Voices 2023/4

Methodology

At the heart of our partnerships programme is a determination to enact positive change; for the remarkable organisations we work with and in our boys. Measuring change cannot be done through statistics alone. Each individual gets something unique from every project and our methodology for measuring impact must reflect this. Therefore, we are using a framework of data capture based on the Most Significant Change Technique.

For this report, and as part of our ongoing development, we asked our partnership community and our boys about their experiences. These conversations are transcribed and shared without editing, capturing true voices. We are proud of the work we do and are honoured to grow in tandem with outstanding, purpose-driven organisations, but we know we have as much to learn as we have to give.

Welcome to Voices

It does not feel like a year since we launched our first Voices publication and over the last few months it has been a pleasure to see the booklet on the front desk of our partner schools and organisations.

In producing the first collection of stories, our aim was to make Voices feel like a shared document; we hope we have achieved this goal. The collection of stories was both a joy to collate and an insight into the impact of our partnership programmes.

Each story reports upon the wider inclusion and increased opportunity for children in our local communities through a range of academic, cultural, and sporting activities. Although not immediately obvious to our own students, their sustained involvement in partnership activities and the acquisition of new skills raises an awareness of their impact; gaining as much as they give.

The stories in this, our second edition, speak to the development of a new phonics partnership programme, an adaptive primary school programme at the Countryside Centre supporting SEND and children with behavioural issues, and a primary school robotics programme that has done so much more than simply teaching children about computer programming.

We are pleased that what we can present in these pages is true collaboration. Through partnership we continue to share resources and responsibilities, agreeing to work together in a co-operative and mutually supportive way. Our collective goal is to bring benefit to children, partner organisations, and the communities we serve. Once again, we intend this publication to be one of shared ownership, and a collective pride in what can be achieved through working together.

The Partnership Team

Robotics

Educational robotics is an effective way to introduce scientific and technological concepts in a practical and tangible way.

Working in local primary schools as part of our academic partnership strand, we plan sessions that provide an opportunity for pupils to acquire knowledge of mechanics, electronics, coding, and other STEM disciplines while interacting and having fun with robots.

Children develop increased self-confidence, leadership skills, creativity, and resilience which can be applied in the classroom to help increase attainment.

Sally Rose, MFL Lead Pegasus Primary School

Robotics is so child-led, it gives children confidence in expressing their own ideas. We are starting to see these differences in the children’s work.

Three of the children I teach are involved in robotics; all different characters. One girl is incredibly introverted and struggles to speak to people that are not sitting next to her. Another girl is working below expectations in terms of her academics, she is also quiet and lacking confidence in her own abilities. The third child is more extroverted, but quite lazy.

Recently, there has been a shift in what they are like in class. The quiet girls can now work in a group and are putting forward their ideas. I could only think that this was due to robotics, as they were often sat together. It feels special to them. I am also seeing the boy aiming higher and when you talk to him, he is so enthusiastic about robotics. There has been a total shift in confidence. It is brilliant!

When they appraised one another’s writing, they could say what they liked and what might need to be adapted. One of the girls would not have had that confidence to say these comments before and when I spoke to the teacher, he also noticed that she participates more.

Robotics gives children confidence in expressing their own ideas. As such, writing and maths have improved and I believe this is mostly down to enhanced self-confidence due to robotics.

The changes are so specific to the three children on the robotics programme and much different from what I see in the other children in the class. Hands go up a lot more and the children are quietly taking charge. Their oral skills have improved, and although one of the children is still quiet, she can command a group.

I am a fan of anything that involves child-led learning projects. In many aspects of their primary school life the children are guided by teachers. Robotics is giving them new skills. It might sound small, but they produce their own ideas, try them out, fail, and work out a solution. They succeed without having adult direction.

A little ripple of excitement has gone around the class and children from other years are now telling me that they are doing robotics as part of their enrichment programme. It is all about growing confidence and independence.

Phonics Flyers

The Phonics Flyers programme is part of our academic partnership strand. We work with primary schools to help support early reading and writing.

Sixth Form boys, The Radley Readers, are trained as Read, Write Inc. phonic providers, delivering frequent tuition to small groups of EYFS and KS1 children.

Through focused intervention, the programme aims to increase attainment in a supportive environment, while developing a love for reading.

