Let’s Think in English Case Study
Findings from Shirley High School , Croydon,
by Ruth Pringle, Second in English Department
Background and Context
Shirley High School is a mixed 11-18 comprehensive in
South London.
From Year 8, students are streamed in English.
The class I have been using CA with is one of two ‘top
sets’ in Year 8.
This class was chosen for the simple reason that given
the timetabling arrangements for the year, it would be
the easiest and most logical group to use (all my other
KS3 classes were split groups making delivery of CA
and schemes of work awkward at best).
The Class
The class I used consisted of 30 students: 14 boys and
16 girls.
At the start of the year their ability broke down as
follows:
2 students on level 4
25 students on level 5
3 students on level 6 (all 6c)
The students were seated in mixed ability groups as
shown on the next slide:
Female
5a
Male 4a
Female
5C
Female
5a
Female
5c
Female
5b
Male 5a
Female
5a
Male 5c
Male 6c
Male 5a
Female
5a
Male 6b Male 5a
Male 5b
Male 5b Male 4b
Male 5c
Male 5b
Female
5b
Female
5b
Female 5a
Female 5c
Female
6c
Female
5c
Male 5b
Female 5a
Female 5b
Male 5a
Female 5b
Routine
The class was timetabled to have four 50 minute
lessons per week: one double and two singles.
CA lessons were delivered fortnightly in the first half
of the double lesson, which allowed a bit of extra time
if necessary to complete the tasks. On the other
weeks, students would bring in a book and read
privately.
CA lessons began in the first full week of teaching in
September, so that it was seen as part of their course of
study immediately.
Students were told what CA was and why they were
doing it from the first session.
Routine
At the start of the year, students were a bit grim-faced
about the CA lessons, asking if they couldn’t read their
books instead; now it is the other way round.
I began with the lessons on ‘The Bridge’ and then
worked through the list fairly systematically, but where
I could I selected lessons that fitted in with what we
were studying, e.g. doing the poetry CA lessons whilst
studying poetry; doing the ‘Street Trash’ CA lesson
while studying Stone Cold etc.
Top Lessons
The students have been most enthusiastic about the
following CA lessons:
The Bridge lessons
This is just to say…
Sredni Vashtar
The Open Window
Street Trash
The Last Days of Ojukwu
Hemingway’s baby shoes
Most successful lessons:
The Bridge – got some excellent creative writing out of the students,
who were almost desperate to fill in the gaps and flesh out the story.
Decisions – students were able to make some very insightful comments
on the use of language without being aware they were doing something
so technical.
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge – instigated a big row amongst the
students over the ending.
Paula Brown – again, instigated a big row over what the narrator could
do with the snowsuit. Got rather bitter!
Orwell and the Elephant – generated a lot of discussion and opposing
viewpoints which students were able to articulate clearly.
The End of the World – created a big debate about humour, age and
target audience.
Tickits – created a lot of debate about the nature of the central
character
Writing
Female
6c
Male 6a
Female
6b
Female
6b
Female
6a
Female
6b
Male 6a
Female
6b
Male 6b
Male 6a
Male
Female
6b
Male 6a
Male 6c
Male 6b
Male 5b Male 4a
Male 6a
Male 6b
Female
6b
Female
6a
Female 6a
Female 6a
Female
7c
Female
6b
Male 6b
Female 6b
Female 6b
Male 5a
Female 6c
Creative writing task done under controlled
conditions in a 50 minute lesson
Reading
Female
6a
Male 5a
Female
7c
Female
6a
Female
6a
Female
6c
Male 7b
Female
7a
Male 6c
Male 7b
Male 7b
Female
7c
Male 7b
Male 6b
Male
Male 5a
Male 6a
Male 5b
Male 7c
Female
6a
Female
6c
Female 7c
Female 7c
Female
7b
Female
5c
Male 7c
Female 7b
Female 5a
Male 6b
Female 7c
Study of Macbeth Act 3 Scene 2, with focus on AF3, AF4
and AF5, done under controlled conditions
By the end of the year
14 students were on a level 7
(47%; increase of 14 students)
11 students were on a level 6
(37%; increase of 8 students)
4 students were on a level 5
(13%; decrease of 21 students – all of whom
moved up)
1 student was on a level 4
(3%; decrease of 1 student)
This means:
22 students had made more than two sublevels of
progress across the year (73%)
8 students made four or more sublevels of progress
across the year (27%)
2 students appear not to have been affected by the
CA lessons (6%) – worth noting that one of these
students had below average attendance?
Compared to the other set 1
At the end of the school year the other Set 1, who
had not received regular CA lessons achieved the
following:
11 students were on a level 6 (37%)
19 students were on a level 5 (63%)
Compared to my Year 9 group
The Year 9 group I had this year were of a roughly
similar ability to my Year 8s in September. Their
results at the end of the year (27 students):
13 on a level 6 (48%)
13 on a level 5 (48%)
1 on a level 4 (4%)
Other points of interest?
I was observed three times doing CA lessons: twice
formally, once informally.
During the formal observations (teaching ‘Decisions’
and ‘This is just to say…’) I was graded either
outstanding or good with outstanding features. The
feedback I received made specific comments about the
strength of the questioning used in the lessons.
It is intended that CA lessons will be delivered by all
staff in the department to all Year 8 students next year.