Leading view papers – Days 1 to 7

Key stage 3 in two years: one solution to student boredom and disaffection

 

Introduction

Sometimes I feel that we live in an upside-down world. To look at the way we organise our school curriculum, it would be very hard to guess the actual importance that we attach to its different parts. Take, for example, our system of secondary key stages. At a glance, it would appear that we value key stage 3 more than any other. Why else would we attach three years to it, giving key stages 4 and 5 a mere two years each? Yet we know that the reality is the opposite.

As far as employers and universities are concerned, the only things that matter are GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education) and A-levels. When was the last time that a university admissions tutor declared that he or she could not offer a student a place because of a disappointing set of key stage 3 levels? When, in fact, was the last time that an admissions tutor or employer showed the remotest interest in the key stage 3 levels that a student gained? The rather surprising truth is that too many of our students ‘mark time’ during key stage 3, leaving them feeling bored or disaffected. When key stage 4 does come along, it is often too late to shift the feeling of just treading water.

Within our own school, we felt that the time had come to do something about this imbalance. We wanted to establish a new curricular structure that gave greater time to the things that mattered most. We also wanted to develop a structure that allowed scope for genuine personalisation - allowing students to access courses that they wanted to take when they felt ready to take them. Hence, we wanted to sweep away the mentality that declared that students could not touch GCSEs until they were in year 10 or AS levels until they entered year 12. So we began the process of readjustment.

What we are doing

In September 2005, all curriculum areas embarked on a condensed key stage 3 programme of two-year coverage. To ensure complete curriculum coverage has necessitated a fresh look at programmes of study and any ‘fat’ being trimmed out. In doing this, there is a risk that the more ‘interesting’ bits are lost. However, we have not found this to be the case. Instead, the resultant schemes are slicker and the pace of delivery more focused than before. We have decided that students will still sit their SATS exams in year 9, after having had the benefit of their new year 9 curriculum.

Having established what is, hopefully, a robust and stimulating programme for years 7 and 8, we were then faced with what would be done in the ‘freed up’ year 9. Curriculum areas have all approached this time from the perspective of what most suited the students and the specific needs of their subject. Science, for example, has been able to take advantage of the changes to the curriculum and will cover the core material in year 9, additional material in year 10 and Separate Science in year 11. This means that all students will attain three GCSEs within the time previously allocated to the double award. They also have an additional GCSE option, as Separate Science no longer takes up one subject of their allocation. Other subjects are offering true personalisation, in the form of pathways. In mathematics, students choose from a menu of GCSE Mathematics, GCSE Statistics or jumping straight to AS. A similar model has been applied to ICT, where they choose between a Diploma in Digital Applications (worth two GCSEs), AVCE ICT or AS computing.

We have been adamant, however, that the additional year does not purely become an opportunity for students to ‘collect’ more examinations. Some subject areas, for example, geography and history, are looking to undertake cross-curricular projects that lie outside the scope of the specification, with the aim of engendering nothing more than a passion for the subject.  We also recognise that for subjects where students need a certain degree of maturity, such as English, they will continue to sit their GCSE in year 11.

The path we followed

The path we have trodden has by no means been an easy one. There have been more rough patches along the way than we care to remember. We can be a little proud, however, of the fact that we went from conception to implementation in one academic year. Key to this has been giving staff the opportunity to air all their concerns and not trying for a ‘one size fits all’ approach. We have had regular meetings at which faculty leaders have worked together to agree on the principles of our approach. They than acted as ambassadors to ‘sell’ the changes to the rest of the staff, and have provided a communication conduit back to the senior leadership team. Negotiation and compromise have been necessary on both sides but the result is certainly not second best.

Conclusion

While we are still in the early days of implementing this new curriculum structure, it has been interesting to notice the reaction of both parents and students. When we wrote an article in the school newsletter explaining the philosophy behind the changes we had made, the only reaction we got from parents was a complaint that we had not introduced the new system sooner. ‘Wish you had done this when my son was in key stage 3’ was a common piece of feedback from parents with older children. Early experiments with a new and more personalised curriculum have also attracted an enthusiastic response from students. A group of pupils from years 8, 9, 10 and 11 are now pursuing an AS course in music technology. Eighty year 11 students have volunteered to take a lunch time AS course in general studies ‘because we thought it would be interesting’. We suspect that these reactions will become more and more common, as the process of revising and personalising the curriculum continues to roll out.

As with several other aspects of education, the moment we begin to question the current structure, we find ourselves asking why on earth we have been doing things this way for so long? Our experience so far leaves us in no doubt that it is time for a change, and time to turn our upside-down curriculum the right way up.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ms Annabel Kay is Deputy Head at Lawrence Sheriff School, in Rugby, UK.

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