Jess Peiro, Deputy Head Radley Primary School

We have tracked the data for their phonics progress. Across the board –bar one child – everybody has made either good or accelerated progress from where they started. This is the impact we are looking for!

Phonics is the way that we teach early reading and writing: the building blocks. It helps children progress from not understanding the letters in our alphabet to being able to read and write.

The children come to us with a range of different reading experiences. Some have been with a childminder or at nursery, while other children have never had any kind of childcare experience. This discrepancy is one of the largest barriers you see to reading, especially in the early years. Our phonics programme gives children the opportunity to practise and rehearse, to accelerate their reading progress. The issue in our school is that we do not have the human resources to give close individual support.

I was aware we had Radley boys who read with our children. As I completed my own phonics training it struck me that we could train Radley

boys to become Phonics Flyers – not to take the place of the reading programme – but to involve another group who could support our children.

We identified children in Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 who would benefit the most from additional support and paired them off with Radley boys. For some children, this is a valuable opportunity for them to improve their work on top of the support they get in school. The boys are with us for 20 minutes, three days a week. It needs to be small chunks of time as a ‘drip-feed’ approach has the biggest impact.

Our children feel valued and have grown in confidence. One child in particular joined Reception not happy to speak to another adult. She has come on leaps and bounds in her willingness to work with different people, to engage in the learning, and to try her best. Seeing a child who is energised to get their literacy book out and to show their learning to the boy who has invested an interest in them, I think is another real success.

We have tracked the data for their phonics progress and across the board - bar one childeverybody has made either good or accelerated progress from where they started. This is the impact we are looking for!

Partner Spotlight

The Radley Zoo nurturing awe and wonder

Accessing high-quality science and developing a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena is the main aim of the Radley Zoo. Mr Noone and boys in the Animal Society take snakes, lizards, spiders and scorpions to local schools, inspiring an appreciation of the natural world and the environment. More than 500 children from 11 local primary schools have had an animal visit this academic year.

I feel like I am a real scientist because we got to see real animals not just pictures.

Community Art

widening creativity and performance

This year, our community art exhibition – Forest – gave an opportunity for more than 2,500 children from 18 local schools to decorate their own 3D trees. The project used creativity to enhance engagement in issues of sustainability and an awareness of the power of trees. A wonderfully immersive experience for the children; they were all bursting to tell me about what they had seen.

Music Flood

Music Flood represents our music partnership strand, through which we collaborate with The Abingdon Music Centre, local secondary schools and professional musicians to bring music into every primary school, every day.

Our ambition is to widen inclusion and opportunity through in-school music workshops, access to professional performances, staff CPD, and large-scale orchestral, singing, and performance events. Additional routes are developed for children who have raised aspiration through the Radley College choristership scheme, leadership opportunities for secondary school pupils and a growing partnership with local youth orchestras and choirs.

Moses

Radley College

I realise how easy it is for me to share what I have with other people. I want others to have the same opportunity I had. Music has shaped my life.

When I was growing up, music was an opportunity as part of the school day, I went to school looking forward to a bit of music as well as maths. I now play the trumpet and piano, which I started as a chorister at Radley. I’m in most of the school groups and have my own band, Red Lemons. I remember playing Misty with Dr Price at Summer Fields who accompanied me on the piano. It was quite scary; my knees were shaking, but I really enjoyed it.

When I see primary school children arrive at Radley for an event, I know they will have a good time and when they go back home, they’ll tell their parents that they saw this guy playing trumpet and they might want to try it out.

It’s all about enjoyment really. I sat next to some trumpeters at an orchestral day. They could only play a few notes at that time, but they really enjoyed it. I have been to primary

schools to demonstrate my instruments and played a couple of assemblies; we went to one school as a guitar quartet. It was amazing and we got an e-mail afterwards with a bunch of pictures of letters the kids had written to us to say how they loved it. I never usually see how the students are impacted by us. I always hope they are, but I never really know. They were inspired, I guess, or at least they had a fun time watching us.

I helped one boy who has a speech impediment play the recorder. He can really play! When he gets something right, you can see it in his eyes, he looks happy. Its why he comes back every week. He’s included, playing in a group, making progress. They just want to carry on playing when I leave.

