Sunnydale Community College for Maths and Computing

White British Boys – What Works Case Studies

Case Study 5 – Turves Green Boys School (Birmingham LA)

The context of the school

Turves Green Boys School is a successful specialist technology college. It serves a disadvantaged area of Birmingham close to the former MG Rover car factory at Longbridge and provides education for over 600 pupils, most of whom are white British boys. Almost a third of pupils are eligible for free school meals.

Improving Teaching and Learning

• Teaching and learning at the school, at its best, is characterised by
• Well paced, positive learning in an environment where pupils and teacher respect each other and enjoy working together
• Clear personal targets and explicit monitoring of progress
• Strong assessment for learning where the teacher is absolutely clear about the progress made by every pupil, tests and extends understanding through challenging questions and provides feedback in marking that explains how to improve
• Active group work and effective use of peer teaching and assessment – individual pupils share responses with the group and there are opportunities to judge and improve these against shared assessment criteria. As one pupil said, ‘When we teach each other, it’s just easy to understand. We do it a lot.’

• Challenge Targets are used with Year 11 and there is developing use of pupil progress and attitude data. A particular focus on systematic mentoring and intervention for vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils informs a comprehensive monitoring programme.
• The school matches the commitment to challenge with a commitment to provide the skills and practice that underpin success. Each year group has an annual revision conference and support materials.

Curriculum

• The curriculum has been developed to provide a close match with pupils’ needs. There is a shift to early entry to give pupils early experience of success, a better match of courses to individual needs through introduction of BTECs and greater challenge to build self-belief.

Leadership and Management

• The Headteacher provides energy, focus and a sense of urgency to continually improve a school that ‘puts people at the centre’.
• There is a clear expectation that, during the school day, senior leaders should be out and about to engage with pupils.
• Attendance has improved, the previous week’s figures are displayed prominently outside the head’s office and a programme of lunchtime activities keeps pupils safe and engaged.

Partnership and community

• A key to success has been an explicit and uncompromising focus on standards. This involves attending to the needs of individual pupils, making connections between behaviour, attendance, exclusions and learning and taking a pro-active approach to pupils at risk.
• Staffing is front loaded into Year 7 to ensure that potential problems are addressed early.
• A Raising Achievement Team (RAT), led by a non-teaching member of staff with strong roots in the local community, focuses on behaviour (both in the corridors and in the classroom, if requested by a teacher), uniform, coursework catch-up and routines. From first thing in the morning, the team is around the school, talking to pupils, pre-empting difficulties and challenging where necessary.
• Where coursework is not completed to time or standard, pupils attend an after school session that evening to catch-up.