Art club at Bow has thrived through boys visiting every week and taking the opportunity to work in the relaxed atmosphere of the art room. Bow is a multicultural school with 65% of boys on free meals and this diversity is reflected in our membership with an average attendance of around 10 members on any evening. Members fall into two main groups: those looking for a relaxed, friendly and supportive environment after school; and boys who know they love art, and are keen to channel their creativity and learn new skills.

I began the year running the club singlehanded. But, thanks to the support of the Jack Petchey Foundation I have been able to energize sessions by inviting artists from differing disciplines to spend 3 or 6 week blocks with us, supporting our activities. The boys suggest areas they would like to explore and the Bow Arts Trust helps us find a suitable artist. The artists who come, show and discuss their own work, and teach the techniques required to manipulate the materials. Our approach is to encourage boys to work on an idea of their own, learning how to handle a new medium not available to them in their art lessons.

This year we have worked with Begonia Tamarit doing batiks.

Caroline Hudson a ceramics artist helped boys produce some fantastic clay work and at the end took us through the process of casting using plaster and clay.

We are all excited by our current six week block with animation artist Jane Bailey. In the first week I watched the boys captivated by the process of directing and filming their first short film; to be edited to show felt-tip pens coming alive to create their own picture on a page. We are waiting for next week to see the edited version and learn from our mistakes!

"I like Art (clay) because you can make stuff and take it home and there’s help if you need it" Year 7

"I have learnt new skills and techniques and medias which I found fun" Year 8

"The journey was safe and seemed well organised. Everyone was excited and got along. I enjoyed it. I was very scared when we went abseiling, but everyone encouraged me, and deep down I did want to do it myself I did it in the end. I had a great time doing the High and Low Ropes Course, It was like a big adventure playgroung. This is when you have no choice but to trust your partner. Facilities like the snooker room, tv room and even shower and kitchen facilities were available to use at any time of the day which was great. The people were very nice, they all seemed like big kids really. The night walk was very scary. We bumped into cows, which frightened a few of the boys. The teachers pretended to get lost. But we found the Centre eventually. We walked for at least 4 hours." Kimberley

"The journey there was by train and it took about 2-3 hours, but I still enjoyed it because we had games to play to take up the time. The food we ate there was really nice. The accommodation was great. The facilities were alright and the people were really nice. In the evenings we watched videos and dvds, this was nice because there was a fire place and sofas. My favourite activity was on the first night when we went for a night walk. It was really nice and we got lost but eventually found our way. I enjoyed the Ropes course because it was in the middle of the forest and I had never done it before". Shaid

One initiative that has made a great impact is the Art club. A group of children ranging from Year 2 to 6 have been working together with Alison Corner and Anna Kinsella to create superb artworks, which are displayed around the school.

They have created huge, painted canvases to represent the seasons. There is now a Gallery showing framed portraits, and their current project takes a new direction. "We are learning about recycling in Art Club. Alison has told us to get plastic bags, boxes, and things like that. I feel excited when it is Art Club," says Nayema Akter, aged nine.

The Spanish Club has been a great success. Lawdale have been running the Spanish Club since May 2003, as we have been lucky enough to have a member of staff who can speak Spanish and a native Spanish speaker who jointly run the club. The tutor teaches Spanish through a programme that we have devised using CD ROMs and an interactive whiteboard. The programme is linked to the QCA Scheme of Work for Key Stage 2, Modern Foreign Languages The club is open to the children in year 4 and is over subscribed due to its popularity. The children learn through games, song and conversation. They are currently able to talk confidently about how they feel, their families, animals, objects, colours and clothes.

Lawdale have also had interest from the BBC, with regards to the Spanish Club. The BBC have developed a Primary Spanish Website and needed to test it before it became available and the children in Spanish Club have been ‘test driving’ some materials that the BBC have developed. The BBC Project producer came in and watched the children, took a video and photos of them during the session to research their materials and look at teaching methods before they made them available on the BBC Website.

This was an eight-week drama project and involved a mixed group of 15-20 pupils from Yrs7, 8 and 9, and took place during the summer term 2004.The project was run in partnership with the Half Moon Youth Theatre Group, who worked with the pupils one afternoon per week after school. Sessions were run as workshops introducing a range of dramatic formats.

