Student-led Conferences at XP School Doncaster

17th July 2025Website Admin

Student-led Conferences at XP School Doncaster

Andy Sprakes

This article is about what happens when learners are given space and support to share their learning journey with their family and their teachers. Student-Led Conferences privilege learner voice and agency and are an inspiring alternative to traditional parents’ evenings. 

‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever.’ John Keats

It is ten years since we opened XP School in Doncaster and currently, I’m writing a book that collates some of the highlights of our first decade. 

The book is already filled with student work such as field guides, published books, student-scripted films, videos, beautiful artwork and music. At the heart of this work lies student growth and character: every time a student creates work that matters, when it is drafted and redrafted to ensure high quality, when the work connects with the world and has agency, there is something enduring about the impact.

Young people and the world around them are never quite the same after they are published authors, artists who have displayed their work in a public gallery, or poets who have ‘slammed’ in the local Arts Centre. 

Young people are never quite the same after hearing and representing the stories of asylum seekers, organising climate conferences, and writing scientific reports that directly tackle the issue of flooding in their district. 

This is work that makes a difference to the student who becomes an agent for positive social change and the wider community that benefits from this service.

When you empower young people to do good for the world, they rarely disappoint.

One of the areas that I haven’t written about yet, and I suppose this is a good place to start to gather my thoughts, is how by having high expectations for our young people we empower them still further.  

For example, at XP, we do not run conventional parent consultation evenings, where parents arrive, meet a teacher, and are given information about their son or daughter that is determined by the adult. We wanted our kids to lead their own learning, so we introduced Student-Led Conferences, taking the simple but highly effective idea from Expeditionary Learning Schools.

What do Student-Led Conferences look like?

At least once a year across our schools, primary and secondary, students lead a conference expressly for their families and teachers. In these conferences, each student shares their portfolio of work and discusses their progress in terms of their academic learning targets, their developing Habits of Work and Learning (HoWLs) and the products they have created. 

Students facilitate their conferences from start to finish.

Student-Led Conferences put students in charge of sharing information about their progress with their families. Students learn to advocate for themselves; they reflect upon and provide evidence for their progress; they are able to be explicit about the support they request going forward from teachers and parents. The structure builds students’ sense of responsibility and accountability for their own learning, as well as intentionally developing their leadership skills and confidence.

Student-Led Conferences also greatly enhance family engagement with learning that takes place at school. The conference structure builds family members’ interest and understanding in what has been happening in school and strengthens relationships between students, family members and staff.

The impact of Student-Led Conferences is profound. To watch and listen to students articulate their learning, their mastery of specific learning targets and places they have struggled, and their sense of who they are through the work they are producing is both humbling and uplifting.

It is a ritual and rite that is transformative, full of joy and beautiful–and as Keats said, the memory lasts forever. 

Andy Sprakes is the Principal and Co-Founder of XP School in Doncaster. 

Professional Prompts

1. As a parent of a school age child (or imagine that you are) how might you respond to attending a Student-Led Conference at consultation evening? What might you like and not like?

2. In discussion with one or more colleagues, list the points you can think of in favour of Student-Led Conferences and those against. Which side wins?

3. In the Resources for Teachers section of this edition there is a protocol or guide designed to support teachers with Student-Led Conferences. It has been contributed by Randy Scherer from High Tech High in San Diego. Discuss this with other teachers and see if you can find a place to try it out in your school.

Assessment for Deeper Learning: A teacher discussion group CPD resource

16th July 2025Website Admin

Assessment for Deeper Learning: A teacher discussion group CPD resource

Kim Wynne, Kelly Sanders, and Carolyn Fink

This Resource for Teachers applies the principles of  Deeper Learning to assessment.  It demonstrates how assessment practices can be transformed to build trust, raise expectations and promote engagement – our three core principles for Deeper Learning. 

We have created three scenarios designed to be used as discussion tools by groups of teachers.  We have tried to make them age-appropriate so that they will have relevance for both primary and secondary schools in the UK.  After each scenario there is an italicised paragraph that ‘unpicks’ what is going on.  As a tool, you can use it with that section and discuss both the scenario and the analysis.  Or, you might want to have your own discussion before reading the italicised paragraph – and then discuss both the scenario and the analysis together. Your call!

Primary Level (aged 5 to 9):

It’s reading time in Mr. Wilson’s first grade classroom. Zach enters the classroom from his decoding intervention with Mrs. Swanson. He sees his classmates are arranging themselves in partner groups in different spaces around the room. He spots his partner, Mikaela, grabs his book box, and settles down next to her. Earlier in the week, students had the opportunity to study short videos of other first graders reading aloud.  From there, the class created a criteria chart of effective reading. They noticed things like ‘read all the words correctly,’ ‘fluent reading,’ and ‘know how to solve tricky words using the letters and sounds.’ Now it’s time for them to apply the co-created strategies to their own work with their partners. Zach asks Mikaela if he can go first. He pulls out his book about trains, which is a favorite topic for Zach. Mikaela asks: “What goal are you working on?” “I’m working with Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Swanson on reading all the way through words. Can you watch me and put tallies on my goal tracker when you see me doing that?” Zach will share his progress with his teachers later in the day.

In this scenario, Zach is drawing on a trusted relationship with a peer to get real-time feedback on how frequently he is using the targeted strategy, reading all the way through words. As his partner tracks his progress and gives feedback, Zach naturally adjusts his reading behaviours. In the process he also develops a deeper understanding of himself as a reader, enhancing his sense of agency in his own learning.

