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CASE STUDY: COMMUNITY COHESION SCHOOL: LENT RISE SCHOOL LOCATION: BURNHAM, NEAR SLOUGH LOCAL AUTHORITY: BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
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Case Study – Lent Rise School
This case study shows how a primary school created an initiative that exploits technology to build international community links with 14 different countries to capitalise on the 2012 Olympics using the internet to enable schools to work together through a shared, planned programme of study.
Scope of community interactions within this case study
Strands addressed
International National Teaching, learning and curriculum
Locality School
COMMUNITY COHESION
Specialism Engagement and extended services
The School’s context:
Lent Rise is a primary school in Burnham, Buckinghamshire serving a catchment area that is a suburb of Slough with a large proportion of council housing. The school is heavily over-subscribed and currently has 412 pupils, supported by a staff of 42 adults. Thirty-three percent of pupils are on the special needs register. In April 2007, Ofsted categorised Lent Rise as an outstanding school ‘in which pupils make excellent progress to reach exceptionally high standards’ and in which ‘High quality teaching, care and leadership mean that pupils, whatever their ability, background or gender, are able to fulfil their potential.’ The report goes on to say ‘Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of what the school
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Equity and excellence
offers, one summing up the views of many when describing the school as, ‘Excellent, well run, with high standards and a sense of pride.’ Pupils respond extremely well. They enjoy school, behave impeccably and are eager to learn’. Lent Rise demonstrates something shared by all schools doing well on community cohesion; the ‘school’ itself is cohesive. Every member of staff, every pupil and every parent shares the vision that the highest expectations are demanded by everyone and community cohesion is an integral and fundamental part of the school’s vision. When you speak to staff about community cohesion, it isn’t something they ‘do’ but something they ‘are’; it is part of their way of life.
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Case Study – Lent Rise School
The school is at the cutting edge of using ICT and has outstanding provision. Pupils use their ICT skills in all areas of their work and in particular ICT has been used to establish links with schools across Europe, Africa and Asia. This contributes to pupils’ cultural awareness and, along with their progress in basic skills, prepares them as citizens of the future. They have an awareness of how to lead healthy and safe lifestyles and make contributions to their school and the wider community. The school has a School Council and a Family Council and the quality of the environment is maintained through the pupils own Health and Safety Handbook, where they can log damage reports or concerns. Strategies to involve families with their child’s education are agreed and implemented at whole school level, and every parent has an individual meeting with the headteacher before their child starts at the school to discuss expectations and support systems. Parent Packs are designed for each year group and distributed to parents to provide comprehensive information and guidance on how to support their child. These are often passed on to friends or relations to support their parenting. The school works closely with partner agencies and professionals to support families e.g. Young Carers, Community School Nurse, Health Centre/GPs, Education Welfare Service, Mental Health Services and Community Police.
Lent Rise School seeks to reduce barriers and encouraging a culture and expectation of family engagement – for example, parents can raise concerns through direct contact and via Lent Rise Learning World (The school’s Virtual Learning Environment). Parents now work with their children to support learning, through ensuring that they check their child’s targets regularly as they are now dropped into the child’s space within the Virtual Learning Environment, through accepting challenges which have been posted on line for them or by accessing further education through links to local courses and to Open University courses.
Community cohesion addressed in this case study: Since 1998, the school has used its international links to develop and support curriculum work. This case study focuses on the international community links created through the school’s initiative to capitalise on the 2012 Olympics. Lent Rise has used the internet to bring together schools in 14 different countries to work together through a shared programme of study, using the vision and values of London 2012 as the catalyst. Each of classes within the school is linked with a class in a different country. These include: Slovenia, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Uganda, Italy, France, Slovakia, India, Ireland, Denmark, Poland and Sweden. The schools collaborate and work together closely, enabling the development of a sustainable relationship.
Community Interaction:
Specialism
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School
Locality
National
International
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Case Study – Lent Rise School
Is the school effective in serving the needs and promoting the cohesiveness of its own community?
Impact:
Outcomes:
As well as creating an awareness and understanding of how people live in other countries through exploring culture, such as arts and food, the scheme of work also calls for higher level skills to discuss and debate issues about principles, achievements and the future of the Olympic movement.
The school’s leadership believes community consists of individuals and that the strength of knowing a community lies in understanding the individuals within it. Every pupil is involved in a partnership with at least one child from another country through a jointly planned scheme of work in which pupils compare, share and discuss work that they do on common themes associated with the Olympic theme. By creating an awareness and appreciation of different cultures everybody involved gains an understanding of things that we have in common as well as differences. The effectiveness of this approach can be seen in two ways: • e xceptional gains in achievement that the students make, and
The school’s approach to using technology as a key driver of student achievement has led to a rise in student achievement. In April 2007, Ofsted said: ‘pupils make excellent progress to reach exceptionally high standards’ and ‘whatever their ability, background or gender, are able to fulfil their potential’.
