Halewood Centre for Learning: using a new build to integrate learning

Case study

Building an entirely new school allowed Halewood to make radical changes to curriculum delivery and their approach to lifelong learning. Students have shown dramatic improvement as a result of the new design and new approach.

Key facts

Type of school: community secondary
Number on roll: 1,200
Age range: 11-18
Headteacher: Ann Behan
Cost of development: £25 million
Date completed: June 2009

Background

Halewood is one of seven new centres of learning across the borough of Knowsley, and serves a mixed catchment area. The new school has been built on the site of a previous school but the move prompted a significant staff change, and many young, ambitious teachers were appointed to the school by the new headteacher. The school’s bold design allowed a radical vision for lifelong learning.

Vision

As with all Knowsley’s centres for learning, the school’s vision revolves around enhancing choice and diversity, providing facilities for lifelong learning, placing schools at the heart of the community and encouraging co-location of services. The school is seen as part of a collegiate offer to the wider community, with all schools playing to the strengths of their specialism – performing arts in the case of Halewood.

Stakeholders

All staff from the previous schools were closely involved in discussions, and headteachers from local primary schools were also seen as key stakeholders. The local authority was a major player, and provided the impetus for bringing all the schools together in the planning stages. Governors and the school’s neighbours were the other key players in the process of setting the agenda for this new school.

Consultation

The most important debate was around the learning environment and its effect on students’ progress, and was described in conversations with the headteacher as ‘robust’. Some areas were openly declared non-negotiable because the body of evidence around effective practice was too great to ignore. The local authority continued to give the approach a very high profile, and there was recognition that ‘you’ll never win all the people’. The overwhelming view was positive, and this energy was used to encourage significant change.

Transformational change

The headteacher talks about a ‘structured informality’ within the school, and the design of the building allows much greater use of integrated teaching and project-based work, especially at Key Stage 3. There is also a clear focus on those students who are unlikely to achieve five or more GCSE passes at grades A*-C, and, as with other centres for learning, there is a carefully designed programme for these young people which encourages a combination of work-based learning and appropriate curriculum engagement. The day is divided into three sessions. The first two are each two-period sessions that allow for uninterrupted integrated learning when required. There is a brunch, where students can get a range of hot food between these two longer sessions, and a late lunch before a shorter session in the afternoon. The open plan year group areas for Years 10 and 11 are also the bases for maths and English, so giving students at Key Stage 4 every opportunity to do well in these core subject areas.

Lessons learned

The headteacher recognises the importance of the starting point of the staff, and stresses the need for a reasonable pace of reform. The school’s image in the community has improved significantly, and this has had many positive effects within the neighbourhood. It was important not to pigeonhole students into traditional categories of academic/vocational/alternative, but rather to find ways to allow all students to access many options.

Impact

There has been a dramatic increase in the pace of learning for all students, with improved attendance rates and greatly improved behaviour. The bold design of the school and clear vision of the new leadership team have encouraged students to raise their aspirations, which has resulted in exceeding targets that, when set, many considered very hard to achieve. There is a greatly improved level of community cohesion which has led to a rise in confidence both inside and beyond the school.

Next steps

Increase the choice of off-site provision.
Keep the focus on good teaching.
Further develop the use of blocks of time to encourage more integrated learning opportunities, especially in science and technology.
Continue to build on the good relationship with the community, using Halewood’s performing arts specialism as a tool to encourage wider engagement.