Subtitles
Associated Teachers TV programme
Human Scale Schools: A Sense of Hope
0001 10:00:10:18 10:00:13:14
(narrator) Brislington
EnterpriseCollege in Bristol
0002 10:00:13:14 10:00:15:14
is a school in trouble.
0003 10:00:15:14 10:00:20:21
Headteacher John Matthews
frankly explores his concerns.
0004 10:00:20:21 10:00:23:23
(man) Standards in this college
have been relatively low.
0005 10:00:23:23 10:00:26:15
If you look back
over the last six to seven years,
0006 10:00:26:15 10:00:30:03
our standards at the age of 16
have varied,
0007 10:00:30:03 10:00:33:16
but they've never really
gone to the national average.
0008 10:00:33:16 10:00:37:24
Because we are within an authority
that, over the last three years,
0009 10:00:37:24 10:00:40:22
has had very bad media
over its overall results,
0010 10:00:40:22 10:00:43:16
we are part of a community
0011 10:00:43:16 10:00:48:14
that doesn't have trust and
confidence in us as an organisation.
0012 10:00:48:14 10:00:50:12
And over a period of five years,
0013 10:00:50:12 10:00:54:04
the numbers of students
opting to leave the city -
0014 10:00:54:04 10:00:56:22
particularly the Brislington
catchment area -
0015 10:00:56:22 10:01:00:13
and move into other areas
has been quite significant.
0016 10:01:00:13 10:01:04:11
Too many young people are leaving
this college on too many occasions
0017 10:01:04:11 10:01:06:15
without the necessary
qualifications,
0018 10:01:06:15 10:01:09:10
so what we need to do
is step change.
0019 10:01:09:10 10:01:11:12
One of the things
that comes through is:
0020 10:01:11:12 10:01:14:08
"You are too large to cater for
the needs of my child."
0021 10:01:15:16 10:01:17:16
(narrator) Built in the 1950s,
0022 10:01:17:16 10:01:22:02
Brislington's buildings
are now past their sell-by date.
0023 10:01:22:21 10:01:26:02
As you can see
if you look behind you,
0024 10:01:26:02 10:01:29:04
the paintwork and plaster,
it's all falling down
0025 10:01:29:04 10:01:32:06
due to all the rain
and heat and moisture.
0026 10:01:32:06 10:01:34:06
And if you look to the very back,
0027 10:01:34:06 10:01:40:11
you'll see a painting
which was painted in the '70s,
0028 10:01:40:11 10:01:44:17
so that should be redone
because it's out of fashion now.
0029 10:01:44:17 10:01:47:15
That's why this place
gets vandalised so much.
0030 10:01:47:15 10:01:49:15
All the students come through here
0031 10:01:49:15 10:01:52:02
and cos it doesn't
look very pleasant,
0032 10:01:52:02 10:01:54:16
they make it more unpleasant
for other students,
0033 10:01:54:16 10:01:58:02
who keep doing it until
it gets into a state of disrepair.
0034 10:01:58:02 10:02:02:09
Our students themselves, how can
they feel proud in their environment
0035 10:02:02:09 10:02:06:16
when they're surrounded
by damp walls, by broken concrete
0036 10:02:06:16 10:02:09:05
and by masonry falling off
the building itself?
0037 10:02:09:05 10:02:14:14
They can't. So it is just...
It's not fit for purpose.
0038 10:02:17:02 10:02:19:00
(narrator) But in 2008,
0039 10:02:19:00 10:02:21:12
the old building
will be razed to the ground
0040 10:02:21:12 10:02:25:04
and replaced by a state-of-the-art
college, specifically designed
0041 10:02:25:04 10:02:28:03
to work as seven small schools
in one school.
0042 10:02:29:17 10:02:31:18
We have a unique opportunity
0043 10:02:31:18 10:02:35:00
in that the college is currently
being rebuilt physically.
0044 10:02:35:00 10:02:38:04
We're part of the Bristol
BSF Pathfinder Project,
0045 10:02:38:04 10:02:40:19
and so we have
a £30-million project.
0046 10:02:48:02 10:02:52:08
(narrator) They didn't want to build
the bog-standard comprehensive,
0047 10:02:52:08 10:02:56:12
so their new build
will have fundamental differences.
