Education

Meet ‘The Two Steves’

Published

9 years ago

February 17, 2015

BACK in the county again last week were Steven Barlow and Steven Skidmore, otherwise known as ‘The Two Steves’, bringing their unique brand of writing skills teaching to our local primary school children. The Herald had an exclusive opportunity to watch one of their lively sessions at the Pembrokeshire Archives offices.

In the session were three small groups of local primary school pupils, including Haverfordwest school, Fenton CPS. The object of the workshop is to get Key Stage 2 boys, predominately, writing and, more importantly, to give them an enjoyment of the writing process.

Each group attends either a morning or an afternoon session for the whole week. On day 1 they are introduced to each other and use memory and co-ordination games to break the ice, during which they will be given talks, and entertainment, by the Steves. On day two they partake in a visualisation game and have to decide what they would take on a desert island, as they develop their thinking and imagination skills. They are also asked to think about elements of a story; character, theme, settings, creating tension, foreboding and conflict, as they build towards writing their own story. By day 3 they are planning a story and coming up with ideas, and an ending, which they do first as, the Steves explained, prevents them from getting stuck or lost as they have already decided where their story is going. On day 4 they are writing and editing from a finished story they have written at home or in school, and on day 5 they have produced the finished work and are sharing each others stories.

At the end of the whole process they will have something concrete, that is published and of which they can get a copy.

The sessions are lively and very interactive with lots of discussion and shared ideas. They are given clear advice on story structure and there is much humour in the process, as both Steves are certainly fun. They are also given clear objectives, for example, the 4 opening sentences in stories that are either a question, some dialogue, a piece of information or a metaphor or simile. They learn the importance of beginnings, middles and endings and those vital components of a successful story; the who, what, where, when, why and how. The delivery is very kinaesthetic and accessible to all in the session and there is much opportunity for discussion and talk, which is not always a feature of the classroom.

We spoke with Fenton teacher, Mr Williams, who said of the workshops: “We can use these strategies in the classroom, and when we do, the children’s enthusiasm shoots right up. The planning process is excellent as the story is broken into segments from the end backwards. It is a great way to enthuse the boys and build self esteem.”

Steve Barlow explained a little bit about what they were doing: “For teachers it helps to be a good performer. In a recent Estyn finding it had been proven that the use of the right people and outside agencies leads to improvement. The best people for this tend to be ex-teachers. We work with all ages, from Kindergarten to staff, but our main focus is on key stage 2, as well as key stage 3. It is particularly rewarding working with primary schools as they can make time for this which is hard for secondary schools where the timetable is God”.

Steve Skidmore added to this point, saying: “It is more compartmentalised in secondary school. We work with boys and girls, indeed, the girls insist sometimes! Although there is a focus on boys, as in some schools it is very disparate between boys and girls achievements. There are simply not enough male role models in primary schools. Literacy is female dominated; mum is the one who tends to read at home, secondary school literacy teachers tend to be women, most primary school teachers are women and even most librarians are female, so literacy can be seen as a feminine thing by boys.”

They both stated that they felt ‘blokes tended to duck out of their responsibility’ with literacy and reading, and they criticised this as they said boys need a male role model and encouragement.

Steve Skidmore made the point that he and the other Steve can come along as a couple of blokes and have fun, which is, he said, also the sort of stuff they themselves tend to write.

The Herald asked what is going wrong in schools given that, despite having just as much creativity as girls, boys are still not performing so well in writing. Steve Barlow explained: “We have it the wrong way round in schools, because of the way education has been structured over the last few years. In these developing years there is a big emphasis on the mechanics rather than motivating kids to feel empowered to tell the stories they want to tell. We think that’s a retrograde step.”

Said Steve Skidmore: “If they are hung up on the whole mechanics of writing, spelling, punctuation and grammar, and that’s what they get judged on, then they will fail. A lot of the boys don’t develop on the mechanics like the girls, yet they are being judged on the same level. A lot of time boys need to get out that excess energy. Some children are more needy than others and teachers don’t always have that time in a class of 30. We talk about self esteem on the first day a lot. A lot of boys would rather get kicked out of a lesson than admit they can’t do something.”