Throughout the eight weeks the pupils worked on a script outline, developing and extending the story line. They devised a piece of theatre based upon the script they produced and this culminated in a public performance at the Half Moon Theatre during June 2004.

Sir John Cass has a strong tradition of Drama from years 7-11 and this project built on the work they already undertook as part of their curricula activities. The additional strength of this project lay in the fact that it brought together different year groups and gave them the opportunity of working with a professional theatre group. It encouraged them to extend and develop their creative skills and to see the finished result of their work as a performance piece. They were involved in the whole production process from script development, through to the finished performance, including the backstage operation.

Funding for this came from both the Jack Petchey Foundation and the school’s delegated budget.

Harpley is a special school for students with moderate learning and some associated behavioral difficulties. The age range of our students is 11-16. Breakfast club runs every morning between 8:00- 8:45. This is funded through the Jack Petchey Foundation Ooshl.

The school kitchen does not have any cooking facilities on site apart from a microwave (which belongs to Ms Viv), toaster (donated by Ms Sue), fridge (donated by Neil) and a kettle. This limits what we can provide but we do try to give our students a fairly wide choice- consisting of tea, coffee, fresh orange grapefruit, apple juice, a variety of cereals, toast (with jam/marmalade/peanut butter etc), scrambled egg, beans and spaghetti.

Our learning mentor Viv Venesiani runs the club along with Nikki Briggs a classroom assistant. Viv does the shopping once a week for the main bulk of items. Fresh bread, milk and eggs are purchased each day.

The breakfast club is very popular with students- especially those who are transported to school via the school buses. Many of them start out at around 7:30 and would have no time to have breakfast before leaving home. There are between 16 and 25 pupils who attend each day. We only have a school roll of 40 students so the turn out speaks for itself.

We have also found that students who have previously arrived late for school are now making effort to get here in time to have breakfast and sit and chat with their peers before starting the school day.

A few members of staff also join the students at breakfast time – for which they should be commended!

Comments from students:"I think breakfast club is a great idea. I love food and I particularly enjoy scrambled egg on toast with beans and a cup of tea. It would be nice to be able to have a boiled or fired egg for a change. If I was at home I would have a cup of tea and some biscuits for my breakfast."

Samad Miah – Year 11

" I have only just started at Harpley and I come to breakfast club everyday. I like a cup tea and loads of toast (which Miss Viv makes – it’s the best in the world) Other schools charge you for breakfast but at Harpley it’s free which is brilliant."

Ricky McMurdie – Year 8

"I come on the school bus and get very excited about being able to come to breakfast club. I like to be able to sit with my friends in the morning and eat my spaghetti on toast with egg. I love apple juice and I always have 2 glasses."

Sad Miah- Year 8

"John the bus (our driver) – gets us into school on time for club and he sometimes comes in with us and has a cup of coffee (with 6 grains of sugar) before he goes to his next job. I don’t normally have breakfast in the morning but I always have a slice of toast and a cup of coffee because I have to go to Sue in the school office to have my tablets after I’ve eaten."

Mosharef Ali- Year 9

 "My name is Shahin Ali and I am in Year 8. I help to put the tables out for Ms Viv and Ms Nikki. I love my beans on toast in the morning and a glass of apple juice. I sit and talk with my friends and I think it is a really nice way to start the day before lessons."

"At breakfast club me and Mandy both have scrambled egg of toast and a glass of fresh orange. When we have finished our breakfast we help Ms Viv and Ms Nikki with the washing up."

Tessa Bloomberg and Mandy Delahunty

 "I come to Harpley School on Tuesday and Wednesday only, the other days I go to St Paul’s Way but I absolutely love Harpley and want to come all the time. Breakfast club is great but I wish we could have some sausages, as they are my favourite. Ms Viv said she couldn’t do sausages because we don’t have a cooker in the kitchen. I only have toast and a drink but I do enjoy it."

Ryan Steel – Year 7

Marner primary school’s gardening club has taken root and the children who attend the after school club have really taken to restoring the neglected nature garden at the back of the school.

