Schools In England Research Articles

Engaging children with developmental disabilities in online data collection procedures: reflections and implications for future research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to outline reflections and recommendations about the processes involved in effectively engaging children with developmental disabilities in online data collection in special schools in England. Design/methodology/approach Data collection procedures were adapted and piloted for online delivery with children with developmental disabilities before data were collected online from 382 young children (aged 5–11 years) in 55 special schools in England as part of a randomised controlled trial examining the efficacy of Headsprout Early Reading® on reading fluency. Findings The research team engaged with creative and adaptive methods throughout the process, from initial planning to delivery, to ensure successful and systematic data collection with children with developmental disabilities. It is possible to effectively engage children with developmental disabilities in online data collection procedures, and with appropriate planning and procedural considerations, this can be an enjoyable experience for children. Research limitations/implications Whilst there are geographical and logistical advantages to online data collection methods, there is also the potential for an increased administrative burden that should be appropriately planned and costed. Practical implications Purposely engaging online data collection methods can enable researchers to involve a greater number of children with developmental disabilities in research. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the largest study using purposefully engaging online data collection methods with children with developmental disabilities in special schools. Furthermore, this study provides detailed reflections and recommendations to support similar processes for future research.

Teachers’ experiences and perceptions of supporting young carers in schools in England: challenges and barriers and working with outside agencies

ABSTRACT Despite recent improvements in approaches to supporting young carers, including legislative changes, schools continue to face challenges in supporting young carers’ varied needs. This research aimed to understand the perceptions and experiences of teachers and school staff who support young carers in schools within England, through pastoral processes, and multi-agency working while addressing key challenges in identifying young carers and engaging them in available support. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse interview data from 18 participants. Three main themes were identified: School Resources, School Processes, and Young Carer Identity. These highlighted a need to raise awareness of the core themes in the experiences of young carers, lobbying for improved statutory protection and promoting young carers’ voices. Furthermore, whilst it is widely accepted that young carers are a ‘hidden’ group, teachers in this study also felt that those who provide care and support to young carers and their families can be both unknown and unacknowledged.

The accidental head: A qualitative study exploring the characteristics of happy, healthy and productive headteachers in independent schools in England

Whilst there is considerable research into the impact of educational leadership on pupil outcomes, less explored are the career characteristics headteachers need to effect and sustain that leadership long term. This study explores the career characteristics that underpin sustainable careers for headteachers. The sustainable career model provides the framework to identify the indicators of a sustainable career: happy, healthy, productive, and the means to analyse through the dynamic fit of person, context, and time. Twenty independent school headteachers in England were interviewed, and through reflexive thematic analysis, we developed three themes encapsulating key characteristics for a sustainable headteacher career. Discovering Headship showed how experiences prior to headship inspire and ready them for the position. Navigating Headship illustrates how headteachers navigate and orchestrate people within their contexts and identified the importance of belonging in professional networks. Sustaining a Headteacher Career identified the proactive self-management of health, recovery experiences, and a pupil-focused approach. The findings are discussed through the lens of the sustainable career model, and we offer a number of practical recommendations.

A Woman’s Experience of a Physical Education College 1929–1932: Personal Diaries in Biographical Context

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the life of Miss Joan Knight, who was a student between 1929 and 1932 at a leading English college of physical education established for women at the turn of the twentieth century, Bedford College of Physical Education. Its head and founder, Margaret Stansfield, had been a pupil of the pioneering woman, Martina Bergman-Österberg, who brought the Swedish Ling system of gymnastics to England in the first part of the twentieth century that shaped the course of women’s physical education in England. The article provides experiential evidence of women’s physical education in England in the interwar era. It suggests how a middle-class young woman, born before women were granted the right to vote, acted on the resources and opportunities available that enabled her to go to college and pursue a successful career in the organisation of physical education in schools in England and elsewhere. The article’s approach is biographical and contextual. Drawing on unique contemporaneous data – Joan Knight’s personal diaries written at Bedford College of Physical Education, supplemented by some of the archival material she left behind – the article also identifies the strengths and limitations of the material.

“I think that we should, but I don’t think that we can”: What school staff think about adventurous play at schools in England

ABSTRACT Adventurous play is increasingly recognised as important for children’s health and development. Schools act as gatekeepers for children’s opportunities for regular, outdoor, adventurous play during breaktimes (recess). In this study, we interviewed 13 school staff working in England to find out what they thought about adventurous play happening during breaktimes in schools. Our aim was to describe the core barriers and facilitators of adventurous play in English schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a range of school staff across a range of school roles. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes were developed: Risk, Valuing and supporting play, Resources and School policy and practices. We also noted that culture existed as an important backdrop to all of these themes. Findings are discussed in relation to school and societal level change that is needed for all children to have opportunities to engage in adventurous play in school, overcoming inequalities in access outside of school.

