Harris Voice 2009 by Cleverbox UK Ltd

Harris Student Commission on Learning September 2009

Supported by

“ This isn’t a talking shop. It’s a real chance to make some positive changes to what we do and how we do it.”

Dear Colleagues Thank you for the magnificent work you have been doing to raise standards and for the work you will do this year. A very warm welcome to Harris Academy Purley and to Harris Boys’ Academy East Dulwich, we look forward to these new Harris Academies fully engaging with the work of the Student Commission right from the beginning of this new academic year.

I know you would all agree with me that our students deserve the very best teaching and as a federation we are increasingly providing this. The greatest issue facing teachers everywhere is how to improve student engagement and their motivation to learn. With this in mind we have created the Harris Student Commission on Learning. The Commission is active in all Academies and is giving students a real voice and stake in how we work and, in particular, how we might better organise their learning. This goes much deeper than traditional Student Council work, which often gives very little voice to students on the really important issue of their own learning. Our Commission is about students and teachers working side by side to investigate what makes for the most effective learning and then testing out these approaches to see what works. Through the Student Commission we are seeking a stepchange in student learning and motivation and this will require change in how we work with students. We want to improve further and we need to be courageous enough to work with ‘our customers’ to learn together how to do this better. This isn’t a talking shop. It’s a real chance to make some positive changes to what we do and how we do it in order to bring further improvement and so transform the lives of our young people. This publication shows just how much has already been achieved and how much the students are learning about learning. I hope this year will see many more of you actively involved in the work of the Commission.

Dr Dan Moynihan Ed.D, M.A., B.Sc. (Econ) Chief Executive, Harris Federation of South London Schools

Opportunities and challenges for the Student Commission The Commission is a huge opportunity and a big challenge for the participating students. They are being asked to research and enquire into issues that are at the heart of education – What is the nature of the most powerful relationship between the learner and the teacher? How is learning most effective for students? What do we know about successful learning and how we can implement this within our own Academies? These are questions that provoke and perplex even our recognised experts, so the journey ahead for our Commissioners is certainly a long one! They are undaunted by this challenge. The levels of commitment they are showing and the tenacity with which they pursue these issues is inspirational.

Contents A teacher’s view on the Commission by Paula Ledger

Learning from the best: what experts have told us about learning

I firmly believe that the success of this project rests with us working in partnership; students and staff together having new and different conversations. Therefore I would encourage as many staff as possible to work with our Commissioners as they grapple with these matters.

Student Commission Activity Harris Academy Bermondsey

Harris City Academy Crystal Palace

Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich

Harris Academy Falconwood

Harris Academy Merton

Harris Academy at Peckham

Harris Academy South Norwood

Connecting up and sharing ideas

Jane Fletcher

Principal, Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich and Lead Principal for the Student Commission

“ I firmly believe that the success of this project rests with us working in partnership; students and staff together having new and different conversations.”

A teacher’s view on the Commission

by Paula Ledger, Assistant Principal, Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich

I have really enjoyed the opportunity to work with the Student Commission. The students have confirmed the way that I believe teaching should be and reassured me that they are up for experimenting with new and different ideas. Being an ‘Expert Witness’ My first main contact with the Student Commission was delivering an ‘Expert Witness Session’ on effective group work at Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich. This involved demonstrating how we use De Bono’s thinking hats and how circle time can be used in any lesson for any topic area. The students responded very positively to these techniques and commented that they all enjoyed the opportunity to hear and give their views on various areas of learning.

Having the Student Commission in the Federation and our Academy has affected me as a teacher in a number of ways.

Students as teachers As a teacher, I have given over my Year 10 lessons to the students to lead all of the lessons this half term (a change from just the odd one). The students were divided randomly into groups of four and then chose the topic they wanted to teach in the scheme of learning.

lessons were engaging and motivating. Where the students had spent less time planning the lessons were less effective. What struck me most was the strength of the evaluations that the students in the lesson gave of their fellow student teachers. They were almost identical to mine. They showed a clear awareness of the different parts of a lesson and how important motivation and purpose are – things that Valerie Hannon and Charlie Leadbeater had highlighted. The student teachers that had good peer

Hearing from external experts

The opportunity to attend an external Expert Witness Session at National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) was so exhilarating for the students and for me. Discussing teaching and learning and how we should be moving forward with people such as Valerie Hannon of the Innovation Unit and Charlie Leadbeater, author of ‘We Think’, was a great opportunity. The students from across the Federation spoke like academics. They were confident, impressive, knowledgeable and insightful. At one point they were asked who else they would like to have as expert witnesses and one student suggested parents. Brilliant idea! Perhaps the next move?

“ I would like to see a project next year with Year 7s (supported by the Student Commission) choosing, planning and delivering lessons.” This process was inspired by the feedback I had from the Student Commission at the recent SLT conference. The result with the year 10s was eye opening. On the whole the student teachers’ behaviour management was fantastic. Where students had planned well, the student evaluations highlighted that

feedback delivered lessons where students were engaged, focused, driven and where student teachers demonstrated high expectations of their peers. I have also worked on this project with Year 7. I have been incredibly impressed by the students’ interest in delivering

“ I am so proud of our Student Commissioners and feel privileged to work with them.” lessons and their willingness to be the ‘teacher’. This is definitely a way forward with the teacher acting as a facilitator.

What next? The truth is, that when you teach – you learn, and reaffirm what you already know. I would like to see a project next year with Year 7s (supported by the Student Commission) choosing, planning and delivering lessons. Ideally beginning with key questions they would like to investigate or answer, and then approaching teachers within the relevant departments for coaching, as well as getting support from students within the Commission. Using Year 7’s would involve them with the Student Commission as soon as they started at their Academy, and embed the work of the Commission across the Federation. I am so proud of our Student Commissioners and feel privileged to work with them. Well done to you all. You have just got started and already done so much. You have so much potential and it is really exciting to be a part of your journey. I look forward to seeing your growing impact in all of the Academies across the Harris Federation.