The school composts all its organic waste. Every day the pupils take the waste from the kitchen, office, staff room and their classrooms to the compost. The compost will then be used to improve the soil in the nature garden.

When they started their nature adventure, the garden was an overgrown and used as a dumping ground. "The kids have done some amazing things," said the school’s Jasmina Ljuhar, personal social health education coordinator "It was incredible what we managed to dig out. There was half a chest of drawers, cans, car wheels – all sorts. It appears that people would just chuck things over the back of the school."

When the children are in the garden, they also use it as a nature class, searching for plants, naming wild flowers and studying trees. Nine year-old Tasmina Khanon said: " I love the gardening club, I like digging the weeds and putting the compost onto the garden."

Nahidur Rahman, eight, said: "It is great fun to plant and to see nature." Toslima Begum, also eight said: " I love smelling the flowers and tidying up, removing the sticks and rubbish."

Learning through Landscapes which helps make school grounds better places, has selected the school to receive up from up to 20 volunteers who will assist in creating a bog garden and raised beds for the green-fingered children to grow their plants." When finished, the nature garden will be absolutely fabulous," Jasmina said.

Pupils leave their own mark on the story of Spitalfields

Pupils at Swanlea Secondary School were commissioned to paint a 200-foot-long mural on the hoarding between the new Spitalfields development at Bishops Square.

The 70 GCSE Bethnal Green students’ painting represents the area’s history which has seen and accommodated many cultures, all of which have left their mark. It captures Spitalsfield’s rich history, and the students’ own vision of contemporary life in the area.

Archeological finds such as a Roman lady in her lead-lined casket, perhaps one of the most famous discoveries and now housed at the Museum of London, was found at Spitfields. Other discoveries have included 10,000 skeletons and important artifacts, revealing an insight into the life of Londers between the 12^th and 15^th centuries.

Head of Art at Swanlea, Edwina Dennis, added: " It has been a fantastic opportunity for the students to be involved in a community related project which is beneficial to developing their skills while benefiting the community as a whole."

Spitalfields Development Group and the Corporation of London commissioned the school to do the mural. SDG chief executive Mike Bear commented: " Spitalfields has a rich history and I am delighted that Swanlea School has produced such a magnificent representation of its past, while Bishops Square, the final phase of a 16-year regeneration programme which represents Spitalfields future, is being built."

• To enable young people to work with the museum to conduct their own historical research interviewing older local people who grew up in the East End.
• To create a short video piece of their stories that will be publoicly dispalyed on the Museum's website and in the galleries.
• To faciliate greater understanding between residents of different ages and cultural backgrounds within Tower Hamlets.

Ben Jonson Primary School

Ki Bon Do Club

After-school Ki Bon Do, a Korean martial art, was originally launched at Ben Jonson in December 2004 after two taster sessions to establish the level of interest. The club was originally targeted at years 5 and 6. It operates on a weekly basis from 4.00 to 5.30 on Thursdays and has been funded through an Ocean NDC OoSHL grant since September 2005. The school hall is used as the venue for the club with pupils taking responsibility for ensuring the space is clear and clean before the session starts.

Students do not wear any special Ki Bon Do clothing as the cost is prohibitive for both the school and students' families. Instead students have agreed amongst themselves to have a club identity of white polo tops and blue jogging bottoms. All members wear their Ki Bon Do belts, which are ‘earned' and then provided by the club, as a visual demonstration of their level.

Staffing and Costs

External tutor Malcolm Watson is a trained and qualified instructor with CRB clearance and belongs to the Independent Ki Bon Do Association. He has an excellent rapport with the pupils who both like and respect him. At a cost of £35 for the weekly 1.5 hour session, the club is excellent value for money. The club's budget includes £30 which is spent on belts and medals.

Rationale

Pupils themselves had requested a martial arts activity. The school felt that the physical exercise and discipline involved made Ki Bon Do a good addition to its OoSHL programme. It is a good way for children to channel energies and release tensions in a positive and productive way.

Outcomes

Benefits for the children in the club include faster reflexes, and greater agility, flexibility and strength, as well as a sense of pride in their identity as club members. The group gave an impressive demonstration of their skills at a school assembly. Initial giggles from the younger children in the audience soon gave way to silent admiration as the group went through a display of high-kicks, blocks and punches.

