Chief inspector praises secondary’s novel tactic of devoting a day to a single subject. Cherry Canovan reports
A school which uses flexible timetabling to allow pupils a whole day to study one project or subject has been been praised by the chief inspector.
Under the scheme teachers get a day for marking and preparation if they are not involved.
Mike Tomlinson told a think-tank meeting that conventional timetabling was madness and applauded Leasowes school in the West Midlands for its innovative approach. The pioneering school is now being encouraged to persuade others to follow suit.
“The secondary curriculum and timetable is designed to facilitate teaching rather than learning,” he told the Social Market Foundation. “Children have to turn different subjects on and off - and we are asking this of an 11-year-old.”
Mr Tomlinson visited Leasowes in Halesowen and was impressed by its system. The school devotes every Friday to day-long projects.
Headteacher John Howells explained: “We teach in a five-hour block on Fridays, which allows us to bring people in, take pupils out, and work in contexts which are not the norm.”
The scheme allows time for special activities, such as using Meccano to build maths skills, a session with a professional artist, outside visits to - for example - the Imperial War Museum, or just the completion of coursework.
Leasowes has trained another school, Thistley Hough in Stoke on Trent, in the flexible learning day and now hopes that Ercall Wood technology college in Telford will follow suit. Leasowes’ vice-principal, Graeme Harkness, is to become head of the school, which has expressed interest in the scheme.
But Mr Howells said that, although he had shown representatives from many interested schools around Leasowes, few had introduced the weekly learning day. “It’s a bit of an act of faith,” he said.
He said the scheme did not mean that teachers had to plan a new day-long lesson every week.
“The pressure is not as much as it may seem,” he said. “Some lessons can be repeated, and if you have a non-contact day on a Friday it gives you a five-hour block of time.”
John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said the scheme could be positive as long as teachers were properly consulted.