Research into ‘Students as teachers’ The Commission has undertaken desk research to look into the work of students as teachers in 3 key areas of activity: • Planning and designing learning • Delivering learning • Providing/delivering professional development The research sets out UK and international examples describing what has been done, what has been achieved and key learning points. This initial research found that both research and practical experience support the proposition that students learn very effectively from their peers. A copy of the report is available to download from the Harris Learning Commission section of the Harris Federation website: www.harrisfederation.org.uk

Learning from the best:

what experts have told us about learning The Student Commission is all about enquiry: finding out what makes for powerful learning and seeing what works for Harris.

Expert: Professor Guy Claxton Professor of the Learning Sciences and Co-Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester.

Title: Looking at School as a Gym for the Mind

Expert: Professor Charles Desforges OBE Emeritus professor in the University of Exeter who served on the National Education Research Forum (NERF) and a research adviser to government bodies here and overseas. Charles was a science teacher for ten years (1963-1973).

Title: Expert Learners

Since the Commission was launched, students and staff have been hearing the views of experts on learning from within their own Academies, in other Academies, and from renowned external professors and thinkers. You’ll read more about how the ideas from expert sessions have been developed and used by Student Commissioners in the articles that follow, but here is a summary of what Student Commissioners thought were the best ideas offered in six of the eleven ‘Expert Witness Sessions’ held so far.

What students thought were some of his ‘best ideas’: • Many students feel insecure and need to be given more confidence • Teachers need to model that they too are learning everyday • Providing more opportunities for students to focus on what they’re interested in – that will build their confidence, curiosity and imagination

How to find out more… Short films have been made of all eleven Expert Witness Sessions and accompanying materials are being developed. To access the materials, speak to your Student Commission leader or log onto Harris Voice from the end of September.

• Schools shouldn’t teach students merely to retain trivial information – this only sets students up for school and not the skills needed in the real world • Focus more on achievement and less on attainment • Need to celebrate the learning journey, not just the destination “ Really enjoyed the session. Students’ questions very acute and thoughtful.” Professor Guy Claxton

What students thought were some of his ‘best ideas’: • Anyone can be an expert learner • Expert learners want to push themselves – they try new ideas and different ways of doing things • Encourage students to learn to apply their knowledge not just in school but in other aspects of life • Creating opportunities for learning challenges and problem-solving activities • Good teachers find out what you already know before they start teaching • Learning from peers is important • Seeking meaning is key – it is one thing to learn, another to understand “ Left feeling inspired, excited and thoughtful. I enjoyed the Q&A session – revealed deep appreciation of students of the issues raised.” Professor Charles Desforges OBE

Expert: Sue Hackman

Expert: David Price OBE

Expert: Charlie Leadbeater

Chief Adviser for School Standards at the DCSF. Sue leads the department’s school improvement, pedagogical and standards work. She has been a classroom teacher, English adviser and Ofsted inspector.

Consultant, adviser and speaker working in arts and education. David worked extensively in adult, further, higher and community education and in the 90s devised the innovative curriculum for Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, (LIPA). He has advised local and national governments on their music and cultural strategies.

Leading advocate of more personalised approaches to learning. He has written several reports that have influenced government thinking on these issues as well as working with schools to help make them real.

Title: Your Future

Title: Whose Learning Is It Anyway?

Title: Democratic Relationships, Engaged Schools

What students thought were some of her ‘best ideas’: Understanding the future – what are the opportunities? What skills will students need to succeed? Are we ready? • Important facts and figures about the future (2020)… – 40% of jobs will need a degree – 1 in 10 pupils will leave school without a job or a course to go to

What students thought were some of his ‘best ideas’: • Work from the near to the far – concentrate on what students are interested in (start with hip-hop and move onto classical music)

What students thought were some of his ‘best ideas’: • Importance of ambition and motivation to learning • Good, passionate teachers who take risks are motivating

• Staff learning and participating in learning alongside their students – co-creating their learning

• Learning should pull people towards it – education should not be pushed onto people

• Teachers as guiding learning – giving responsibility for learning to students – coaching not instructing

• Allowing learning to take place in a range of different places – people can learn in all sorts of situations

• It is possible to learn without being taught

• Students as teachers – show others what you have learnt • Responding positively to criticism and improving is key

– A creative streak

• Democratic schools based on democratic relationships have fully engaged students

– A ‘can do’ attitude to solving problems

• ‘If they can’t learn the way we teach, can we teach the way they learn?’

– 2.5 million manual jobs will disappear • Bad schools use punishments – good schools use rewards • What you need to succeed in 2020 (what employers want)… – Good social skills – Ability to work as a team

– Flexibility “ Many thanks for inviting me. I was fascinated by your ideas and questions. Send your findings – we will be so interested!” Sue Hackman

Expert: Professor Gilly Salmon Professor of E-learning and Learning Technologies at the University of Leicester and head of the Beyond Distance Research Alliance and Media Zoo.

“ Great process. Students very perceptive in their questioning.”

• Believe in your own journey

“Great questions and lots of ideas, enthusiasm and a thirst for learning. Good luck.” Charlie Leadbeater

David Price OBE

Title: The new animals in the Zoo at university What students thought were some of her ‘best ideas’: • Using technology to connect learners and share knowledge – podcasts, blogs, etc • Importance of staff understanding the range of technologies available and using them more in teaching

“ This could not be more important for the future.”

• Using podcasts of lessons to ensure students don’t miss out on key information – students creating own podcasts and sharing them

Professor Gilly Salmon

• Use of second life to explore new and different things

Using technology to improve learning:

inspired by experts

by Mayowa Sofekun, Student Commissioner

to see if a recap lesson is needed. Since the introduction of MyMaths, levels of homework being done have really increased. The easy access lets students do work at home, at the library and on their phone.