The club also gives children an insight into some elements of Korean culture and language; children can count to 10 and have learnt to recognise and use the Korean words for Ki Bon Do movements. Their learning has also been assessed and accredited by an external examiner from the Independent Ki Bon Do Association. Twice a year, grading assessments lead to presentations of white belts, yellow tags, and yellow belts, according to level. Certificates and medals are presented at the year end.

Pupils in the club are really positive about the skills they have acquired. Below are some quotes from club members:

"I like Ki Bon Do Club because you can fly"
"I learned new skills and patterns"

Next steps

Ben Jonson is hoping to open up the club to year 4 pupils during the second half of the current school year. There is also a move to encourage more girls to participate. For further information please contact the school OoSHL co-ordinator Mary Aldred by email at aldred.ben-jonson.tower-hamlets@lgfl.net

Mulberry School for Girls

Mulberry Youth Conference

Mulberry School welcomes students from the USA

About the school

The Mulberry Youth Conference developed out of the school’s long-term commitment to programmes promoting student voice and active citizenship.  Mulberry School is a girls’ comprehensive in East London serving a student population that is almost entirely Bengali.  For this reason, the school has placed great emphasis upon programmes that give students the opportunity to engage with young people from different backgrounds.  In addition, as a girl’s school we believe it is vital to engage our students in programmes that help them to assert their public voice and take a lead role in community life.

Case Study Focus

History

In 2001 a group of students attending the New York conference were so moved by the opportunity to communicate with other young people from throughout the world that they returned to Mulberry determined to start a parallel conference in London.  The Mulberry Youth Conference was born, created by a core team of four Sixth Form students and four teachers.  Since then the conference has gone from strength to strength.  In 2005, over 40 Mulberry students were involved in designing and delivering the conference.  Guests included delegations from throughout Britain, Slovenia and the US.

“An Incredibly Moving Experience”: Order of the day

The Mulberry Youth Conference is aimed primarily at students in Years 11-13, providing a context in which they may come together to address pressing global issues.  Conference topics vary from year to year.   Sometimes the topics are broad catch-alls such as “Diversity and Justice” which enable us to bring in a potpourri of national and international issues.  At other times we focus in on a particular theme such as “The Impact of Mass Media.” 

The conference day is divided into three distinct sections.  The first features the presentations by the outside speakers.  Speakers are asked to speak for 20 minutes on an agreed upon topic, followed by 10 minutes of questions.  There are usually  three or four speakers over the course of the morning.  In addition, sometimes there is  a Question Time style panel discussion, in which panelists address questions from the floor. 

The second section of the day is the Discussion Groups in which groups of 15 students, led by two Mulberry students, explore their reactions to the morning speeches.  At the end of the Discussion Groups students are asked if any of them wish to make a speech before the conference as a whole.  If so, they are invited to submit a card indicating their topic.  Following lunch, in what is often the most powerful part of the day, we hear from as many of the student speakers as time allows.  It is hard to describe how powerful and moving it is for young people to hear other’s their own age earnestly addressing the key issues that face the world and pledging to become active in addressing these.

Following student speeches, the conference breaks up allowing students to attend smaller workshops on topics of particular interest to them.  These workshops, often presented by outside NGO’s, are focused on specific actions or activities young people can become involved in order to make a difference in their communities.

Finally the day is brought to a close with a speech from one of the student organisers.  It is important to note that at no time during the day are any members of school staff permitted on the stage: the day is run by and owned by the students.

Outcomes

The Mulberry Youth Conference has a profound impact upon students attending the conference and upon those involved in its development.  Student organisers have testified to the greater sense of confidence it has given them, and the feeling that it gives them that they can do whatever they set their mind to.  Over the course of the conference preparation the students learn how to envision, plan and organise a very complex event.  Mulberry School has also instigated a programme whereby each year’s conference leaders and presenters play a key role in organising and training the lead team for the following year, creating a self-perpetuating programme in which students are transformed into trainers.  

In 2005 the group organising the Mulberry Conference went on to independently plan and organise their own community conference involving over 400 attendees and raising over £3,000 for charity.  There is no better testament to the conference’s ability to inculcate the entrepreneurial spirit in young people!

