1. Will raising the aspirations of boys increase achievement? Ho mework Tasks & Family Activity 1. Introduction Our aim was to investigate if raising the aspirations of boys would lead to a difference in attitudes and increase achievement. We used a year 10 Resistant Materials class and a year 10 Religious Education class as the focus groups for our action research. The evidence included in this report is from a sample of students of the two classes. Phase 1 Firstly we interviewed students to see if they understood what the word aspirations meant and what their aspirations are. The results showed that all students knew the meaning of the word and that they all had very high aspirations. It became apparent very quickly that most were unsure of exactly how they were going to achieve them and some of the response was quite ambiguous, an example of this would be, ‘I need to work hard at school and do well in my GCSE’s’. We found that they wanted information and homework tasks to help them bridge the gap between their aspiration and actually achieving them. Phase 2 To help pupils investigate how they can achieve their goals we set homework tasks to allow them to think about their future and the journey they will take to reach their goals. To involve parents and encourage discussion between student and parent we sent home a questionnaire. Results showed all parents had high aspirations for their children and wanted to help guide them in the right direction. In RE, we experimented with the idea of attitudes for success. These were attitudes the students themselves had identified from achievements in their life. These were compiled and used as class attitudes which were attached to the front of every students book and used as a resource to motivate and inspire in lessons. In D&T they were shown A Level portfolios and undergraduate student work to analyse. We wanted to give them the opportunity to see the demands and skills needed to complete these courses successfully. This proved to be inspirational for the students and provoked great discussion as they questioned the realisation and whether they had the ability to achieve. Phase 3 To measure the impact we interviewed students towards the end of the project and asked them what they needed to do to achieve their aspirations. We found that their responses were much more specific, they were able to talk about the A Levels they needed and grades they would need to secure. Some pupils also made comments referring to their behaviour and how they realise it may affect them achieving their aspirations. They believe that a change in attitudes and focus on hard work will keep them on the journey to achieving their dreams and aspirations. Going forward Other than the questionnaires we sent home to parents, we did little work to involve them. We did find it is clear that parents do have high aspirations for their children, and they wish to support them and the school in achieving them, however they were unsure how to. Moving forward we would like to see how the school and home could work together to make sure students were able to succeed in their aspirations. QR code link to films: -Summary of Action Research- 3. 1. 2. 4.