Differentiation in Action - Teaching Mixed Ability Classes

Case Study A

One of the most effective ways of supporting all students in a mixed ability class is 'differentiation'.

In this programme Christine Harrison, a science education lecturer at King's College, London takes us through the three key elements of differentiation:

• By task
• By outcome
• By support

Christine's approaches are seen being applied in two mixed ability classes, one in Devon the other in Worcester. Click here to watch the programme

Case Study B - Highly recommended!

In this second programme, follow history teacher James Rebbitt, at Whitmore Secondary School, Harrow, as he structures a lesson for a wide range of achievement within the class.

Click here to watch the programme

James has pupils with statements of educational need, some with specific learning difficulties and two students on the gifted and talented register, all within the same class.

James shows how he successfully differentiates for the range of achievement within the class during a lesson on the lives of children in the workhouse. He creates scope for the pupils to assess their own levels of competence, and asking questions to determine their levels of understanding.

The pupils also talk about which teaching styles they prefer and reveal their preference for working in mixed achievement groups for peer support.

Free resources for GCSE History and Geography

Defence Dynamics is a free teaching resource bank for 14-16 year olds from the Ministry of Defence. Nearly 100 complete lesson plans provide real-life and topical contexts for students to apply their learning. Plus over 1,000 film clips, images and animations are available to access now.


The site has lesson plans for both Geography and History as well as other GCSE subjects.

History topics include:

• Remembrance, loss and sacrifice
• Sampling, data and bias
• Life in the trenches
• Abolition of slavery
• Liberal Reforms 1906-1918

Geography topics include:

• Development, trade and aid
• Earthquakes
• Ecosystems
• Energy and resources
• Flooding

Unique audio-visual material and photography from the Ministry of Defence archives and museums will help to capture students' attention.

It is early days, but I have been impressed by the quality of the lesson plans uploaded to the site so far, although some of the presentations and worksheets I tried to access do not appear to be available yet. There will be a range of resources available from power point presentations and worksheets, to video clips and quizzes. I also like the way that each lesson shows links to the various GCSE specifications.

Definately worth keeping an eye on!

WW1 and Muslim soldiers

What does the First World War reveal about attitudes towards Muslims who fought for Britain?

This Year 9 'Who do We Think We Are' unit of study focuses on the involvement in the First World War of Muslims from Britain and the Indian sub-continent. It follows the reaction of white British Muslim converts in Woking, Surrey to the declaration of a jihad against Britain by the Ottoman Sultan and Khalifa (Caliph), Mehmed V in 1914.
By contrast it then traces the story of the treatment of Indian Muslim soldiers fighting for Britain in France and elsewhere, their subsequent hospitalisation at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and burial according to Muslim rites at a specific burial ground in Woking.

Finally, the module brings the story up to date by inviting pupils to design a restored Woking burial ground, according to the priorities of three different modern groups, including a fictional British Muslim body, Islamic Heritage. Throughout the module pupils explore what the historical evidence reveals about attitudes among Muslims at the time and how they were regarded by British people in the same period.

Changing attitudes are followed into the present by study of the neglected Muslim burial ground, set against the backdrop of British Imperial decline and Muslim migration into the UK. The module assumes that pupils will have experienced some prior learning on the First World War and the British Empire and should have some awareness of Islam and its core beliefs through knowledge gained in Religious Education.

Source - http://www.history.org.uk/

Assessing Pupil Progress (APP) in Foundation subjects

Despite a lot of talk about APP in Foundation subjects, it appears that no resources or official guidance has yet be published for the Foundation subjects such as Geography and History. Along with other Foundation subject colleagues in Wiltshire, I took part in the QCA trial last year, using the draft documentation and materials.

After the attending the training session and using the materials on a small group of students, I was pleased to find the materials were easy to use and the task straightforward. More importantly, I could see the point of it and how it would help provide useful information and guidance for students, parents and teachers. However, we were told that this was only a draft and that the trials would inform any changes that may be made before being rolled out officially.

As I said, that was over a year ago and I have heard nothing since submitting my evaluation. The QDCA website still states that materials for KS3 Foundation subjects will be published in 2009-10. However, as yet, there is no other information on their website.

As soon as I find out any more information, I will be sure to post it here. However, in the meantime, I have added some links below to useful websites which will tell you a little more about APP and it's purpose

What is APP? - QDCA National Curriculum website
APP guidance - National Strategies website
Getting to grips with APP - Downloadable pamphlet
APP Case studies - Secondary Magazine

What can we learn from the experiences of the Core subjects?