Middle Level (aged 10-14):  There is an excited hum in Mrs. Kay’s class as her fifth graders come back from recess. They have just finished a unit on animal adaptations and biomimicry in which they explored how the form of animals’ bodies supports their adaptation and survival in the wild. During the unit, students completed independent research on animal adaptations, engaged in experiments in which they explored different adaptations, and created informational books on a chosen animal. 

As a final project, they worked in collaborative groups to explore biomimicry, or the creation of new inventions inspired by the form, structures, or adaptations of animals. Working collaboratively, Cora and her group developed an idea for a crab-inspired, ocean-walking robot whose hinged legs provide stability, helping it to deftly navigate the ocean floor when investigating environmental accidents or to help in search and rescue missions. Following the engineering and design process, her team made iterative models of their invention, seeking feedback and making revisions as they went. Ultimately, they built a prototype and tested their invention. This afternoon, they will analyse their work from this unit of study in preparation for mid-year Student-Led Conferences with their families when students present their progress and next steps in academic achievement and VOGC skill development.

“Scientists, as we wrap up this unit and prepare for our Student-Led Conferences, it’s the perfect time to reflect on and document your growth using the VoGC skills and dispositions,” says Mrs. Kay. “You’ve gathered all your artefacts. Your task is to analyse and evaluate your own work, including your assessments and checks for understanding from across the unit, using the descriptors in the VoGC. Make sure to tag and document your artefacts, noting how your work matches the VoGC.”  Mrs. Kay approaches Cora’s work area and asks how it’s going. “I’m looking back at the engineering model we developed for the ocean-walking robot and thinking about myself as an Engaged Collaborator.” Mrs. Kay nods and says, “What evidence are you finding in your group’s work?” “Right here in our notes from our first meetings,” she says. Cora explains that the process of designing the model was challenging, because her group mates had many conflicting ideas in the beginning. “This work shows that I am an Engaged Collaborator because, at first, no one could agree on how to design our robot. Everyone had different ideas and they got upset when other people challenged them. These notes here show how I helped to take the best parts of everyone’s ideas and help us come up with something good. I learned that I am good at finding a compromise and helping other people feel good about our work. I can’t wait to show my family this evidence and talk about how I’m doing on the VoGC dispositions.”

 

In this scenario, Cora and her classmates are learning how to use products of their work during a unit to demonstrate not only how they meet unit standards, but also their development of skills and dispositions necessary for lifelong learning and success. Mrs. Kay designs assessment tasks to help them analyse and unpack their individual growth within the context of their collaborative group work. She conveys the importance of this work by having them identify and articulate specific examples of where they see themselves developing these skills and dispositions that they can track in their personal learning portfolios. The Student-Led Conferences offer an authentic purpose for both understanding and advocating for themselves as learners.

High School Level (aged 15-18):

Jahmal, a senior at Farmington High School, thinks about his upcoming meeting with his Capstone advisor as he walks into school on a chilly winter morning. All FHS students complete an Aspire course or Capstone experience based on an area of interest in order to demonstrate mastery of the VoGC. Capstone is an independent inquiry project that includes research, field work, engagement with an outside expert, and some form of service to the community. “Hey, Ms. Wilton,” Jahmal says as he enters her room. “I’ve been working on my digital portfolio.” “Great,” says Ms. Wilton. “I know you are in the middle of conducting research on how executive functioning impacts learning in young children, right?” “Yup,” he answers. He shares that he’s also had several meetings with his outside expert, a second grade teacher at a nearby school where he will intern after winter break. “When I put together what I’ve learned from the research, my conversations with Mrs. Doyle, and the observations I’ve done in her class, I see how important executive functioning and self-regulation skills are for success in school and in life. No wonder it’s an interest for me,” he laughs. Ms. Wilton asks Jahmal how he is demonstrating mastery of the VoGC in his digital portfolio. “Well, researching my topic has helped me strengthen my skills as an Empowered Learner, especially in organisation.” Jahmal shows Ms. Wilton how he’s using the tools she suggested: a daily task sheet to organise his research and a note taker to document his conversations with his mentor teacher. “I’m most proud of my work as a Disciplined Thinker, because I’m applying all that I’ve learned from this experience to actually create something that will help others.” “This is impressive, Jahmal,” Ms. Wilton says. “What have you been thinking about for your service project?” He shares a website he’s started to create for parents and teachers. “It will have resources for developing executive functioning and self-regulation skills for young kids. I’ve found a lot of strategies that I think will be useful. They also would have helped me as a kid.”  They go on to discuss the improvement in his fall semester grades. “Any idea why?” asks Ms. Wilton. “Definitely. I’m more excited about learning because of this project. I’ve increased my ability to focus in class and be organised. I also hand in assignments on time.” Jahmal smiles. “I’m taking the SAT test this weekend. I think I can increase my score with my improved focus and attention to detail.”

In this scenario, Jahmal not only knows himself well as a learner, but he understands his insight can be used to make decisions about his future and for making contributions to his community. He recognises that his areas of challenge are opportunities for growth. While working independently on a topic of personal interest, he is improving his academic achievement, demonstrating important life skills, and contributing to his community. Ms. Wilton acts as facilitator and coach, providing him with encouragement, tools, and just-right support through carefully posed questions that help him reflect on his progress toward achieving his goals.

We recognise that some of the more traditional forms of assessment, like national tests, are a reality in our current educational systems and therefore tell one part of a student’s academic story. But as educators, we can support our students in telling a fuller, more complete story of who they are and what they know and can do by giving them increased agency and ownership. 

When students tell their own stories, they believe they are trusted to make wise choices, they internalise high expectations for themselves, and they seek engaging experiences as lifelong learners – the three principles of Deeper Learning.

