The Cabot Competency Curriculum

Personalising the Learning Agenda at John Cabot CTC - April 2004 to March 2006

This paper sets out to describe the processes and activities that have started to change the learning landscape at John Cabot CTC over the past two years since I was appointed Principal in April 2004. We have already changed the learning culture across the College and seen exam results rise at KS3, GCSE and post-16 over the past two years. If we are to achieve our ambitious performance targets (see appendix) by the summer of 2009, then we will need to do things differently. This report and summary covers the first two years of what is a five year programme of development.



Rationale for this Approach

1. The shift from CTC to Academy will present a new chapter in the short history of the College. Learners in all schools are different but we need to prepare for a new future that all of our students can access.
2. The Learning offer we have made to students from 1993 to 2005 has been effective, but not for every student. The challenge to personalise the school experience has never been more relevant for our staff, parents and students than it is now.
3. The personalised approach must work for adults as well as children. Parents and staff must accept their role in the P.L. developmental agenda if it is truly to embed in all that we do.

This paper is not intended to be an in depth analysis of everything we have achieved over the past two years. It is intended as a snapshot in time of the progress we are making to becoming one of the most effective schools in the country in developing the agenda for learning around personalisation. This is a discussion paper and will be distributed across the College, its local and regional communities and where appropriate, across national and international audiences so that we can gather feedback that will help us deepen and embed theses powerful beginnings.

Learning to Learn
We have replaced our Year 7 Curriculum with a new competency based model that teaches the skills of learning within a content/competency based model. All students are following the programme and developing the core competencies listed below:

• Learning styles
• Thinking Methods
• Finding and Using Information
• Reflecting and Improving
• Team Work
• Communication
• Managing Conflict
• Stress Management
• Time and Resource Management

Students spend 3/5 days in the same classroom with fewer teachers coming to them. An average year 7 group is taught by no more than 8 teachers during the week. The programme has now been package on to a series of DVD's for our staff to use as well as for teachers in other schools to have access to. HMI visited the College in December 2005 to inspect our implementation of the KS3 strategy and reported:

"A particularly good feature of the transition from KS2 to KS3 is the Cabot competency curriculum, followed by all pupils in year 7 which is now in its second year. The intention is to teach the pupils the skills necessary to become independent learners before the pupils embark on the majority of their KS3 work, most of which is completed in years 8 and 9. The curriculum builds upon elements of the strategy, particularly assessment for learning and the promotion of thinking skills to provide the pupils with a sound basis for future learning. The college believes that the programme will provide pupils with the skills to tackle more advanced work at an earlier age than previously anticipated..and the early indications are encouraging."


In years 8 and 9, the content and competency balance is being maintained by individual subjects creating and implementing their own competency passport which is related to the year 7 competencies that relate most effectively to different subjects. In addition, the skills and knowledge that are specifically related to a subject are added to the passport, so that the learning to learn framework continues with the child as they progress up the school.

Curriculum Diversity
We have made a number of key changes to our KS4 Curriculum structure. The pathway principle is now firmly embedded and students move between academic and vocational programmes, starting some GCSE's in year 9 and an AS Level in Critical Thinking in Year 10. The new KS4 programme offers GCSE's, AS Levels, BTEC 1st Certificates, the Junior Sports Leaders Award and an ASDAN Skills for Life Programme for students of all abilities. This diversity is following on to post-16 learning with new courses now offering a VI Form learning framework for a wider group of students than before.

Mentoring and Welfare

Every student from Year 7 to Year 13 has their own personal mentor who is also one of their form tutors. Every tutor group now has two adults working within it, a lead and a link tutor. Their role is to work together in tutor time to offer a wider and more diverse range of support for students. They also share the case load of 28 students for mentoring. Every teacher, including the senior team and NQT's is now a form tutor, and the additional capacity offered by making 12 members of the support staff team tutors has enabled over 85 adults to be involved in this level of personal support.

The mentoring takes place during the school day. Every teacher has a period of mentoring on their timetable, and during this weekly 40 minutes session will meet with two students. The purpose is to update each child's Individual Learning Plan, which looks at performance, targets, student wellbeing, enrichment programmes and any other decisions that are being taken that might impact upon their personal learning development.

The College has restructured its welfare team. The Head of Year role has been removed and replaced by a broader and more learning focused Learning Coordinator role. The role of a L.C is different to the traditional Head of Year role in that they only manage half a year group. We have moved from five heads of year to ten L.C's. In addition to their welfare responsibilities, they also lead a whole College learning development programme. This change has transformed the support structure of the College and has made personalised learning in terms to welfare and guidance a reality.

We have created a Cabot help line for students who are experiencing bullying or face problems at school. It is a confidential e-mail service that is managed by a senior member of staff but questions are responded to by students from year 10-13. This has been a key strategy in improving the support for students as well as giving other students the chance to develop their own leadership skills.

