heart of heartlands lessons

As half term beckons and students and teachers prepare to kick back and enjoy some much-deserved time off, I’m packing my suitcase for a week-long trip to Texas with 75 students from Haringey Young Musicians. We’re partnering up with Lee High School, Midland, for a series of orchestral workshops and concerts. As I prepare to set my alarm clock for a ridiculously early start on Saturday morning (3am - yikes!), it’s got me thinking about the role of enrichment activities in education and how they can enhance the work that we do in the classroom.

A huge part of my job as Head of Music involves facilitating extra-curricular projects - coordinating instrumental/vocal lessons, running after school clubs, working on concerts and performances and so on - and part of the reason that I am so passionate about these activities is that I know they benefit my students when it comes to attainment in music. It was no surprise to me that last year, the students who got the best grades in GCSE Music had all consistently attended instrumental lessons over the past 5 years, and had taken part in multiple ensembles and performances. It’s the same when you look across the school: from drama and geography to hospitality and English, we see those students who take part in subject-specific extra-curricular activities making more progress in those subjects than those who don’t*.

But can involvement in enrichment activities have a wider impact on students’ attainment? Do those students participating in, for example, sports activities, make better academic progress in subjects like English, maths and science than their peers who don’t?

Based on over 10,000 pieces of educational research, the Education Endowment Foundation finds there is reasonably consistent evidence that participation in extra-curricular activities does have a beneficial impact on attainment (see the infographics below), however, they acknowledge that the quality of existing evidence is low and are currently recruiting schools to a much larger study to test the link between enrichment and attainment further.

Interestingly, the existing research seems to suggest that the age at which students are given different types of enrichment opportunities appears to be significant: Arts projects such as First Thing Music and programmes which develop skills in music performance have been shown to have a bigger impact on learning with younger (Primary school) students, whilst outdoor experiences (mountaineering, sailing, outdoor sports etc.) saw a much bigger impact on academic achievement (as much as +4 months) with secondary school age students.

I’m looking forward to reading the outcomes of the EEF trials when they are published in 2020. But I’m not going to wait until then to continue to promote extra-curricular activities with my students. Because whilst the research into enrichment and academic success is ongoing, there is evidence of a strong correlation (here and here) between participation in enrichment activities and students’ wellbeing, attitude to school and attitude to learning. Students who regularly participate in enrichment activities have better attendance, better behaviour, and increased motivation and resilience - what teacher wouldn’t want that?

In the lessons that we plan and teach at Heartlands, we encourage our students to show resilience, work hard, take an interest in the wider world and take learning beyond the curriculum. But we know that learning doesn’t stop in the classroom. Through enrichment activities, we offer students access and inspiration, we show them how our subjects are relevant to their lives, we enhance their cultural capital, and we tap into the well of curiosity that exists deep inside each child.

So - sign me up for more! Just don’t remind me about my wake up call on Saturday.

Cool things:

• *Official, very rigorous scientific research conducted on selected staff at Heartlands High School into the impact of subject-specific enrichment on progress
• In Harmony Liverpool - using orchestral music-making to improve the health, education and aspirations of children and young people in Everton. Also in London. Inspired by Venezuela’s El Sistema project.
• How Shakespeare can give disadvantaged 3-year olds a boost. Case studies here.
• The impact of playing sports on young people’s wellbeing. Also research into how playing sport can increase students’ grades here, and a review of research on outdoor learning here
• EEF-funded project evaluating the impact of the British Science Association CREST award