Birth weight and school absences and attainment: a longitudinal linked cohort study of compulsory schooling in England.

To explore how birth weight and size-for-gestation may contribute to school absences and educational attainment and whether there are different associations across sex and income groups. Longitudinal linked cohort study. Data were drawn from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative cohort of children born in 2000-2001; percentage of authorised and unauthorised absences from Year 1 to Year 11, and Key Stage test scores at ages 7, 11 and 16 in English and Maths were linked from the National Pupil Database. Birth outcomes and covariates were derived from the 9-month survey, and linear regressions with complex survey weights were fitted. Being born small-for-gestational-age (vs average-for-gestational-age) was associated with an increase of 0.47%, 0.55% and 0.40% in authorised absences in Years 1, 3 and 4 (n=6659) and with a reduction of 0.16-0.26 SD in all English and Maths test scores (n=6204). Similar associations were found for birth weight. After adjusting for prior test scores, English (b=0.07) and Maths (b=0.05) performance at age 11 remained associated with birth weight. Socioeconomic status modified the associations: there were larger disparities in test scores among higher-income families, suggesting that higher income did not compensate for being born small-for-gestational-age. Children born smaller missed slightly more classes (~1 day per year) during primary school and had lower English and Maths performance across compulsory education. Exploring specific health conditions and understanding how education and health systems can work together to support children may help to reduce the burden.

Fostering inclusion: students’ voices in the co-design of a school-district level policy

ABSTRACT This paper presents a one-year Learning Lab formative intervention conducted in a predominantly white school in New England in the U.S., where a diverse group of participants collaborated to co-design a district-level protocol for addressing discrimination and harassment. The collaborative effort involved 16 members, including students, parents/community members, teachers, school and district-level administrators. In this paper we focus on the strategies emerged during the Lab to dismantle the exclusion of students’ voices. Theoretical frameworks of rightful presence and inclusive education guided the analysis, focusing on inevitable tensions and contradictions inherent in diverse group collaboration. Three strategies emerged to challenge the exclusion of students’ voices and center students’ rightful presence in the inclusive decision-making process: (1) Problematizing the dominance of adult authority figures; (2) Amplifying student epistemology; and (3) Reconfiguring spaces and discourses. The implications of students’ rightful presence in protocol co-design are discussed, along with implications for research and practice.

Where is risk education? Exploring risk education in secondary schools in England

Risk researchers have asserted that risk education in secondary schools is minimal, if it exists at all. This study shows that some aspects of risk are taught as part of the National Curriculum in England. As risk science has developed, many of its proponents have recognised the importance of ensuring that all students in secondary schools are exposed to risk concepts and thinking. In the education field, risk education is seen as important but in competition with many other subject areas in the curriculum. This study uses text analysis and semi-structured expert interviews with a sample of teachers and teacher-educators, and other experts in education to contrast official education policies with their experiences in the field. It identifies how risk education is conceptualised by this sample of educators and where in the curriculum risk concepts are principally taught. Assessment, legitimacy, and resources are barriers to wider adoption of risk education in secondary schools in England. It is essential that risk experts and education experts work together to further integrate risk education into the curriculum and teaching practice.

The impact of spaced learning within physics lessons in secondary schools.

Spaced learning (SL) involves distributed learning with timed distraction breaks unrelated to the learning input. These breaks are thought to facilitate consolidation of novel information in long-term memory by accommodating post-activation neural recovery and biochemical changes in potentiation. Applications of SL have become commonplace across UK teaching and feature in government guidance, although there have been few research trials, especially within secondary schools, and none addressing physics independently. However, past research with 14-16-year-old students in England found that interspersing a fast-paced video input with ten-minute distraction breaks in a standard hour-long biology lesson yielded exam performance equivalent to regular teaching across many months. The present study adapted this regime to learning a novel physics topic, atomic structure, including radioactive decay, part of pre-16 compulsory science education in England. An in-class video covered all of the subject content in a single one-hour lesson, with three learning inputs, of length 11 - 14 minutes, interspersed with ten-minute distraction breaks. As well as 'business as usual' controls, the research included groups that only experienced the SL lesson, and those who were exposed to it prior to traditional teaching. Impact on learning was assessed using tests similar to state examinations taken at the end of a two-year physics course. Six non-selective state (non-fee charging) schools with varying demography were invited to join the study to ensure the sample was representative of the 93% of students who attend such schools in England. In total, 336 students completed all pre- and post-intervention (immediate and delayed) tests. Students studying combined sciences and separate physics were divided into groups cutting across conditions, with the former taking a shorter test. SL led to immediate benefits for separate physics students, but the SL only group showed no further gain at delayed post-test, with performance then equal to controls, as in past work. However, the SL plus group exhibited additional gains, 50% to 90% greater than the other groups at delayed post-test, following traditional teaching. Among combined science students, the SL plus group showed gains at delayed post-test 60% greater than controls. These effects were consistent across different schools. The implication is that SL provides a foundation for subsequent learning, often doubling its efficiency regardless of context, and that it does so with minimal additional input.