Finally, the entire school has benefited tremendously from the conference.  This impact has grown as the conference’s international element was developed.  The presence of students from abroad has a tremendous impact in a mono-cultural school like Mulberry, suddenly opening up the school to the world.  The opportunity for our students to meet young Americans, hear their points of view, and develop friendships across lines of national and religious difference is one that none involved will ever forget.

Next steps

Mulberry is looking to build upon its international dimension and to develop further its conference programme. For further information please contact the school OoSHL co-ordinator Brandon Block by email at bblock.mulberry@mail.com

Marner Primary School

Gardening Club

In 2003, the garden was a piece of overgrown "waste" land, a very small part of which was dug and used as a resource for the science curriculum. The OoSHL Gardening Club started in that year but, because of the size of the garden and the vast amount of work that had to be done to it, the Gardening Club could only cultivate a very small part. As stated the area is polluted and edible crops could be grown without changing the soil. That was beyond our physical and financial resources until the following year.

In 2004, the member of staff who ran the Gardening Club, and who had a vision of the area becoming a proper garden where children could grow vegetables and flowers, applied for and won a Learning Through Landscapes award. On one very hot June day, a group of people, who worked for EDF Energy and McNicholas plc, came as volunteer workers and completely transformed Marner School's garden. We now had the structure in which to start gardening

Rationale

Whilst initially the club developed out of the teacher wanting to share her passion for gardening with the children in the school, other reasons for the club's success have become dominant. Most of the children who faithfully attend the OoSHL Gardening Club do not have a garden to play in or to simply enjoy themselves. They can now do that in "their" garden, as can the rest of the pupils.

Marner Gardeners, as the club's members call themselves, mentor other children. Marner Gardeners can work in the garden at any time they wish and they can, and do, take other children with them and show them how to garden. Officially there are twelve children on the OoSHL register; unofficially the number is considerably more and they meet at break times.

The garden has played a very important role in the children becoming custodians of their environment. They really do care for it making certain, on a daily basis, that any litter thrown or blown in to it is cleared away. They experience practical science by having become aware of the need to recycle and seeing the result of recycling. Marner Garden has six compost units and a Rolypig. All the school's organic waste is brought to the compost, by the children, and once again on a daily basis.

Impact

Marner Garden and Marner Gardeners have been extremely successful in the few years of their ongoing relationship. A film, to be shown in schools in Tower Hamlets, has been made about the children's recycling and environmental work. They've won the Mayor's London Schools' Environment Award for Tower Hamlets twice and the award money has meant that they are self-sufficient. They have their own budget to buy tool, plants, seeds and bulbs to improve the environment. The whole community and not just the school have benefited.

In 2005, the Director of Kew Gardens, Professor Sir Peter Crane, visited the garden and Marner Gardeners gave him a guided tour of their domain, impressed him with their horticultural knowledge and also offered their gardening advice! It was a very successful visit and treasured by both hosts and visitor.

In his letter to the Marner Gardeners and Helpers, Sir Peter said

“ I was very, very impressed by all your hard work to make the garden so beautiful – and so friendly to wildlife. Congratulations – you really do have something to be proud of!”

In 2006, the Gardeners entered the London Children's Flower Society bulb growing competition for the first time. All the children, and the garden, received the highest level of award, gold certificates for their efforts. Next year the whole school will be invited to grow bulbs and enter the competition.

Next Steps

Marner Gardeners continue to grow flowers and organic strawberries, the latter sold to pupils in the school Fruit Tuck Shop at break time. They are now branching out and growing organic salad crops for the first time. These, it is hoped, will be used in the school kitchen. Plants grown by the children from seeds, many of which the children collected from plants in the garden, are to be sold to parents and guests, on the OoSHL Gardening Club stall, at our forthcoming summer fete. All profits will be ploughed back into the Gardening Club.

A few parents have been actively involved but we want to get more involved in the OoSHL club, for not only would their labour be greatly appreciated, they would have more awareness of the wonderful things the children are achieving.

The Gardening Club has benefited all the children in it and in particular the less academically able. These children have found something that they are good at and, even though they may find it difficult to remember their maths lessons or spellings, they seem to have no difficulty in remembering the horticultural Latin names of plants or why there is a need to deadhead a plant.