This doesn’t have to be just a Radley thing; it has taught me about the importance of giving back and that is something I want to carry on doing. I would like more of it to happen, as it shows the change that music can bring. If we can inspire children who in the future will go on to do the same thing it is a chain of events that keeps on giving.

Countryside Partnership

As part of the countryside centre partnership strand, we have widened inclusion to our farm. Working with individual primary schools we aim to create bespoke programmes to meet the specific needs of their children.

Each programme is adaptive, aiming to be inclusive of specific learning needs, helping to build self-esteem, confidence, mental wellbeing, and leadership, alongside gaining a real-life awareness of their physical environment.

Stephanie Simms, KS2 Teaching Assistant St Swithun’s C of E Primary School

The children come back to school alive, animated, and want to talk about the farm. It is about experiences, opportunity, and a different environment.

We have visited the Countryside Centre every week for about six months. All the children are in Year 4, and some have significant behavioural trauma and find it challenging to be in a busy classroom all the time. Some people questioned my decision to take them out, but being involved levels the playing field.

If we had only gone to the Countryside Centre once, I don’t think it would have had any impact. The children would have enjoyed the day but forgotten about it when they got back to school. Going every week means they have a structure and they know what they are doing when they arrive.

The farm is such a nice place and the children are learning to respect the environment. They are becoming calmer and learning to be quiet and still because the animals don’t like the loud noise, especially the ferrets! They are also more confident with adults, and the structured time has allowed them to open up to different people. It’s like they have allowed themselves to let go a little bit and to really enjoy it.

Trust is also given to the children. The tree planting was serious, the tree had to be in the right place otherwise they will not grow

properly. When the children were planting the trees, one of the children was talking to Charlie and just told him all about his life.

The programme includes everyone, and they learn life skills – cooking, caring for animals, planting – and through the activities they have developed respect for the adults. When asked to do something, we used to get comments like “I’m not doing that,” but now they want to do it, they want to handle the animals. One of our children never used to speak to anybody, but he is getting more confident with adults, and he is now saying hello! My relationship with the children has evolved for the better because we’re working together at the Countryside Centre.

Most weeks the children feed the animals. Just before Easter they had lambs and they got to give them the bottles. One of the lambs was quite poorly and would not drink. Seeing the children concerned and really trying to get the lamb to drink was nice because you can see that they do care, they do have empathy.

One of our boys was nervous of the puppies, and initially he didn’t want to pick them up. Last week, he asked if he could spend more time with them when the others were going to make bottles for the lambs. The puppies were exhausted. He sat down talking with them, and he put them all to sleep. I could have cried. To see him completely calm was amazing. He’s a different boy!

Maths Mentors

With a focus on raising attainment at end of Key Stage 2 (SATs), Key Stage 3 (Maths Challenge) and Key Stage 4 (GCSE), Radley College boys provide support in both primary and secondary schools as part of our academic partnership strand.

At a primary school level, weekly one-to-one support is provided by GCSE maths students with Year 6 children, while in secondary schools, the Maths Olympiad and GCSE maths tutoring is provided by Sixth Form A-Level maths students.

Mike Hills, Maths Teacher Radley College

It helps the understanding of our boys by having to explain maths. It leads them to be more questioning in their own lessons, to better understand why a technique is used and how it links to other topics.

The maths mentoring is a really good exercise for our boys. We have more opportunity here and the idea of sharing what we have is right. It can create benefits for our boys and the children we support. Over the course of the last two terms, it has been great to see the primary school children getting more confident in answering maths questions and our boys can see that they have made a tangible difference. There is a sense of pride, and the boys see it as an effective use of their time.

Experiencing a different side of education provides perspective for everyone, including our staff. I am a governor at a local primary school and have been part of an Ofsted inspection, learning walks, school visits ... it makes you think about education and to look at a school in a different way. I particularly like working with schools that are near to Radley. I also like the fact that partnership programmes are inclusive, supporting both girls and boys.

Children in Year 5 and Year 6 come to Radley each week for 40 minutes to focus on their preparation for SATs. The maths resources are provided by the primary school teacher and we offer extra support and academic stretch. It helps the understanding of our boys by having to explain maths. I sometimes wonder if they really understand why they do something, or whether they just do it? Forming their own questions is not easy, nor is planning the right extension tasks. It leads them to be more questioning in their own lessons, to better understand why a technique is used and how it links to other topics. They become less passive.

