Glasgow Building Bridges case study
PDF file: Glasgow Building Bridges case studySt. Mungo's Academy and Sacred Heart Primary
St Mungo’s has a roll of 900 pupils and has a well-established history of close working with all members of the Learning Community. Serving an area of multiple deprivation in the East End of Glasgow, both schools have worked together on a variety of initiatives to raise attainment and promote inclusion.
Initially the focus was on the underachievement of boys. Their disaffection, lack of motivation and often challenging behaviour were a source of considerable concern. It was decided that ways of raising attainment in persuasive writing through formative assessment techniques would be investigated. While the intended early focus was on the underachievement of boys, the research was broadened to include all children within the identified group.
Many methods were investigated during the programme. A clear statement of aims at the outset of lessons was provided, thinking time was built in, the quality of questions was improved, traffic lights/self-assessment techniques were practised and additional ICT support was provided.
Positive outcomes have included an expansion of gender-related strategies, formative assessment and further development of ICT support in the primary. In the secondary, early successes have encouraged the extension of these strategies into the developing reading and writing programme, with formative assessment now a priority in the school development plan. Detailed dissemination will take place throughout the Learning Community to raise awareness and the strategies will be extended to associated primaries.
Hillpark Secondary and Tinto Primary
Teacher concerns that pupils plagiarising from texts had no real understanding of what they had written was highlighted in this study. There was also a concern that this weakness was spreading into other curricular areas.
The production of an information leaflet for two separate classes would enable piloting of parallel methodologies – big picture, chunking, timed activities, group work, paired work, writing frames, peer assessment – from the outset. This would provide a contrast since the methodology would be new in primary but familiar to the secondary class, who had experienced it in S1.
The primary class set out to write a leaflet about a Scottish city for their P6 colleagues, who would use the leaflet as a resource for their ‘Scotland’ environmental studies topic. Lessons which led to that end product took an entire term! However, the content, layout and structure of all the leaflets were of such quality that the teacher judged the effort more than worthwhile.
The secondary experience was much shorter in timescale – three to four weeks. Concentrating on note-taking skills, the class prepared an information leaflet about a country utilising the methodologies outlined above. It quickly became apparent that they had assembled more information in the form of notes than they could ever use. Careful summarising made it even more likely that the final product would be in their own words.
Upon completion, teachers agreed that note taking had improved considerably in both classes, with an ongoing effect in other areas of the curriculum. They will continue working in this way and will incorporate more formative assessment techniques into their teaching.