SPARKS 2005

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SPARKS 2005

• Rachel Mosses
• Archbishop Beck Catholic College

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Aims of the project

• To raise the number of pupils achieving level 5
  in Science
• To encourage parental contact with the school
• To encourage pupils to enjoy Science lessons

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The situation in mid 2005

• Pupils in Year 9 were achieving targets in Maths
  and English but not in Science.
• Pupils were finding Science boring and
  uninteresting.
• Parents had little idea of what their child was
  covering in Science lessons

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What was the solution?

• The Fischer Family trust target grades were
  analysed and it was found that 48 pupils had a
  KS3 target of 4.9 or below.
• It was decided to follow the Aim4five syllabus
  with these pupils in order to raise the 5 in
  Science.

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4 classes were created to follow the scheme
starting in September 2005. All these pupils had
a FFT target of 4.9 or below.
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• Letters were sent home to these parents/carers
  briefly explaining the Aim4five rationale and how
  they could help us and their child with the
  project.

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What did we do?

• Initially, 4 sets were created to follow the
  syllabus, but this was reduced to two due to a
  long term teacher absence.
• These 2 sets contained 12 pupils each- half the
  size of the average Year 9 class in the school.
  However, they also contained a large percentage
  of pupils with learning difficulties.

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• We found these small class sizes ideal for the
  Aim4five syllabus. They allowed a lot more
  teacher-pupil interaction and more practical work
  was able to be done.
• Pupils in the class were not intimidated by other
  more demanding pupils and they all began to
  flourish.

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• The practical aspect of the course suited these
  pupils as many of them are kinaesthetic learners
  with poor literacy skills.

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• We followed the syllabus to the letter for the
  first module but found we were restricted by a
  lack of ICT resources within the school itself.
• We have followed the story for each module since,
  adapting lessons to fit around what we have in
  school already- this made the teaching a lot
  easier.

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Did we raise the L5?

• We will not get our true results of this project
  until June 2006 when the SAT results come in,
  however, results so far are promising.
• In the three module tests taken so far, there
  have only been (out of 72) 10 level 4 and 1 level
  achieved.

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• If that is reflected in our results in June, that
  will give us a raise of just over 9 of the
  expected target for Science.

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How did we involve parents?

• In September, parents received a letter home
  explaining what Aim4five was.
• In further correspondence, we asked parents to
  ask their child what they had done in each days
  Science lesson- encouraging the pupil to recall
  what they had done that day as well as informing
  the parent.

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• Parents were asked to check over home-works
  before they were handed in and enquire about the
  marks when they had been done.
• After each module test a congratulatory postcard
  was sent home with the test level on.

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• Parents were encouraged to contact the school at
  any time with their responses to the work.
• We found all parental comments to be very
  positive- they enjoyed discussing what their
  child had learnt and in a few cases, they too
  learnt something new!

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How have the pupils found the work?

• In both classes following the syllabus, Science
  was rated as the favourite lesson by all the
  pupils.
• They felt they had learned more since September
  then in Year 7 and 8 put together.

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• Pupils in other classes have asked if they can
  move classes as they have heard how much fun the
  work is.
• Pupils are much more excited about Science than
  they were last year- they are eager to come to
  lessons and actually enjoy doing tests as they
  know they have learnt and can do well in the test.

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• Pupils started to take a pride in their work-
  they like their parents knowing how they are
  getting on and enjoy their work being displayed
  around the school.
• Overall they have much more confidence in
  themselves.

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Summary of findings

• Pupils targeted below level 5 are achieving above
  target.
• Pupils are gaining in confidence and enjoying
  Science
• Parents are aware of what is being studied and
  how their child is doing
• Pupil teacher relationships have improved

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Any problems/improvements

• The course was difficult to follow for
  supply/cover staff
• Initially the materials were difficult to access
  due to lack of ICT resources
• Some pupil didnt like the idea that they were
  limited to a level 5 in their tests