SCHOOL STRUCTURES
A school within a school
Brislington
Global best practice for education
Since opening, we have had considerable interest from
Enterprise College
schools both in the UK and abroad. Along with hosting
visits from other UK schools embarking on BSF, we
opened brand
have also had a visit from educationalists involved in
the Moscow Schools of the Future project and a group
The road
of headteachers from Melbourne, Australia, keen to
new doors to its
develop sustainability and enterprise in their schools.
Both were very complimentary about the seamless
1,200 students in September
integration of technology into the buildings and the
students’ applied use of it.
as part of the Building The future
to success
Schools for the Future
We have many exciting plans for the future including
greater usage of handheld technologies such as
Netbooks and iPod Touches. Our e-learning co-
programme. Ten months on,
ordinator is currently piloting the use of handheld
devices in music classes which we plan to roll out to
principal John Matthews
other areas of the curriculum soon. We are also keen to
extend opportunities for all students to work from home
discusses how a ‘schools
so we are planning to implement a scheme allowing
parents to purchase a laptop for their child over a period
within a school’ education
of time, making it affordable for students to access
work from home.
We also look forward to hosting many more visits
model has succeeded
from schools across the globe so we can draw upon
and share expertise and best practice for technology
and learning.
S THE largest provider of
A
secondary education in the area,
BSF advice
the major challenge we faced when My advice to schools embarking on BSF is to view it as
planning for Building Schools for a real opportunity to create an education vision and plan
the Future (BSF) was the delivery as early as possible to ensure everybody involved is
of personalised learning to every committed to helping you achieve it. It is also important
one of our 1,200 students. to remember that as the needs of students change over
Much research suggests that smaller schools time, you need to be working with suppliers who can be
contribute to student achievement, attainment, and a printers on site and every student and teacher must We really want our students’ families to feel part flexible and adapt their offering to meet those needs.
greater sense of wellbeing, so dividing our new college swipe a card in order to print. In just six months, we of the college community and understand more about Also, engage with your LEP and teaching staff at
into smaller “learning communities” became the natural have seen a dramatic reduction in printing and believe their child’s day-to-day activities. As they have online the earliest opportunity to ensure that any issues can be
option. the system is helping students to understand and access, parents can log-on to the portal anytime, discussed or resolved well in advance.
Our research actually took us outside of the UK to a appreciate the importance of sustainable living. anywhere, whether they are at home, at work, or even
model being used very successfully in the USA, called on the move using their mobile phone. • John Matthews is principal of Brislington Enterprise
the “schools within a school” model. In addition to my
Teamwork
We intend to open the portal to all parents from the College in Bristol, which uses managed services
colleagues spending time in Boston and New York, I A key element to our success has been thorough end of the summer. provider Northgate.
have worked very closely with the Local Education planning and keeping staff abreast of developments
Partnership (LEP) including our ICT managed service every step of the way. Back in 2007, I organised an
provider to ensure that the college has been designed away day with staff to discuss the new model and how
and built to support this innovative vision. it would work. Involving staff from the very beginning
ICT has formed an important and integral part in has ensured that everyone is behind the vision 100 per
achieving this as it enables staff to access core data for cent and any concerns were ironed out early. We also
every student at the click of a mouse using our managed started working with the LEP at the earliest opportunity
learning environment, N-able. Technology also helps to make sure they understood what we wanted to
the entire college community to link up and collaborate achieve for learning.
to share ideas and expertise which just would not be
possible face-to-face.
Independent learning
We believe it is vital that students leave college as
A sense of belonging
confident, independent learners prepared for higher
MTi IS LIVE, INTERACTIVE AND FREE!
We are determined to create a sense of belonging for education or the world of work.
all our students, so have divided the college into seven To help achieve this, we have created an Enterprise
Find it at www.atm.org.uk/mti
small “learning communities”, including a community Centre which is open until 5pm each day for students
for post-16s, a vulnerable student centre, and an autistic to use. We appreciate that some of our students do not
The latest journal of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics, Mathematics
centre. Each group has its own director of community have access to a computer or the internet at home, so the
with 16 to 18 teaching staff who deliver up to 60 per Enterprise Centre provides a place that they can come
Teaching (MT) is now available online. It includes:
cent of the curriculum to their students. to complete their work at lunchtime or after college.
Every student is also part of an even smaller The suite comprises 70 PCs, 60 mobile devices, and • animated images including some GSP files
“learning family” which comprises just 10 learners and a suite of Apple Macs for our students studying media
• film clips from the classroom
their learning guide. We have over 100 learning guides and has the look and feel of a higher education centre
including learning support assistants, an e-learning as opposed to a school library.
• applets from software such as Geogebra and Autograph
co-ordinator, and our resident police officer. This has been well received by students who are
• articles with moving graphics
They meet every day with students for 20 minutes to very proud of their facilities. As a result of this more • opening and closing address from annual conference
check in on their personal and academic progress. This professional atmosphere, students are coming in and
• interviews
one-to-one time has proved invaluable to both students getting on with their work with minimal disruption or
and staff as it provides time to discuss any issues that vandalism.
• starting points
might be troubling them and enables them to get to A very important aspect of the centre’s success is
• puzzle page
READ, INTERACT AND USE
know each other better. the ICT managed service which ensures that all the
• news from ATM
facilities are operating properly. If students turned up
Flexible ICT
• and much more.........
THE ARTICLES AND IDEAS IN
to find half the computers broken or software updates
A major element of our successful delivery of slowing down the system, they simply would not use
YOUR CLASSROOM
personalised learning has been down to effective the centre. So, efficient, managed ICT is invaluable.
implementation and use of ICT. To achieve this, we The provision of mobile technologies such as laptops
have worked closely with our managed service provider and iPods have also helped our students to become
to ensure that every piece of technology is properly more independent learners, enabling them to make the
Details of membership online or from ~
tailored to the needs of our staff and students and that it decision about how, where and when they use them.
Association of Teachers of Mathematics, Unit 7 Prime Industrial Park,
runs optimally all day, every day.
As we are based on such a large site, it has been
Student engagement
Shaftesbury Street, Derby DE23 8YB
Phone: 01332 346599 email: admin@atm.org.uk
incredibly important that technologies are mobile and We have seen a real change in student behaviour.
that every student has the opportunity to use them. Students are much calmer and have a greater sense
SPECIAL OFFERS for NQT and trainee teachers now available.
Our extensive wireless network combined with easily of pride about their school and work. As a result,
transportable kit, such as laptops, iPods and wireless attainment levels are increasing and we are seeing a
projectors, enables staff and students to collaborate marked improvement in the number of exclusions.
wherever they are in the college. As students spend Our longer class time of 100 minutes, three times
a lot time in group and project work, it has also been a day means that students can really get stuck into a
important that staff are able to conduct a lesson while particular activity. As a result, there has been a vast
moving around the classroom so we have also invested improvement in writing skills as they actually have the
in PC Tablets rather than interactive whiteboards. This time to write about a topic in greater depth.
ability to teach from anywhere in the classroom also
helps teachers to provide a more personalised learning
Parental engagement
experience to students. We are currently building on relationships with families
Cost effectiveness and sustainability are very by providing a pilot group of 50 parents with online
important, so we now have a managed print solution access to data about their child’s attainment, attendance,
to help cut down on paper wastage. We have just eight behaviour, and homework.
atm.indd 1 26/6/09 13:12:46
SecEd • July 2 2009 15
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