Next year I wish to look at how we can use the Internet and technology to enhance the learning for students in our Academies. Four experts have inspired me: Mr B Morgan (Harris Academy Bermondsey), Professor Gilly Salmon (University of Leicester), Professor David Leat (Newcastle University), and Professor Stephen Heppell.

“ In my school of the future I see us using the Internet and technology to learn.” Mr Morgan’s session was on the MyMaths virtual learning website. Using MyMaths teachers can set homework, extension work and also leave developmental feedback. Students can go over what has been said in class and teachers can monitor the progress of students as an individual, or as a class,

Professor Gilly Salmon’s session looked at e-learning. At her university, students are able to watch many of the lectures that have been delivered, as they have been podcasted onto the website. Students are also able to watch other students who have podcasted revision strategies and instantly discuss these and their lectures. She also said that teachers and students should be able to interact online about subjects and lesson topics, and teachers could have lessons in which students are creating things to go on the VLE to teach other students what they have been taught. Professor David Leat works with Bedlington Community High School where students take pictures and videos of themselves during lessons, post them onto their VLE and self-assess. One girl said, “we looked back at the pictures that we took of ourselves using the table top computer, and it makes you realise all the skills you were using, it helps you see”. Professor Stephen Heppell has made me want to look at the use of technology in lessons. He works all over the world with different schools that are years ahead of us in e-learning. In the 21st century there are many games, gizmos and gadgets that we can all use to enhance learning in schools. In my school of the future I see us using the Internet and technology to learn, e.g. podcasting lessons and revision strategies to the school’s website for others to use.

A learning adventure by Yolande Binks, Commission Co-leader

“ The way to success in teaching is through a genuine student-teacher learning partnership.” Working with the students has been an inspiration for me. In particular, I have observed the following: • Students are taking the leader of learning role seriously • They are very motivated to make a real difference to learning and teaching • Students have a deepening understanding of learning • Students are now confident to take risks in their own development and are more independent students and learners Through the Commission, teams of committed staff and students have been established. They too feel part of a learning adventure and they have convinced me that the way to success in teaching is through a genuine student-teacher learning partnership.

Harris Academy Bermondsey

Student Commissioners Mariam Abubaker, Yr 9 Julie Ajayi, Yr 11

Millie Harriet Cook, Yr 8 Nardia Durkey, Yr 10

Tia Henry, Yr 9 Lolade Idris, Yr 11

Umu Lamina, Yr 9 Fachiema Menjoh, Yr 11

Saidatu Odutayo, Yr 10 Mayowa Sofekun, Yr 10

Planning and teaching to learn about learning by Fachiema Menjoh, Student Commissioner

As a Student Commissioner, I have enjoyed learning more about learning through planning and teaching a lesson. My objective was to integrate the use of learning styles into a Maths lesson. I chose to cover the subject of Maths because it was the subject I felt weakest in. Initially, I spent a considerable amount of time researching and then planning the lesson, which included these main parts: 1. The starter catered to kinesthetic learners and involved cutting out angle cards and matching them to their corresponding names. 2. This was followed by an angles game. 3. The main body of the lesson was for visual learners. The teacher demonstrated how to do an angle proof and students copied down the proof into their books and tried to do one by themselves. 4. Lastly, the students did a questionnaire about the lesson. They were very honest in their questionnaires. It was clear that nearly every student understood the mathematical content of the lesson and recognised what they had learned. When asked “what part of the lesson did you enjoy most and why?” students said: “ The group work because it was simple.” “ The angle game because it helped me visualize more what the angle may look like.”

“ I enjoyed learning how to prove that things are true and not just understanding it.” When asked “would you change the structure of the lesson, or would you keep this structure and why?” students said: “ I would keep it the same as it all flowed nicely one after the other and what we learned in the previous exercise would help us in the next one.” “I would make the lesson all physical/ kinesthetic.”

My reflections: Although it was a good lesson, the execution of the lesson on my part could have been better. The content was well planned but I should have been more mindful of the timings of each part of the lesson. Also, some activities could have been extended and the work should have been of a higher level to stretch all the students. I enjoyed planning and teaching and would like to do it again.

“ Although it was a good lesson, the execution on my part could have been better.”

Our plans for Autumn 2009 What will we focus on? • Learning more about learning and how we can work in partnership with our teachers to make it even better • Recruiting more Assistant Commissioners and teachers

What will we do? • Use a graffiti wall to ask students and teachers how learning can be improved • Take forward good ideas that students and teachers generate • Try and set up a learning café where students can help other students to learn

What support and help do we need from staff? • We would like more teachers from the whole Academy to partner with Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners to improve learning • We would like to do even more planning with the leadership team

Get involved To get involved in the Student Commission, please contact one of the Student Commissioners or speak to Yolande Binks.

Students as teachers: an experience of a lifetime by Vincent Nimoh, Student Commissioner

At first, I didn’t know how to go about planning an input on French for Year 7 students. With the help of French teacher, Ms Bushell, and guidance from the Metro 1 book, it was left up to me. I had to design and deliver a stimulating and exciting starter activity. When the morning of my starter came, I felt confident that what I designed would appeal to students. “Your starter could rival a trainee teachers’” was one of the comments made about the starter I delivered. Students said it was “engaging” “entertaining” and “exciting“. The starter left me feeling proud that I had taught and educated bright young people. I have begun to see

of teachers and the enthusiasm of students to create learning that is both educational and exciting. Co-design needs to be the key theme throughout the Student Commission. Without it we are never going to do anything fundamental to revolutionise learning within the Federation.

Podcasts for learning

There is a lot of talk about the Student Commission by Rebecca Bruneel, Student Commissioner at all Academies. ‘Revolutionising learning’ “ Co-design is how we get the best from experience of teachers and the enthusiasm of students is just one of the many to create learning that is both educational ideas attached to the and exciting.” Student Commission. In our Academy, we are trying to find new

But the Students as Teachers project has given me a new found respect for the hard work teachers put in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Teachers face a mammoth task everyday and the only way the Commission is ever going to start getting across ideas is to co-design learning in association with teachers. Co-design is how we get the best from experience

ways of helping students learn. One of these is podcasts. We are currently working on creating some podcasts for different subjects, and next year we hope to make more and post them on Harris Voice so different students can access them. Podcasts will help students learn topics and get ideas in a fun and engaging way. We also hope to help and encourage students throughout the Academy to make their own podcasts to support learning that can be shared widely.

Zeena Starbuck, Yr 10

Jake Sherwood, Yr 13

Vincent Nimoh, Yr 9

Student Commissioners Daniel Moth, Yr 8

David Gayle, Yr 9

Lauren Dark, Yr 10

Rebecca Bruneel, Yr 11

Finn Billingham, Yr 8

Harris City Academy Crystal Palace

Maria Menicou, Yr 13

This was the same question on the minds of the Commissioners at Crystal Palace. It became clear to us that we needed to get students in the classroom delivering inputs and working alongside teachers.

starters no longer as an irrelevant part of a lesson, but a way to recap on vital learning.

Funke Jinad, Yr 10

It is clearly evident that the task we face as a Commission of 70 students is mammoth. We need to be able to produce ideas that can help make learning at Harris the best in the world, but how can we do this without students being on the other side?

Our progress so far It’s almost been a year since the Student Commission was set up within the Harris Federation. Since November, we have accomplished a whole variety of tasks and have set ambitious but achievable goals for the coming months. We started off by introducing the Commission initially to senior management and then the rest of our Academy. We then each had a range of witness sessions within our own Academy then visited others at different schools and at NESTA. These short presentations were given by teachers and education experts who were able to share their knowledge and experience of constructive teaching and learning. This provided real insight and combined with our opinions gave us a rounded idea of what makes an effective lesson.

by Lauren Dark, Student Commissioner

“ This provided real insight and combined with our opinions gave us a rounded idea of what makes an effective lesson.”

We then moved on to putting our findings into action. At Harris Crystal Palace, we have split into two groups. One group worked on taking part of a lesson for Year 7s in technology. This is with the intention of also working with new teachers in September.

The other group is focusing on the Personal Extended Study (PXS) that was introduced into our school this year. We will be researching why people responded to it differently by either failing to complete it or exceeding expectations. We will do this by supporting the people who did exceptionally well in their PXS to mentor those who did not complete one to be able to submit one of a high standard. These mentors are the new wave of Student Commissioners at our Academy. In September, we are planning on working with the new teachers at Harris to get them on board and aware of the Commission.

Our plans for Autumn 2009 What will we focus on? • Working with Year 7 and Year 8 students • Supporting students who did not complete their Personal Extended Study • Selecting Assistant Student Commissioners • Continuing to learn about student-teacher partnerships

What will we do? • Create a short film about our successes • Create a focus group as a forum for discussion about student-teacher partnerships • Find out what new Year 7 students expect from secondary school learning • Begin to find out how we can phase out tutor time worksheets with preparation for next lesson tasks and other tasks that would support students at Harris

What support and help do we need from staff? • We would like more teachers from all faculties to partner with Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners

Get involved To get involved in the Student Commission, please contact one of the Student Commissioners or speak to Andria Singlehurst, Mark Brockwell or Susannah Poole.

Student-led learning: emerging perspectives My year 10 French GCSE group were set the task of teaching the rest of the class a set of phrases. Most chose to do this by preparing a PowerPoint with memorable visuals (they seem to find better ones than I do!). Students reported that they remember the vocabulary much more when they teach others. One student, Amina, said she would like to teach pronunciation rules, as some of the group were new to learning French and were still unconfident in pronouncing new words and phrases. Together we identified some of the most useful letter strings and pronunciation rules and found examples in the vocabulary sets the rest of the class were working on. Amina prepared her plan and then went through how she would present it to the class. We discussed it and modified it slightly. It went very well and students said they found it very helpful. What was most impressive was the way it engaged the two least committed students in the group. Debbie Peel, Teacher

I found it stimulating to lead and when other students led I got a much better understanding of myself and found the students in my class interacted better and asked more questions. It was more informal, there was less pressure and the whole class got involved. Reyss Wheeler, Student Commissioner

Views from our Assistant Student Commissioners

“ I found it stimulating to lead and when other students led.” As a Commissioner I have had the opportunity to plan and deliver lessons in Maths and RS. I planned out what I would do with the teacher and got feedback from the students and from my teacher who observed the lesson. Students enjoyed the lesson and said it was easier to learn from another student because you’re more on a level. I noticed, and other students have told me, that when a student leads all or part of a lesson everyone gets more involved.

“Being an Assistant Commissioner is my opportunity to make learning better for generations to come. I am especially interested in exploring how different subjects can be linked, how the classroom environment and resources affect learning (e.g. interactive whiteboards), and how to give students experiences of other school systems.” Diana Odoom

Lizzie Komolafe , Student Commissioner

“I like working with people and coming up with great ideas to change learning or to make school a great place to be. I hope to work with teachers and talk about how we each see education and lessons. I’m interested in how lessons can be both educational and fun, and in how students would like learning to be in the future.” Maria Chipingo

“Being part of the Student Commission will be an interesting and new experience. I hope to meet new people and gain new skills as well as improving the social skills I have. I’m sure I will gain experiences in new things and enjoy learning about others and their school lives.” Sophie Franklinos

Aim, Vision, Action an approach to building better classroom relationships by Reyss Wheeler, Student Commissioner

Recently I’ve become interested in getting students and teachers talking and building better classroom relationships as I think this is really important for better learning. I have developed a method not only to get them collaborating, but that is also linked to the main research method of the Commission – student-led learning. My method is called “Aim, Vision, Action”. This method is completely based on student-teacher interaction.

The teacher and student sit down together, set short or long-term aims then visualise them. In the process of visualising the aims, they talk in depth about any possible problems that might come up and ways around them. Or, how to avoid them completely. The end is the part where student-led learning comes into place. The student is now completely in charge of successfully fulfilling their goal. Students are left to do this alone as I think this teaches valuable skills. I am planning to try this method out within my school using one of my own classes so I can take part and get detailed data back. If this shows signs of success I will try it with a wider group of students, maybe rethinking aspects and changing it to suit my school.

