Maths and Computing Specialist School and now Languages Specialist School

We have been a specialist school for Mathematics and Computing since September 2005. This section of the school website introduces you to what it means to be a specialist school and gives you an insight into some of the activities that we are involved in as part of this initiative. We are pleased to announce that from April 2009 we are also a specialist school for Languages.

What are specialist schools?

Specialist schools are an important part of the Government's plans to raise standards in secondary education and the target of 2000 specialist schools was met 18 months early in February 2005. The Specialist Schools Programme (SSP) helps schools, in partnership with private sector sponsors and supported by additional Government funding, to establish distinctive identities through their chosen specialist subjects and achieve their targets to raise standards. Specialist schools have a special focus on their specialist subjects but must also meet the National Curriculum requirements and deliver a broad and balanced education to all pupils. Any maintained secondary school in England can apply for specialist status in one of the ten specialist subjects. These are arts, business & enterprise, engineering, humanities, languages, mathematics & computing, music, science, sports and technology.

What are the aims of the specialist school programme?

• To raise attainment for all students both in the specialist subjects and across the whole curriculum;
• To strengthen and develop the quality of teaching and learning strategies in the specialist subjects and use them to help raise standards throughout the school;
• To extend opportunities for enrichment activity through the specialist subjects.

Since gaining specialist status we have developed stronger links with sponsors, business, employers, further and higher education institutions and other organisations related to maths and computing; developed characteristics in the school which signal its specialist ethos and identity and which are reflected in the school’s mission and objectives – including through encouragement of increased take-up and interest in the specialist subjects; strengthened collaboration with partner schools to provide or facilitate high quality learning opportunities and outcomes in the specialist subjects – by sharing specialist facilities and resources, enhancing further the quality of teaching and developing and disseminating good practice; and provided or facilitated high quality learning opportunities and outcomes in specialist subjects for the school’s wider local community, including local businesses and employers.

What will be new in school now that we are a specialist school for Languages?

The school will increase take-up and curricular opportunities for its own pupils by the introduction of a more diverse range of language experiences which will enhance curriculum provision and increase the take up of languages form KS4 to KS5 and from Y12 to y13. We plan to introduce Spanish from Year 8, and investigate the possibility of an additional language for the sixth form. The Languages Diploma will be offered as part of our Birmingham Schools Collegiate Network.

Additional enrichment activities including visits abroad with other subjects, and enrichment days, along with the introduction of the Language Leader Award and Careers events will extend our links with businesses in the local community and add to our student leadership development. Community languages will also be promoted.

What are we doing in school that is different now that we have specialist status for Maths and Computing?

In the maths department there are more lunchtime sessions to help the pupils produce work of the highest standard. Most Year 10 Mathematics students are taking a Statistics GCSE course alongside their usual GCSE in Mathematics; another mathematics group has additional staffing to help them complete their data project. All pupils have either taken or will be taking the appropriate level of the UKMT Mathematics Challenge which presents mathematical tasks in an interesting and challenging format which helps improve pupils’ problem-solving ability. Lecturers from local universities visit the school to provide pupils in KS4 and KS5 with an insight into the world of Mathematics at University, iMac computers have been purchased along with video cameras to allow the girls to make video podcasts of their learning, and this year an impressive number of students (over 30) are studying for AS Further Mathematics). Pupils have participated in Maths Challenge days, run small businesses to develop their enterprise skills and attended local mathematical conferences.

The ICT department is supporting pupils by giving them access to a range of sessions to help them with their examination coursework. The department is also running a range of extra-curricular activities which include an on-line computer club for girls and a trip to Bletchley Park for the AS Computing students. The department is also developing links with companies to encourage the girls to widen their knowledge of the uses of computers in the world of work. Examples of this include the visit by Year 7 pupils to Land Rover, and the sixth form visit to Cadburys. We have been able to build and equip an additional ICT suite which is available for community use. Additional ICT facilities are now available for pupils to use during the school day – both in lesson time and during lunch.

What are we doing for local primary schools?

