Academic workshops:

• Maths GCSE C/D revision for 40 students at Eton College
• Maths and English A-A* for 40 students at Eton College
• Science A-A* for 40 students at The Langley Academy
• Universities summer school at Eton College

Arts:

• Choir for 50 students organised by Beechwood, performances at The Royal Albert Hall and St George’s Chapel, Windsor
• Printmaking workshops at Eton College

Sports:

• Shared cricket facilities: pitches at Eton College, nets at The Langley Academy
• Cricket matches between Eton College and Slough and Eton Church of England school
• U16 Rugby match between a combined Eton College and Windsor Boys team and Watford Grammar school and Old Merchant Taylors

Social and cultural:

• Interfaith workshops, each for 18 sixth form students held at the Dorney centre, Dorney, run by AFAN and Eton College, investigating narratives of faith and spirituality
• ‘Seniores’ year 11 forum group hosted by Slough and Eton Church of England school for 30 students meeting significant local professional figures to discuss local concerns and politics

Professional development:

• Sharing of best practice for pastoral care through visits to schools by Head Teachers Conference on leadership held at Beechwood school
• Exploration of raising achievement through sharing of best practice with help from PIXL consultancy

Saturday schools for year 10 students in creative thinking

36 Year 10 pupils from six different schools attend a 15 week programme over three terms. This has been part funded by the charity SHINE. The objectives for this are to improve the students’ creative thinking skills across a range of subject domains and to raise the students’ aspirations to include staying on at school to study A levels. The students have responded to these sessions with great enthusiasm: they have returned to their schools able to ask questions that they wouldn’t normally consider and have lobbied their borough and schools for more lessons in the same vein. These sessions have been used to explore current thinking about the relationship between creative thinking and other cognitive processes and metacognitive knowledge.

Students select three subjects that they would like to engage with over a five week ‘term’. A typical timetable is below. Attendance from all of the students has been very high each week. The programme has run for two years. The sessions have been run by teachers from all of the schools within the partnership.

The students attended seven sessions during the spring term, once a week, each lasting a full hour. 20 year 11 Eton boys and nine year 12 Eton boys attended regularly, mentoring on a one-to- two ratio of year 10 and 11 students from Slough and Eton Church of England school. Apart from two Year 12 boys helping students with English problems, the other boys have all been helping students to improve their skills in answering maths problems. Invariably they have gone through past papers and exam style questions together. Most of the boys from Eton demonstrated an awareness of the differences in levels of ability and confidence in their mentees.

The boys from Eton College quickly found that they were met with enthusiasm by the Slough and Eton students who were all keen to get down to discussing how to solve the problems put before them. To this extent there had been less need for the Eton boys to work at establishing levels of trust before offering help, but it is clear that the Eton boys also developed effective relationships over the weeks. They demonstrated an understanding of when to pause and allow their mentees time to express themselves, to ask questions, but also when necessary to take a rest.

The Head of Maths from Slough and Eton has been very pleased with the programme. She is able to say with some certainty that it has had a significant impact upon her students’ abilities and self-confidence. Many of her students sat trial papers and achieved A- A* grades. She is able to identify that the peer mentoring has given her students the confidence to apply a greater range of solutions to the questions posed and become far more confident at interpreting the questions put before them. Many of the Eton boys have also found that their own understanding of the maths that they have dealt with has improved significantly.

The programme will be continued and developed further from September 2011.

For information about any of the projects introduced on this website please contact Vaughan Clark at Eton College at v.clark@etoncollege.org.uk or any of the Head teachers at the partnership schools.

We are happy to share details about our methods, resources and future developments with interested parties.

The partnership could not have begun without the help of Sir John Rowling. The partners would also like to express their gratitude to Dr Yvonne Burne for chairing the group and for facilitating many productive introductions to third parties.

Website designed by David Li.

July 2011