I was back in the outskirts of London yesterday for politics, history and Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE), in a day spent mostly with A-level students, writes Sarah Teather.
The day began with a couple of politics lessons, so I thought I had better do a little more than watch today. I had quite an interesting question and answer session about my job with a Year 12 class. There were varying levels of knowledge and interest in politics, as you would expect at the start of an A-level course. What was striking, however, was that while their level of knowledge of the political system was greater than similar students I have worked with from Brent, they were far less overtly political. I get a much harder time about issues in Brent!
At breaktime, I had a discussion with the head of sixth form about raising aspirations and expectations. She explained that despite getting good results at GCSE, one of her preoccupations is how to persuade students that they really are capable of studying more than the minimum number of A-levels. She said often parents are complicit in this. How do you raise expectations in young people if the message at home is so very different?
The school takes part in a borough-wide scheme to encourage sixth formers to volunteer and undertake activities to stretch themselves and gain new skills. It seems to be a very good idea. I have not met anything so systematic before, and the young people seemed keen to take advantage of the opportunities to gain hands on experience in something new. Undoubtedly such a scheme helps to differentiate students when they apply for their first job or to university.
I also picked up the point I had noticed on Wednesday in Brent about Year 9 and raised it with a few teachers. Had I been imagining it, or do Year 9 students go through a phase of not concentrating and being slightly disruptive? If so, why? It seems I had not imagined it. Several teachers confessed to finding Year 9 to be the most challenging to teach. Suggested potential causes for this included the cocktail of hormones, age, slight lack of focus to the year in terms of set curriculum and societal influence. Some said they felt the national curriculum to be too long and that by the third year, students were really ready to change their focus to something else. Interesting.
The day finished with a couple of history lessons. Some impressive interactive work with the students using the electronic whiteboard. These are definitely a step forward in terms of speed and legibility. But they are expensive - many schools can't afford them for all classes.
Today I shall be spending the day in Brent at a school for special educational needs.
Sarah Teather is the Liberal Democrats' education spokesperson. She is spending a week as a classroom assistant.
Read Sarah's blogs from day one, two and three.