When we create high trust cultures, with high expectations for all students, and highly engaging learning experiences, we help our students understand that standardized test scores and summative assessments are just data points within a larger body of collected information. Zach, Cora, and Jahmal know this. They used these data, along with the pursuit of personal interests and information about themselves as learners, to recognize both their unique strengths and areas for growth. This is what we want for all students. By shifting our assessment practices, our students will experience deeper learning and get to know themselves as learners and humans who can then go out into the world ready to make an impact.

 

Kim Wynne is the Assistant Superintendent for the Farmington Public Schools in Farmington, Connecticut.  Kelly Sanders is a leadership consultant, who worked in Farmington for 30 years as a teacher and principal. Carolyn Fink is the Principal at West District Elementary School in Farmington. Kim, Kelly and Carolyn have worked together for over 25 years, collaborating while working in a variety of different roles across the district. You can learn more about the Farmington Public Schools, including their Vision of the Global Citizen and Framework for Teaching and Learning at fpsct.org.

Belonging: A Staff Workshop Activity

16th July 2025Website Admin

Belonging: A Staff Workshop Activity

In the introduction to this activity, the model for helping us to think about belonging in school was proposed. It suggests four features that together might contribute or comprise feelings of belonging for young people in school.

Obviously, belonging links to inclusion or inclusivity, but it is more than that. Inclusion is something that the school does; it’s about school policies and practices. In contrast, belonging describes how a young person feels towards or within the school culture and community and the relational dynamics s/he experiences. 

This discussion activity is a vehicle for teachers to engage together on the subject of belonging–what it is and how well you feel your school fosters feelings of belonging for all young people.

Activity One

In groups discuss the model.  What does it make you: Think? Feel? Wonder about?

Is there anything you would change? Based on your experience, what would you take out and replace or re-word? What would you add? Why?

Do you think each feature is equally important? Is there an order? Redraw the model using the size of the features to indicate relative importance.

Think of some learners in your context. How might the model help you to explore and better understand their experience of school? What questions does this raise for you? 

If there are multiple groups, facilitate an opportunity to share insights and ideas to arrive at a version of the model that feels right for your school.

Activity Two

In groups (the same or different) discuss each of the features in your updated version of the model.  What do you do well and how?  What do you do less well and why?  Give yourselves marks out of 10 for each feature.

Share and discuss your scores. 

Where is there strong agreement? 

What can you learn from the differences? 

Agree a score for each feature for the whole school.

Activity Three

Take the two lowest-rated features and, in groups, discuss what action(s) would need to be taken to improve these scores.  

If there are multiple groups, split the two features being discussed to make the best use of time.

Ask each group to share their suggested actions. Ideally someone (in advance) might be delegated to take ownership of the suggested actions so that the people taking part can see that their insights and ideas matter.

Relationships, Belonging and a Network of Joy

16th July 2025Website Admin

Relationships, Belonging and a Network of Joy

Polly Ross

This is a story about a boy, his teacher, a wooden tree and a school full of love and learning. It reminds us that learning can and does happen anywhere and any way in a school when the culture is right.

Our School

Shefford Lower School is a large lower school in Central Bedfordshire with a significant SEND register. We don’t believe in an approach to SEND in which learners should either be in a specialist environment or a mainstream school.  So, we have adapted our learning environment and teacher-student relationships to support a wholly inclusive mainstream specialist environment accessible to all young learners in our community. 

We further believe that progress can take many different forms and that all children have an entitlement to leave us with every step, however small, recognised, captured and celebrated.

When I was young, my mother gave me a wooden Christmas tree. When I became a headteacher, with an office, I brought it into school where each December it was displayed, decorated and lit. By last summer it was looking tired and I kept reminding myself to throw it away. 

Peter’s story (not his real name)

Peter is a young learner who receives a high level of adult support due to his complex needs. These include a significant speech delay, autism, social communication needs and self-care needs.  

One day Peter came in because his Teaching Assistant wanted to mention something to me. As he waited, Peter saw the tree gathering dust on the top of a cupboard and gestured that he would like to see it. I had no idea that this would be the beginning of something magical!

Peter decorated this sad little tree, and then returned the next day, then each day, several times a day, beginning to talk as he did it, presenting it joyously to me and showing it to everyone along his way as he proudly walked it around the school en route to show his teacher.

He had found something in the school which brought him (and many others) joy. This tree was subsequently to become a powerful tool in his speech and language development. The creativity flowed and anything and everything became a potential decoration, from a kitchen spoon to flowers from the forest, bringing warmth and amusement to all. 

After this had been going on for a month or two, someone suggested keeping the tree in Peter’s classroom as I may sometimes be in meetings,.This was until we realised that walking down to my office and saying hello was an important part of it!

The ritual continued. Peter’s confidence grew and his speech and language seemed to be coming on until one day he came in and said: “Hello Mrs Ross. Can I have the tree please?” A clearly enunciated sentence!

Reciprocal Joy

I started to take photos of this tree my mother had bought me and sent one to her to let her know it was not only still going strong but, in fact, supporting a child with additional needs to thoroughly enjoy his experience of school. My mother responded, telling me how beautiful it was, and so it continued. He would decorate a tree, show it to all around the school who would smile, share it with me and it would also make my mother’s day!

Just before his annual review I sent all the photos to his teaching assistant to share with his family at the meeting, following which she sent this reply:

Oh Polly, thank you for these pictures, they are really great. I will print them off for his review next week. He makes my day and fills it with joy every day–whether it’s through watching him carefully decorating his (your) beloved tree, some work he has done, learning he has remembered, or new vocabulary he has said to me. 🙂 Thank you for always being so supportive and welcoming when we come to see you.  Helen

 Educational Reflections

We realised, of course, that this had also been an exercise in relationships and belonging; Peter’s relationship with the TA and the pride she took in working with him and watching him grow. This, allied to the knowledge she developed about his interests through safe talk, had supported him to be successful. It has also facilitated relationships with other pupils and adults – and with me through his friendly visit each day.