Reyss Wheeler, Yr 11

Anthonia Lawson, Yr 8 Megan Walker-Rhind, Yr 11

Nadia Osumanu, Yr 10

Lara Okafor, Yr 10

Student Commissioners Holly Newman, Yr 10

Elizabeth Komolafe, Yr 11

Kortney Johnson-Blake, Yr 8

Zainab Jalloh, Yr 11

Emmanuella Adjei-Manu, Yr 9

Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich

Our plans for Autumn 2009 What will we focus on? • Increasing levels of student participation, engagement and awareness • Working with staff to get our projects off the ground

What will we do? • Hold a ‘meet the parents tea party’ to introduce the Commission and send a parent letter home • Link each Commissioner with a department to carry out their own projects, e.g. starters, plenaries, questioning • Hold a Commission Day where students are asked to identify Commission work going on in their lessons, followed by a graffiti wall to share WWW and EBIs and to capture ideas about learning • Collate the term’s findings, review and reflect on next steps • Publish a handbook of ideas, successes and next steps • Hold a drop-in centre to showcase achievement so far

What support and help do we need from staff? • Time to showcase and communicate ideas, e.g. INSET in September, assembly time • Support from PTFA, house leaders and curriculum heads

Get involved To get involved in the Student Commission, please contact one of the Student Commissioners or speak to Catherine Cheffins.

Learning about learning

an amazing journey This year, the Student Commission has been on an amazing journey of learning about learning.

by Student Commissioners and Mr O’Brien

have been challenged by experts and Commissioners, such as learning through combining subject areas into project work, using various forms of media, such as podcasts and videos produced by other students, rather than a teacher presenting information in a structured and controlled manner.

Teaching:

the best activity for understanding learning by Chloe Golding, Student Commissioner and Mr O’Brien

“ Allowing students to progress beyond their potential… will require a positive mixture of teacher knowledge and expertise combined with student input.”

Each Commissioner has had a variety of experiences that have enabled all involved, including teachers, to understand and know much more about learning. We have experienced whole Commission sessions, where each Academy has been able to share opinions and experiences, and taken part in various activities focused on what learning is. By meeting regularly as a group, we have been able to pool our knowledge from these experiences, further develop our understanding of learning and plan what we could do as leaders of learning to improve our Academy. Also, discussing and questioning expert witnesses both from within our own Academy (our teachers) and outside, has further developed our ability to learn about learning. Some traditional views about learning

We have also gained extensive experience in co-designing, delivering and evaluating lessons with teachers. This has helped us to clearly identify strategies that actively promote learning. Through actual involvement in lessons, students and teachers not involved in the Commission have been able to see its impact; this has resulted in several members of staff and students showing an active interest in the our work.

“ We helped Miss Aderanti teach her Science lesson. I now have more understanding of how important planning is and making sure students are focused on the lesson.”

So, where to next? The journey is far from over, with the next steps being further implementation and action within our Academy and across the Harris Federation. We want as many students and teachers as possible to be involved in using our findings within lessons and allowing students to progress beyond their potential. This will require a positive mixture of teacher knowledge and expertise combined with student input to create an environment where effective learning takes place at all times.

Jessie Gallagher, English

Alex Smith and Kieran Simpson, Science “ Teaching showed me things from a different point of view. Especially what teachers have to do to make sure students are focused at all times.”

“ When I helped plan, deliver and evaluate the lesson, it made me understand how difficult teaching is. It is a challenge to make sure each student learns in a lesson.” Dean Gould, PE “ Working with students in lesson planning, teaching and evaluating gave me a greater understanding of students’ views on good learning and how it can take place in a lesson more effectively. My lesson planning has been positively affected through this process, and I will continue involving students in the future.” Mr O’Brien, PE

Our `students as teachers’ activity was the best activity for understanding how learning can take place most effectively.

Sam Woods, Yr 10

Sharon Uwaibi, Yr 11

Alex Smith, Yr 9

Kieran Simpson, Yr 9

Jason Ofosu-Yeboah, Yr 11

Commissioners

Paul Murphy, Yr 8

Dean Gould, Yr 10

Chloe Golding, Yr 8

Jessie Gallagher, Yr 10

Helen Babalola, Yr 10

Harris Academy Falconwood Student

Learning partnerships will improve learning

by Chloe Golding, Kieran Simpson and Sharon Uwaibi, Student Commissioners

As students and teachers are working together within lessons and at all times within schools, we feel teachers and students could use this partnership more effectively. If more staff and students work together on understanding learning within lessons, lessons could be more enjoyable and effective. Teachers will be able to use their knowledge and experience and students will be able to give their opinions on what they

think will work best. We would like staff and students to become more involved in the Commission together – everyone should be taking part. We think staff not currently involved in the Commission can help us move forward in the future by giving us fresh ideas on what we can do. We feel more ‘learning partnerships’ will improve learning. Some teachers find giving students responsibility for their learning a very hard task and this will challenge students to take ownership of their own and others’ learning and hopefully move it forward. So if you are a teacher reading this, please discuss how you can create a learning partnership with a student or students within your Academy!

Some key findings about learning that underpin our vision of the Student Commission: “ Students need to be engaged at all times to produce good work.” Chloe Golding “ Students and teachers who have a good bond produce an effective learning environment.” Alex Smith “ Teachers need to make sure students have an active role in lessons, so that learning is enjoyable. ” Paul Murphy

“ Teachers should create a happy and welcoming environment in the classroom, as this greatly increases learning. ” Jason Ofosu-Yeboah “ It takes good organisation, structure and good teaching skills for the best success in learning.” Sharon Uwaibi

Our plans for Autumn 2009 What will we focus on? • Key Stage 3 students and teachers developing more learning partnerships • Spreading messages about effective teaching and learning • Recruiting Assistant Student Commissioners and teachers

What will we do? • Surveys to identify key areas of need in relation to learning • Assemblies to update students and teachers about activities and what we are learning about learning • Interview students across year groups to get their opinions and thoughts on effective learning, strategies to ensure it happens regularly and general thoughts on the learning process

What support and help do we need from staff? • W e would like more teachers from all faculties to partner with Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners

Get involved To get involved in the Student Commission, please contact one of the Student Commissioners or speak to Kurt O’Brien.