0048 10:02:56:12 10:02:59:17
Through a lot of research
with the leadership team,
0049 10:02:59:17 10:03:01:16
we've determined
that we'll build
0050 10:03:01:16 10:03:05:07
to incorporate what will be
seven small learning communities.
0051 10:03:05:07 10:03:07:06
It gave us the opportunity
0052 10:03:07:06 10:03:11:06
to transform
the education for our students
0053 10:03:11:06 10:03:13:17
and to give them
better opportunities in life.
0054 10:03:13:17 10:03:17:06
We'd heard and read a lot
about small learning communities.
0055 10:03:17:06 10:03:19:17
We had, from that point onwards,
0056 10:03:19:17 10:03:22:11
opportunities
to visit good practice,
0057 10:03:22:11 10:03:25:23
so I was very fortunate
to go out to Boston and New York
0058 10:03:25:23 10:03:27:15
and visit schools out there.
0059 10:03:27:15 10:03:30:06
That was beautiful last night.
I was so touched.
0060 10:03:30:06 10:03:32:22
I said, "Oh, my goodness,
it's Franklin."
0061 10:03:32:22 10:03:36:24
(Dave) Instead of having huge
academies - 2,000 students or so -
0062 10:03:36:24 10:03:39:07
they've broken it down
into small schools,
0063 10:03:39:07 10:03:44:08
300 to 400 students in a school.
And our impression of what we saw
0064 10:03:44:08 10:03:46:22
was that everybody
knew everybody else.
0065 10:03:46:22 10:03:49:06
We want our students
to feel at home,
0066 10:03:49:06 10:03:53:08
known, targeted in
their education process,
0067 10:03:53:08 10:03:55:22
so it was that experience
that we brought back
0068 10:03:55:22 10:03:57:11
in huge quantities.
0069 10:03:58:08 10:04:02:12
(narrator) Behind secure gates,
metres away from the classrooms,
0070 10:04:02:12 10:04:05:20
is the construction work.
The design of the building
0071 10:04:05:20 10:04:08:17
incorporates house blocks
and communal areas
0072 10:04:08:17 10:04:12:12
in an attempt to create a building
fit for a human-scale school.
0073 10:04:12:12 10:04:16:08
Barry Scarman
is the construction-site manager.
0074 10:04:17:08 10:04:20:24
At the moment, we're in the street.
You can see how wide it is.
0075 10:04:20:24 10:04:24:21
The roof is a normal roof
with roof lights along the edge.
0076 10:04:24:21 10:04:28:08
And as you can see also,
in between each house block,
0077 10:04:28:08 10:04:31:12
it's fully glazed. This is
where the coloured glass will be.
0078 10:04:31:12 10:04:34:16
It should be a very good atmosphere
through this street area.
0079 10:04:34:16 10:04:39:14
So this is house-block two. On
the ground floor is a science area
0080 10:04:39:14 10:04:41:23
and on the top floor
is general classrooms.
0081 10:04:41:23 10:04:45:13
There's a big atrium in the middle
where there's a socialising area.
0082 10:04:45:13 10:04:48:07
All the house blocks
are designed the same way.
0083 10:04:48:07 10:04:52:18
The population of each house block
is about 290 to 300.
0084 10:04:52:18 10:04:57:05
What they do is stay mostly
in their areas of the houses.
0085 10:04:58:05 10:05:00:07
We wanted individual communities,
0086 10:05:00:07 10:05:03:11
so they designed it
for those individual communities.
0087 10:05:03:11 10:05:05:21
We couldn't put everything
into each house,
0088 10:05:05:21 10:05:08:06
otherwise it would have been
too costly.
0089 10:05:08:06 10:05:11:12
The students stay in there
for about 60% of the time.
0090 10:05:11:12 10:05:15:04
For the other 40% of the time,
they'll move into specialist areas.
0091 10:05:16:24 10:05:20:15
(Barry) The space we're in
at the moment is one of the bridges.
0092 10:05:20:15 10:05:25:05
The bridges are staff bases, so they
can actually see down the streets,
0093 10:05:25:05 10:05:27:06
so they can look where the kids are
0094 10:05:27:06 10:05:29:11
and make sure
they're not messing about.
0095 10:05:29:11 10:05:32:03
Behind us
is one of the main house blocks.
0096 10:05:32:03 10:05:35:13
This house block
is for years 9, 10 and 11.
0097 10:05:36:14 10:05:42:09
The house blocks will make sure that
our students go into a smaller unit.
