Shimna Integrated College Jacqueline Conn Signature Project Shimna Integrated College Jacqueline Conn

BACKGROUND 2013/2014 2014/2015 Enrolment 546 572 SEN 158 180 FSME 18% All ability, co-educational, grant maintained integrated college in Newcastle Co. Down. % of students attaining grades A*- C in Maths at 40%. 2013/2014 2014/2015 Enrolment 546 572 SEN 158 180 FSME 18% 23%

Identifying Underachievers Previous student tracking Teacher’s judgement 18 students from year 12 and 7 from year 11.

Student information Module result Class teacher identifies areas for improvement

Intervention Students selected and parents informed Divided into small groups 1 hour support per week Identified specific needs Tailored resources Past paper practice Tracking Feedback Evaluation

Areas to target Students completed using RAG Re-visited prior to exam

Sample of notes

Sample of notes

tRACKING Record attendance at sessions Mark for exam question booklet on each area Student personal tracking sheets Exam paper practice Update parents

Tracking documents

Tracking Documents Students own target Record of their results Short evaluation before exam

Evaluations Class teacher evaluation - during intervention Student evaluations – post exam Overall evaluation – end of each year of the project

Teacher Evaluation Impact on progress? Improvement in results? Improvement in confidence? Anything more that could be done in sessions?

Student Evaluation Grade Did you achieve target grade? How did the tuition help? Improve your confidence? Anything that could be done to improve tuition

Results of the first year Percentage of students achieving grades A*-C in maths at 63.6%. Enthusiasm Confidence Better understanding of underachievement

The second year More rigorous in the selection of students – focus on C/D borderline Smaller numbers = smaller groups Same strategies used to identify the specific needs and to deliver the intervention Same strategies used to track and evaluate progress

Results of the second year 14/15 students achieved a grade C or higher Overall % A* - C at 65.1% 63% of FSM students achieved a grade C or higher 23% of signature students received FSM

Eti visit – good ‘‘The percentage of pupils attaining five or more GCSE examinations at grades A* to C, including English and mathematics, is above the NI average for non-selective schools in the same free-school meal (FSM) band.’’ ‘‘The pupils attain well in GCSE mathematics and there is a notable upward trend in the standards attained by the most able pupils by the end of Key Stage (KS) 4.’’

Other benefits Moved from 4 to 5 classes at GCSE Introduction of modules in year 11 Facilitate sixth form students with repeating GCSE Maths Resources Renewed enthusiasm from staff and students Increased student confidence in maths

What did I gain? A job for two years and after – currently working as a full time teacher of maths at Shimna Better understanding of underachievement and how to target it Better understanding of the value of generating enthusiasm and building students confidence and the impact it has on attainment. Improved planning and organisation Varied resources New strategies

The challenge!! Maintaining the increase in results in the absence of the funding The type of intervention was key for those students for whom classroom teaching was not enough for them to reach a grade C The idea is to be able to implement it again in the future with an even smaller cohort of year 12’s. Will this be feasible?? Continue to implement some of the strategies in the classroom FSM students continue to be a focus on CDP and department action plans