The Second Generation: Ednah Dow Cheney Carries Margaret Fuller's Feminist Transcendentalism into the Early Progressive Era

In the nineteenth century, the Transcendentalist and women's movements combined to alter the discussion on the politics of womanhood, developing creative space for progressive individuals to actively make change in the expansion of human rights. Ednah Dow Cheney, a young widow and single mother in the mid­1850s, merged the spirit of Transcendentalism that she inherited from her family and friends and her burgeoning passion for social activism to become a dedicated public servant. An early attendee of the Conversations of Margaret Fuller, author of Woman in the Nineteenth Century and a pioneer in the field of feminist Transcendentalism, Cheney borrowed Fuller's radical ideas and translated them into real action. Throughout the second half of the 1850s and into the early twentieth century, Cheney founded the New England School of Design and the New England Women's Club and managed the New England Hospital for Women and Children, the Boston Education Commission of the Freedmen's Aid Society, and lectured for the New England Suffrage Association and the Concord School of Philosophy. More significantly, she continued through the century to become a feminist intellectual in Fuller's vein.

Analysis of Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Distributed and Transformational Leadership in English Schools

Leadership acts as a catalyst for change and progress in many industries and environments. Leadership also plays an important role in the UK education system. Although school leadership has a small impact, it has a very significant effect on the characteristics of the school organisation, and the quality of teaching and learning is largely influenced by the characteristics of the school organisation. School leadership therefore has a very significant impact on the improvement and progression of teaching and learning in many schools. A number of leadership models have been widely implemented and utilised to improve the quality and outcomes of teaching and learning in the running and development of schools in England. Three of these models, namely instructional leadership, distributed leadership and systems leadership, have been widely implemented and are representative.

Exploring the feasibility of using school food purchase data as a method to assess dietary intakes in secondary school-aged pupils.

To explore the information available in school food purchase data and to ascertain the potential to assess pupils' dietary intakes. The proportion of purchased food and drink items that were linked to (i) an Intake24 food group, and (ii) a nutrient code from the UK NDNS Databank, was calculated. Pupil-level food purchase data covering the whole school day was obtained. Each item purchased was linked to an Intake24 food group and an NDNS Nutrient Databank code. Depending on the level of detail provided, items may have been assigned both a food group and a nutrient code, a food group only or neither for items which did not contain enough information about the type of food or drink purchased. Five secondary schools in northeast England. Secondary school pupils aged 11-16 years. The data captured 119,125 purchases made by 3466 pupils. 92% of item descriptions were assigned a food group, this equated to 82% of total purchases. 70% were assigned an NDNS Databank nutrient code, which accounted for 60% of total purchases. 8% of items had insufficient information and did not have a food group or a nutrient code assigned. The methodological challenges of collecting dietary data from pupils in the secondary school setting are significant. Purchase data offers an alternative, objective approach to collecting information on school food choices, across the school day and for a large sample of pupils. With further development the potential to use purchase data to assess intakes could be achieved.

‘I would like a job that involves using science’: science-related job aspirations and the relevance of family circumstances, personal motivations, and working scientifically for primary school students

ABSTRACT Students in primary schools have often conveyed interest and enjoyment in doing science but less interest in jobs in science. New insights into students’ aspirations for science-related jobs were revealed through questionnaire responses from 5882 students in Year 4 (on average aged 9 years old) in England. Many students conveyed interest and enjoyment in science (84.4%), although fewer reported that their parents/guardians were interested in science (34.6%). Many students agreed that ‘Anyone can do science and be a scientist’ (85.7%), although fewer conveyed science-related job aspirations through agreement with ‘I would like a job that involves using science’ (45.7%). Predictive modelling revealed that the students’ aspirations had positive associations with their interest in science, reporting that their parents/guardians were interested in science, their self-efficacy for Working Scientifically, and with many other indicators of their views. Self-efficacy for Working Scientifically encompassed students feeling able to undertake a range of activities including planning and undertaking investigations, and understanding scientific evidence and arguments, which students are expected to cover at primary school in England. Essentially, facilitating students to be able to do science in school may help them realise the feasibility of science-related jobs, together with wider support including from parents/guardians.