As Steve Barlow stated, many boys tend to react negatively to failure as opposed to many girls who see it as a spur to try harder the next time.

Steve Barlow went on to question the curriculum schools use in literacy: “Part of the problem is that the curriculum contains too many different types of writing and so it’s all fragmented; writing for a purpose, writing an argument, writing a report, as well as writing stories. The point is it’s all writing and if you are failing in one you are failing in all of them. The priority ought to be to get them empowered, believing they can do it, using themselves as a resource and knowing they can develop and structure a story so that it succeeds. Once they’ve got that they can learn the other stuff in 5 minutes.”

Steve Skidmore added to this stating: “The other thing is about celebration, we don’t celebrate the writing they do in school. We, from our sessions, publish it, read it out, have time for a clap which they don’t have time for in school. We need to give them a reason for it.”

He went on to talk about the issue of changing Governments and their approach to education: “Are we saying there is a political elite that need people not to question things? I thought that with Gove; he had no idea what teaching was about. They (politicians) have come through a particular schooling system (private) and people like Gove are trying to impose the same values on children from very different backgrounds. For instance, Gove saying they should be doing Dryden at 14; how is this a life skill for some of these children?”

Steve Barlow added to this criticism saying: “Decisions are taken by elected education secretaries and it’s all to do with vanity projects rather than to do with actual need. The basic problem is those people making decisions are not listening to those at the grass roots. Politicians like to make big bold statements like ‘we will have every child literate by 2020’ for example.”

Steve Skidmore, laughed in disdain at this suggestion, saying: “You have children who are special needs. All children literate? No they won’t be; there are physical problems here. You are dealing with human beings who have different needs. Governments/ Estyn look at data – data doesn’t tell you everything. For example, we had a child whose mum and father had recently died – that impacts on the child, does data tell you this? Take Fenton school, who might be lower graded, but they have a special needs unit that gets aggregated onto the whole school so they get judged on that. It’s a really good school, with good teachers who look after the kids, and a great head that will argue the toss with Estyn, re. data, but a lot of heads don’t have that confidence. It would be lovely if politicians had the same sort of nonsense from people higher above them. There’s just no accountancy. Academies are not improving education – it’s about money and leadership. Data is not a way to judge human beings.”

Education

Conservative calls for academies and free schools rejected by Senedd

Published

21 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter

THE SENEDD has rejected calls to introduce free schools and academies after a report found major challenges in Wales’ education system.

Tom Giffard led a Conservative debate on educational attainment, warning that Wales is consistently at the bottom of UK-wide league tables.

The party’s new shadow education secretary pointed to an Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report on education in Wales which found low outcomes and high levels of inequality.

Mr Giffard told the Senedd the IFS report highlights the pitfalls of the Welsh Government putting all its eggs in the basket of a skills-based approach.

Criticising a failure to measure skills inequalities and pupil progress, he stressed that Wales’ lower performance is due to policy and approach rather than funding or the pandemic.

He said: “It seems the Welsh Government relies on Pisa results to tell the story but then, when those same results are all too disappointing, they are dismissed in equal measure.”

Mr Giffard, who previously worked in a primary school, said declines in Pisa results can be observed in almost every country that has adopted a skills-based approach.

Raising concerns about disappointing Pisa results, the South Wales West MS pointed out that Wales saw the lowest scores in the UK for every subject.

Heledd Fychan, Plaid Cymru’s shadow education secretary, warned that Wales’ schools are understaffed and facing difficult decisions due to budgets being at breaking point.

She criticised implementation of the Welsh Government’s additional learning needs (ALN) reforms, saying schools cannot realise the aims without the budget to bring them to life.

Ms Fychan said Plaid Cymru agreed with much of the Tory motion but her party would not support calls for free schools and academies.

