Links to other useful initiatives:
Brechin High in Angus used an automated
library system: pupils gave their name to the librarian and
pressed a thumb print on a scanner. Each print is unique, confirms the identity of the borrower
and does away with library cards. "In the first six months,
boys were borrowing more books than girls and it may be down
to the technology," said the school's librarian Lillian Downe. Parents at the school had been informed and given their consent
before pupils registered. The scheme was not compulsory and
cards could be issued if pupils wanted them. The scheme made
the stock more available to pupils and meant they could search the catalogue
from any PC in school, as well as reserving
items and writing reviews of books online.
(TESS, 30 August 2002)
Harden Primary School in Walsall, part of a Department for Education and Skills best practice
research project, set up a buddy club - pairing
six underachieving boys from Year 5 with mentors from Year
6- as well as taking them to a local bookshop to select the
books they want to read. The project boosted their interest in
reading and their writing also improved. Three of the six
boys who started the project up to two years behind their
peers were on target to reach the expected level for their
age by the end of the year.
(TES, 9 November 2001)
It's a Man Thing, an initiative developed by the Community
Education Development Centre (CEDC) in Coventry, was launched
nationally in September 2000 in a bid to encourage men to
take a greater role in helping their children to read. The
project was piloted by seven local authorities
and was one of a range of initiatives developed by CEDC to
to tackle under-achievement by boys and bring men back into
education and training.
It's a Man Thing includes ideas for reading together, a story
cassette, and diaries for recording and writing about favourite
books. But in an attempt to make literacy more attractive
to boys and men, it also underlined that reading is not just
about books. Dads were encouraged to use anything from newspapers,
to board game instructions, to the internet to help their children
to develop their reading skills. Basic skills tutors, adult
education services and local libraries were all involved and
any male - step-dad, grandfather, male family friend, mother's
partner - could take part in the absence of a biological dad.
Project leader Lisa Capper said that with so few male teachers
in primary schools a lack of role models had been blamed for
boys' underachievement. Schools involved in pilots of the
project said that it had been successful in building up links
with fathers who previously only came to the school to complain.
It had also provided a contact point for dads with poor literacy
and numeracy to get help improving their own basic skills.
(TES, 4 August 2000)
Kirklees education authority's initiative to boost boys'
performance and raise self-esteem across the authority was
a structured intervention programme that began in 1994. It was systematically implemented in all the
infant and junior schools that comprise the Newton High Pyramid.
All the schools involved worked on it together with the parents
and the boys.
At primary level this included incentives and rewards to
motivate junior boys to enjoy literature and achieve academically,
plus various schemes to raise their self-esteem and sense
of responsibility. Shared reading at Newsome Junior School
in Huddersfield involved training competent though unconfident
readers to help other boys who are struggling. The school's
Young Executives project identified boys and girls who needed
a boost and have shown good behaviour and so on and rewarded
them with various offices, special tasks and certificates.
In Newsome High School, the local secondary school, a 15%
disparity between girls and boys getting five GCSEs at grades
A* - C in 1995 narrowed to 4% in 1999 with girls still
performing well. As a secondary school, it cut back public
displays of achievement and concentrated on a different system
to maintain a culture of achievement. Staff sent letters or
certificates home quietly, giving certificates for things
like creativity and organisation as well as work and sport.
Head of English Gary Wilson initially targeted sexist anti-academic
boy culture. Work on bullying was closely followed by a sexual
harassment policy reinforced through the personal and social
education programme and drama.
Parents were also targeted. At the introductory evening for
new parents, the possible pitfalls for boys and how to help
were discussed and summarised. Mentoring featured strongly
throughout the school in various forms, such as the Befrienders
scheme - a boy-friendly version of peer counselling - which
can field problems with bullying or peer pressure. Its special
feature was using 12 and 13-year-old boys to support any 11-year-old
boy identified as struggling, which helped to maintain the
commitment of both.
Gary Wilson believes that boys need more action in lessons
and the aim of the lesson clearly stated with work delivered
in short sharp achievable chunks. Another device to extend
the boys was controlling where they sat. Boy groups weren't
allowed. Boys and girls had to learn from each other and
are required to engage with each other. But the most effective
strategy in terms of raising the quality of work was, Wilson
believes, to ensure that boys listen, reflect and talk through
ideas before putting pen to paper.
Not all schools in the scheme had the same success.
Colin Noble, who headed the Kirklees' initiative commented:
"In other areas, we have barely seen results. Our schools
know enough and have enough strategies to make a difference
in their own way, but it needs someone in each school to drive
it through. Schools have got too many priorities."
(Independent,
3 February 2000)
A Welsh rugby player who proved to pupils that he liked reading
as well as sport produced a 'terrific' improvement in
reading scores at a Swansea primary school. Every Friday for
two terms, Rhys Williams, a member of the Welsh under 21 squad,
would turn up at Pengelli primary school to teach the pupils
rugby skills. Then he would talk to a group of them about
books, showing them what he was reading that week.
Mr Williams'
visits had put a stop to the 'I can read - why bother to carry
on?' attitude of the older boys. Combined with a 'reading
buddies' scheme, where good and bad readers work in pairs,
and greater use of information technology, the visits had
led to a 'terrific improvement for everybody'.
(TES, 19 December 1998)
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