APPG for Education Annual Lunch 2016

On 15th March 2016, the APPG for Education held its Annual Lunch, with guest speaker Neil Carmichael MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee.

The Lunch was an opportunity for members of the Group to reflect on the APPG’s work since the 2015 Election. Attendees included  Danny Kinahan MP, the Group’s Chairman,  Andrea Jenkyns MP, the Group’s Vice Chair, Flick Drummond MP, Lord Boswell of Aynho and Baroness Hooper. They were joined by education sector stakeholders who have contributed to the work of the Group over the last year.

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It was also a chance to hear from Neil Carmichael about his views on the direction of education policy during this Parliament. Mr Carmichael talked about the work of the Education Committee, and in particular the Purpose of Education Inquiry.  He stated that education is at the core of all economic challenges and strong education makes Britain capable of competing internationally. He also declared a firm belief that curriculum and assessment needed to be considered as a whole and must complement each other, and that a range of options for post 16 study must be available.

On school governance, Mr Carmichael talked about the need for strong leadership of groups of schools with the ability to produce new ideas.  The recently announced Select Committee inquiry into Multi Academy Trusts would be looking at this, 6th Form, UTCs and choices available to secondary school pupils.

Questions to Mr Carmichael ranged from the topic of skills required for good leadership, the ability to look beyond the UK for positive examples of teaching, the teaching and take up of science, teaching of maths beyond 16 and the benefits of teaching business in schools.

Danny Kinahan MP, Chair of the APPG for Education, Dominic Savage of the British Educational Suppliers Association, and Neil Carmichael MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee

Danny Kinahan MP, Chair of the APPG for Education, Dominic Savage of the British Educational Suppliers Association, and Neil Carmichael MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee

APPG Chair asks Government for answers on the educational impact of the classroom environment

Following February’s APPG for Education meeting on the impact of the classroom learning environment on educational attainment, the Group’s chair, Danny Kinahan MP, has tabled a series of written Parliamentary Questions on the topic. The first few of these questions have now been answered, and you can read them below:

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the built environment on learning progress in schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department’s approach to the built environment is informed by a range of expert research.

The James Review of Education Capital, published in 2011 recommended the implementation of standardised designs for schools that could be continually improved upon and deliver buildings that ‘act as manageable tools for those delivering outstanding education to our children.’ In response to this the Education Funding Agency (EFA) developed ‘Baseline Designs’, which help to ensure that the Department’s funding goes further and that as many pupils as possible benefit from improved school buildings.

Alongside this, the Department recognises the importance of factors such as daylight, temperature and air-quality and offers guidance to schools, contractors and designers through EFA Building Bulletins and the requirements in EFA’s Facilities Output Specification, used in procuring new school buildings.

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s policies on the design of new schools of the study entitled, The impact of classroom design on pupils’ learning, by Professor Barrett of Salford University, published in July 2015.

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has taken steps to disseminate the findings of the study, The impact of classroom design on pupils’ learning, by Professor Barrett of Salford University, published in July 2015, to (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) sixth form colleges.

Nick Gibb: The Department continuously monitors literature published on the built environment as it relates to schools. