Views

'PERSONALISED LEARNING: THE ROUTE TO EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY'

SPEECH BY DAVID MILIBAND MP

MINISTER OF STATE FOR SCHOOL STANDARDS

AT THE SPECIALIST SCHOOLS TRUST ANNUAL CONFERENCE

BIRMINGHAM, 20 NOVEMBER 2003

Today I am very glad to join Estelle Morris and David Blunkett in the club of Ministers who have spoken at two successive Specialist Schools Trust conferences. Just to make sure I did not get any ideas above my station, Cyril Taylor explained that the conference organisers had invited me to give a second speech so I could make amends for last time!

The bonus of a return visit is that I have the opportunity to address the progress and the problems of the last year.

It has been a good year for pupils across the education system. They have scored better results at GCSE, A level and the vocational equivalents than ever before. I have no hesitation in congratulating them and their teachers on that achievement. We should never fall for the lie that when results go up it shows that standards have gone down.

It has been a good year for the partnership between teaching and support staff, with the National Agreement on Workforce Reform. For the first time in a generation teachers have contractual change to reduce workload, so that they can concentrate on what they are best at, which is teaching, properly supported by other adults in and out of the classroom.

And it has been a good year for specialist schools. Specialist schools really are transforming the landscape and the aspirations of secondary education. The number rising, the spread between specialisms growing, the effects increasing. Last year achievement of 5 good GCSEs by students in specialist schools was over 7 percentage points higher than those in non-specialist schools. I thank you all for your hard work that is the driver of this success. And I congratulate the 462 newly designated specialist schools, and welcome them into the specialist fold.

But while there have been real gains this year, I recognise there have been setbacks. The introduction of reform to the funding system, notably the attempt to mainstream the Standards Fund, did not work smoothly. That is why we are working hard with head teachers and LEA representatives to deliver a funding package of stability and growth for two years 2004/5 and 2005/6. The Government is committed to play its part, with extra money, stronger guarantees for schools, earlier notification of budgets, and more help in budget planning. We are clear that the sooner we get to stable three year budget planning the better.

I do not seek to minimise the problems that have existed this year. But equally I believe there is real strength on which to build. And the greatest strength is a growing consensus about the basis of school improvement in our country, and growing momentum with which to achieve it.

A New Phase of Reform

The Government was elected in 1997 because people wanted the fundamentals done well. An economic framework to deliver macroeconomic stability. Welfare to work programmes to tackle long term unemployment. Public service investment to support professionals in health, education and policing. Political reform to decentralise power.

Today there is progress. More doctors, more nurses, more hospitals - and shorter waiting. More police to tackle crime and its causes - the most comprehensive academic study of crime, the British Crime Survey, shows that we are less likely to be a victim of crime than at any time in the last 20 years. And in our own sector, an expanding and improving education system with, since 1997:

25 000 more teachers and 80 000 more support staff
the number of schools in special measures down by two thirds
the number of primary schools with more than 65% of 11 year olds reading, writing and counting well up by around 3 500
the number of maintained secondary schools with more than 60% of pupils getting five high level GCSEs up by about 500
a capital investment programme that will hit £5 billion per annum in 2005/06
and schools, in many cases specialist schools, leading public sector reform, taking responsibility for big change that is stirring interest around the world.

In the mid 1990s this would have sounded like pie in the sky but it is a mark of your success that all of this is now simply taken for granted and that people expect more for their investment. Primary school parents want enrichment coupled with high attainment. Secondary school parents want stretch as well as security, new skills as well as secure foundations.

We shouldn't be surprised. As quality improves, aspirations grow higher. The end of deference marks the determination of people to take control of their lives. This much is recognised. But its implications have not been thought through.

A new book, The Support Economy, discusses the implications for the economy of the changes in how people perceive themselves. The authors diagnose a chasm of frustration, mistrust, disappointment that has arisen because people are changing faster than the organisations in which they work and on whom they depend. The chasm will only be bridged when organisations change to reflect the new reality.

There is a parallel process in schools. But it is an opportunity rather than a crisis. A new generation of self confident, independent students is of course a challenge. But it is also a genuine opportunity significantly to raise the productivity of the education system - by tailoring teaching and learning to individual need, and developing students as more active partners in effective learning.

The question is how we respond. Some say that universal services cannot meet diverse and demanding individual need - and therefore should be broken up. Money should go in subsidies for people to go private.

The Government rejects this vision. We assert the opposite. We don't want better quality and higher aspiration just for those who can afford it. It should be for every family, in every home, irrespective of wealth, creed or colour.

In our view it is precisely the universality of public service that allows it to cater for individual need. The universality of public service allows us to share good practice; it demands that we innovate to meet diverse need; and it allows us to achieve a critical mass in professional development, ICT, special needs and Gifted and Talented provision.