The English department at Downlands Community School in Hassocks has been applying the new QCA Assessing Pupils' Progress for three years. See it in action in a Year 9 English lesson, focusing on a specific Assessment Focus to target students' learning needs around writing. Head of English, Paul Barber, who introduced APP to his school, also discusses the challenges and successes they have had using this approach.

Watch it now

Pay attention - using technology to promote learning

Although the facts and figures are based on research in the USA, the video still made me think.

What do you think?

BBC Archive material - History resources

Just stumbled upon this History resource. Looks really useful. Lots of material from the BBC archives available now online. The material is themed which makes it easy to navigate. Themes include:

• Suffragettes
• Berlin Wall
• World War II
• Life under apartheid

A full list of all the collections can be found on the BBC Archive Homepage

Interactive Atlas of the Millenium Development Goals

Check out this resource. It has been produced by the World Bank and shows how each country around the world fares against the Millenium Goals. This Online Atlas of the Millenium Development Goals takes each goal and resizes the world map to show the inequalities that currently exist.

just click on one of the development goals on the right hand side of the screen, select a map and then resize it by clicking 'play'. The results are fascinating.

Teaching Able, Gifted and Talented students

I came across this document produced by North Chadderton School which outlines the likes and dislikes of AG&T students. Although there are quite a few points that are un-surprising, it is often useful to remind ourselves of what AG&T students prefer in lessons.

It also provides some good ideas of ways in which to stretch these students and keep them motivated. It may also be useful to survey students in your class and get them to suggest ways in which them would prefer to learn which could then inform your planning.

The plenary producer

If you have not seen this resource yet, then I recommend that you download it asap!

The plenary producer is a collection of 130 plenaries all in one place! Easy to navigate, the plenaries can be used in almost any subject and contain ideas for developing them as well as examples of their use. It will aid lesson planning and offer you and the students lots of variety.

It can be a little daunting looking through them all in one go. I would suggest picking one every now and again and trying it out. Maybe you could team up with a colleague or two and test them between you and pick the ones that work the best for your students.

I'm going to have a go at 'Just a minute' on Monday!

You will need to sign up to the TES website though to download the Powerpoint. This is easy to do and should only take a minute.

The History Cookbook

Do you know what the Vikings ate for dinner? What a typical meal of a wealthy family in Roman Britain consisted of, or what food was like in a Victorian Workhouse? Why not drop into history cookbook and find out?

This project looks at the food of the past and how this influenced the health of the people living in each time period. You can also try some of the recipes with students. There is a wide range of historical recipes from Brown Bread Ice Cream to Gruel

Categories include:

Prehistoric (15000BC - 42)
Romano-British (43 - 409)
Saxons & Vikings (410 - 1065)
Normans / Medieval (1066 - 1484)
Tudor (1485 - 1602)
Stuarts (1603 - 1713)
Georgians / Regency (1714 - 1836)
Victorians (1837 - 1901)
Edwardians and WW1 (1901 - 1918)
Interwar Years (1918 - 1939)
World War 2 (1939 - 1945)
Postwar / Modern (1945 - 1985)

Visit the website now!

Bon appetite

GCSE Controlled Assessments in practice

For examples of how schools piloted controlled assessments in a range of subjects, setting tasks that followed awarding body guidelines, fitted the school's circumstances and covered the GCSE assessment objectives, visit the dedicated webpage on the QCDA website here.

You can access examples in both GCSE History and GCSE Geography through this page.

Thinking through Geography

In case you have not discovered it yet, let me recommend that you visit the Thinking through Geography website. There are a wide variety of resources that can be used in lessons to provide interest, opportunities for group work and to develop many of the skills outlined in the new PLTS framework.

The teachers resources section provides clear guidance on the use of 9 generic instructions, whilst the Pupil resources section provides a range of activities relating to topics such as flooding, climate and earthquake events.

The resources are ideal to use with AG&T students at KS3 or with some modification, with A*/A GCSE Geography students

A Vision of Britain Through Time

Take a look at this web resource. It offers a large variety of information that could be used History lessons or for homework research purposes.

Current features of the website include:

• A full listing of every General Election result from 1832 to the present, by constituency and as a whole - the first time this information has been accessible online free of charge.
• Historic boundary maps, including details of how land use and agriculture have changed,
• Insight into labour market trends, including unemployment and wages.
• Collection of travel writing, providing seven centuries of comment and observation, by artists, authors, preachers, social reformers and agitators.
• Access to Census Reports since 1801

The site contains a wealth of historical facts, figures, maps and viewpoints covering almost every settlement in Britain from many perspectives.