Evidence:
The Ofsted report recognises the benefits that students have gained through the programmes of study which allow them to develop relationships with children of similar ages from different countries. The work from all units can be seen either displayed within the school, on the school website or in the individual pupils’ e-portfolios.
• p opularity that this has with all members of the school community and the contributions that pupils, parents and staff make to events and activities surrounding the project.
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Case Study – Lent Rise School
How do the school’s actions promote the engagement of hard to reach groups?
Impact:
Case study specific outcomes:
Evidence:
The school has a policy of applying personalisation and differentiation in its communication with parents. Where appropriate, communication can be written but in recognition of low levels of literacy, the telephone is often used. The school lays great store in the use of ICT to support learning in the home. Once a place has been allocated to a pupil, all parents meet the headteacher before their child starts school to discuss how the school and home can work together to support learning. During this meeting, parents are shown how the school uses ICT and how it can be used within the home or after school to support pupil and family learning.
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When the school first started to develop use of the VLE only 20% of parents had broadband access to the internet at home. Now, only 6% do not and they are encouraged to use the school’s Cyber Café to access their children’s work. • S urvey results from parental questionnaires and interviews. • Personal comments made by parents. • The content of the children’s work.
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Case Study – Lent Rise School
How does the school promote common identity and values, valuing diversity and human rights? Outcomes:
Over the years the school has devised numerous opportunities to develop a sense of valued diversity. Often these events have a common theme which look at the commonalities we share, such as supporting charities that work with those who are worse off than we are. There are themed weeks about cultural diversity which culminate in costume or food taster days where parents play the leading role. Parents have also contributed to international cookery books which have been sold to raise money for water charities. Within the school, student voice is a powerful tool with pupils involved in setting the class rules. Pupils volunteer to work as Media mentors and Learning Mentors for younger students. There is a school council with ‘chat rooms’ available on the VLE for all students to contribute to a debate with the representatives of these groups.
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There is an open-door policy for parents and active parental engagement is encouraged through a desire to establish partnership. Each year parents receive a ‘goodie bag’ that provides them with information about the school and their child’s learning throughout the coming academic year and includes items ranging from information on extended services to options for child care. In recognition of the growing role of grandparents, the school has started a similar system to help those who are involved in supporting the pupils in their learning and day to day living.
Impact:
There have been a range of different events, activities and publications that have facilitated the celebration of different cultures.
Evidence:
• Records from the above events. • Publications produced as a result of activities. • Press cuttings.
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Case Study – Lent Rise School
How does the school contribute to the cohesiveness of the wider community? Outcomes:
The school’s reputation has led to welldocumented contributions at national and international conferences and the headteacher’s involvement in a range of national education forums and bodies such as Becta’s Leading Leaders. The school is prepared to share its expertise with any school that makes enquiry. Over 10 years the school has developed expertise in developing international links, the latest incarnation being the ‘Olympic Dream’ which has encouraged parents to set up a working party which they called the Olympic Dream Team. This group works with staff to create a programme of activities to run alongside the children’ work towards 2012.
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Impact: Within the Olympic curriculum project, schools from each of the 14 different countries involved has the capacity to work with schools from 13 other countries giving a rich opportunity to access the experience of 169 different combinations for communication. The scheme of work incorporates the sharing of work, on a class and individual basis via internet connection.
Evidence:
The children’s work is displayed throughout the school, on the school’s website and on the pages of each child on the VLE. Schools make enquiries about how to use ICT to promote international links.
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Case Study – Lent Rise School
How effective is the school in promoting community cohesion through its educational provision? Outcomes:
The Olympic scheme of work allows pupils to gain an overview of the international community through studying historical and geographical issues and develop an insight into what it’s like to be a young person growing up in a different country. As pupils move from Year group to Year group, they change partners and develop a deeper understanding of diversity. The parent body and their Olympic Dream Team support the children in achieving their learning objectives by using parent partnership and engagement in a practical way to enhance their children’s learning.
Impact:
Pupils are developing a greater understanding of a range of issues relating to fair play, achievement, excellence and participation as well as learning a great deal from their peers in other countries.
Evidence:
• T he children’s work is displayed throughout the school, on the school’s website and on the pages of each child on the VLE. • Ofsted report. The Olympic schemes and in future the work being done by the parents through the Olympic Dream Team can be accessed through www.lentrise.bucks.sch.uk .
Whilst the Olympic theme focuses on London 2012, it could be adapted to fit other themes in the future or used by other partnerships as a focus for the successive Olympic Games.
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