Success Against The Odds

Effective Schools in Disadvantaged Areas

Paul Hamlyn

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• eBook ISBN:
  9781134780044
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Success Against the Odds is an exciting book about effective schools in disadvantaged areas, written for a wide audience. The findings will be invaluable to headteachers, teachers, governors in all schools, and will also be of great interest to parents and indeed all those who are concerned about the future of our schools and our children.
The best-selling report of the National Commission on Education, Learning to Succeed, published in 1993, achieved widespread attention, acclaim and influence. Success Against the Odds will do the same. This powerful new book picks up one of the key themes of its predecessor, namely how schools in disadvantaged areas can not only be particularly effective but can continue to improve.
A dozen teams have undertaken to investigate a school which can be described as `succeeding against the odds'. Each team includes: * a leading educationalist, providing knowledge about effective teaching and learning and expertise in school improvement; * someone from the business world, offering a fresh insight into the successful management of the school as an organisation, and its interaction with the world of work; * someone working in the regeneration of deprived areas, providing a perspective that places education not in isolation, but as an interdependent part of the life of a local community
The teams have visited a range of successful schools in disadvantaged areas to identify and analyse the key features of their effectiveness, or of their improvement. The schools between them cover a broad spectrum: primary, secondary and special; inner city, town and rural; local education authority maintained, voluntary and grant-maintained. What all the schools have in common is proven experience of overcoming difficult circumstances.
In the case of each school, in-depth investigations of the life and work of the school have taken place, and the teams have attempted to explain the success of these schools. Some are detailed accounts of the life and work of the school, drawing on the views of pupils, parents and teachers to show what lies behind the consistent effectiveness of the school. Others are stories of schools that were 'turned round' from being failing schools to being schools on a long-term improvement path.
In the concluding chapter, the National Commission on Education show that all schools have lessons to learn from these schools.

1
FAIR FURLONG PRIMARY SCHOOL
South Bristol

Agnes McMahon, Jeff Bishop, Roger Carrol and Brian McInally

Fair Furlong is in an area of considerable social and material deprivation, with a high crime rate, a very high proportion of single parents and very little prospect of the development of any industry which might lower the high unemployment rate: all of this might well have a devastating effect on the ethos of any school. At this school a devoted staff, effective leadership and the development of sound policies have done much to counter these adverse conditions. The work of the children, both academic and creative, generates an enthusiasm which communicates itself to parents and the wider community.

This is a study of a primary school in Bristol, a school which has a vibrant, exciting atmosphere, where pupils and teachers work hard and effectively. A school described by governors, parents and teachers as ‘marvellous’, ‘absolutely brilliant’, ‘exciting’, ‘inviting’ and about which the chair of governors said ‘it’s all buzzing in the school now’. The classrooms and corridors are filled with displays of children’s work, there is a school choir which has sung in Bristol Cathedral, children study the violin, participate in workshops with artists in residence, enter and win competitions, put on excellent, high-standard performances for their parents at Christmas, look after an area of woodland as part of an environmental project, enjoy and experience success with their academic work and above all are valued as individuals. The school prospectus states:

‘We try to be a caring school where every child will feel secure, happy and valued and where purposeful learning can take place. We want the children to be happy at school and we want learning at school to be a positive experience…we aim at happy and hardworking children who are proud of their achievements.’

In the opinion of the research team, these aims are being achieved. Teachers in schools like this can be justifiably proud of their work, but the achievements here are greater, since this is a school that can accurately be described as one which is succeeding against the odds.

THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY

The data that follow are drawn from 1994 statistics supplied by Bristol City Council and from the bid for government funding by the Bristol City Challenge Steering Group (1992). The school is situated in one of the areas with the highest incidence of poverty in Bristol. Using six indicators—unemployment; free school meals; community charge rebates; children in households with no earners/ in households with one lone parent working part-time; long-term illness; mortality rates for those under sixty-five—it is in the quintile of city areas with the highest incidence of poverty. The social characteristics of the area have been summarised as ‘very high proportion of lone parents; clear evidence of poor health and premature death; poor community facilities; low educational expectations of young children; unemployment fifty per cent higher than the local average; long term unemployment worst in the city and remoteness from the areas of growth’. It is located about 5 miles from the centre of Bristol, a predominantly white area (98 per cent), in the middle of an outer city housing estate. The estate was built in the 1950s and 1960s with a mixture of semidetached and terraced housing and flats, many of which are now beginning to deteriorate. About 45 per cent of the housing is owner-occupied; the remainder, owned by the local authority, is the more unpopular or poorer-quality accommodation—for example, high-rise flats. Unemployment in the area is 17. 58 per cent; full-time employment is approximately 56 per cent and part-time 18. 17 per cent (1991 figures). One of the key problems for the people who live here is that there have been few, if any, local employers since a major factory closed in 1992. The area is remote from the city’s growth areas and road access to the city centre and the motorways are poor. This is judged to be one of the main reasons for the lack of private investment and commercial growth. Those people who have work have to travel into the city centre, many of them relying on expensive public transport, since 44.5 per cent of the households do not have cars. ‘For a large number of the population, Bristol was regarded as being somewhere else: travelling to the city centre was seen as going into Bristol—a sign of the isolation felt in this area.’

