The Cambridge Primary Review Trust

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North and South

This blog takes us to two beautiful corners of the UK, one to the north and one in the far south. We begin with the south, on England’s largest and second most populous island, the Isle of Wight. As the controversy surrounding former Ofsted Chair David Hoare’s recent comments about the Island vividly demonstrates, raising matters like educational disadvantage can be dangerous ground. Whilst Mr Hoare was right to draw attention to the serious problems in coastal England which have continuously slipped under the radar when it comes to funding and interventions, solutions are not to be found in public speeches shaming or blaming those unfortunate enough to be at the sharp end of disadvantage. Labelling children and families as products of inbreeding and their homes as ghettoes was not only scurrilous but neatly diverted attention away from an educational system that seems to have failed them. Whilst Ofsted data suggests the Island’s schools are steadily improving, only 64% of its primary children attend schools categorised as good or outstanding, placing the local authority fourth from the lowest rung on the national ‘league table’.

Yet for many who visit Tennyson’s ‘Enchanted Isle’, Mr Hoare’s description may well have come as a shock. Holidaymakers go there to enjoy the Island’s natural beauty and architectural heritage, testimony to its fashionable heyday when Queen Victoria commissioned Osborne House. Official statistics, however, paint a rather different, sombre view of the Island, with high unemployment and poverty, low aspirations and educational underachievement afflicting many Islanders’ lives. The Island’s fall from prosperity is sadly mirrored in many other coastal areas around the UK. Cheap air travel tempted tourists to resorts overseas decades ago and recession in other maritime industries has left many seaside resorts struggling to survive. Finding ways to address such complex, pervasive problems is not easy and quick-fix solutions have proved to be illusive but clearly education must lie at the heart of community regeneration efforts if they are to succeed in the long term.

Turning our attention northwards, an interesting success story can be found in the Scottish Lowlands, 45 miles south of Glasgow, and it may offer inspiration to other areas battling against the economic tide. CPRT was recently invited to attend an Education Day at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, where we heard about a heritage-led regeneration project instigated by His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales. This innovative project is reinvigorating its local community through a cohesive strategy involving the conservation and reuse of Dumfries House, an 18th century mansion and its estate, to provide employment and educational opportunities, and to rekindle local pride and aspirations. Heritage-led regeneration initiatives like this one can serve as catalysts for economic and social improvement: although the link between heritage-led regeneration and education may not seem immediately apparent, educators know that what happens in schools and classrooms is inseparably interwoven with the culture and conditions of the communities they serve.  Aware of this crucial link, the Dumfries House project is focusing its attention on education and is working closely with schools from across the region and beyond to effect positive change.

Linked to the objectives of Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence, the Dumfries House Education programme has six centres providing opportunities for children and adults to engage with a wide range of hands-on learning experiences and training for employability. The Pierburg Building and Kaufmann Gardens have been designed for children to experience the delights of planting, harvesting and eating their own vegetables, a learning opportunity that keys into the Curriculum for Excellence sustainability requirements. For many of the primary school children who come here this will be the first time they have dug the soil, picked sugar-snap peas fresh from the plant or tasted soup made with vegetables they have grown themselves. The Morphy Richards Engineering Centre has an imaginatively-designed Harmony playpark and well-equipped teaching area where children explore topics relating to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities are designed to challenge children, ‘…to imagine, design, build and test solutions to real world problems’.

However, it is perhaps the House and its estate which are likely to inspire children’s curiosity and imagination most. Just as the 5th Earl of Dumfries intended, the beautiful 18th century house and its landscaped grounds leave an indelible impression. The House breathes life into history, introducing children to a fascinating collection of artefacts and furnishings (including The Grand Orrery which is spellbinding to visitors of any age!); the landscaped gardens and the arboretum encourage children to explore and discover the extraordinary diversity of the natural world. Without the regeneration project all this would have been lost and future Ayrshire generations would have been denied these precious opportunities to wander and wonder, and to engage with their community’s heritage.

The Dumfries House Education programme reminds us that inspiring curiosity and imagination is one of the aims for primary education proposed in the Cambridge Primary Review final report, Children, Their World, Their Education. In England, the current primary curriculum has placed greater emphasis on narrowly-defined ‘core skills’, reducing opportunities for giving attention to broader aspects of knowledge, and to developing capacities for creativity, imagination and understanding. Schools should be places that allow space and time for wandering and wondering. There must be sufficient time allowed for children to imagine and to ask questions because solutions to problems and new knowledge are created through divergent thought, curious questions and imaginatively-inspired action. More urgently than ever, we need these qualities to enable us to find solutions to the dilemmas we face, whether in our own, local communities or on a global plane.