Last year the Prime Minister spoke to this conference and said that "individual schools, and the system at large, must cater better for the talents and needs of each individual pupil". He has not dropped this theme. In fact he has re-emphasised it. So in his speech to the Labour Party conference last month he set out his commitment to what he called 'personalised learning'.

Today I want to talk about the potential of personalised learning to reach out to all young people - those doing well but wanting more stretch, those coasting along and perhaps not realising it, and those, often from the poorest backgrounds, who are slipping through the net. Secondly, I want to argue that personalised learning requires a new relationship between the DfES, other national and local agencies and schools. Government listening and learning from successful professionals, and encouraging them to lead. And thirdly, I want to urge you to be in the vanguard of the drive to deliver more personalised learning across the whole education system.

Personalised Learning

Personalised learning is not a new initiative. It is not a new stream of the Standards Fund. It is not a return to child centred theories. It is not about separating pupils from each other so they learn on their own. And it is not the abandonment of a national curriculum, or a substitute for high standards. It is instead the way in which our best schools deliver excellent teaching and learning for all their pupils.

Personalised education occurs when:

we recognise that each child is special
we use assessment to inform and adapt teaching and learning
we use different teaching styles to bring out the talents of each pupil
we extend curricular choice to develop individual talent
we ensure pupils are able to join out of school endeavour in music and art and sport as well as science and English to formal learning.

Personalised learning is not new. But our drive to make it universal is. It is what parents often say they are seeking in the private sector. It is a vision in which every school's provision is shaped around the needs, aptitudes and interests of individual students. It is a vision that offers us a unique chance to break the link between birth and educational achievement.

The benefits are clear. For every student, higher standards because - not only will subject and classroom teaching be stronger - but teaching and learning will be designed around their potential for learning. For every teacher, support to fulfil their true vocation - that of discovering and nurturing the talents of individual pupils. And for every parent, the security and confidence that comes from knowing that their child will be both recognised and treated as an individual.

So significant benefits. But also clear challenges. I believe we need to develop answers in five key areas to buttress the high aspirations, high standards of behaviour, and high quality teachers and support staff that every school needs. Let me sketch them out.

First, the most effective teaching depends on really knowing the strengths and weaknesses of individual pupils. So the biggest driver for change is assessment for learning and the use of data and dialogue to diagnose every student's learning needs. I will return to this in a moment.

Second, if we are to develop the confidence and competence of each learner we need teaching and learning strategies that build on every learner's experience and exploit every teacher's knowledge and flexibility. These strategies must engage and stretch all students, and to do so they need creative use of teachers and classroom support staff, extended learning opportunities and the capacity to accommodate different paces and styles of learning.

I was fascinated to see at George Spencer Foundation School and Technology College in Nottingham, Key Stage 3 students in 'learning to learn' lessons. At a pace of their choice, they are encouraged to become effective and e-literate learners, on their own and in groups.

Third, to recognise different talents and multiple intelligences students need curriculum choice that affords them breadth and personal relevance, with clear pathways through the system. This is the significance of the reforms currently being examined by the Tomlinson Committee in relation to 14-19 education. Around the country diverse partnerships of schools, colleges and employers are already charting the future. For example, three schools and the FE college in Gateshead are working together to provide students with an expanded post-16 offer. This includes Advanced Vocational qualifications, New Track business and health courses, and a wealth of AS and A2 options. Every student's flexibility is supported by a personal tutor and timetables that are responsive to their needs.

Fourth, the organisation of the school needs to be taken seriously and addressed directly: pupil grouping, in-class organisation, the school timetable, all should support pupil progress.

And fifth, the development of all children as rounded individuals depends on schools engaging with the community and beyond. This means partnerships with parents, business and the wider community to support and encourage students to learn outside the classroom. This is the impetus behind our School Sport and Club Links strategy which will invest about £450 million over the next three years to help more children develop their interests in sport both in and outside school.

I see our task over the next year as being to support the spread of these components of personalised learning across the entire education system. Not by top down imposition, but through the promotion of professional engagement by Heads and teachers in the learning needs of pupils.

I believe a key first step is how we use assessment.

There is a healthy debate to be had about how we build what John Dunford calls an intelligent accountability framework. But today I am interested in how we promote intelligent assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning.

We know from Ofsted the power of assessment for learning - that it has a significant positive impact on student attitudes to learning and on attainment in schools.

For example, Bishop Luffa School in Chichester already uses sophisticated data to set individual targets with pupils and parents, to regularly review progress and to address the school's within school variation.

And at Broughton Hall Technology College in Liverpool, every student carries a smart card to help teachers adapt their teaching to students' learning styles, aptitudes and needs.