Sam Rowlands described the IFS report as damning, warning that the Welsh Government’s education reforms have been disastrous and have widened inequality.

The Tory MS claimed the reforms are systematically holding back disadvantaged children, saying: “The most remarkable fact is that the performance of disadvantaged children in England is either above or similar to the average for all children in Wales.”

Mr Rowlands added: “The poorest in England’s schools are doing the same or better than the Welsh average, thanks to ambition, the academies and free schools.”

Samuel Kurtz, a fellow Tory, said free schools and academies have driven up standards in England as he argued a Wales roll-out provides an opportunity to improve outcomes.

James Evans, the Conservative MS for Brecon and Radnorshire, highlighted the party’s pledge to get 5,000 more teachers into Wales’ classrooms.

Buffy Williams, the newly elected chair of the Senedd’s education committee, said Wales is undergoing a profound transformation propelled by ALN and curriculum reforms.

The Labour MS for Rhondda stressed the importance of listening to teachers and allowing ample time for the reforms to take root in classrooms across Wales.

Altaf Hussain recounted a conversation he had this week with a headteacher at one of the largest schools in his South Wales West region.

The Conservative said: “The major improvements they have been delivering to attainment and addressing behavioural issues are all at risk because of cuts to funding.

“Vital work undertaken to improve the lives of young people with additional needs could be halted because they cannot afford to continue employing the support workers.”

Lynne Neagle recognised the scale and seriousness of work still ahead to improve Wales’ education system, stressing: “I am not, in any way, complacent about that task.”

Wales’ newly appointed education secretary, who takes over from Jeremy Miles, said sustained improvement in attainment will be among her top priorities.

She told the chamber: “My early focus has been to listen closely to schools and where it is clear that schools seek more scaffolding.”

Ms Neagle said the Welsh Government will work with trade unions and employers to reduce workload and eliminate unnecessary red tape.

The Conservative motion was voted down, 14-35, following the debate on April 24. The motion as amended by the Welsh Government was agreed, 26-23.

Education

Ysgol Greenhill welcomes positive Estyn report

Published

21 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Tom Sinclair

YSGOL Greenhill and Pembrokeshire County Council have welcomed a strong and very positive Estyn report for the school.

Estyn, the education and training inspectorate for Wales, has released its findings following a full inspection of the school, based in Tenby, carried out in January 2024.

The report noted:

Under the supportive leadership of the Headteacher, staff at Ysgol Greenhill work together effectively to secure a happy and respectful learning community. Together they have developed a culture of openness and collaboration and share an ambitious goal to become a self-improving school.
Leaders have secured improvements in many important areas of the school’s work, such as pupils’ learning and attitudes and the provision of care and support for pupils’ wellbeing.
There is a suitably coordinated approach to improving pupils’ literacy, numeracy and digital skills, including support for pupils who have weak basic skills.
Leaders seek pupils’ views regularly on the quality and suitability of its provision and make changes accordingly. This includes amendments to pupils’ learning experiences and to the provision for developing pupils’ personal and social education.
Teachers plan their lessons well to ensure that pupils make good progress in their learning, subject knowledge and in developing relevant literacy and numeracy skills. Teaching assistants collaborate well with teachers to ensure that pupils who require support receive beneficial assistance as they work.
The school has a broad and valuable range of provisions to support pupils’ well-being. These include individual, tailored resource centres that provide learning, behavioural and emotional support as well as a nurture centre for pupils with low attendance. The school also hosts a local authority learning centre for pupils with autistic spectrum conditions.
The additional learning needs team work relentlessly to ensure that pupils who access these provisions are supported purposefully to enable them to make progress in their learning and social skills.
Pupils have positive attitudes towards school and their learning. They feel safe and value the friendly and supportive nature of staff. They settle swiftly in lessons and engage well in activities. Pupils value the ‘Ready to Learn’ system which rewards positive behaviour and provides relevant support for any pupil who displays negative behaviour.
Sixth form pupils are strong ambassadors of the school. They are friendly and polite towards visitors, conduct themselves well and are good role models for the younger pupils. Nearly all sixth form pupils say they are well supported to make progress in their academic, personal and social development. Many benefit well from valuable opportunities to lead and influence aspects of the school’s work.
Senior prefects run the school’s numerous pupil groups, house captains and deputy captains organise and manage house activities and trained peer mentors support younger pupils with their learning and social skills. Overall, sixth form pupils develop into mature, knowledgeable young people who speak highly of the valuable experiences they have had during their time at school.