This story is also about joy, which all learning should bring: the joy Peter brought to those around him in walking his tree through school; or that his TA gets from working creatively alongside him and making a difference; or that he brought to my office and many a meeting held there – and even the joy he brought to the lady, a retired art teacher, who had once given her daughter a small wooden tree.  

Polly Ross is Headteacher at Shefford Lower School in Bedfordshire.

Professional Prompts

  1. In the ‘Welcome’ editorial, we said that relationships and belonging would be two of the sub-themes of this How does Polly Ross’s piece illustrate these themes?
  1. What are ways that students’ beliefs, interests and passions can be incorporated into the school context?
  1. How can school leaders be more engaged and connected to students on a regular basis?

Finding Beauty in Uniqueness: A Reflection

16th July 2025Website Admin

Finding Beauty in Uniqueness: A Reflection

Loni Bergqvist

This little vase has changed my world.

Most normal vases are meant to hold a bunch of flowers. A bouquet with flowers that look good together, and complement each other in colour and shape.

Our schools are a lot like traditional vases: serving bunches of kids that are pretty much the same.

But this vase?

It was a fancy designer gift from our kitchen company as an apology for a cabinet door that took a whole year to be installed. When I opened the box, I thought it was a toothbrush holder.

Small holes, a place for each individual stem.

The vase itself is not revolutionary.

But I’ve noticed a beautiful thing when I go into our garden and pick plants to fill it. I’m not looking for the huge volume of flowers anymore.

I’m looking for the individual flowers

The unknown weed alongside the house that looks like a green version of wheat.

The daisy in the back next to the trampoline.

A couple of sprigs of lavender that my new plants could spare.

A barely opened pink flower that still needs time.

And a few random weeds with splashes of purple and yellow.

My trips to the garden are now focused on seeing the beauty and uniqueness in everything sprouting from the ground. Not because it needs to fit together, but because now it has a place to stand alone.

Surprisingly, no matter what combination of flowers I choose, they all look stunning together.

Our schools need to be this.

Our kids are the wheat, daisies, lavender, unopened pink-flower and random collection of weeds.

Look, we can’t wait for the system to design this for us. The larger system will likely forever be stuck in the big-normal-vase thinking.

Those who know me will know my solution is Project-Based Learning. It’s something we have the possibility to do every day in our classrooms… if we have the courage to do something different.

What vase will you fill today?   

Loni was (and always will be) a teacher. She became a Project-Based Learning ‘convert’ when she started attending night school in Leadership at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education. Loni left her school to teach at High Tech High, knowing one day her mission would be to bring Project-Based Learning to students who needed it the most; the ones who were in traditional schools. Since 2014, Loni has been working with schools around the world to re-imagine education. She is the founder of Imagine If.

Professional Prompts

  1. The central metaphor in Loni’s piece has a lot of How can we change our school to allow all student to thrive? At Gesher School, one of our maxims is“every younge person profoundly well known—and knowing that they are known”.
  2. Think of your own How does your school recognise and show the skills, abilities, beliefs and interests of each child? How might you re-think yourteaching to make a place for each one of them?

The Relevance of Therapeutic Approaches for All Schools

16th July 2025Website Admin

The Relevance of Therapeutic Approaches for All Schools

Zahra Axinn

This article captures learning from a range of therapeutic approaches used in Gesher School. In a series of interviews, therapists working in the school suggest small changes to practice and learning environments that will make a big difference to learners, and that can be safely and inexpensively implemented in mainstream schools. 

At Gesher School, being a “therapeutic school” is not just a philosophy or frame of mind, it is a feature of our everyday lives. We recognise the importance of therapy for equipping children for future challenges by allowing them to develop their resilience, self-esteem, and compassion, so we embed therapy into teaching and learning throughout the school. Therapists work alongside teachers and really get to know students in session, in the classroom, and in other settings. 

We are very fortunate, of course, to have therapists and therapy assistants working alongside our teachers and teaching assistants, a feature that we realise not all schools will be able to replicate. However, there are some approaches we use that can be safely applied in any school without a huge investment in specialist materials or training.

For this article, I spoke with our Head of Therapies and Speech and Language Therapist Victoria Rutter, our Art Psychologist Hollie Smedley, and our Deputy Head/Drama Therapist Chris Gurney in three separate conversations about their perspectives on the impact of therapy at Gesher and beyond. The following is an adaptation of their advice.

Invest in therapeutic approaches that benefit the most children.

If financial constraints make it tough to invest, focus on a small number of approaches that will benefit the most children, such as language or vocabulary skills, or sensory circuits where students can learn skills for self-regulation. Games that help build up necessary listening abilities and activities targeting gross motor skills can also be widely beneficial.

Little and often is best.

Regular practice of these skills, little by little and often–even five minutes a day–can offer more benefits than one weekly half-hour session.  Pick a priority or two per term–i.e. play skills, listening attention, vocabulary, or social skills for example –and look for online resources, factoring in what’s age-appropriate. 

Create moments of calm.

Brain breaks and yogic breathing during lessons or PE classes can be a great strategy. Also, it’s often an idea to give learners an option to step away and calm themselves by going to a reading corner or other separate space in the classroom. Offer children ways to indicate their mood or ask for help via small visuals on a desk, for example by flipping a colour-coded card.

Never underestimate the importance of being seen and heard.

Children exhibit poor behaviour when they have trouble expressing their needs. Any behaviour is ultimately a form of communication. Acknowledging a child and recognising that they’re asking for help is important, even if you can’t yet figure out what they need. Let them know that you see and hear them. 