Students’ experiences of investigative school science research projects

ABSTRACT Background Investigative research projects in science are a form of practical work in which students have considerable control in respect of the question(s) they address and the ways in which they undertake their work. It has been argued that such projects give students insights into how scientists work and are therefore more authentic than much of the practical work typically undertaken in school science. Purpose To determine the experiences of school students undertaking investigative research projects (IRPs) in science and to see whether participating in such projects affects students’ science identities. The specific research question was ‘How do secondary school students participating in an investigative research project see science and understand their experiences in relation to it?’ Sample Twenty-two secondary students, all of who were undertaking IRPs under the auspices of IRIS (The Institute for Research in Schools), from eight schools in England. Design and methods In-depth, semi-structured individual interviews. These were video- or audio-recorded on Microsoft Teams, transcribed and analysed using directed qualitative content analysis. Results Although most of the students held favourable views about science, many of them did not view school science as comparable to the science practiced by scientists in the wider world. The students were overwhelmingly positive about the benefits of participating in an IRP. The findings suggest an association between the participants' motivations for engaging with such projects and their science identities, with many of them articulating that participating in the project provided them with an ‘authentic’ experience of what ‘real scientists’ do. Conclusion Participating in an IRP made the students feel more engaged in science and more enthusiastic about their future involvement in science, both of which are typical indicators of identity. For at least some students, participating in an IRP can help galvanise their interest in and engagement with science.

Has the English baccalaureate ‘killed off’ RE?

ABSTRACT The 2010 decision by the United Kingdom’s coalition government to create an English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and to include geography and history, while excluding Religious Education/Studies (RE/RS) from it, raised a lot of discussion, disapproval, even disquiet among many circles, notably RE supporters. Some predicted that RE’s omission from this newly created award would eventually enervate or even eliminate RE from secondary schools in England. Analysing and comparing official statistics and other relevant secondary data relating to GCSE entries in geography, history and RS in different schools in England, this study examines whether the EBacc has ‘starved out’ or ‘killed off’ RE in schools in England as some of its advocates warned. In doing so, it finds that while, by and large, the EBacc has adversely influenced entries for GCSE RS, such an impact is different in different types of schools and, more importantly, the EBacc has not been ‘killed off’ RE as previously warned.

INcreasing Adolescent social and Community supporT (INACT): Pilot study protocol.

Social prescribing is a mechanism for connecting patients with non-medical forms of support within the community and has been shown to improve loneliness. Yet uptake from young people (YP) has been lower than for adults. That is thought to be the case because young people are less likely to engage with primary care for wellbeing support, where social prescribing is based. The INACT study will pilot a social prescribing pathway via schools to support young people who are lonely, testing its feasibility and acceptability of delivering, and evaluating its impact on loneliness through a randomised controlled trial. This pilot study utilises a two-group (intervention vs. active control) parallel randomised design, with YP as the unit of randomisation. Approximately 78 pupils reporting loneliness will be recruited across 12 mainstream (6 primary and 6 secondary) schools in England. The co-produced social prescribing intervention includes 6-12 sessions over an 8-week period with a Link Worker who will work with individuals, on a one-to-one basis, to understand 'what matters to them' and connect them with local sources of support. Pupils in the control group will receive signposting to sources of support from school staff. Data will be collected at baseline, 3- and 6-month follow-up. Acceptability and feasibility will be assessed via participant recruitment and retention, and via qualitative interviews. Interviews will also explore barriers and facilitators to engagement and implementation and mechanisms of change. Primary and secondary outcomes will be completed to assess response and completeness, including measures of loneliness, mental health and wellbeing. The INACT study will provide preliminary evidence of the feasibility and acceptability of both the research design and social prescribing intervention. Results will inform a planned future randomised trial. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06656663.

Profiles of control, value and achievement emotions in primary school mathematics lessons.