These are schools well on their way to improving teaching and learning by using assessment for learning:

to provide structured feedback to pupils
to set individual learning targets
to help teachers adapt their teaching styles to individual needs
and to help students develop their own skills of self-assessment so that they can take charge of their own learning

But we also know Assessment for Learning is a minority practice in the secondary sector. Ofsted reported this year that less than four in ten secondary schools were engaged with assessment for learning. Yet it is a key driver of improvement and personalisation.

The new Pupil Achievement Tracker allows every head teacher, head of department and teacher to look at the progress of individual children compared to their peers in their own school and across the country. It invites every school to build at the core of its life a conversation with pupils and parents about progress, and a dialogue among teachers about professional development. I hope every school will do so, and I am glad the Trust is helping more embrace the idea.

Success through partnership

This agenda for reform also requires a new approach to reform. It requires a different role for schools and LEAs, and a different role for the DfES, the second theme of my address today.

My vision of personalised learning has one clear goal - more effective teaching and learning for every student. Our shared duty is to ensure that this excellence is spread - to all schools and all students - so that excellence is used as a battering ram against inequality.

Top down intervention is not the only way to share and develop good practice. So no longer, as the 1944 Education Act would have us believe, should we aspire to a "national system locally administered". Instead our goal should be local systems nationally led and supported.

The new role for schools and LEAs is to help each other and lead reform. This demands a commitment to collaboration and networking - which is vital for school improvement. But the language of collaboration and partnership does not fully capture the improvement achieved in some schools. Collaboration is not an end in itself. It is a means to deliver improvement. The goal is to make one school a locomotive of progress in others. That is the hard edge of collaboration. Not collaboration for collaboration's sake, but collaboration for the pupil's sake.

In the Leading Edge Programme 100 schools, of which two thirds are specialist, set out to tackle some of our toughest learning challenges in their partner schools - including efforts to increase achievement amongst pupils from disadvantaged and / or minority ethnic backgrounds.

The subject and regional networks led by schools and facilitated by the Specialist Schools Trust are designed to raise achievement by promoting professional engagement with the way pupils learn. The Trust's initiative to partner specialist schools with struggling schools fits this model. I am glad these networks are thriving.

And Excellence in Cities develops school partnerships and shared responsibility for, amongst other things, opportunities for gifted and talented students, City Learning Centres and Learning Mentors

Collaboration for improvement is at the centre of each of our programmes. It is why we are paying schools with a centre of excellence to help others get better. And why we are funding school networks to focus on school improvement.

This demands a different role to be played by the Department. The old model where ideas were followed by legislation and then guidance on implementation sponsored the development of a regulatory culture out of touch with the way local professionals want to develop their schools. In its place we need a new model where instead of aspiring to administer the education system the Department focuses instead on building capacity in the education system. Legal and financial flexibility needs to reside at the front line. Our activities, and those of our partners, need to be coherent, consistent and less bureaucratic. Ofsted have signalled their determination to play their part in this process. We will play ours.

This brings me to my third theme: the role of specialist schools in driving forward personalised learning.

The Power of Specialist Schools

Specialist Schools hold special capacity to drive forward personalised learning - for many of its tools are at the core of what it means to be specialist.

You all develop a centre of excellence which you use as a driver for whole school improvement, and as a means of providing stretch for all students - from the lowest previous performers to the highest.

For example, St. Bonaventure's School in Newham, a specialist technology college, has used its centre of expertise to drive up standards of e-learning, to tackle underachievement amongst boys and to provide stretch for Gifted and Talented pupils across the whole school. By monitoring and tracking students the school provides a mix of study clubs, twilight classes, mentoring and holiday provision to meet individual needs. The result: overall attainment of 5 good GCSEs is up from 30% in 1994 to 77% this year.

You all develop an enriched and broadened subject offer, and use it to provide students with a balanced and relevant curriculum choice.

For example, Turves Green Girls School in Birmingham, a specialist technology college since 1997, has won many plaudits for engaging girls in science and engineering, and for enhancing the curriculum content through close collaboration with Cadbury, MG Rover and BT. It is praise indeed when a sixth former reports that "at my school I am treated as a person. I am encouraged to follow any career and every opportunity. There are no limits."

And you aspire to develop links with the community and other institutions to spread the benefits of your specialism, and to raise low aspirations and low expectations.

For example, Penrice Community College - a specialist language school since 1997 - has a clear set of goals for collaboration. To link with the community, it provides 'family classes' so that parents and students can learn languages side-by side. To link with other schools, it shares a specialist language centre locally and shares good practice on ITT with schools in the South West.

I am really excited by such improvement, and by the strength and power of the Specialist School concept.