Introduce micro-breaks and manage transitions.

Some children struggle to notice when they’re hungry or need the toilet, so it’s important to have regular breaks built into the timetable. At Gesher School we have a low arousal environment that allows children to relax, regulate and reflect between transitions. Children who have experienced chaotic environments and tend to be on high alert often find a quiet space useful to adjust and calm.

Expand opportunities to experience success and build self-esteem.

We notice that children with additional needs who come into Gesher School from mainstream schools exhibit negative self-talk, where they tell themselves that they can’t do something, or that things won’t work. We think this comes from comparing themselves unfavourably to peers, and that once they begin learning with other children who have similar or varied difficulties, they don’t feel so alone in their struggles. The tools provided by art and art therapy, for instance encouraging children with sensory issues to draw using an iPad, also seem to help build self-esteem. For those who struggle with academic subjects, art can be brought into the learning environment to help reduce difficulties. 

Grow trust through consistent interactions.

At Gesher, we employ the PACE approach in our interactions with children, where PACE stands for playfulness, acceptance, curiosity, and empathy. Trust can be built through consistent interactions which in turn help to grow strong relationships between children and adults. Children thrive when they have the chance to engage with an adult who offers them space to express themselves as a whole person. They can be seen and valued in ways they haven’t experienced before rather than being dismissed or infantilised. 

Find your community.

Reach out to other teachers and schools, or to community groups, to talk about how you can best support children. Simple examples are:

– Place2Be is a children’s mental health charity with over 30 years’ experience working with pupils, families and staff in UK schools

– Schools in Mind supports primary and secondary schools in mental health and well-being and SEND.

Many schools have established links with community organisations or faith groups. Gesher, for example, as a Jewish faith school, is able to access the Partnership for Jewish Schools’ wellbeing programme, ‘Heads Up Kids’, which was designed by drama therapists.

Make the most of specialists.

If you do have access to therapists, lean into support from them and ask for their advice on the best strategies for your setting. 

You can find out more about the role of therapy at Gesher School here or by contacting us at [email protected]   

Zahra Axinn is Content Manager at Gesher School. She has worked in education communications for over five years. Her areas of expertise include writing and editing copy, social media management, video and audio editing, design collaboration, and brand strategy. She earned a dual-degree MA in Visual & Critical Studies and MFA in Creative Writing from California College of the Arts, as well as a BA in English Literature and Theater & Performance Studies from Stanford University. Zahra is a member of The Bridge editorial team.

Professional Prompts

  1. Many mainstream schools do not have dedicated therapy expertise or therapy policies outside their SEND unit or department. What is your school’s therapy policy? Is there a strategy whereby you might access and incorporate therapeutic expertise in your school?
  2. Which of the ideas in this article hold the most potential for use in your school? How might you introduce them?
  3. What strategies and approaches can help support students who are disregulated or who cannot engage in their learning? What are some factorswhich contribute to students being disregulated?

Creating a Life Skills Space Within a School

13th June 2023Website Admin

Creating a Life Skills Space Within a School

Danielle Petar, Emily Bacon, Michal Geller

At Gesher we want our young people to enjoy school. We want them to enjoy learning with one another and supporting each other to succeed. We want them to have great experiences; to love physical and creative activities; to enjoy the unity of a shared faith; to find things in the curriculum that they can be passionate about; to be proud of their exhibitions of work and the real-world projects that make a difference in our community. And, of course, we want them to leave us with the best qualifications possible.

All that having been said, we are a school for young people, many of whom started their school career in a mainstream school which was not well equipped to support them. Parents (and young people as they mature) inevitably have concerns about how well they will cope with the mainstream life of employment and relationships and independent living. This is the world beyond Gesher.

And this is why we have developed a coherent, progressive and continuously evolving life skills curriculum. We are passionate about preparing learners to be assured and adept when they eventually progress from Gesher, as employees, friends, partners and citizens of the world. 

The Gesher Life Skills Space — from top left (clockwise): bed, wardrobe, lounge area, fully functioning kitchen with hot plates, toaster, kettle, microwave, blender, fridge, sink, dining table and chairs, cash register, desk and computer, ironing board and iron, and a ‘my body’ area with a mirror and personal grooming tools.

 

Creating a life skills space within a school

Ask ChatGPT what you need to set up a life skills classroom and you’ll be given a list of eight steps which include finding a space, making a budget and employing a member of staff. Do some of your own research via academic articles and practical textbooks and the same three themes emerge. Sadly, what the AI and the “old-fashioned” research tool don’t take into account is that schools are not generally known for having spare rooms, giant financial budgets, or bonus staff on hand to deliver extra lessons. It can therefore be difficult to know where to start with something like life skills, which generally falls largely outside the traditional curriculum subjects like Maths, English and Science.

In Issue Two of The Bridge, we featured an article about Gesher’s life skills curriculum, so we won’t pretend that we were starting from scratch when we created our life skills classroom space. We knew what our curriculum required by way of facilities. We also won’t pretend that we weren’t lucky enough to have a small space in our school, a modest budget and a skilled member of staff to deliver our sessions. Perhaps we made our own luck!

However, the journey we have travelled puts us in a position to share some of our insights in a practical and accessible way. We are also conscious that, as a result of our own journey, there isn’t a huge amount of practical advice out there for schools wanting to implement and integrate life skills-related learning. We hope this article helps.

Ideally you will find a space, but it can be a shared space.