Achievement emotions are important for mathematical achievement. However, it is currently unclear how specific combinations of emotions-and their associated control and value appraisals-relate to mathematics performance, especially in younger students. The aims of this study were to (i) identify heterogeneous profiles of control, value and achievement emotions (enjoyment, boredom and anxiety) experienced during primary-school mathematics lessons, and to explore how profile membership related to (ii) mathematics test scores and (iii) gender. Our sample comprised 883 students (50% girls, Mage = 9.34 years, SD = .48) from 23 primary schools in England. Data were collected longitudinally over one academic year. Students completed mathematics tests at T1 and T3, and self-reported their control, value and achievement emotions in mathematics lessons at T2. A latent profile analysis was conducted to identify profiles of appraisals and emotions. To validate the profiles, T3 mathematics test scores and gender were included as covariates of profile membership. Three profiles were identified: The Positive profile, Negative profile and Mixed profile. Students in the Positive profile had significantly higher mathematics test scores at T3 than students in the Mixed profile. Being a girl increased the likelihood of belonging to the Mixed or Negative profile relative to the Positive profile. Primary school students' control and value appraisals and achievement emotions co-occur in line with the theoretical assumptions of CVT. Combinations of emotions should be considered when exploring the impact of emotions on student learning and achievement in mathematics.

Teacher-Led Yoga/Mindfulness in the Key Stage 1 Classroom. Survey of Educators Across North-East England

Abstract Pupils’ behavioural and emotional difficulties are disruptive to classrooms. These issues have exacerbated post-Covid, but little is known about the specific methods used by teachers to manage such issues in the classroom. An online survey was completed by 133 Key Stage 1 (KS1) educators who use yoga and/or mindfulness activities with their seven- to nine-year-old pupils within 101 mainstream state schools in England’s North East Mayoral Combined Authority. Participants reported using these activities ‘To support the children to calm down and relax’ (88% of participants) and, ‘To support pupils’ self-awareness and self-regulation' (62% of participants), with most participants (65%) rating these activities as extremely or very useful for their KS1 pupils. Early career teachers with 0–2 years’ experience in the profession provided significantly fewer reasons for using classroom-based yoga/mindfulness than those who have been in the profession for three years or more (means = 2.38 and 3.48 respectively). Also, teachers who reported being aware of research into the benefits of yoga or mindfulness for schoolchildren provided significantly more reasons for using such activities in the classroom (mean = 3.79) than those unaware of the research (mean = 2.96). This study is the first of its kind to explore teachers’ use of, and reasons for using, yoga/mindfulness activities in KS1 classrooms in the North East, one of the most deprived areas in England. Results are discussed in the context of current research alongside suggestions for future studies and practice recommendations for KS1 teachers.

Understanding progress in climate change and sustainability education in four state-funded secondary schools in England

Schools in England are now encouraged by the government to develop Climate Change and Sustainability Education (CCSE). In each of four state-funded secondary schools, interviews were conducted with staff and students to understand the progress they sought with respect to CCSE and how they envisaged that this would occur. A year later, reflexive interviews focused on what had been achieved, how this had occurred, the challenges faced by the staff and students, and how these might be overcome. Reflexive thematic analysis provided a theoretical framework for identifying areas that appeared to differentiate the approach of schools. Three key challenges are discussed that, while not emphasized in the current national guidance for England, appeared impactful on the progress of schools to develop effective CCSE: generating a shared vision, anchoring student communication with management, and developing the communication skills of staff and students.

An assessment of the teacher completed 'Early Years Foundation Stage Profile' as a routine measure of child developmental health.

The routine measurement of children's developmental health varies across educational settings and systems. The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) is a routinely recorded measure of a child's development completed at the end of their first school year, for all children attending school in England and Wales. Despite widespread use for research and educational purposes, the measurement properties are unknown. This study examined the internal consistency and structural validity of the EYFSP, investigating whether the summed item-level scores, which we refer to as the 'total score', can be used as a summary of children's developmental health. It also examined predictive validity of the total score with respect to later academic attainment and behavioural, social, and emotional difficulties. The data source was the longitudinal prospective birth cohort, Born in Bradford (BiB), and routine education data were obtained from Local Authorities. The internal consistency and structural validity of the EYFSP total score were investigated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis and a Rasch model. Predictive validity was assessed using linear mixed effects models for Key Stage 2 (Maths, Reading, Grammar/Punctuation/Spelling), and behavioural, social, and emotional difficulties (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). We found that the EYFSP items demonstrated internal consistency, however, an Item Response model suggested weak structural validity (n = 10,589). Mixed effects regression found the EYFSP total score to predict later academic outcomes (n = 2711), and behavioural, social, and emotional difficulties (n = 984). This study has revealed that whilst caution should be applied for measurement of children with close to 'average' ability levels using the EYFSP, the EYFSP total score is an internally consistent measure with predictive validity.