The heritage-led regeneration work at Dumfries House is just one, small example of an imaginative starting point but it offers a positive model for areas facing similar challenges and one which accepts the unique qualities of a place and its people as valuable assets. Working in tandem with Scotland’s curriculum based on clearly-articulated aims ‘to develop successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors’, Dumfries House and its Education programme are becoming part of a coherent approach seeking to establish a brighter, more sustainable future for the region.

Returning to the south, the problems identified in the Isle of Wight and other disadvantaged areas need a similarly holistic approach and their problems highlight the importance of tackling the CPRT’s priorities, particularly those regarding:

We’ve seen that it’s possible to start addressing these priorities if joined-up thinking, determination and imagination are used to kickstart change, and if we use the positive attributes of a locality and its people as starting points. It’s also worth reminding ourselves that the CPR’s curriculum model calls for around 30 per cent of teaching time to be devoted to locally proposed, non-statutory programmes of study (‘the Community Curriculum’) to respond to local interests. The CPR Final Report argued that a Community Curriculum could be:

…planned locally by community curriculum partnerships (CCPs) convened by each local authority, or where this is desirable and appropriate by local authorities acting together; each panel includes school representatives, community representatives and experts in the contributory disciplines, and its work must involve consultation with children (CPR Final Report, p. 276).

The Report goes on to say:

…by building on children’s knowledge and experience, by engaging children educationally with the local culture and environment in a variety of ways, and by involving children in discussion of the local component through school councils and the world of the CCPs, the community curriculum would both give real meaning to children’s voices and begin the process of community enrichment and regeneration where it matters (CPR Final Report, p. 275).

Wherever their home is within the UK – north, south, east or west – children have a right to succeed and fulfil their potential. We urgently need to increase our efforts to ensure that these rights are achieved for every child.

Details of the year-round educational programme can be found on the Dumfries House Education website. The programme offers an extensive range of educational opportunities for schools and organisations, including residential courses.

Julia Flutter is a Co-Director of the Cambridge Primary Review Trust.

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C is for cancer: how do we teach primary children to protect their health?

One of the recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review (CPR), contained in its final report, was for health education to become a mandatory component of the primary curriculum in England for the first time. Drawing on extensive, well-documented evidence, the Review concluded that there is an urgent need to introduce a domain within the curriculum focusing on physical and emotional health. It noted (page 93): ‘Health concerns which once focused on infectious diseases, malnutrition and inadequate hygiene now revolve around obesity, diet, lack of exercise, and the increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and liver disease in adulthood’.

We are constantly reminded of these modern ‘epidemics’. Dire warnings about rising childhood obesity levels, for example, continue to make headlines on an almost daily basis. A timely warning came from the Teenage Cancer Trust last week, as schools head to the summer holidays, when it reported that young people risk developing skin melanomas in later life because they believe that sun cream is unnecessary in a country which enjoys so little sunshine. If, as CPR warns, many children’s health is at risk as a result of lifestyle choices and misinformation, then it is essential that they are educated to make better informed and more sensible decisions, and they learn to recognise symptoms, psychological problems and physical changes that require medical attention or therapeutic intervention.

According to Cancer Research UK, cancer is likely to affect one in two people in the UK at some point in their lives and yet it is estimated that cancer occurrence could be reduced by up to 40 per cent by lifestyle changes. Clearly, the earlier children are encouraged to make lifestyle changes that enable them to prevent cancer developing, the greater the chance that they will avoid this health problem blighting their future lives. Similarly, early diagnosis depends on being able to recognise changes in the body that necessitate medical investigation so children and adults should be alerted to these warning signs.

But talking about such a sensitive and potentially frightening subject in the classroom is no easy task. Children may be worrying about a family member, or even a cherished pet, who is suffering from cancer or who has died of the disease, and some may even be under treatment themselves. How should teachers approach this important but challenging health topic? Should we talk about cancer in the primary classroom? Within CPRT’s Eastern Regional Network we believe the answer to this question is an emphatic ‘Yes’. Children need to learn about cancer in a sensitive, balanced and well-informed way, and given the right advice and training, schools and teachers can play a vital role in protecting children’s health and well-being.

