Warwick Road Primary School

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Warwick Road Primary School's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Warwick Road Primary School is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

es.sch.uk

1WARWICK ROAD PRIMARY SCHOOL |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE

Year 6 children writing about

Macbeth

Children in nursery

practising their names

Based in Batley, Warwick Road Primary School is a place

where staff work hard to ensure every child exceeds

expectations. Children flourish under a team of committed

staff who create learning opportunities that ensure all children

achieve their full potential. It aims to develop the holistic child:

empathy, compassion and respect are that which will enable

our children to become responsive, active members of society.

Headteacher Shamsa Quereshi elaborates.

Before addressing how we maintain high standards in literacy, it must first be

acknowledged that our children come from very diverse backgrounds – many, if

not most, of these children possess English as an additional language. Traditionally,

in such circumstances, standards in literacy are below those of maths. We have

worked hard, therefore, to raise the profile of writing, and, in turn, to bring

standards in line with those of maths. A series of activities have taken place in order

to achieve this.

Whole-school write assemblies are held each half-term, and the work produced is

proudly displayed on the corridor for all children to see. Termly spelling bees also

attempt to add an element of fun to a traditionally dry subject area: children rise to

the challenge, and teachers often take part, too – this allows children to see first-

hand how it is fine to find something difficult. Recently, we hosted a National Poetry

Day assembly when children from each year group wrote and performed their

own poems in front of the school. A large poetry book was created, collating the

work that the children produced. Children take part in all events enthusiastically,

and they look forward to the next. Workshops for SPAG, writing and phonics are

delivered by staff to parents, allowing them to lend greater support at home, too.

REPORT CARD

WARWICK ROAD PRIMARY

SCHOOL

»Headteacher: Shamsa Quereshi

»Founded in 1880

»Based in Batley

»Type of school: Primary

»No. of pupils: 384

»No. of staff: 57

»warwickroad.kirklees.sch.uk

Warwick Road

Primary School

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

2| WARWICK ROAD PRIMARY SCHOOL

Commitment to our ethos

Perhaps the most important factor in

Warwick Road’s success with regard to

writing, however, is that of the school

ethos. The promotion of a “growth

mindset” has ensured that children

are unafraid to make mistakes. This

can-do culture has developed a love

for learning that exists throughout

the school. This is celebrated during

the weekly “Secrets of Success”

assemblies, where children are praised

for their efforts; significantly, children

are often asked to read their writing

aloud in front of their peers – this

helps boost their confidence and

assures them that their hard work will

be recognised.

This positive approach has undoubtedly

had an impact on the behaviour at

school, which is exemplary. As children

want to do well and better themselves,

behavioural issues are infrequent, and,

if any were to occur, they would be

promptly dealt with. Reduced class

sizes allow staff to give each child a

more individual focus – each class

holds around 26 children. Time that

would have been spent adapting the

teaching for more children is instead

spent on ensuring that quality first

teaching and exemplary marking and

feedback is taking place.

Working closely with students

Marking and feedback is of a high

priority at Warwick Road: it allows

teachers to address misconceptions

immediately so that each child knows

exactly what they need to do to

progress. It is differentiated for each

child to suit their particular needs.

Children expect next steps and do

not see them as criticism, but as

guidelines to progress. Perhaps more

important is the immediate feedback

that occurs in lessons. As teachers’

subject knowledge is strong, staff

are able to address or pre-empt

misconceptions in the classroom,

thereby allowing children to progress

immediately. Twilight sessions have

been delivered to ensure that staff’s

subject knowledge is secure enough to

do this.

Enabling children to progress further

are the child’s success criteria. Each

lesson, children are given details of

exactly what is expected of them

in that session. This not only allows

children to self-assess their own work,

but, as they are divided into Bronze

(Working Towards), Silver (Expected)

and Gold (Greater Depth), children

can see for themselves how to

progress. Linked to this are the interim

frameworks for each year group,

Year 2 children taking

part in writing booster

The promotion

of a “growth

mindset” has

ensured that

children are

unafraid to

make

mistakes. This

can-do culture

has developed

a love for

learning that

exists

throughout

the school

“

3WARWICK ROAD PRIMARY SCHOOL |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE

which are stuck in and ticked off at

the front of all English books. These

detail exactly what children in each

year group should be able to do. This

allows children to see exactly where

they stand with regard to writing,

and, again, what they need to do to

progress even further. As children

know what is expected of them, they

grow even more confident.

It is this confidence that allows children

to access high-quality texts. The SLT

worked hard to create a curriculum

that largely centres on quality texts.

This is not restricted to literature,

however. Very often, units of work are

based on picture books or provoking

video clips. This means that children

who favour different learning styles

are able to access the curriculum.

In year 6, for example, children are

exposed to difficult texts such as

Macbeth

by William Shakespeare and

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens.

As our children love a challenge, they

persevere with the difficult language.

