On the Front Line

However, a groundbreaking partnership scheme involving the Faculty of Education at Edge Hill University has changed all that and, for the first time, trainee teachers are actively involved in getting a school back on track.

Fosse Primary School in Leicester was placed under special measures last year, after Ofsted judged it was failing its pupils. The school was severely criticised for poor teaching standards and its children were underachieving in reading, writing and mathematics.

The school’s Year 5 teacher turned to Edge Hill for help. He had trained at the University and contacted the Dean of Education, Robert Smedley, for advice on raising classroom standards.

It was a unique opportunity and one Robert was keen to capitalise on. “As soon as a school is put into special measures, it cannot employ newly qualified teachers or take trainees on placement,” explained Robert. “Yet when I was approached, I could see that by harnessing the talents of our staff and the enthusiasm of our trainees, we could make a big difference at Fosse Primary.

“We came up with a scheme that involves our trainees as an enrichment exercise. They are not on formal teaching placement but are a vital part of the programme we devised to help raise teaching standards at the school.”

Staff from the Faculty of Education and 20 trainee teachers devised new strategies to improve teaching standards, culminating in a one-off ‘mathematics day’. They put together a series of special maths-based activities, which were tried and tested by a group of youngsters from the school who spent an enjoyable day at the Edge Hill campus.

Robert said: “This has been a fantastic opportunity for us and we now have a model that I hope we can use with other failing schools across the country. By offering consultancy help from our experienced staff – and by tapping into the enthusiasm of our trainee teachers – we think we can play a part in turning around the fortunes of other schools under special measures.

“When I first visited Fosse Primary School, I was encouraged by the attitude of the children there. The school was obviously going through a tough time but the children were keen to learn and we are delighted to be able to help them.”

Ofsted has said that improvements have now been made at Fosse Primary School and the Times Educational Supplement carried a story about the school’s innovative partnership with Edge Hill. In addition, the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) has picked up on the initiative and is funding a research project looking at the impact of the work on classroom standards.

Robert added: “It is satisfying to see the positive progress being made and the partnership has certainly been of benefit to both sides. Our trainee teachers have benefited enormously. Normally they would be allowed no contact with a school in special measures, but this project has given them direct contact with both the staff and the pupils. It has been an inspiring and invaluable experience which will stay with them for a long time.”