For further information please contact Jasmina Ljuhar, OoSHL Co-ordinator at Marner, on jasminaljuhar@marner.towerhamlets.sch.uk

Half Moon at Harpley School & Inclusion Support Centre Meteor-writes Project

About Half Moon

Half Moon Young People's Theatre aims to produce and present professional theatre for and with young people that informs, challenges and shapes their artistic potential, placing these creative experiences at the core of our policies and practices.

The company presents all its work under one artistic umbrella, ensuring a cohesion of all its activities and so providing an interlocking dialogue and exchange between the two areas of activity:

• Professional Theatre - producing and presenting professional theatre at the base, in venues and in youth and schools settings.
• Participatory Programme - providing an extensive participatory programme including youth theatres, school and community projects.

Focus of Case Study: Meteor-Writes @ Harpley

Meteor-writes is a script writing and performance project for up to 24 students. Funded by the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund's Initiatives to raise Attainment at KS3 and KS4, Half Moon worked with four secondary schools in Tower Hamlets during 2005-2006. One of the schools that took part was Harpley, who experienced 8 school workshop sessions, leading up to a three-day residency at the company's theatre base .

• The school sessions focused on basic drama skills and approaches to writing, using scientific themes as a stimulus to encourage students to use science to influence and inform the work produced. Skills included improvisation, dialogue, understanding text, staging, physical theatre and character work.
• During these sessions the participants began to develop a performance piece with the assistance of a professional writer and director.
• There was also an element of set design integrated into the sessions, encouraging participants to approach ideas from an artistic angle and look at theatre as a multi-faceted medium.
• The sessions developed self-esteem and teamwork.
• The first two days at Half Moon were spent rehearsing, working with set, lighting and sound design. A stage manager was present throughout, to ensure that participants gained a deeper understanding of the professional theatre process.

The third day was for technical and dress rehearsals, culminating in a performance for friends and family.

Rationale

The aims & objectives of the project:

• To improve drama and communication skills
• To develop self-esteem and teamwork
• To produce a piece of theatre resulting in a performance at the end of the project
• To engage a group of young people with out-of-school activities.

Impact

This project was hugely successful for the participants and for Half Moon in achieving its objectives, particularly in developing a real sense of teamwork and raising self- esteem for this group of young people.

“The tutors listened to us and were very encouraging”
Group member

“This project has taught me a lot of new skills. It taught me how to perform in front of a lot of people. I liked the games that we played and I felt that a lot of my ideas were used in the project.”
Group member

Students' evaluations

Feedback from the 12 students involved was reported in the form of a paper evaluation; the strongest positive aspects were the relationships with the tutors, having a good variety of activities and watching the other school perform. This was a really positive aspect of the work as the students could really appreciate the work that had gone into each other's productions. The project has developed more interest in Science and all of the participants are enthusiastic about doing more out of school activities.

Tutors' evaluations

The tutors who took part found that the ethos of the school and the support of staff, both in school and during the rehearsal period at the theatre, were excellent. The students developed some sophisticated drama techniques, including their use of spontaneous improvisation within a designated storyline, which they used throughout the rehearsal process and in the final performance. The completed script was produced in two formats: a traditional written script and an accessible pictorial version, which the young people responded to really well and used as the stimulus for the performance, ‘All the weathers in the world'.

“ We made sure the group's ideas and wishes were integral to the story line, characters, set design, lighting and sound, thus creating a sense of ownership of the final piece.”
Tutor

Next steps

Half Moon is keen to continue developing this work in all types of school settings, as it has been such a successful and exciting project this year; it can be tailored to work with any year group and has the extra quality of producing a script, written by a professional writer, in direct response to the work and ideas of the students involved. For further information , please contact Sue Page on sue@halfmoon.org.uk

Debating In Tower Hamlets

Pupil oracy has been a key area of the central G&T programme. With the considerable help of the English Speaking Union (ESU), an initial pilot project was begun almost three years ago for eight primary schools on the subject of debating. There were a number of teacher insets to get things moving followed by a series of pupil sessions to improve their debating skills and technique both as a classroom activity and as a competition toolkit. At the end of the year the schools participated in a borough competition, which on this occasion was won by Olga primary school.