Writing is largely about absorbing what

has been read and making it one’s

own, so we firmly believe that children

should be exposed to the best.

Persistent approach

This year, we are working towards

ensuring that this high standard of

writing is applied across all subject

areas. In order to achieve this, the SLT

have devised a curriculum in which

most subjects centre around the one

topic. For example, children in year 5

who are currently studying the First

World War for their creative curriculum

topic are using

War Horse

, a text set

during The First World War, as the

basis for their writing unit. As both

subject areas revolve around the same

topic, children are able to apply what

they have learnt in their writing to

their creative curriculum work and vice

versa – thereby raising the standards of

writing in both.

Rigorous monitoring takes place

in order to ensure that the high

expectations we have are being

maintained. An English book scrutiny

takes place every half-term – each

with a different focus. The subject

coordinator looks at what each

individual child achieves in reading,

writing and SPaG to ensure that

teacher assessments are as accurate

as possible. Both year 2 and year 6

have been externally moderated in

the last two years, and both were

positive experiences which confirmed

that our assessment procedures are

effective. Moreover, we host our own

in-house moderations, sometimes

involving other schools, with the other

year groups, too, so that everyone

understands the process of moderation

and that everyone is aware of the

expectations in each year group.

Writing is

largely about

absorbing

what has been

read and

making it

one’s own, so

we firmly

believe that

children

should be

exposed to

the best

“

Year 4 child writing a

report about Gandhi

es.sch.uk

This article was sponsored by Warwick Road Primary School. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from The Rt Hon Professor The Lord Blunkett.

The Rt Hon Professor The Lord Blunkett's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Professor The Lord Blunkett

A new Prime Minister, a new Education Secretary and, as we're all painfully aware, a deeply uncertain future. It is in this context that the education service continues to deliver for individuals, communities and of course for our nation.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the education service as a whole, schools, post 16/Further Education, and yes, lifelong learning, needs the most enormous injection of cash. Independent analysis shows that there has been at least an 8% average reduction in the amount of spend per pupil in our schools. Those damaged most by this have been pupils with special educational needs, whose voices are sadly rarely heard. The necessity of urgent action was underlined in July by the report of the all-party House of Commons Select Committee on Education. They could not have been clearer about the need for substantial funding and a long-term 10-year commitment.

At the same time, there are a number of reviews taking place. One of them, in relation to post-16 qualifications, is in danger of a classic mistake by politicians and officials who have little or no understanding of the complex territory they're dealing with. Namely, the ridiculous proposition that BTEC National Diplomas might be set aside because 'T Levels are the gold standard'!

I'm in favour of T Levels, but in the right context and for the right outcome. They are intended to be extremely focused specialist qualifications in defined areas of employment. When and if they eventually take off – there is predicted to be just a thousand students in 2021-22 taking up the qualification – they will not replace the BTEC, which has been the workhorse providing a general and high-quality education for decades. The BTEC has equipped young people for a variety of opportunities in a very changing employment market where the development of artificial intelligence, robotics, and changed working practices makes confining the choice of vocational pathways to one narrow focus, frankly ridiculous.

Meanwhile, her Majesty's Opposition continue to throw out titbits which do not give, as yet, a very clear idea of what, if elected, Labour would do in office. What is needed is positive proposals. Abolishing this, that or the other – assessments/tests for those leaving primary school, for instance – is not the same thing as a very forward-looking agenda for radical improvement in standards and equity between those who can and cannot afford additional help for their children.

There are a handful of Labour Party members, supported by some people who ought to know better, who have decided that a full-frontal assault on private education would be a good idea. For those worried about this, stop worrying. A party that put this in its manifesto wouldn't get elected, and if by some fluke it did, it would be challenged in the courts to the point where all the contradictions would be exposed for everyone to see.

Just contemplate one simple fact. 20% of secondary schoolchildren in the borough of Hackney attend private schools! Yes, Hackney. This is because a large number of parents, some of whom scrape the money together, are sending their children to private education in London which happens to be the area of England with the best academic outcomes from state education. What's more, very large numbers (again, particularly in London) pay for private tutors. At the last estimate 40% of parents in London had at some point over the last year paid for a tutor for their child!

Perhaps therefore an opposition party, hoping to provide unity rather than division, opportunity for all rather than a futile class battle against educational privilege, would seek ways of ensuring that those who can't afford tutors have the kind of support outside school that would put them on equal terms.

One thing is very certain, no government would be able to stop parents buying additional tutoring for their children.

So, a practical agenda for equalising opportunity, for investing where it's needed most, for transforming the pipeline from school through college, apprenticeships, or university, is a goal worth fighting for. A positive way of linking business and education through political decision-making, with the delivery by excellent professionals in the education service, to the children of today and the economy of tomorrow. Surely that is a much more progressive and less negative way forward for both government and opposition.

The Rt Hon Professor The Lord Blunkett
Co-Chairman