Students come to teacher training from a huge range of different backgrounds and experiences. Whilst that is enormously valuable and makes you who you are as a person and a teacher, it's also important to know that not every child in the classroom has had or will have the same experience that you did. For example, you might absolutely love having Music last thing on a Wednesday, but others would hate it more than anything. Similarly, you might find the Industrial Revolution the most boring topic ever, but find that students in a school you're in are hugely interested in it.
The idea of this task is to get thinking about the information and demographics of a school of your choice. More importantly, it's also to consider what impact that might have on the students and you as their teacher; what changes might you have to make as a result? Try to think of it as an opportunity and consider the positive steps you can take, rather than getting caught up worrying what you might not be able to do. As you move through your teaching career you will find that it's very easy to underestimate students, and they may well really surprise you if you give them the opportunity to try!
A final caveat; data and statistics can be incredibly useful, but they don't tell you everything. Just because a school is 'Inadequate' according to Ofsted does not mean it's awful in every respect. Just because a student has an additional need does not mean they are not intelligent and capable. Just because a school achieved poor results before doesn't mean it won't improve or change. All of that is to say that the data and statistics you'll look up are just part of a much bigger picture.
The task is as follows:
Investigate a school of your choice in the UK. Look up the following information:
Percentage of pupils with English as an additional language (EAL).
Percentage of pupils receiving free school meals (FSM).
Percentage of pupils identified as having special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
Most recent GCSE results.
Ofsted report (Overall report grade and category grades).
What are the implications for you as a class teacher? What are the challenges and opportunities likely to be?
You will find the information you need in two places. Firstly, the school's Ofsted report. Secondly, school performance tables, which are available here.
Complete this task in any of the following ways, but do not use the method you select for another of the tasks:
Verbal (recorded audio)
Written essay (500 words maximum)
Poster
Powerpoint
Image collage (and rationale- written or audio)
Mind map
Storyboard
Below is another video explaining the task, and an exemplar to help you. As before, you cannot get this task 'wrong', so just do your best with it.
This is an exemplar mind map, showing the data for a chosen school as well as some thoughts relating to them. There are elements not showing in this exemplar image, but if you open it up in Slides you'll see it in full!