Adult Development - Teachers and Support Staff

The extension of personalised learning to the adults in the College is critical if the culture is to change over these five years. All staff have both a mentor and a buddy and we have created a range of different opportunities that staff opt into in order to develop their own skills and interests. This is described as a Learning Promise for Staff and some of the most successful initiatives are listed below. (see Cabot Learning Promise for students below)

Staff Learning Promise:

• Every adult visits another school in the UK every 2 years
• Every adult spends a day in a work placement every 2 years

The extension of personalised learning to the adults in the College is critical if the culture is to change over these five years. All staff have both a mentor and a buddy and we have created a range of different opportunities that staff opt into in order to develop their own skills and interests. This is described as a Learning Promise for Staff and some of the most successful initiatives are listed below. (see Cabot Learning Promise for students below)

• All staff can write and deliver an Innovation Exchange within our outreach programme and be paid to do so
• All staff can have the opportunity to visit an educational institution abroad at least once in a three year period
• All staff have access to a cover supervisor who reduces the time spent supervising lessons of another absent colleague
• Staff with 100% attendance records can cash this in for two days of cover to develop a learning project that interests them.

Parents and Their Support for Learners

Parents are often more circumspect about approaching a secondary school than a primary school. At the College we have included parents within our Personalised Learning programme and have introduced the following programmes:

• There are six "Meet the Principal" surgeries during the College year, where parents can meet senior staff, teachers and support staff and other parents more informally to ask questions about the College and get help and guidance on areas they are worried about.
• Each Faculty holds KS3 and KS4 surgeries, which gives parents the chance to be taught by subject staff and shown ways of helping their children with classwork, homework or coursework that they do not understand.
• At the start of each academic year there is an Information Evening for each year group, where the goals and content of the year are set out for students and parents to get a picture of the rhythm of the year
• Parents with internet access at home, can now access our VLE via an e-portal link so that learning resources and extension tasks can be carried on at home.

Distributing and Developing Leadership

Developing the leadership capacity of the College amongst adults and students will be a key part of our Personalised Learning strategy. Our plan is that the following will be in place by 2006-7 or building upon the work started in 2005-6.

All staff will have access to a three year leadership programme that is based upon the following modules. Staff will be expected to take three modules in year 1, 2 and 3 from the menu below. The 9/13 modules must include one of the two personalised learning modules or both if preferred.

1. Personalised Learning 1 and 2
2. Developing the student voice
3. Ethos and Culture
4. New Technologies
5. Managing data for target setting
6. Adding 10% to your classes' GCSE results
7. Learning to Learn
8. Developing your career profile
9. Mentoring and Coaching students and adults
10. Time Management and Worklife balance
11. The classroom and departmental implications of ECM
12. Developing the art and science of self-evaluation
13. Building Successful Teams

Student Voice and the Cabot Learning Promise

The impact of student voice is being seen and heard at John Cabot CTC. The traditional student council still operates but is being replaced by the range of student voice related activities.

• All students in KS3 complete one day of community service in the College over a 3 year period
• Student ambassadors are trained in meeting and greeting visitors and leading tours of the College
• Groups of students in KS4 are now observing lessons of teachers and providing feedback on the lesson. This group are developing the model of the "Effective Lesson" from the student perspective
• Every student between years 7 and 11 will take part in at least one of the termly student voice conferences that focuses upon an aspect of College development.
• Groups of students from Year 9 to Year 11 are trained as interviewers when staff appointments are being made. They may form an interview panel made up entirely of students or form a panel with staff members.
• The Cabot Learning Promise for students is a menu of activities that sets out what every student between KS3 and 4 can engage in for low or no cost. In some ways this is our enrichment personalised learning programme.

The Cabot Virtual Learning Environment

The E-Learning solution to P.L. is critical if the programme is to deepen and sustain. Our VLE is the vehicle for all of this work and has closed the gap between the role of the teacher and student in many ways. This is a summary of how the VLE is supporting this work:

• All staff and students can link content to any lesson in any term. A video clip that a student has created or found can be added to the digital library for anyone to use.
• E-portfolios are enabling staff and students to share work in progress
• On line assessments and test are speeding up the assessment for learning process
• Starter tests are being marked simultaneously and re-ordering learning objectives as a result of the outcome of the assessment
• Extension activities are replacing traditional homework in years 8 and 9, with students working on a range of projects that interest them and extend their classroom learning experience. In year 8, students complete 12/40 possible assignments in the year

Birthday Cards and the Creation of a Personalised Culture

One of the big tests of P.L. is whether or not a child feels that the school sees them as an individual or as part of a group. Every student is sent a birthday card from the Principal and this probably more than any of the other ideas in the paper has done more to create this emergent culture.

A Final Thought...

With this shift towards personalised learning, the quiet child who just gets on with life now has a voice and has a chance to be heard and developed. Will P. L. raise standards at the College? Without a doubt! Will P.L.change the culture and value the individual more? Without a doubt! Is P.L the way to change the learning agenda in schools over the next twenty years? We have no choice!

Appendix

By the summer of 2009, if not before, the development of a new Personalised Learning Culture will result in the following targets being met:

Assessment	Floor Target	College Target	Stretch Target
KS3 SATS in English	90%	95%	100%
KS3 SATS in Maths	90%	95%	100%
KS3 SATS in Science	90%	95%	100%
% of students gaining 5 A* - C grades	80%	85%	95%
% of students gaining 5 A* - C grades including English and Maths	70%	75%	85%
AS Level pass rate	85%	90%	100%
AS Level at A and B grades	50%	65%	75%
A Level pass rate	95%	100%	100%
A Level pass rates at A and B grades	50%	65%	75%