The programme is a big win. It involves 24 of our boys, each having a positive impact. For the primary children, just walking up to school is a positive. I am also aware of the stresses of teachers who are with these children the entire day and giving them additional support is vital. The boys enjoy the programme and the children get the most out of what we are delivering.

Working in partnerships has become the thing that we do, it is the expectation. And our boys see it as a good thing too.

Partner Spotlight

Radley Readers guiding reading and comprehension

Giving the opportunity for a child to read and discuss a text increases their vocabulary and feeds imagination. Our Radley Readers – boys in Year 11 and Year 12 – support teachers in their classrooms helping to ensure that all children can read fluently and with confidence in their forthcoming secondary education.

This year, more than 300 primary school children in eight primary schools have been supported by 50 Radley pupils, providing more than 700 hours of directed support.

The Radley boys are kind and very patient. If I don’t have someone help me to read then I get off-track so it’s really good to have a grown-up there who can make sure I don’t get distracted. They take the time to talk to us and make sure we understand.

Youth for Youth is powerful. It enables so many young people from different backgrounds to run in solidarity.

Oxfordshire Youth empowerment and action

A partnership with Oxfordshire Youth – Youth for Youth – has allowed our boys to understand the importance of bringing young people together. Barriers to opportunity are better understood and challenged through team activities, sponsored events, and pupil leadership on the design of youth work programmes.

Working together, we have raised more than £5,500 of unrestricted funds.

Enrichment Ambassadors

Cultural capital gives children power, helping them to achieve their goals. Our boys travel each week to two primary schools in priority neighbourhoods, working with teachers to raise children’s aspiration, helping them to develop knowledge, new skills, and behaviours.

30 Radley boys have provided 450 hours of classroom support through a whole school enrichment programme.

Stacey Brown Parent, Orchard Meadow Primary School

Working in partnership is in the best interests of every single child here as they get to access something new. The boys from Radley are also accessing something new; we appreciate that we are not the only ones who are learning.

Parents here were surprised that Radley were going to partner with schools in this area. Some parents at the gates were saying that it was to help Radley make themselves look good or that we were just showing them where the other half live. There was quite a lot of negative language. But we are bringing two completely different communities together, it is not just about you coming to us, your boys allow our children to go home with different skills. This is what parents see now. I don’t hear any negative comments like before.

My daughter Ella is in Year 6. She was excited to learn that Orchard Meadow did academic enrichment; she has seen that enrichment does not happen in every primary school. It is a credit to this school, but also a credit to the partnership with Radley.

She is full of questions and asks the Radley leaders what their school is like. She told me that they go back to school and do three extra lessons after she has gone home. That wowed her! I want her to see that, I want her to know about different walks of life – to feel fortunate about what she has but to also to be aware of everything around her.

I know there is that ‘gap’ but through partnership we can help close the gap. Although we are just a primary school on an estate, it feels normal, the boys can have a conversation with us.

When Ella visited Radley she couldn’t believe that they had so many pitches and asked why the boys were in uniform on a Saturday morning. When I think about enrichment, it isn’t just about the Radley boys coming to Orchard Meadow, my daughter can learn through seeing aspects of their life.

Initially, Ella’s confidence was low, not wanting to do anything without me. She has become much more independent. She has now joined the school football team and signed up for gymnastics; she says she wants to try lacrosse!

There is trust in terms of everything being done for the right reasons. It is what makes it a great partnership.

Future Ready

Broadway Academy is a comprehensive school in Perry Barr, Birmingham. Through partnership we plan programmes of activities to widen inclusion, and provide greater opportunity for pupils from different communities to work in collaboration.

Future Ready is a Year 10 programme that brings pupils together in curriculum lessons and lectures. It focuses on character development, with an emphasis on intellectual, moral, civic, and performance virtues. Each helps to raise aspirations and long-term attainment.

Ilham

Broadway Academy

What works at Radley might not work at Broadway and what will work for us might not work for you guys, but we learn from each other.