0098 10:05:42:09 10:05:45:04
One of the biggest concerns
of our parents has been:
0099 10:05:45:04 10:05:49:00
"How do you cater
for my John or Mary or Sally?"
0100 10:05:49:00 10:05:51:00
We can actually turn round and say
0101 10:05:51:00 10:05:53:20
they're not going to be
part of 1500 students.
0102 10:05:53:20 10:05:58:06
They're going to be part of a
community numbering 300 at the most,
0103 10:05:58:06 10:06:01:11
and they will have
individual staff, teachers,
0104 10:06:01:11 10:06:04:08
that will see them for
a greater proportion of the time
0105 10:06:04:08 10:06:05:22
they're in this building.
0106 10:06:08:01 10:06:10:04
(narrator)
A new building isn't enough
0107 10:06:10:04 10:06:14:00
to transform Brislington's
educational mission.
0108 10:06:14:20 10:06:16:09
Classes are being combined
0109 10:06:16:09 10:06:19:10
and groups of teachers
will now work together in teams.
0110 10:06:19:10 10:06:22:15
Subjects will be delivered
through a project-based approach
0111 10:06:22:15 10:06:25:00
until the end of key stage 3.
0112 10:06:25:00 10:06:30:11
This class is Project, and replaces
the traditional humanities lessons.
0113 10:06:31:11 10:06:34:02
Today we are going to be
looking at Scotland
0114 10:06:34:02 10:06:37:10
as we travel throughout Britain.
Put your title, "Scotland",
0115 10:06:37:10 10:06:39:05
which lots of you are doing already.
0116 10:06:40:12 10:06:43:19
(narrator) Time is ticking, and
the school is picking up the pace
0117 10:06:43:19 10:06:46:23
to prepare for the challenges
of the new school.
0118 10:06:46:23 10:06:49:22
Groups from the school's staff
are meeting frequently
0119 10:06:49:22 10:06:51:22
to discuss new teaching techniques,
0120 10:06:51:22 10:06:55:04
and these sessions help them
to come to terms with the changes
0121 10:06:55:04 10:06:57:15
the school is going through.
0122 10:06:57:15 10:07:01:14
A class gets 16 hours a fortnight
divided between two teachers,
0123 10:07:01:14 10:07:03:15
so Dave and I
actually share one group.
0124 10:07:03:15 10:07:05:10
Who are also my tutor group,
0125 10:07:05:10 10:07:08:09
so the tutor
is one of the project teachers,
0126 10:07:08:09 10:07:11:17
and then Sarah, the partner teacher.
0127 10:07:11:17 10:07:14:10
It draws together
a lot of different aspects
0128 10:07:14:10 10:07:18:12
of where the college is going,
really - a smaller group,
0129 10:07:18:12 10:07:22:08
really fun, relevant projects
to the real world, if you like.
0130 10:07:22:08 10:07:26:18
I think the drive behind it
is to move away from a curriculum
0131 10:07:26:18 10:07:29:17
that's completely content-saturated,
0132 10:07:29:17 10:07:34:04
and to move towards skills that will
benefit the students holistically.
0133 10:07:34:04 10:07:38:09
And also making it more personal
to each individual student.
0134 10:07:38:09 10:07:41:19
We see them for 16 hours a week,
0135 10:07:41:19 10:07:44:14
so we have quite a lot of contact
with those students
0136 10:07:44:14 10:07:46:02
and get to know them better.
0137 10:07:46:02 10:07:51:00
And that's because you do see them
for such a large period of time.
0138 10:07:51:00 10:07:53:04
Who are better,
Man United or Liverpool?
0139 10:07:53:04 10:07:55:11
I'd be amazed
if you said Man United.
0140 10:07:55:11 10:07:58:19
- Liverpool.
- Liverpool. Obviously Liverpool.
0141 10:07:58:19 10:08:04:07
It's a real challenge. If you look
at the model of teacher education,
0142 10:08:04:07 10:08:07:10
it is predicated
on subject specialism.
0143 10:08:07:10 10:08:09:13
Most people will do a degree,
0144 10:08:09:13 10:08:14:01
they will then go on to a PGCE,
and now you're saying to colleagues:
0145 10:08:14:01 10:08:17:00
"We do want you
to have your subject specialism,
0146 10:08:17:00 10:08:19:16
we want you to be
an excellent maths teacher
0147 10:08:19:16 10:08:21:17
or an excellent English teacher,
0148 10:08:21:17 10:08:26:07
but we want you to work in a team
that runs across those subjects."