CPRT’s Eastern Regional Network has been looking at these issues in collaboration with the Teenage Cancer Trust in a pilot scheme called Cancer Education for Children, Teachers and Students (CANECTS). CANECTS aims to equip initial teacher education students with the skills they need for talking about cancer in the primary classroom.

There are two facets to the CANECTS scheme: one focuses on developing teachers’ skills for responding to the challenges, questions and situations relating to cancer that can arise in primary schools; the other explores ways of communicating healthy messages to young children which support cancer prevention and early diagnosis. The scheme introduces ways of helping a child and family with a recent diagnosis of cancer and offers advice on responding to children who are facing bereavement: and the scheme also focuses on teaching about cancer in an age-appropriate, sensitive way as part of the CPR curriculum’s domain on physical and emotional health.

The pilot CANECTS scheme is the brainchild of former primary head, Carol Bordoli, who originally approached Teenage Cancer trust for advice and support in her own school which had a pupil with a recent diagnosis of cancer. Unsure of how to help this child and his family, or how to answer questions being asked by other children, Carol contacted Susie Rice, Head of Education and Awareness, at the Teenage Cancer Trust. Susie’s expertise proved invaluable to Carol and her staff, and providing this training and support in a primary school context led Susie to look at ways of extending the Teenage Cancer Trust’s work with younger age groups.

As a result of this experience, Carol and Susie approached CPRT’s Eastern Regional Network with the idea of sharing their expertise with initial teacher trainees as part of the Early Years and Primary PGCE programme at Cambridge University. The CANECTS scheme’s first year has been run with the support of Penny Coltman, CPRT Eastern Regional co-ordinator, and Julia Flutter. Two presentations introduced The Teenage Cancer Trust’s work and offered a basic foundation for talking about cancer with young children, and these sessions were followed by a short series of lunchtime workshops for students who were interested in developing their skills further. These workshops provided guidance on talking about grief and bereavement, modelled good practice in teaching young children about cancer and healthy lifestyle choices, and introduced educational materials and resources on cancer for use in the primary classroom.

During the CANECTS sessions, two trainees gave moving accounts of their own experiences of being diagnosed with cancer whilst they were at primary school and their stories illustrated vividly how schools and teachers struggle to respond to these challenging situations.

The evaluation carried out at the end of the pilot year has shown that students felt the CANECTS training was worthwhile, with all students reporting that the project had increased their knowledge and understanding of cancer education and enabled them to develop an effective pedagogy for talking with children about cancer. Here are some students’ thoughts on taking part in the CANECTS scheme:

  • I feel more confident in talking about cancer with pupils now. I see the importance of de-mystifying some aspects of cancer so that children are comfortable asking questions and becoming more aware. I can also see myself using the practical activity to demonstrate what cancer is with classes as a teacher. Thank you for organising a great series of workshops.
  • I will carry this knowledge with me throughout my career. Of most value is the knowledge gained of where to seek help or resources if needed.
  • It has given me really practical ways which I can use to introduce cancer to children of different ages. I feel much more confident to be able to talk about cancer, without fearing I don’t know enough about it as I did before.

What next for the CANECTS scheme?

CPRT’s Eastern Regional Network will be continuing to offer CANECTS workshops for teacher trainees next year and will be increasing the number of sessions to cope with the high demand from students interested in attending the workshops. To find out more about the CANECTS scheme for ITE students, please contact Julia Flutter and for further information on The Teenage Cancer Trust please see the Trust’s website.

We would also like to hear about any initiatives and resources which you have come across that are focusing on health education issues in the primary classroom. Please let us know about your experiences and share your thoughts on how to ensure that schools teach children how to stay physically and emotionally healthy throughout their lives – it is probably one of the most important lessons we can teach them.

Other resources (there are many resources available online and through health organisations – these are just a few examples which may be helpful and offer signposting to other educational resources and support services)

Cancer Research UK SunSmart Policy for Preschools and Nurseries, and for Primary Schools and Primary School Teachers’ Notes

Royal Marsden Hospital booklet, Pupils with Cancer: a Guide for Teachers, written by Bette Petersen Broyd, Professor Kathy Pritchard Jones, and Dr Lesley Edwards

Macmillan Cancer Support, website with information about supporting children with cancer

CLIC Sargent, booklet, No Child with Cancer Left Out: the impact of cancer on children’s primary school education

Childhood Bereavement Network offers resources for supporting children experiencing grief and bereavement

This blog was co-written with Carol Bordoli and Susie Rice.

