Linking Ethos and Learning Dr Marilyn Tew NSCoPSE Conference 2012

Ethos / Climate Quality and character of school life Subjectively experienced People feeing socially, emotionally and physically safe A group phenomenon that is larger than one person’s experience Fosters young people’s development and learning

Data that inform this presentation Data from students and staff describing their experience of working and learning in a school Data from school communities as they found even better ways of working and learning (PROGRESS using the Environment for Learning Survey, ELS) Data from students describing their sense of themselves as learners (Powerful Learning Survey) Standardised attainment at KS2 and GCSE

Interesting Thoughts Evaluation of primary SEAL (Banerjee, 2010) found: Whole-school implementation was the strongest predictor of enhanced ethos characterised by positive social relationships, attitudes and behaviour SEAL implementation and school ethos were directly associated with attainment results Whole-school implementation associated with engagement with families, communities, staff wellbeing and staff professional development

And A positive ethos correlated with: more positive pupil peer interaction Better Ofsted ratings for behaviour Lower levels of persistent absence Higher attainment in KS2 SATs

More Interesting Thoughts Evaluation of Secondary SEAL (2010, Humphrey, Lendrum, Wigelsworth) found: Mixed picture of implementation Often not whole-school Often ‘tick box’ approach at curriculum level

And Staff will and skill matter to effective SEAL implementation As do time and resource allocation SEAL failed to impact at the level of pupil social and emotional skills, general mental health, prosocial behaviour and behaviour problems Some evidence of impact in reduced exclusions, interpersonal skills and relationships

Antidote / HSE / PROGRESS findings (N=30000 pupils) in conjunction with University of Sussex, Dr Robin Banerjee and his team

Aspects of school environment (ethos) that support learning Connecting to friends Connecting to adults Responsive Confidence- building

Factor analysis of learning dimensions Making meaning Working in teams Planning Being resilient Taking on challenge Being Creative

Connecting to friends Connecting to adults Responsive Confidence- building Making meaning Working in teams Planning Being resilient Taking on challenge Being Creative Statistically significant connections between ethos and learning

Links to outcomes Pupils’ perceived levels of empowerment and confidence building predicts standardised scores at KS2 and GCSE This association is significantly mediated by pupils’ sense of feeling safe and important at school

Links to outcomes Patterns remain significant after controlling for Free School Meals so it isn’t just about higher attainment with higher socio-economic status

Links to outcomes Where pupils feel safe and important, the negative link between FSM and standardised attainment is diminished

Thoughts from overseas (Durlak et al, 2011) A meta-analysis of school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programmes students from nursery to high school showed significantly improved: SEL skills, attitudes and behaviour Improved academic performance including 11% gain on standardised achievement tests

Where does this all leave us? We ignore the impact of school ethos on pupil learning, wellbeing and attainment at our peril The whole-school culture and specifically, pupils’ perceptions of it, is important to wellbeing and attainment Attention to social and emotional skills and relationships is important to attainment