0149 10:08:26:07 10:08:29:10
Maybe there was that kind of,
"Why are we doing this?"
0150 10:08:29:10 10:08:32:12
"What benefit's that going to be
to me as an English teacher?"
0151 10:08:32:12 10:08:34:24
"How will it affect
my professional development
0152 10:08:34:24 10:08:39:24
if I spend 40% of my timetable
teaching project-based learning?"
0153 10:08:39:24 10:08:44:10
Why should a government make sure
everyone's got somewhere to live?
0154 10:08:44:10 10:08:48:04
- Because they'll be homeless.
- So housing's another one.
0155 10:08:48:04 10:08:50:19
It has empowered me
rather than deskilled me.
0156 10:08:50:19 10:08:53:20
I'm now finding
that I'm bleeding Project
0157 10:08:53:20 10:08:56:12
into my main-scale English teaching
0158 10:08:56:12 10:08:59:11
rather than bleeding my English
teaching into my Project.
0159 10:09:01:09 10:09:04:15
(narrator) To develop closer
student-teacher relationships,
0160 10:09:04:15 10:09:08:09
Brislington is asking their teachers
to not only teach their own subject,
0161 10:09:08:09 10:09:11:18
but work in teams
to deliver the complete curriculum.
0162 10:09:11:18 10:09:13:17
As a professional
in this new college,
0163 10:09:13:17 10:09:17:07
how will you feel working alongside
an English specialist,
0164 10:09:17:07 10:09:18:15
a humanities specialist?
0165 10:09:18:15 10:09:22:06
I think it can only add
to the whole experience
0166 10:09:22:06 10:09:25:11
because we can make our subjects
more cross-curricular.
0167 10:09:25:11 10:09:29:03
First of all, yeah, it will
take me out of my comfort zone,
0168 10:09:29:03 10:09:33:05
and I will have to sort of...
teach other subjects,
0169 10:09:33:05 10:09:35:12
and that's absolutely fine with me.
0170 10:09:35:12 10:09:39:01
You'll have to work with somebody
else you haven't worked with before.
0171 10:09:39:01 10:09:41:18
I'm quite excited about that.
0172 10:09:41:18 10:09:45:21
It's more sources of inspiration
that'll broaden their learning base
0173 10:09:45:21 10:09:49:18
because you're going to be in close
proximity with other specialisms.
0174 10:09:49:18 10:09:52:05
You're going to be able
to spark off each other,
0175 10:09:52:05 10:09:56:03
and do more group-based projects
where it is all interrelated.
0176 10:09:56:03 10:10:01:06
That's not to say I won't miss
all the grumpy old men I work with,
0177 10:10:01:06 10:10:03:10
but, you know...
0178 10:10:03:10 10:10:09:07
(narrator) These discussions
allow misgivings to be aired openly.
0179 10:10:09:07 10:10:11:07
Being in a small learning community
0180 10:10:11:07 10:10:15:07
where you're separate from your
technicians and all your resources,
0181 10:10:15:07 10:10:19:10
it's just going to be hard to say,
"I'm going to do this for a lesson."
0182 10:10:19:10 10:10:23:16
Taking your stuff to the technician,
them having to wheel it down to you.
0183 10:10:23:16 10:10:28:14
On a day-to-day basis, it may work,
but then we've got three technicians
0184 10:10:28:14 10:10:30:19
running around
with everyone's lessons.
0185 10:10:30:19 10:10:33:00
It depends how well-equipped
each unit is,
0186 10:10:33:00 10:10:35:08
whether they're all multifunctional
0187 10:10:35:08 10:10:38:12
and you could teach a science
or an art lesson within them.
0188 10:10:38:12 10:10:41:09
Within art, some of the equipment
is very specialist -
0189 10:10:41:09 10:10:44:18
ceramics, kilns,
screen-printing facilities -
0190 10:10:44:18 10:10:48:06
and those would be really difficult
to move from unit to unit.
0191 10:10:48:06 10:10:53:01
It's a balance between being
in one house or moving around.
0192 10:10:53:01 10:10:57:05
If students are in one house or
in a home, they feel looked after.