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Respecting children’s voices

As an educational researcher who has worked in the field of student voice for the past 22 years, I was fascinated to pick up the recent CPRT Research Report by Dr Carol Robinson, Children, their Voices and their Experiences of School: what does the evidence tell us?, introduced in Robin Alexander’s CPRT blog on 12 December.

Carol’s insightful review documents the developing influence of the ‘children’s voices’ movement, and offers an exciting agenda for future practice, policy and research. While the report shows us clearly that much has been gained through researching pupils’ views and the adoption of children’s voices principles, it also acknowledges that there is still a long way to go before these ideas are fully recognised and acted upon, both in the UK and internationally. While Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) confers on every child the right to be consulted and to participate in decision-making, how these principles are put into practice opens up new questions and challenges, particularly for teachers and schools.

Among the questions often raised about the children’s voices principles are the following:

  • Is the idea of respecting children’s voices a ‘luxury’ that schools no longer have time for?
  • Has the children’s voices movement overstepped the mark by giving children too great a say in decision-making in schools?
  • Should we allow children to take responsibility for their own learning?

Let’s look at each of these questions in turn.

Is the idea of respecting children’s voices a ‘luxury’ that schools no longer have time for?

After a presentation on our children’s voices research a few years ago, a head teacher stood up and told the audience that he was deeply grateful for the way in which our research had allowed him to re-focus his attention back onto the children in his school and their learning. He spoke of how the pressures and demands of the prevailing educational policy climate had temporarily eclipsed his thinking about the most important concerns.  His was a powerful statement about the value of respecting children’s voices: centring teaching practice on children’s voices in this way redirects us back to the things that matter, that make a real difference to children’s achievement and their love of learning. Far from being a luxury, the recommendations in Carol’s report show us that respecting children’s voices lies at the heart of a successful school community and offers a set of principles which every school should embrace.

Has the children’s voices movement overstepped the mark by giving children too great a say in decision-making in schools?

A common criticism of children’s voices principles is the concern that giving children an active say and involvement in decision-making could undermine teachers’ authority in schools. Some teaching unions have opposed children’s roles in interviewing teacher job applicants, for example, on the grounds that such activities might compromise pupil-teacher relationships while this type of decision-making, they argue, represents a step too far in changing the dynamics of power. However, as Jean Rudduck argued, respecting children’s voices does not mean that pupils’ views take precedence over teachers’ authority, nor must it result in a silencing of teachers’ own voices in the decision-making process. While it is important that children’s views are considered seriously and without tokenism, there is a clear balance to be struck, and a school ethos that is framed on values that embrace responsibility, reciprocity and community sets the parameters for ensuring that the voices of all, whether adult or child, are heard and respected. There are many schools around the country which have successfully embedded children’s voices principles in their practice. One of them is the Exeter school featured in Jo Evans’s CPRT blog on 21 January. Over the coming months the CPRT website will be showcasing other schools where CPRT principles, on this and other matters, can be witnessed in action.

Should we allow children to take responsibility for their own learning?

There is clear evidence from psychological studies showing that encouraging young learners to develop a sense of responsibility for their learning has a significant and positive impact on their achievement and attitudes to learning. US researcher, Carol Dweck, for example, has demonstrated that the children’s motivation and achievement are dependent on having a sense of ownership and responsibility for their learning. Giving children choices in their learning also provides opportunities for teachers to design classroom activities that respond to children’s interests and prior knowledge so that learning becomes more engaging and relevant.

Over to you  

  • What do you think about the role of children’s voices in primary education?
  • Does your school have interesting children’s voices practice or experiences to share?

To discover more about these ideas

Cambridge Primary Review Trust has been working with Pearson to develop a number of professional development programmes, including one focusing on children’s voices. This exciting new course looks at involving children in the development of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment and is designed for senior leadership teams.

The Rights Respecting Schools programme has been developed by UNICEF to support schools interested in putting the UNCRC recommendations on children’s rights at the heart of their practice. The programme offers training, resources and an award scheme for any organisations working with children and young people around the UK.

On 1 January Julia Flutter joined CPRT’s directorial team, taking responsibility for developing the Trust’s communication strategy.

  • Read more about CPR’s evidence and recommendations on children’s voices in its final report (Chapter 10) and the commissioned research surveys on children’s voices published in 2010 and 2014.
  • Find out more about the professional development packages arising from CPRT’s collaboration with Pearson.

Contact

Cambridge Primary Review Trust - Email: administrator@cprtrust.org.uk