TAKE YOUR TIME,

what we have learned about planning lessons with teachers

Written by Toby Paxton, Student Commissioner

In some recent Student Commission research we decided to see if lessons could be made more engaging by bringing student ideas and influence into lesson planning. We hoped to learn what went into planning a lesson and also build up our ideas and self-confidence.

“ We need to give ourselves more time so we can design the research well and spend more time planning with the teacher.” We worked with two teachers in RSE – Miss Stewart and Miss Thomas. Miss Thomas discussed the lesson plan with us and listened to the advice of Gavin and Sara, and Miss Stewart planned her lesson as normal. Joseph and Cecilia, and Matthew and Kai observed the lessons being delivered. They wrote down the strengths and weakness and gave the lesson a mark out of ten as an engagement rating. What did we find?

So, what does make a lesson engaging? We know that some students find learning easier and more interesting than others. We want the Commission to help students who are not very engaged in learning.

In this case, co-planning with students did not necessarily improve the lesson and make it more engaging. In fact, the feedback showed Miss Stewart’s lesson was better received. We feel that elements of our design impacted on the results. For example, Miss Stewart’s class was top set and Miss Thomas had a bottom set. There were several other things we need to address, like lack of time for co-planning properly.

“We think that if we can make learning more engaging and enjoyable, students will see learning as an important skill they need not only now, but also for later in life.”

What have we learned?

• Using a variety of approaches, e.g. group and individual work

• Give more time to design the research well and plan with the teacher so that our ideas can be fully discussed and included. • We could be more objective. e.g. keep the same observers so the two ratings they give for can be compared and also make it so that the observers are unaware of what lesson has had student support. Also, classes should be of the same ability level and maybe have the same teacher for both lessons.

Matthew Gavin, Student Commissioner

We think these things help to make lessons engaging: • More interactivity – getting students involved and participating in the lesson

• Teachers showing enjoyment • Hearing different voices in the lesson • Focusing on things students can relate to and care about • Sharing information and exploring it in interesting ways, e.g. through practicals • Using questioning • Making learning challenging for all students • Having pace to the lesson

Cecilia Tran, Yr 10

April Scorczewski, Yr 11

Kai Stevens, Yr 8 Toby Paxton, Yr 10

Gavin Mootoo, Yr 10

Alice Moorhouse, Yr 11

Asad Khan, Yr 11

Student Commissioners

Sara Goddard, Yr 8

Matthew Gavin, Yr 9

Joseph Atkinson, Yr 9

Harris Academy Merton

WE DIDN’T KNOW THAT... the value of ideas from experts Through the Commission we have been able to meet many experts on learning. The Witness Sessions are highly beneficial in getting valuable ideas to help the Commission achieve its goal of better teaching and learning at Harris. The diversity of the opinions we received and the ideas we obtained wouldn’t have been available to us normally. On June 18th 2009, Gavin and Cecilia attended a day of Expert Witness Sessions held at NESTA. Below we summarise some of the key themes and ideas we heard in these sessions.

Ian McGimpsey

Valerie Hannon Managing Partner, The Innovation Unit Engagement and Integration: the keys to successful learning Valerie explained two main components that students need to learn. These were engagement and integration. Engagement = How much students want to learn and how interested they are. Integration = Gathering together different ways of learning, whether in or out of school.

Charlie Leadbeater Leading thinker and writer Whose learning is it anyway? Charlie talked about how technology and motivation could improve learning. He told us how the internet allows us to control our own education and build online communities. He said ‘Learning should pull people towards education. Education should not be pushed onto people’.

Senior Manager, RSA Education Team Citizens of the Future: Knowledgeable and Able to Act Ian talked about ‘Opening Minds’, a programme run in many schools in the UK. Students can: • Create practical projects and plan their curriculum. • Develop projects to fit their own personal needs. • Learn how to do things, instead of just learning about them.

Sue Hackman Chief Adviser for School Standards at the Department for Children, Schools and Families Your future Sue helped us understand the future that awaits us. For example, that by 2025 there will be more pensioners than children, and how technology will be used in different ways that we can’t even imagine.

by Gavin Mootoo, Cecilia Tran, Matthew Gavin and Sara Goddard, Student Commissioners

““ The diversity of the opinions we received and the ideas we obtained wouldn’t have been available to us normally. ”

Our plans for Autumn 2009 What will we focus on? • Researching in Year 7 English lessons and testing our ideas about engagement • Recruiting Assistant Student Commissioners

What will we do? • Undertake well-planned lesson observations to find out what engaging lessons really look like and where things might be improved • Train students to deliver parts of lessons we have planned with teachers • Deliver parts of lessons • Report back on our findings

What support and help do we need from staff? • A team of teachers who are willing to work with us, particularly in English • Time to do this work properly • Support in the analysis of results and production of written reports

Get involved To get involved in the Student Commission, please contact one of the Student Commissioners or speak Dan Cundy or Steven West.