I particularly like the 'Find a place' feature. Here you can enter the name of a place and search for historical statistics, maps, writings and more.

Visit the site by clicking here

Humanities Diploma update

The criteria has now been published

Ofqual have published the criteria for the new Diploma in Humanities and Social Sciences. Awarding organisations will now begin to develop qualifications in line with these criteria. Those qualifications that meet the required criteria will then be accredited in July 2010, for first teaching in September 2011.

To view the criteria, please select the criteria link here

New website live
The newly redesigned website is now online at http://www.humanitiesdiploma.co.uk/. The site has been reorganised with a section for each of the groups of key stakeholders – employers, learners, education providers, careers advisors and parents – much more information and guidance will be added in the coming months.

Behaviour Matters

Challenging behaviour is a major obstacle to raising achievement, but managing behaviour positively can go a long way towards reducing the stress levels of staff and pupils alike, enabling a safe learning environment.

The link below takes you to a section on the Teaching Expertise website that explores the challenges involved in providing the optimum climate for learning, both for encouraging positive behaviour and reducing negative behaviour.

I particularly like this website as it gives really good practical advice and top tips. I dip into it now and again to remind me of different strategies I have used in the past and to pick up some new ideas for use in my lessons.

Access the page by clicking on the following link: Behaviour Matters

History video resources - All You Need to Know!

All you Need To Know about a range of topics from D Day, Pearl Harbour and The Battle of Rorke’s Drift to Leonardo Da Vinci, the explorer Shackleton and scientist Charles Darwin. Need To Know places them in their historical and social context, giving you the key players, the key events and their chronology and the key dates. In fact - All you Need To Know!

http://www.joost.com/36zj78r/t/Need-to-Know

Thanks to Mark Whitelock from Trafalgar School for letting me know about this.

Behaviour for Learning (B4L)

You may want to have a look at this website. Click here: B4L. There are some really good ideas for use in the classroom.

All materials are quality assured through a rigorous process of academic scrutiny and monitoring undertaken by a team of expert teacher educators. There are a set of 26 scenarios for tutors, school mentors and trainee teachers. These resources are a set of materials which address major talking points regarding the practicalities of promoting effective behaviour and learning.

A set of 26 videos: Improving Behaviour for Learning (Secondary Schools). These resources explore the ways in which a teacher's behaviour impacts on that of her pupils.

Wiltshire Geography Subject Conference 2009

The Powerpoint below outlines some of the issues discussed during the Subject Conference this year in relation to APP and Controlled Assessment

APP in Geography

View more documents from David Drake.

APP and Controlled Assessment in History

APP and Controlled Assessment in History - June 2009

View more documents from David Drake.

Wiltshire History Conference 2009 - Resources used during today's presentations

Following today's excellent presentations, I have gathered together all the weblinks from the various sessions and put them together in the following post for easy access. Just hover over the red link and double click. I hope you find this useful.

Jamie Byrom's session:

• WW1 Regimental records of the dead for pupils to track local connections can be found at: http://www.cwgc.org/default.asp
• Searching family history can be done via: http://www.ancestrylibrary.com/
• To view old photographs of local scenes visit: http://francisfrith.com/
• Old maps dating from the nineteenth century can be found at: http://www.old-maps.co.uk/
• 19th Century directories that give a sense of the local community and may list local soldiers who were traders can be found at: http://www.historicaldirectories.org/
• Imperial War Museum resources on war poetry, including the Somme exhibition which has digital clips from the famous film made at the time and some inividual soldier stories can be found at: http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.1299
• The Public Record Office Leraning Curve site has a study of the Great War with a section on the Trench Experience at: http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/greatwar/default.htm

Sarah's sad stories presentation

Useful resources:

• A case study of a young boy from Wandsworth and extra sources about another young boy can be found at: http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/prisoner4099/default.htm
• Census materials available at: http://www.ancestrylibrary.com/
• Online access to some directories listing people and trades accessed via: http://www.historicaldirectories.org/
• OS maps for preview dating from the 19th Century at: http://www.old-maps.co.uk/

Additional resources mentioned during the sessions:

Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

• Wiltshire Community History information can be found at: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/community
• Historic photographs relating to Wiltshire can be accessed via: http://www.wiltshiretreasures.org/

Other useful resources mentioned during the day:

• Website about the Workhouses in Victorian Britain can be found at: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/
• Wiltshire Emigration Information can be found at: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/WIL/
• War diaries can be accessed via the National Archives site at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
• Contact details for Stephen Williams - History Alive (Trenches activity): adowilliams@aol.com