A significant proportion of the families are headed by a single parent, often a young mother: a study completed by a local health centre in 1989 said that, in 70 per cent of families, one or both parents were under twenty-one at the birth of the first child. These families are frequently living in high-rise flats which are unsuitable for bringing up children. An estimated 50 per cent of families in the school catchment area are welfare-dependent. Money for housing, heating and food is in short supply and this can have a detrimental effect on physical health. Central heating in the homes is often absent altogether or too expensive to run, and washing and drying clothes can be a major problem, especially due to the dearth of local laundrettes. Shopping facilities are poor; the child-care facilities are inadequate given the potential demand and leisure provision is underdeveloped. A 1992 study concluded that about 30 per cent of young people in the area, mainly male, were drug users. Crime and fear of crime are major concerns in the locality.

How do these factors affect the families in the area and what impact do they have on the school? A local priest who ran a community project said that in his view the main problem was ‘the lack of ambition, lack of self-worth’ experienced by many people:

‘There is a lot of hurt, pain, damage and it is very visible— children grow up trying to survive. There is no real feeling of security for the children; they are emotionally deprived. They experience verbal aggression/verbal assault; there is a lot of harshness verbally and physically in human relationships—it is hard to achieve some sense of stability and self-worth. For many children the school is the only area where there is consistency in adult relationships; they experience a sense of belonging and a sense of direction for the first time.’

A further problem that he identified was the lack of positive male role models; women are frequently the central figures in the community and there are many single-parent families headed by women:

‘Men are often unemployed, at a loose end, not doing much for the community. Community activities are dominated by women. Men are seen in pubs, those who are working are outside the area, there are no jobs in the area to keep men here.’

Although these comments paint a bleak picture, it would be wrong to give the impression that every family is subject to these pressures. Certainly it would be wrong to imply that large numbers of children are neglected by their families. Though they recognise the problems in the community, the school teachers spoke very positively about the support that they received from the parents. One teacher commented:

‘Historically the area has had a bad name. This is sad because we have some lovely families. They may have poor parenting skills but a lot of love.’

(Deputy head)

Some of the factors mentioned by the teachers could be found in any area: for example, children spending time on their own because of a parent s unsocial working hours; children staying up late and watching TV and consequently being very tired next day at school. Many children learned to become independent at a very young age:

‘A lot of children are on their own, parents don’t have much time to give them. There isn’t much to do after school and facilities in school are very much appreciated by the children.’

(Class teacher)

‘Some of my class (7 and 8 year olds) come to school on their own, go off to the shops, a lot are quite influenced, negatively, by an older sibling—it’s difficult to get the pitch right.’

(Class teacher)

One of the teachers echoed the community worker by identifying the problem of limited aspirations as a key issue:

‘It’s an estate, the boundaries are very limited. Families follow the same limited pattern and the aspirations of parents and children are low. I feel it’s very important to try and widen their horizons and try and break the pattern.’

It seems that it is not uncommon for those involved in youth training schemes to find sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds who have never left the estate.

A major problem identified by teachers was that children entering the school could be as much as two years behind their peers in a middle-class area in terms of their experiences and skills; language skills were often poor, they might have lacked play experiences, some ‘are not even toilet trained’. However, the key issue for the school, in the opinion of teachers, school governors and community workers was that the children’s behaviour was difficult to manage. The community worker said that discipline was a major challenge for the teachers:

‘We are dealing with children who outside the school are accus tomed to clouts. Children expect a certain physical reaction to behaviour, there is a lack of conversation between parents and children. There is the difficulty of applying a new set of rules to children who were used to a different set of rules. Teachers have to apply a good deal more of their own personal influence—establish a rapport with kids who don’t understand what is going on.’

He felt that poor communication skills led to problems: ‘communication is a difficult area—they are used to swearing, no other way of expressing feelings’. He felt that some parents were themselves unable to manage their children’s behaviour:

‘Parents are unable to cope with their children’s behaviour—so they collude with the child’s behaviour and don’t back up the school. A number are frightened of their kids and have no control of them—parents are trying to survive against their kids and vice versa.’

WHAT IS THE SCHOOL LIKE?