Headteacher, David Haynes said: “I am delighted and immensely proud of this report. The school has made consistent progress over recent years and I very much look forward to Ysgol Greenhill being placed amongst the best schools in Wales.

“I must pay tribute to the outstanding staff and governors who have worked relentlessly to ensure that every pupil is valued and that their wellbeing and progress in their learning has been paramount.

“Ysgol Greenhill is a school that our pupils, families and wider community can be justifiably proud of.”

Councillor Guy Woodham, Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language, said: “The school has made good progress in the past two years and this is reflected in the inspection report.

“The strong and dedicated leadership of the Headteacher has contributed significantly to the inspection outcome. Alongside this the contribution of the governing body and the support from the local authority has also helped the school to achieve well. I am confident the school will continue to improve and thrive.”

Chair of the Governing Body, Mrs Heulwen Lear added: “I am thrilled that the report recognises that ‘building a supportive and positive working relationship with their pupils is a strong feature of teaching at Ysgol Greenhill’. Many pupils make secure progress in their learning and subject knowledge and understanding.

“Ysgol Greenhill’s values of kindness, respect, empathy and the celebration of diversity are reflected well in its strong commitment to pupils’ personal and social development. Staff care deeply about the well-being of their pupils and are sensitive to their individual circumstances.”

The full report is available online.

Education

Milford Haven School pupils showcase artistic talent at the Torch

Published

22 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Tom Sinclair

FROM May 3 to May 23, the Joanna Field Gallery at the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven will be exhibiting art works by pupils from Milford Haven Comprehensive School. This will be their fourth exhibition at the Torch.

The exhibition will see 44 pupils, aged 15 to 16, who undertook GCSE Art last summer taking part. Previously, the exhibition was held at the Milford Haven Town Hall before being relocated to the Torch.

“The exhibition is a celebration of art-work created by the pupils in their final year and a chance to see what they have achieved,” explained Katie George, the Art Technician at Milford Haven Comprehensive School.

Katie added: “This will be the ninth exhibition that the school has arranged. We started off in Milford Town Hall and then were very excited to be able to show our annual art event in the Torch. This will the fourth year showing in the Torch, which has been really fantastic as it gives us a chance to show the work of the pupils in a professional setting, and the pupils have spent a great deal of time and effort completing their masterpieces under the watchful eye of their Art Teacher, Mr Chris Green. They re encouraged to use as many different materials as possible ranging from painting in watercolours and acrylics, printing, sculpture, collage, clay work, printing and many more.

“The pupils work on their individual investigations. They pick a theme of their choice and then work through with artist research that connects to their theme. They then follow with lots of experimentation using different media and materials also painting, drawing and sketching. They then have their two-day exam, which they have spent time planning for using all the skills and materials they have now become familiar with to produce a final piece that will be shown in the exhibition,” explained Katie.

“It’s always exciting to tell the pupils that their final pieces will be on show in an exhibition in The Torch and generally they are excited for that to happen. They are so busy trying out new materials and ideas during their lessons, that they don’t really think about the exhibition itself until they are invited to see their work at the Torch. When they come with their parents or friends, it’s usually a real ‘Feel Good Factor’ of achievement, which is always great to see. The whole ambiance and setting created at the Torch is perfect,” concluded Katie.

To see the exhibition by pupils from Milford Haven Comprehensive School from 3 May to 23 May at the Joanna Field Gallery, Torch Theatre visit www.torchtheatre.co.uk or call by during Box Office opening hours.