We currently have four partner primary schools which we work with. They are:

• King David
• Moseley Church of England Primary School
• St Edward’s Catholic Primary School
• Stirchley Community School

Staff from the mathematics department have developed a five week project Thinking Skills project for Y6 pupils at King David and Moseley C of E School, some of these sessions are held in the individual schools, one session is held at King David school with pupils from both schools attending and this project then finishes with a session which is held at Camp Hill for both schools together involving a maths trail and web based learning. Work with these schools also includes a Y5 Maths project on Pentominoes and Tessellations for which the resources have been jointly developed between primary staff and our maths outreach teacher to be delivered in the primary school, and includes a web based session for which one of the schools involves brings their pupils to use our computer suite.

New developments include working with Y3 in King David Primary school and Stirchley community school and also to set up coaching programmes for maths subject leaders in the primary schools.

Staff from both specialist subjects will be working with the Reception and Y1 pupils at King Edwards’. A topic based package to develop Y4’s mathematical ability has been introduced at Stirchley Primary School; the staff are now sufficiently trained in the delivery of this to enable our staff to work in new areas within the school.

A range of ICT training days will be organised for staff from these schools (as requested), although our most recent success has been the development of a Scheme of Work to enable Y5 teachers to use our data logging facilities (when trained) and laboratories to work through ICT unit 5F “Monitoring Environmental Conditions and Changes” in a day. If any other schools are interested in this please contact the school using the contact form on this website.

With the new specialism our group of partner primary schools will expand to include Colmore Primary School, and will support the roll-out of the National Languages Strategy in Birmingham. Our partner primary schools will be supported in their teaching of languages through holding termly meetings to increase the confidence of the primary staff to teach a language. In addition to this Language enrichment days will be offered to primary school pupils.

What are we doing for local secondary schools?

The maths department initially worked with Year 9 pupils from Yardley’s school. The pupils have worked on various topics including angles, algebra, proportion, percentages and graphs which successfully boosted Yardley’s SATs results. Links with Queensbridge school and Baverstock school have been established to widen this provision for SATs work across more of the local area, however with the recent demise of SATs we anticipate that these links will continue but with a greater focus on providing enrichment activities for Gifted and Talented students in these schools which will provide evidence for Level 8 achievement as part of any teacher assessment process.

 What are we doing in the wider community?

King’s Heath Community Centre has been able to extend its provision for the local population through basic ICT skills sessions for their clientele delivered by one of our staff on our premises. The Allens Croft Urban Regeneration Project is another local initiative which supports families within their community. We have been able to provide home computers and ICT support for families living nearby. An Adult Learner CLAIT course has been running on a Wednesday afternoon and the current cohort have now almost completed their final units. More recently a local charity ReCom based in Acocks Green has been holding a Computer Club aimed at improving the ICT skills of the older generation on a weekly basis in one of our ICT rooms on a Monday afternoon which we hope will continue into the New Year. We have also been running sessions for a local Brownie pack to complete their Computer Badge which has been very successful. We would welcome contact from other community groups who may wish to use our facilities for a similar purpose.

What will we do next?

We will continue to do new things in maths, computing, across the school and in other neighbouring schools. We expect that we will continue to create an even wider range of resources for use in lessons, and make them available on-line to pupils to access wherever they have a computer attached to the internet. Additional staffing in school is currently making this process easier for classroom staff.

In May 2008 we were identified by the DCSF as having met the criteria for High Performing Specialist School status (HPSS) due to our excellent results and outstanding Ofsted inspection. We have recently submitted our choices for our second specialism from the options offered by the DCSF and have now been given the opportunity to submit our plans for Modern Languages as our second specialism. Additional funding for this new and exciting phase of our specialist school work should be available from April 2009.

How can you help as a parent?

We would like to continue to build up a database of employers who would be willing to help us in our activities. These could range from a Business Enterprise day, to Careers Fairs, Sixth Form mock interviews, informal visits to speak to pupils and providing Work Experience Placements. Any contacts would be useful so if you, the company you work for, or any friends/relatives you know might be able to help us, please could you contact the school.

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