A very busy year The Student Commissioners have had a very busy year. We have worked with all the other Harris Commissioners, both within the Academy and by visiting the different Academies as part of the Expert Witness programme, and have engaged in teaching and learning activities. Most importantly, we have started to look at and understand what makes good teaching and learning and what impact this can have on student achievement. Our highlights… • Presenting to students in House assemblies • Presenting to the Senior Leadership Team • Putting up a display in the reception area • Sharing our findings on learning in a whole staff CPD day in April 2009 • Holding Expert Witness Sessions with our own staff • Attending Expert Witness Sessions with leading educational ‘gurus’ • Discussing with individual teachers what we have learned from the Expert Witnesses • Working with the staff Teaching and Learning Group • Teaching a range of starters in partnership with some members of staff • Planning a range of lesson activities with some teachers • Interviewing the candidates who came for the Principal post in May 2009 • Observing lessons as part of the interview process for several new teachers during May and June 2009

“ Most importantly, we have started to look at and understand what makes good teaching and learning and what impact this can have on student achievement.”

What are Commissioners and Staff saying about the Commission? “Before joining the Student Commission on Learning I wasn’t able to get up in front of a big audience and present. Now I have presented to all the staff at Harris Academy Peckham and the Student Commissioners from the other Academies and the Harris Federation Senior Leaders.” Nadine Johnson – Year 8 Student Commissioner “I am really excited by this whole thing – students taking responsibility for their learning.” Erica McArthur – Competency Curriculum Coordinator

“I now understand what it means to plan and teach a starter and also get and keep the students involved – it was hard work!” Timothy Thomas – Year 8 Student Commissioner “I have met lots of different people since I became a Student Commissioner and now I am able to listen to different viewpoints and understand what people are saying to me.” Sumon Miah – Year 7 Student Commissioner “This is probably one of the most important things we have ever had the opportunity to do with students and for students – we mustn’t let them down.” Vivolyn Walker – Senior Vice Principal

Harris Academy at Peckham

Student Commissioners Whitney Ashbourne, Yr 11 Martinique Bartley, Yr 10 Katy Hua, Yr 11 Rhea Jacques, Yr 9

Nadine Johnson, Yr 9 Sumon Miah, Yr 8 Mohammed Munir, Yr 11 Shevelle Stephenson , Yr 10

Timothy Thomas, Yr 9 Nicole Wereszcsynska, Yr 8

Teachers and students learning together CPD Day 21 April 2009

What will we focus on? • Involving more students and staff in Commission activities about learning, particularly the new Year 7 • Recruiting Assistant Commissioners

What will we do?

by Rhea Jacques, Assistant Student Commissioner

It was a Monday morning. It was an INSET day for me and the other students who came into school. Student Commissioners who had visited the different Academy Expert Witness Sessions were doing presentations about what they had learned. They were very good and the teachers gave them a real clap at the end of the presentations. Some teachers were very surprised by what the students knew about learning and shocked by the fact the students could talk to over 100 people sitting in the hall.

Our plans for Autumn 2009

“ Some teachers were very surprised by what the students knew about learning.” We also got involved in a number of activities too. This day was a great idea: teachers and students discussing and learning together. Let’s hope students can come to all CPD days!!

• Meet new staff to the Academy and deliver a short activity in September 2009 • Partner with tutors on Year 7 Induction Day to do Circle Time activities • Present at the middle leaders meeting in September 2009 • Prepare a short DVD introducing the Commissioners and the work of the Commission – to be played during tutor time in September 2009 • Present to KS3 in assemblies at the beginning of term

What support and help do we need from staff? • More teachers to be involved in codesigning lessons with students

Six Hats by Whitney Ashbourne, Student Commissioner

I went to an Expert Witness Session in Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich about the Six Hats and then gave a presentation to the staff Teaching and Learning group about the session. The Six Hats technique is very useful as a way of getting groups to discuss and think differently. It also helps to stop barriers to learning such as emotions. The white hat represents facts; the black hat represents critical judgement; the yellow hat represents positive outlook; the red hat represents feelings and emotions; the green hat represents alternatives and

learning; and the blue hat represents the big picture. Only one hat can be used at any given time in the discussion. Ms McArthur said some of the advantages of using the technique were: “Keeping students focused”; “Helping to look at different points of the topic” and “Facilitating group work and working individually”. There were not many disadvantages but one that we did find was that it was difficult for students to understand how to use the technique. However, once they knew how to use the technique it was easy to keep the students on task.

• More teachers to work with Commissioners to investigate different strategies for motivating and engaging learners • More teachers to offer topics for Expert Witness Sessions • The support of the Senior Leadership Team and Middle Leaders throughout the Academy • A new co-leader from amongst the staff to work with Ms Rodrigues

Get involved To get involved in the Student Commission, please contact one of the Student Commissioners or speak to Fatima Rodrigues.

Investigating student perceptions of Maths

by Nathaniel Spencer, Daniel Yip and Arjun Divakaran, Student Commissioners

“ We wanted to find out how students were learning in Maths and their preferences towards teaching and learning styles.”

40% 35% 30% 25% 40% 20% 35% 15% 30% 10% 25% 5% 20%

S D tro isa n gr gly ee

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10%

0 15%

Ms Lomas was ecstatic when we shared the results, but she wanted more of an insight into what students really feel.

I really enjoy maths at Harris Academy South Norwood

We, and Ms Lomas, expected students to have a negative attitude to Maths, but the actual response was mainly positive. We also found that most students felt confident in Maths and, as we expected, that most students wanted single lessons rather than doubles.

Our ambition is to take what we have learned and use it to improve Maths. We will keep working with Ms Lomas and the Senior Management Team to get results. In addition, we are looking forward to being involved in the subject internal reviews, where we will be part of lesson observations, student and staff interviews, and will contribute to the judgements and areas of improvement in the final report.

Below is a summary of some of our results:

We decided to use Survey Monkey to gather students’ views. We wanted to find out how students were learning in Maths and their preferences towards teaching and learning styles. We managed to get 160 students to take the survey and this gave us a good overview of the whole Academy.

We agreed to interview a selection of yr 7 – 10 students of all abilities to find out more. We worked together on the interview questions and undertook them. The results of the interviews played out in a similar way, however we found that some students weren’t as concerned about their learning environment as we would have hoped. The majority were able to identify how they learned in Maths and the areas they should improve in.

