
•
•
•
listening
sharing opinions
respecting others’ views
collaboration, negotiation
Being Creative
&
• seeking out questions to
explore
• experimenting with
ideas, e.g. green hat
Self-Management
• evaluating strengths and
weaknesses
• setting targets
• managing self, e.g. time
Managing Information
Learning intentions
Students will be able to:
• ask focused questions.
5
• plan and set goals, break task into sub-tasks.
5
5
5
5
• use own and other’s ideas to locate sources of information.
• select, classify, compare and evaluate information.
• select most appropriate method for a task.
• use a range of methods for collating, recording and representing
information.
5
• communicate with a sense of audience and purpose.
5
Thinking, Problem Solving,
Decision Making
Learning intentions
Students will be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
sequence, order, classify, make comparisons.
make predictions, examine evidence, distinguish fact from
opinion.
make links between cause and effect.
justify methods, opinions and conclusions.
generate possible solutions, try out alternative approaches,
evaluate outcomes.
examine options, weigh up pros and cons.
use different types of questions.
make connections between learning in different contexts.
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Self Management
Learning intentions
Students will be able to:
• be aware of personal strengths, limitations and interests
• set personal targets and review them
• manage behaviour in a range of situations
• organise and plan how to go about a task
• focus, sustain attention and persist with tasks.
• review learning and some aspect that might be improved
• learn ways to manage own time.
• seek advice when necessary.
• compare own approach with others and in different contexts
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Being Creative
Learning intentions
Students will be able to:
• seek out questions to explore and problems to solve
• experiment with ideas and questions
• make new connections between ideas/information.
5
5
5
5
• learn from and value other people’s ideas
• make ideas real by experimenting with different designs, actions,
outcomes.
5
• challenge the routine method.
• value the unexpected or surprising
• see opportunities in mistakes and failures
• take risks for learning
5
5
5
5
Working with Others
Learning intentions
Students will be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
listen actively and share opinions
5
develop routines of turn-taking, sharing and cooperating.
5
give and respond to feedback
5
understand how actions and words effect others
5
adapt behaviour and language to suit different people and situations 5
take personal responsibility for work with others and evaluate own
contribution to the group.
5
be fair.
5
respect the views and opinions of others, reaching agreements
using negotiation and compromise.
5
suggest ways of improving their approach to
5
working collaboratively
5
Assessment for Learning
Give each student a handout of the TS &PC
framework – naming the five strands and the
specific skills and capabilities.
Provide students with the learning intentions for
each task so that students could self-monitor their
progress.
Highlight the expectation that students would selfassess their performance and that a member of
the group would peer-assess their performance at
the end of each task.
Task:
In a group, explore Anil’sproblem and investigate possible solutions
This task will develop the following thinking skills and personal capabilities:
Managing Information
I will be able to...
Self-assessment



ask focused questions
5
plan and set goals and break tasks into sub-tasks
5
use own and others ideas to locate sources of information 5
Score:
Peer-assessment
5
5
5
5
5 /3
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5/4
Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making
I will be able to...
 examine
evidence, distinguish fact from opinion
 make links between cause and effect
 generate possible solutions, try out alternative approaches,
evaluate outcomes
 justify methods, opinions and conclusions
Score:
Working with Others
I will be able to...
• listen actively and share opinions
 develop routines of taking turns, sharing and co-operating
 give and respond to feedback
 respect the views and opinions of others, reaching
agreements using negotiation and compromise
Score:
Total:
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5/4
5/11
Self-assessment: (Focus on one learning intention)
Strength:
________________________________________________________________________
Weak area:
________________________________________________________________________
Peer-assessment: (Focus on one learning intention)
Strength:
________________________________________________________________________
Weak area:
________________________________________________________________________
Students can achieve a Merit (3-9/11) or Distinction (10-11/11) for the task.
Infusion
The subject teacher, as facilitator, identifies a learning context,
which enables the parallel development of students’ Thinking
Skills and Personal Capabilities, and subject knowledge
and understanding.
In English, an appropriate learning context would be
a character’s experience of a problem in a novel.
CCEA explains, “The thinking skill deepens understanding of the
subject concept or context and this, in turn, provides an
opportunity for the instruction and practice of the skill.”
http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/docs/skills_and_capabilities/traini
ng/TSPC-Guidance-KS3.pdf.
Six Thinking Hats problem-solving approach
• Edward de Bono invented the Six Thinking Hats as a
framework for thinking. It is a problem-solving approach
that encourages students to reflect on their thinking and to
recognise that different modes of thinking are required in
different situations.
• White hat thinking identifies the facts and details of a topic
• Red hat thinking looks at a topic from the point of view of
emotions and feelings
• Black hat thinking examines the problems associated with
a topic
• Yellow hat thinking focuses on the positive aspects of a
topic
• Green hat thinking requires creativeness, imagination and
unfettered thinking about a topic
• Blue hat thinking focuses on reflection, metacognition
(thinking about the thinking that is required), and the need to
understand the big picture.
Rules for Group Work
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Let everyone have a fair chance
to speak
Listen to each other
Respect each other’s opinions
Take part!
Work together
Let each person fulfil their role
Focus on the problem
Questioning techniques
Using questioning techniques during the task promotes the
development of students’ critical thinking skills, for example:
• Acting as devil’s advocate
• Asking pupils to unpack
their thinking
Ask pupils to defend their
reasoning against different
points of view.
‘Describe how you arrived
at your answer’.
• Encouraging pupil
questioning
Let pupils develop their own
questions.
Roles within the group
The learning experiences are intended to promote student
participation and one student in each group will fulfil the role of
scribe chairperson, and spokesperson. These individuals must
fulfil certain responsibilities in order to fulfil the requirements of the
task:
• the scribe will record the group’s ideas,
• the chairperson will manage the group, for example,
time management, fair opportunities for participation;
• the spokesperson will be responsible for writing and
presenting the spokesperson’s report, evaluating the
group’s responses to the whole class.
These roles will be rotated during the programme to ensure that
each student gains experience of fulfilling each role at least once.