Engaging students in History Teacher Action Research Wednesday 27 September 2017 Anne-Marie Brooke-Wavell King Alfred's Academy

Project aims. My aim was to study the engagement of PP students in culture and to introduce them to some of their local history. This was in conjunction with a new topic being introduced at KS4, the Norman Conquest. The early part of this topic is about Anglo Saxon England, and as Wantage has links with King Alfred, and this is the name of my school, it seemed a good place to start!

Research There is evidence of the importance of cultural visits for high attaining but disadvantaged students. Research from the Sutton Trust clearly points to the value of visits to historical sites / museums for improving the outcomes of disadvantaged students. One of the recommendations of the Sutton Trust’s report was that “educational trips, ...should be provided to promote attainment for disadvantaged students at all ages, and especially those who were found to be high attaining.” Sammons,P, Toth, K & Sylva,K (2015) “Subject to Background What promotes better achievement for bright but disadvantaged students?”

Methodology There were several parts to the project including: conducting a survey about GCSE History and finding out about students' experiences of local culture, where they visited and why they chose History. a visit to the Vale and Downland Museum. watching newly produced documentaries about the Norman Conquest. encouraging them to speak about the history they had enjoyed in their own time, and sharing this with the group.

Cohort: Total 108 students, 10 pp. Survey questions. Non-PP PP Claimed they watched historical films: 67% 60% Claimed they watched historical documentaries 53% 50% Claimed they read historical books (fiction) 33% 30% Claimed they read historical books (non-fiction) 25% 30% Claimed they watched plays 8% 10% Claimed they watched historical dramas 31% 20% Claimed they did none of the above 9% 0% Reported that they visited places of historical interest 79% 60% Claimed that they chose History because they didn’t like Geogra. 44% 40% Reported that they preferred secondary History to primary school 44% 42% Claimed that they found History interesting 31% 30% Reported that there was a lot of writing 20% 0% PP: 40% never visited museums or places of historical interest, but all that did go said that it helped them. Cohort: Total 108 students, 10 pp.

Museum Visit A small group of Y10 students (8), including PP (2), were taken to the Vale and Downland Museum for a visit and session with the Museum Learning and Access Officer in the summer term. As I did not wish to single out just PP students I took the whole of my group. The Museum staff presented Anglo-Saxon themed handling objects, which formed the early part of the Norman Conquest topic. The students positively engaged with the session, especially with the handling objects. Due to the timing of the visit it would be difficult to track the longer term impact of it, and retrospectively it would be useful to include the visit earlier on in the year. However, comments were very positive and included: · “It was a lot more interactive and engaging than a regular lesson.” N, (PP) · “I liked the staff and the artefacts which you can see in person rather than in the book.” J (PP) · “I enjoyed seeing the artefacts and learning about extra information about the Anglo-Saxons!” E (non-PP)

Outcomes The Museum is in close proximity to Centre site and the Museum Learning and Access Officer is very keen to forge links with the school. She is aware that many local primary schools visit the museum frequently and would like to maintain that relationship with the local students into KS3/4. The Museum is able to use its collection of objects to come up with handling sessions, or activities which would complement the topics the students are studying at KS3/4/5. It also has a vast support network of volunteers with a wide range of knowledge, which cover many other topics and could be linked to other parts of the curriculum.

Impact As a school we are now in contact with the Museum and will shortly be implementing sessions with the Museum staff visiting the school to do two sessions with the 57 pp students in Y7 on Anglo Saxon Life. We have also ensured that Museum literature was included in the pack given to all PP parents for the 2017 Summer school.