The number of Specialist Schools is up from 181 six years ago, to 1444 this year, and at least 2000 by 2006.

The breadth of Specialisms is growing, now including Music and Humanities.

There is a new commitment to make the specialist movement universal. In the early days of specialist schools one criticism was that the status was given to already high performing schools in more affluent areas. But no more. Free School Meal eligibility across Specialist schools is now almost exactly similar to that of non-specialist schools; every LEA that has a secondary school now has at least one specialist school; and many are working to help every school in their area become specialist.

And there is increasing clarity about how specialisms are beneficial - that the process of becoming a specialist school confronts critical questions about school improvement; that a distinct mission provides a focus for excellence; and that this drives change right across the whole curriculum.

So today we can celebrate success. And we are right to do so. But in celebrating success, I believe we must also ask ourselves whether we can increase the Specialist Dividend. In other words, what more can we do so that increasing numbers of students in Specialist Schools reap the benefits that have been achieved by the best?

That there is a Specialist Dividend is not in doubt. In 2003, over 56% of students in specialist schools' achieved 5+ A*-C grades at GCSE. In non-specialist schools less than half of all students achieved these results.

In 1998 we designated 82 non-selective specialist schools. Their progress has been striking. So striking, Cyril Taylor tells me, that if all schools were to achieve their rate of improvement, nearly two-thirds of children in comprehensive schools would gain five good GCSEs by 2008.

I find it really exciting that since gaining specialist status some schools have doubled the proportion of students achieving five good GCSEs. For example, Wood Green High School Sports College in Sandwell has improved from 31% in 1998 to 60% in 2002.

It is inspiring that some specialist schools with children who face multiple problems of disadvantage nevertheless now do incredibly well. Sir John Cass School, a specialist language college in Tower Hamlets, was the most improved state school in England in 2002 despite two-thirds of its students receiving free school meals, and a similar proportion speaking English as a second language.

But if each specialist school had made the same amount of progress as the top quartile specialist schools, 11,000 more students would have got 5 good GCSEs last year.

And overall, if every specialist school had performed at the level of the top quartile specialist school in their FSM band, we would have been able to see the benefit last year of 19,000 more students achieving 5 good GCSEs.

Why is there still such difference between schools? What impresses me in many of the best schools that I visit is that they have established strong and clear ways of working, which they apply diligently to everything they do. Whatever the improvement - in a subject, in behaviour management, in teaching quality - they pay close attention to all the details involved in seeing things through. An innovation is not introduced and then abandoned. Little is left to chance. The answer often isn't to do more; it's to do thoroughly and well that which it is most important to do.

This is the way we can help thousands of students. Thousands of life chances. Thousands of young people getting the passport they should into work and life long learning.

This is the debate I want to open up today. I want to hear your views about how we maximise the opportunities for every youngster in every specialist school.

How can we encourage all colleges further to exploit the potential of e-learning? Is it by freeing up the rules on capital spending?

How can we promote Continuous Professional Development linked to a particular centre of excellence in Specialist schools? We should learn from Brookfield High School and Sports College in Knowsley, which is supporting the development of local primary and secondary school sports teachers, is involved in initial teacher training and the graduate teacher programme, and is working with FE and HE providers to develop a foundation degree for budding sports coaches.

How do we provide renewed impetus to established specialist schools who want to take forward their mission?

And above all, how can we do more for the 44% of specialist school students who don't yet get five good GCSEs. Last year I talked about the challenges of turning good schools into great schools. The challenge of reducing within school inequality remains today.

These are questions that informed professionals are well placed to explore, and they are questions that the Government wants to help answer. We want you to lead reform, and I am confident you will deliver.

Conclusion

I am optimistic about education in this country. I believe that there is untapped potential in many of our young people. And I am convinced that many Heads and teachers in our system have unique capacity to develop that latent talent.

Last week I visited a school that is turning itself around and showing what is possible. The Executive Director of the school is there 2 to 3 days a week because he is the Principal of another school. His job is to provide support to the new Head. When I asked him why he did it, he encapsulated the educational imperative. "We are all going to live with the consequences of the education we provide. Waste of talent throttles this country. These youngsters can do so much better."

There is a can-do spirit in the English character, and it needs to be unleashed in education.

Six years ago the idea of specialist schooling was novel. It met opposition and scepticism. But today it is firmly established, and in a few years' time it will be the norm. As Charles Clarke says we will have a specialist system - specialist in the identity of individual schools, specialist in the skill of individual teachers, specialist in the provision for individual pupils.

It is an exciting prospect, and one that embodies my hope for a schooling system of high quality and high equity. It is a prospect that will be good for the country. It is a prospect that I look forward to working with you to achieve.