How we’ve done it

We moved school sites in 2021 and, as such, were in the fortunate position of being able to include in our plans a dedicated space within our building for life skills – in other words, to give it equal claim in the allocation of space, rather than stealing space back from existing use. However, even the room we are currently using is a temporary solution which is shared with our library. (Although, of course, library use is a life skill, too!) To manage this space the room is carefully timetabled to allow for classes to use the library and for classes to use the life skills space. The room is also used for lunchtime clubs and school council meetings, and can be available as an extra learning space.

Things you could try in your setting

Despite the title of this article specifically referring to a space, there is no necessity for life skills to take place in just one place. We could have called it “Creating a life skills mindset”. Areas such as the lunch hall and the staff room (when not being used by staff) are ready-made life skills areas because of the practical and real-world activities that take place in them. The lunch hall, for example, can be used to practise setting the table and preparing food while the staff room is likely to contain a dishwasher, sink, and perhaps even an oven, making it an ideal environment for students to work on kitchen-based skills.

What’s coming next

One of the end goals for the life skills space at Gesher is to have a full-size, self-contained flat which includes a kitchen, bedroom and living area for students to be able to access during their life skills sessions. To do this we are keen to have students’ input to the design and to make it relevant to their interests.

Making good use of the space

How we’ve done it

Our classroom space is set up to emulate elements of a small flat with a kitchen area, a bed and a sofa. Within the room, each item is labelled to support the learning of organisation skills as well as encouraging independence. All of our students use the room once a week for their timetabled life skills lesson. In addition, we have a group of learners (known as our Life Skills Legends) who attend daily life skills sessions in the space. This gives them more time to practise skills and the way the room is laid out also means that skills can be practised in sequence. For example, when doing bedroom-related life skills, students can take the sheets off the bed, wash them in the washing machine, dry them on an airer and then put them back onto the bed.

Things you could try in your setting 

If you don’t have the luxury of having a classroom space where life skills teaching can take place, then an alternative could be to have smaller life skills-related materials stored in one place and accessible to staff. For example, items such as a kettle, a toaster and a blender could be stored relatively easily and used for food preparation skills, while items like hairdryers, straighteners and mirrors could be available for students to practise self-care skills. (We’ve included a full list of resources in the Resources for Schools section of this issue). These materials could then be used for in-school sessions. Activities which require large resources, such as a bed or washing machine, could be completed as part of homework tasks which are developed alongside parents. (It is a feature of our programme that parents are partners – deliverers and accreditors.)

What’s coming next

The next phase would be transferring some of the basic life skills activities into employment-related ones. For example, opening an on-site cafe run by the students would allow for greater independence around their food and drink preparation skills. Other examples are creating an allotment on the grounds, planning and running a school visit, or hosting an employers’ event.

Equipping the space

How we’ve done it

To furnish and equip the life skills rooms, we appealed for donations of furniture from our students’ families and friends, as well as a small amount of financial support from a community donor. Before adding anything to the room we involved parents as well as students to hear their thoughts about what should be included. The clearest piece of feedback that we received from both groups was that the room should be a place where students (as much as possible) could do things independently.

Things you could try in your setting

In the Resources for Schools section at the back of this issue, we have included a shopping list of items that might be useful for life skills sessions. Alongside each item on the list are ideas and suggestions for use. By no means do we have all the answers to these questions, so we would love to hear from you with further creative ideas. You can email us directly via [email protected].

Things that we would like to do


Moving forward, we would like to incorporate more technology into our life skills sessions. In the first instance, this could involve using online banking and doing an online food shop. However, we would also like eventually to include working with artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT which, despite offering a rather generic answer to our opening question, will undoubtedly be a huge part of our students’ lives in the future.

 

Professional Prompt Questions

  • Is life skills education on the agenda for your students, especially the ones most likely to be challenged by the transition to life beyond school?

  • What ideas in this article have most resonance for you? What ideas does your school have that you could share on an email as suggested above?

  • If life skills is not currently a high priority in your school, who might you need to gather together to read this article (and the one in The Bridge 2) and to discuss possible ways forward?

Reimagining Assessment: Views From an Autistic Young Person

13th June 2023Website Admin

Reimagining Assessment: Views From an Autistic Young Person

Joshua Gross

Since the 1990s, the way we assess young people has been dominated by a culture of public accountability and competition, leading to the unhealthy belief that the grade is everything. The idea is now so important that many exams, like GCSEs and A-Levels are referred to as “high-stakes” tests because of the way they determine the next stage of someone’s life.

Those who create the high-stakes assessments claim that they are the fairest and most rigorous tool we have to demonstrate student achievement. However, the evidence used to back up these claims is often insubstantive (Richardson, 2022). One of the consequences of these high-stakes assessments is that young people’s outcomes are reduced to a number or letter which only reflects a very small proportion of their experiences and achievements at school and usually only in academic subjects.

Whilst this affects all young people, data has shown that, on average, autistic young people do not achieve the same levels of academic success as their non-autistic peers assessed in this way. The most up-to-date government data shows that 64% of non-autistic students achieved a Grade 4 or above in Maths and English, compared to 31% of autistic students – and this data is not a one-off. The same pattern exists in the previous three years’ data. While the statistics alone are striking, even more profound are the hidden stories behind the data. As such, in this piece, we share the reflections and experiences of Joshua, an autistic young person who has the lived experience of feeling let down and misrepresented by the current system and who has vital ideas on how it might be reimagined to prevent the same thing happening to others.

“The big problem with existing assessments is that they are the be all and end all when you leave school.” Joshua

The same idea is expressed in the opening sentence to this article and yet what this means for young people can often get lost in the statistics. For Joshua, who at the time of writing is applying for apprenticeships, the implications are clear.

“I can only put my grades, not the fact that I spent most of my A-Level time suffering through extreme mental health issues and that it was a miracle I even made it to sit the examinations, not the six times I almost dropped out and came back to them later
 It becomes really difficult to come out the other side and still be a strong candidate when the only important thing is what grade you got.”