I am a Year 10 student at Broadway Academy where I’m in the top set in every subject. I did my French GCSE last year; I got it early because I’m from a small town near Paris. I was about eight years old when I moved to Birmingham. Broadway is a diverse community; people are from everywhere and you get a perspective of everything. Coming to Radley is another different experience. Being outside your usual environment you can learn new things. Radley is becoming more familiar because I’ve been here multiple times, and I now recognise things from the previous visits.

It has given me perspective on how people learn differently; but what works at Radley might not work at Broadway and what will work for us might not work for you guys.

Obviously, it is a prestigious school, but the boys are normal, like you would meet every day. There is not a big difference in behaviour.

The first time I saw a boy wearing a gown I was a bit confused. But it is normal for the boys, and they see the point in it. Above all, I’ve developed a perspective on how people learn differently.

At first, I thought that the boys were on a different level in terms of their intelligence, I didn’t think that I could be as smart as them because it’s a private school. Now I see that there is not such a big difference in intelligence. It has made me more focused, and my own aspirations seem more realistic. Where I grew up there weren’t any big schools, I lived with people who were just getting by. Even though we were kids, all growing up the same way, the difference in the environment made me think that I could not achieve the same things that others could. That is not the case now. A university like Oxford seems more achievable.

I thought that money was a barrier. Now I know that working hard and aspiration is far more important, it’s about setting goals and reaching them. Most barriers are mental. When you see what other people achieve you get motivated, like ‘yeah, I’m going to achieve that as well’. Most of the barriers just go.

Countryside Centre

CAPStone Programme

Empower Programme

Esperance Farm Partnership

Junior CAPStone Programme

Mental & Physical Rehabilitation

School Visits / Curriculum Extension

SEND Programme

Work Experience Weeks

Learning

Academic STEPS

Art (Community Project)

Art (Primary)

Drama (Primary)

Drama (Secondary)

Future Ready

International Online Conversation

Mandarin (Swire)

Maths Mentoring (Primary)

Maths Mentoring (Secondary)

OX14 Learning Partnership

Phonic Flyers

Primary Whole School Enrichment

Radley Readers

Radley Zoo visits

Robotics

Music

ADSMA Carols

Big Sing and Workshops

Choristership Programme

Curriculum Support Radley Primary

Music Flood Week

Orchestral Days

Visiting Performances

Staff CPD

Visiting Recital Workshop

Sports

First Pitch Baseball

Rowing Academy

School Games

Sports STEPS

Swimming

Young Sports Leaders

Community Partnership Programme

Thank you to those we have worked alongside this year:

Abingdon Care Home Community Concerts

Abingdon Court Care Home

Abingdon School

Active Oxfordshire

Barnardo’s Charity Shop, Peachcroft

Bartholomew School

British Heart Foundation Charity Shop, Abingdon

Broadway Academy

Caldecott Primary School

Carswell Primary School

Cheney School

Cherwell School

Clifton Hampden Primary School

Commonwealth Education Trust

Desborough College

Didcot Girls School

Downe House School

Drayton Primary School

Dry Sandford Primary School

Dunmore Primary School

Emmanuel School

Europa School

Eynsham School

Fitzharrys School

Freeland Primary School

Gillotts School

Hanborough Manor School

Heyford Park School

John Mason School

John Henry Newman School

Kilembwa School, Kenya

Kingfisher School

Larkmead School

Long Furlong Primary School

Lord Williams School

Lowbrook Academy

Magdalen College School

Moulsford Prep School

Oakley Combined School

Orchard Meadow Primary School

Oxford Head Injury Services

Oxford High School

Oxfordshire Youth

Pegasus Primary School

Pinewood School

Proof Social

Radley Primary School

Rose Hill Primary School

Rush Common Primary School

St Edmund’s Primary School

St Helen and St Katharine

St John Fisher Primary School

St Mary’s Calne

St Michael’s Primary School

St Nicholas Primary School

St Swithun’s Primary School

St Peter’s Primary School

Shiplake College

Sunningwell Primary School

Sutton Courtenay Primary School

Thameside Primary School

The Oratory Prep School

The Oxford Academy

Thomas Reade Primary School

Tujatane School, Zambia

Tyndale School

Waltham St Lawrence Primary School

Wheatley Park School

Wootton St Peters Primary School

I just wanted to say a big thank you, my son came out of school today with a big smile on his face! He told me a student from Radley helped him with reading which he struggles with! I think this is amazing.