0193 10:10:57:05 10:10:59:22
If they're having to move out
for specialist areas,
0194 10:10:59:22 10:11:03:22
then obviously so be it, so that
we can get the resources to them,
0195 10:11:03:22 10:11:08:00
but it means less
within their own home area.
0196 10:11:08:00 10:11:11:24
But if you were
attached to that house,
0197 10:11:11:24 10:11:15:12
- you'd be moving with the students.
- Correct.
0198 10:11:15:12 10:11:18:14
So you would still have
that continuity. Yes.
0199 10:11:20:18 10:11:23:19
(narrator) The school will be ready
in September 2008,
0200 10:11:23:19 10:11:25:12
so the staff have to prepare,
0201 10:11:25:12 10:11:28:09
and though it will be a relief
to leave the old buildings,
0202 10:11:28:09 10:11:32:03
there'll be masses of work
in the coming months.
0203 10:11:32:03 10:11:36:11
Over the next 12 months,
we've got quite a challenge to face.
0204 10:11:36:11 10:11:38:01
What impact will it have on you?
0205 10:11:38:01 10:11:40:24
The key aspect is building
relationships with children,
0206 10:11:40:24 10:11:43:15
but also building relationships
with the parents
0207 10:11:43:15 10:11:45:14
and personalise it all far more,
0208 10:11:45:14 10:11:49:08
which will enable you
to keep much closer tabs
0209 10:11:49:08 10:11:51:02
on how the child is developing.
0210 10:11:51:02 10:11:55:24
It's also going to mean you get
fewer of the "lost children"
0211 10:11:55:24 10:12:01:03
that can go either by choice -
by their choice, they can opt out -
0212 10:12:01:03 10:12:04:20
or they just slip under the radar,
and then they just exist in school
0213 10:12:04:20 10:12:07:21
rather than feeling they've got
an active involvement in it.
0214 10:12:07:21 10:12:10:16
With a large school like this,
and on this site,
0215 10:12:10:16 10:12:14:15
it can become disparate, and maybe
they don't feel that sense of pride.
0216 10:12:14:15 10:12:18:08
But they will when they have
their own smaller school,
0217 10:12:18:08 10:12:22:03
they know everybody in it.
300 per school...
0218 10:12:22:03 10:12:26:15
I think we've got to start thinking
of it as being their home,
0219 10:12:26:15 10:12:29:21
their home base,
the security that that affords.
0220 10:12:29:21 10:12:32:11
Indeed,
we'll probably be offering them
0221 10:12:32:11 10:12:37:08
more of a home-type situation
than they get at home.
0222 10:12:37:08 10:12:39:04
Somewhere to hang your coat.
0223 10:12:39:04 10:12:42:04
Stability and consistency
is essential in learning,
0224 10:12:42:04 10:12:45:18
so in order for children
to be able to achieve,
0225 10:12:45:18 10:12:48:22
they need to feel secure
and confident and comfortable.
0226 10:12:48:22 10:12:52:08
The more you can provide
the environment,
0227 10:12:52:08 10:12:54:24
surely the more likely they are
to achieve.
0228 10:12:57:14 10:13:02:01
(narrator) Why is the school
putting in all this hard work?
0229 10:13:02:01 10:13:04:04
As a college, what we have to be...
0230 10:13:04:04 10:13:07:08
Every individual,
every adult that works here,
0231 10:13:07:08 10:13:10:16
has to be a reservoir of hope
for each of these young people.
0232 10:13:10:16 10:13:14:06
And that journey in itself
is quite scary.
0233 10:13:14:06 10:13:15:17
But if we don't do it,
0234 10:13:15:17 10:13:19:08
then what are we actually saying
education's about?
0235 10:13:19:08 10:13:24:15
If we don't do it, we're saying,
"What we have is good enough,
0236 10:13:24:15 10:13:26:15
what we're delivering
is good enough,
0237 10:13:26:15 10:13:31:08
and it's OK for more than
50% of students in this college
0238 10:13:31:08 10:13:33:11
to leave without achieving
0239 10:13:33:11 10:13:36:07
national benchmark standards
of five A* to C grades."
0240 10:13:36:07 10:13:38:07
And that's not acceptable to us.
0241 10:13:39:07 10:13:42:01
Visiontext Subtitles: Paul Murray
0242 10:13:42:01 10:13:44:09