It seemed only logical to follow this up by establishing a culture and format for secondary school debating, especially as these schools would be enrolling an ever-increasing number of year 7 pupils with debating experience. With the help of Mulberry School who had for some time been actively competing in both London and National competitions, a forum of experienced teachers was established to promote the ‘skills of debate' in six of our secondary schools. This culminated in an initial secondary competition two years ago, won by Bethnal Green Technology College.

Since that time we have organised training at the Tower Hamlets Professional Development Centre and at the ESU for teachers from over forty primary and twelve secondary schools, along with several sessions for pupils to practice and reinforce their competition debating skills.

Rationale

Tower Hamlets boasts a wide range of cultural backgrounds and many families who do not have English as their first language. Whilst pupils' written skills are rapidly improving, it was felt that ‘Oracy' should be targeted as an area which would draw together pupils acknowledged verbal skills with the more complex format and tradition of inter-school debate. It was thought that the skills of research, planning, teamwork and structure, necessary for debate, would not only carry over into their written work but also give pupils the confidence to achieve to their fullest potential across the whole curriculum. This is a view that has been expressed by headteachers and also through various government inspections during recent years. Impact

At present we are working with schools to evaluate the impact of the project in terms of the effect on pupils in the classroom and through the development of skills required for competitive debate during and after school.

As previously mentioned, forty primary schools now take part in debate and twenty-two teams have been entered for this year's borough primary competition to be held at the ESU later in the summer term. The first secondary borough-wide debate competition took place on 24th April 2006 at Mulberry school and involved students from years 8 to 10 from ten schools. The final was keenly contested by teams from Mulberry School for Girls and Bow Boys School and was won by the Mulberry team.

An additional competition for year 7 pupils is scheduled for July to enable last year's primary debaters to continue to demonstrate and develop their skills.

Next Steps

• To encourage schools to organise debates within their school and to compete with other local schools on a regular basis and in addition to the official borough competition.

• To promote a series of competitions with schools from other London boroughs.

• To recognise pupil development through a series of awards and certificates that identify the variety of skills acquired through debate.

For further information please contact Martin Rabenau EiC G & T Cluster Co-ordinator on rab@stpaulsway.org

Phoenix Special School

Enrichment Afternoon: Introducing Roller Blades

Enrichment Afternoon

Three years ago Phoenix reorganised the curriculum and made the school day slightly longer to allow Wednesday afternoon from 2.05 to 3.20 to become dedicated to enrichment activities. This ensures that every pupil at the school receives at least an additional one and quarter hours of OoSHL every week.

In the past two years the programme has included a wide range of activities:

• Art therapy at Bromley-by-Bow Art Centre
• Model making and sculpture
• Bike riding
• Climbing wall
• ICT
• Bengali group
• Mudchute Farm
• Adventure playground
• Tower Hamlets College link
• Dance therapy
• Music therapy
• Tower Project Sensory experience.

Roller blading

Following pupil evaluation in June 2005 it was found that older pupils expressed an interest in roller blading. Research was carried out via the Internet and the London SkateFresh centre was contacted. Following initial discussions and visits to the school it became evident that it was possible to offer roller blading to Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 pupils over a period of one year, each group having a six week block.

Staffing and resources

The cost of introducing this activity has been met mainly through Jack Petchey Foundation funding. Roller blades, helmets and body protection were purchased from Decathlon out of a pupil's Jack Petchey Foundation £200 achievement award. The cost of the tutor, which is, £60 per session is funded from the school's annual Jack Petchey Foundation OoSHL grant.

Outcomes

The experience the pupils have gained by mastering the use of roller blades has both enhanced their self-confidence and physical abilities. Many of the pupils had never been on roller blades before and by the end of the six weeks were fully mobile, some even able to perform complicated manoeuvres.

The pupils have demonstrated their skills both to the whole school at assembly time and to parents at the recent parent's evening. The pupils will have the opportunity of choosing to roller blade at Regent's Park with their London SkateFresh instructor on the Spring Term Activities Day. For further information please contact jjacques@phoenix.towerhamlets.sch.uk