Joshua’s solution to this problem would be for schools to recognise the skills that young people have through a more flexible approach to curriculum and to assessment. In Joshua’s case, he has a talent and passion for computer programming and, while he was able to take this as an A-Level, he was still assessed within the constraints of that curriculum and the conventions of exams.

“In my A-level computer science class we had people who had never opened the Python Editor before and we had people like me who had made full video games in one day before
 I would be running off doing these ultra-complex things at home that would never be recognised because they weren’t even remotely related to the curriculum. Like, I can make a video game using languages that the curriculum doesn’t even know exist. And I’m just sitting there doing these things, but none of them get recognition. I can do all this stuff and it doesn’t matter because it wasn’t what I was told I had to do. I didn’t fit that specific guideline and therefore it’s not good enough.”

By having a curriculum that is less constraining, less of a rule book, there would be more scope for teachers to work with young people in their area(s) of interest and strength, aligned with their passions. While this would have benefits for all learners, there would be particular benefits for some autistic young people who often have a special interest or aptitude. Recent research by King’s College London, for example, has shown that when adults are accepted as having a special interest, and where it is responded to positively, recognised and valued, this can lead to them excelling in the linked curriculum area (Wood, 2021).

As not all neurodiverse young people will have a special interest that can be assessed within school, it is also worth considering other ways in which a more flexible assessment process would be beneficial. Here, Joshua has further important ideas to share.

“Assessment as it is now is not actually really a test of knowledge, but more a test of memory. I found often that those kinds of assessments really did not work for me, but one that I really excelled in were the two B-techs that I took in Business and Digital Media. Instead of having this one assessment that you’re building up to and studying in unhealthy ways for, you’re working on it throughout the entire course. It’s not one giant thing, it’s a bunch of smaller things. Break one big problem down into a bunch of smaller ones, and suddenly it becomes less of a big problem.”

Joshua’s views about coursework are echoed in the academic literature, which has shown the pedagogical benefits of such forms of assessment, as well as the fact that students prefer it to exams (Richardson, 2015). Despite this, under the current assessment system in England, none of the Maths, English or Science GCSEs have a coursework component which counts towards a student’s final grade. As such, the work that a student does across two or three years of study is condensed and assessed through a few hours of exams. This in turn then shapes their future opportunities. Joshua considers this system to be a particular challenge for autistic young people as “Often the pressures of the school system can break a student so easily and so quickly. And it becomes really difficult to come out the other side and still be a strong candidate when the only important thing is what grade you got.”

There are two more things that we know about the lack of fit between the current assessment system and neurodiversity. One was well articulated by Joshua: “If you emphasise ‘standards’ and ‘standardisation’, then by definition this will not work for autistic young people who are, by definition, non-standard.” The other, which is linked, relates to the idea of “spiky profiles”. Autistic learners are less standardised, less conventional – they have great strengths alongside different challenges. An assessment model that emphasises the challenges (e.g. writing essays) and minimises the strengths and passions (e.g. technical capability, creativity) will serve both autistic youngsters and the system badly.    

Endnote

Joshua’s views are those of just one student, but the dearth of autistic voices in both the academic and non-academic literature in this field makes this a provocative contribution and one that we hope is built on by further activity in this area.

References

Richardson, J. T. (2015). Coursework versus examinations in end-of-module assessment: a literature review. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 40(3), 439-455.

Richardson, M. (2022). Rebuilding Public Confidence in Educational Assessment. UCL Press.

Wood, R. (2021). Autism, intense interests and support in school: From wasted efforts to shared understandings. Educational Review, 73(1), 34-54.

 

Professional Prompt Questions

  • What rings true for you in Joshua’s comments?

  • You will almost certainly have neurodiverse learners in your school. Might a small piece of research or a focus group with them help to unearth challenges they face to which you could respond?

The Role of Local Systems in Rethinking School

12th June 2023Website Admin

The Role of Local Systems in Rethinking School

With thanks Veronica Ruzek, Director of Curriculum and faculty members across the Farmington schools.

As has been said in Holly’s introduction, there are three sections to each issue of this journal.

As has been said in Holly’s introduction, there are three sections to each issue of this journal.

The first is “Rethinking School”, and most of the articles do just that – imagine how school could function differently. However, schools don’t exist in a vacuum and this short piece focuses on the enabling role that the wider system within which the school is nested, can play.

In the final section, “Resources for Schools” you will find some inspiring project cards from schools in Farmington, Connecticut, USA – with many thanks to Veronica Ruzek, Director of Curriculum and faculty members across the Farmington schools for sharing them. Farmington Public Schools has a mission and vision statement to “enable all students to achieve academic and personal excellence, exhibit persistent effort and live as resourceful, enquiring and contributing global citizens aligned to our Vision of the Global Citizen”.

This Vision of the Global Citizen is worth sharing, partly because of the system leadership it displays – a bold, inspiring and invitational vision for all Farmington’s schools – but also because of the direct connection one can make with the moral underpinnings and student agency displayed in the Project Cards.   

Read it, then read the cards, and the connection will be obvious.

Practical Personalisation

15th December 2022Website Admin

Practical Personalisation

Loni Bergqvist

Loni was a teacher at High Tech High before coming to the UK to support the REAL-Projects programme in 2014. Since then, as founder and partner of Imagine If, Loni has worked with schools around the world to re-imagine education. Her project-based learning expertise has been used in several international initiatives and yet she finds time to be a source of friendship and expertise to Gesher.

Differentiation is Not Personalisation


Ditch the word differentiation. Never use it again. Forget it exists.