St ro A ng gr ly ee

The Student Commission was approached by Ms Lomas, Maths AST for the Federation, to investigate students’ attitudes towards Maths.

60%

How 50% do you currently work in class? 40% 30% 60%

Harris Academy South Norwood

20% 50% 10% 40%

10%

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es Te en a ta che U tio r sin n g i n w te hi ra te c bo tiv ar e d

Indya Phillips, Yr 9 Lavonica Steel, Yr 9

20%

Daniel Yip, Yr 10

Travis Payne, Yr 9 Lancelot Spencer, Yr 10

Shaqueel Arjun Divakaran, Reid-Robinson, Yr 11 Yr 10

0 30%

Joseph Purcell, Yr 11 Chelsea Chapman, Yr 9

Robert Primus, Yr 10 Deniz Arslan, Yr 11

Student Commissioners

Co-planning lessons teachers wanted! by Travis Payne, Student Commissioner

Four Commissioners have been given the chance to co-plan and teach part of a Year 8 English lesson that was part of a Film Studies course. We started by sitting down with one of our teachers and planning together. We decided to lead a debate in the lesson and so had to work out our different roles to make sure it went well and that all the students made progress on the given topic. We created a PowerPoint to present to the class because we hoped that using the interactive whiteboard would get them more engaged with the lesson. We then split them into two groups and asked them to brainstorm ideas for and against the given topic. We each helped a group with some ideas for their argument. We knew a challenge for us as “teachers” would be to get them to recite original ideas. When it came to the debate, we gave a point for every good argument made, but we were quite harsh so it wasn’t too easy to get points. In the end it was a tiebreaker and the teacher chose a winner. The students co-operated very well with us and we are now going to focus on different subject areas and work with the co-ordinators to co-plan more lessons. We want to thank Mr Payne and Ms Fletcher for visiting our school and Ms Robb for allowing us to teach her class. It was a great experience and I look forward to doing it again. We would love to hear from teachers who want to help us co-plan lessons.

Our plans for Autumn 2009 What will we focus on? • Raising awareness and understanding of the Student Commission across staff, students and parents • Strengthening our understanding of how lessons are planned and delivered by working directly with staff • Improving Student Commission knowledge and understanding of how subjects are reviewed and how to support areas for development • Improving student engagement and focus in lessons due to greater student/teacher inter-activity

What will we do? • Use staff INSET and NQT day to explain work completed and plans for the future • Each team up with a member of staff to co-plan lessons, deliver content and evaluate effectiveness of teaching and learning strategies • Plan and deliver a Faculty Friday for each Year group within the first term

Discussing learning with the Minister of State for Schools and Learners by Indya Phillips and Chelsea Chapman, Student Commissioners

When?:

Thursday 16th July 2009

Where?:

Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), Westminster

Who?:

Student Commissioners and Vernon Coaker

Why?:

To talk to him about the Student Commission, get his ideas for how learning could be improved and present him with a poem from Michael Omari

What?:

When we asked what he thought schools should do more of to improve learning, he replied that students’ aspirations need to be kept high and that they should be pushed to achieve the best they can. He emphasised the importance of encouragement from teachers when it comes to learning.

• Hold a parents/ carers evening in the autumn term to raise awareness and understanding of the work of the Commission

What support and help do we need from staff? • Teachers willing to devote time to co-planning with students • Training on lesson observation and feedback • Time of Academy Leadership Group to hear reports • Support of Academy Leadership Group to encourage staff to allow students into classes to observe lessons • Further modelling on effective presentations

Get involved To get involved in the Student Commission, please contact one of the Student Commissioners or speak to Rebecca Hickey or Alan Singh.

Connecting up

With thanks to Lee Vidal from Harris City Academy Crystal Palace for designing the Harris Voice logo

and sharing ideas

We’d like to let you know about an exciting new opportunity to share Student Commission ideas and learning. In late September, a new online space dedicated to the Student Commission will be launched and we’d like as many people as possible to get involved in making it a success. For the past few months, we have been working with NESTA to design how the space will look and work. It will include the following features: • A space for each Harris Academy to share their Commission work • Individual registration and personal profiles for all Harris students and staff • Blogs, instant messaging and email for registered users • Video, podcasts, photo and document uploads • Commission news and events • Polls and competitions • Guest registration so others can find out what the Commission is doing During September, the web team will be uploading content to the site ready for the launch. This is a great opportunity to share all the great stuff we are learning through the Student Commission and to get more and more students involved. Please support us by getting in touch in September and giving us your ideas and content. Student Commission Web Team

www.harrisvoice.org.uk To be launched end September 2009

Student Commission Web Team Lara Okafor – Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich Martinique Bartley – Harris Academy at Peckham David Gayle and Zeena Starbuck – Harris City Academy Crystal Palace Mayowa Sofekun – Harris Academy Bermondsey Chloe Golding – Harris Academy Falconwood Travis Payne – Harris Academy South Norwood Asad Khan – Harris Academy Merton

All Harris Student Commissioners would like to thank the teachers who have supported their work so far. They look forward to working with more teachers and students during the coming year.

All of the Harris schools are in challenging urban areas of South London. These are areas in which underachievement has been endemic but where schools have a unique capacity to transform aspiration. Harris Federation is making great strides in improving aspiration and achievement, but we believe the next stage in this transformation requires the full engagement of young people and their educators in the design and delivery of learning. The Commission is a ground-breaking initiative designed to bring about a step-change in student engagement, motivation and learning across the Harris Federation. It is about empowering young people and adults to work in partnership towards a key goal... To discover and share what it means to make learning in an urban setting both highly engaging and effective. The Commission places enquiry about learning, both within the Academies and from external experts and sites of excellent practice, in the hands of young people. Seventy student leaders, supported by teachers and other adults, form the Commission, with hundreds of others involved through in-school research and by testing out new approaches. For more information about the Commission, contact: Caireen Goddard caireen@goddardpayne.co.uk Dr Dan Moynihan Chief Executive of Harris Federation info@harrisfederation.org.uk