The school is a large, mixed primary school, taking children from ages three to eleven. In September 1994 there were 382 pupils on roll including a forty-fiveplace nursery class. The nursery operates in two sessions and these children do not stay for lunch; 166 (49 per cent) of the children in the infant and junior classes are registered for free school meals. All the children are white and none of them has English as a second language. The average class size is twenty-seven. In the 1994 autumn term four pupils had statements of special educational needs though this number has since increased. There are twenty-two full-time and parttime teachers (16.2 full-time equivalents (fte)).

The school is predominantly a female environment. The headteacher is a woman and there is only one male teacher; the caretaker and cleaners are all women. This gender balance is not the result of any deliberate policy; on the contrary, the headteacher said that she would like to have some more male teachers on the staff. However, the headteacher and the governors had developed a rigorous selection and appointment process and she said that the quality of male teachers who had come forward for interviews had been disappointing.

A visit to the school is a lively, stimulating and enjoyable experience. Children and their teachers appear busy and happy and there is a creative ‘buzz’ in the place; the classrooms are well resourced and organised, brightly painted and contain excellent displays of children’s work. Noticeable also is the extensive security. The main school door is kept locked and there is an entry phone system for visitors. Despite having a noisy alarm system, the building has been broken into on several occasions and video recorders and other items of equipment have been stolen. Security is made especially difficult by the fact that there is an open playing field (some 65 acres) at the back of the school which largely belongs to the neighbouring secondary school. The school budget this year for repairs is £11,000, money which the staff would have preferred to spend on resources for learning. The staffroom has bars over two windows; a new CD ROM could not be installed in the library until security bars had been placed on the window. These are the realities of life in an area where the theft rate is high. The junior department in the school was destroyed by fire in August 1991 and arson was suspected. This section of the school has since been refurbished.

THE SCHOOL AS A WORKPLACE

The teaching and non-teaching staff all said that the culture and ethos of the school was positive and supportive, that it was a very good place in which to work and that they enjoyed being there:

‘I enjoy it very much, lovely atmosphere, great support of each other—we help each other through good and bad times.’

(Deputy head)

‘Exciting, never a dull moment, lots of visitors; the children are very rewarding; it’s hard work—there isn’t much time to relax. The staff here work really well together and that shows.’

(Class teacher)

‘It is challenging, hard work, rewarding, fun; lovely team spirit; sometimes quite soul-destroying but generally quite positive—I love my job and I love working here.’

(Class teacher)

‘Very demanding in lots of ways, but very well organised—lots of things planned and prepared. The standard expected here is the best I can do—there is no chance of coasting.’

(Newly qualified teacher)

The school governors were also all very positive about the school. Two parent governors said that the school was inviting and that more parents were now coming into the school, while previously they would have found it threatening. The whole atmosphere was ‘brilliant’, the children felt secure and valued. They particularly cited the fact that children were encouraged to take reading books home, as this was something that had not happened previously.

WHAT IS BEING ACHIEVED?

Is there any hard evidence that this is a successful school? The headteacher is clear that while pupil learning has improved across the board there is still progress to be made. Reading scores and pupil work are carefully monitored and show signs of improvement from year to year. The teachers are now assessing children on entry and intend to use these data as one means of measuring added value when matched against the SATs (standard attainment task) scores at Key Stages 1 and 2. For the last two years a reading audit has been conducted across the school and pupil reading scores have been carefully recorded; the staff are now considering also conducting a maths audit. These data, together with SATs scores, will give a broad indication of pupil progress, ...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• CONTRIBUTORS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• INTRODUCTION: THE CHALLENGE OF DISADVANTAGE
• 1. FAIR FURLONG PRIMARY SCHOOL: SOUTH BRISTOL
• 2. CROWCROFT PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL: LONGSIGHT, MANCHESTER
• 3. BLAENGWRACH PRIMARY SCHOOL: WEST GLAMORGAN
• 4. COLUMBIA PRIMARY SCHOOL TOWER: HAMLETS, LONDON
• 5. LOCHGELLY NORTH SPECIAL SCHOOL: FIFE, SCOTLAND
• 6. BURNTWOOD SECONDARY GIRLS' SCHOOL: WANDSWORTH
• 7. HAYWOOD HIGH SCHOOL: STOKE-ON-TRENT
• 8. HAZELWOOD INTEGRATED COLLEGE: NORTHERN IRELAND
• 9. ST MICHAEL'S ROMAN CATHOLIC COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL: BILLINGHAM, CLEVELAND
• 10. SUTTON CENTRE: MANSFIELD, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
• 11. SELLY PARK GIRLS' SCHOOL: BIRMINGHAM
• LESSONS IN SUCCESS
• APPENDIX A: GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS
• APPENDIX B: TERMINOLOGY USED IN CASE STUDIES