By default, using the term differentiation causes us to look first at and make assumptions about what’s different about students before designing assessment or a lesson. We weigh these differences against what’s seen as ‘normal’ and by doing so, we categorise without really properly getting to understand individual students. Differentiation is a quick and inadequate way to streamline the process of knowing or categorising our students. We assign them labels so that we feel as though we understand their needs
 but do we really?

Personalisation, on the other hand, begins with the unwavering belief that all students are capable of excellence. All. But, in order really to live out this philosophy, it takes a commitment to dig deep into children who enter the walls of the classroom. Personalisation starts with deep understanding. It’s not a term that is used exclusively with students who struggle to read or have learning challenges, or who are identified as being gifted. Personalisation should be done for every single student, such that we can give all learners access to their gifts and mitigations for their challenges.

This is not an over-idealisation. In adulthood, people find, navigate and express their gifts – intellectual, practical, emotional, and spiritual. We identify with and gain respect for what we can do or enjoy doing. Schools have tended to emphasise, for many learners, what they can’t do.

Personalisation starts in a different and more optimistic place.

Idea One: Create a community of learners

Creating a community where everyone (regardless of perceived academic ability) feels included, valued and comfortable is essential for all students and especially necessary for students who may have been marginalised in the past and felt excluded. At High Tech High, for example, they have a simple mantra: We expect all learners to be successful and to produce beautiful work. It is the responsibility of the entire class to help them do that. THAT is a community of learners.

Things we can do to create these learning communities

Facilitative of Classroom Culture:

  • Knowing students individually
  • Allowing for student voice
  • Teachers openly being learners in the classroom, too
  • Mixed groupings – gender, experience, abilities
  • Encouragement of risk-taking and celebrating it publicly
  • One-on-one conversations with students
  • Celebration, recognition, and affirmation activities.

Techniques, Tools, and Activities:

  • Critique of work activities using peer feedback
  • Appreciations share-out at the end of a class
  • Individual reflection – and perhaps journal use
  • Use of protocols that scaffold learning and contributions
  • Question wall (a Parking Lot for questions and ideas)
  • Think-Pair-Share
  • Ice breakers and opportunities for students to share with each other (non-academic)
  • Show & tell activities that highlight student passions and interests
  • Variety of activities that necessitate different talents (Socratic Seminar, World Cafe)
  • Display of ALL beautiful work where students have invested, regardless of whether it’s ‘the best’.

Idea Two: Focus on what students CAN do, first.

It’s easy to start the year by looking at student deficits. However, any student who has struggled with school in the past, knows whether they’re perceived as being ‘good’ or ‘not good’ at school. The most important thing is to build confidence in students by examining and recognising what students can do, and what they’re already good at, to provide more access points to help with areas that need development.

Ways we can focus on what students can do:

  • Teacher/student interviews
  • Be flexible in the ways students show understanding (dictation, partner writing, pictures, etc.)
  • Take a ‘learning preferences’ survey and design lessons or learning pathways around different types of learners
  • Activate prior knowledge and related knowledge before new knowledge
  • Ask them: ‘What are you comfortable with? What do you struggle with?’ They know
  • Invite other students to celebrate what they value about peers
  • Some of the strategies in Idea One.

Personalisation begins with the unwavering belief that all students are capable of excellence.

Idea Three: Provide scaffolds for students to reach higher. Don’t lower expectations.

When creating scaffolds for students to complete a desired task, it is essential the support matches with the need of an individual student. Determine what the task is, what an individual student may need in terms of support to reach the desired task and provide resources accordingly. We do this instinctively when a student has a visible, physical barrier – a broken leg; a sight impairment – but we are less intuitive about more generic or subtle support strategies.

Ways we can scaffold learning:

  • Graphic organisers (give the option to all students, some will need them without ever officially getting support)
  • Modify assignments to do less if it’s the same skill
  • Allow dictation to a teacher or another student
  • Partner work
  • ‘Workshop Groups’ with a particular task as a theme. (Open these to all students who may need support! They can also be done after school.)
  • Chalk Talk (Protocol available here)
  • Think-Pair-Share (Resources available here)
  • Include visuals with text
  • Untimed Learning Stations, so that students can go at their own pace in a supported context. You can combine this with Daily Checklists.

Idea Four: Honour student interests

This one is really important. Those old enough to remember Barry Hines’s novel (and film) “Kes” will remember the young boy who received no affirmation in school, but who kept, trained and flew a kestrel outside school.  When an empathetic teacher joined him in the fields near his house to watch, he was awestruck.

Our students have rich lives outside our classrooms – they fish, they look after siblings, they go to evening classes, they have collecting hobbies, they are masters at online games, they play the guitar… And the more we can do to bring these experiences into school, the better chance we have of honouring who our students are, what they are passionate about and what they are skilled and knowledgeable about.

Ways we can involve the interests of students:

  • Choice in assignments (what to write about, the theme of a project, etc.)
  • RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) Resources here: https://www.edutoolbox.org/rasp/840.
  • Conduct home visits and meet with students and their families
  • Have Show and Tell each Friday with different students presenting each time
  • Give open-ended projects where students can include their own ideas for products and exhibitions.

 

End Note: Personalisation, then, is basically about designing learning tasks and environments and classroom culture which optimise every student’s chances of success. It is both as simple and as difficult as that. And if the range of suggested ideas above seems daunting, remember two things:

  • Just as we need to know our learners well to optimise their learning, so we have to know ourselves — and what we feel confident about and where we need help.
  • Teaching is not an individual sport – or at least it shouldn’t be. Teaching with other teachers and/or with support assistants can create a context for dialogue. So, too, can the design and planning process, in which peer critique is as valuable for teachers as it is for students.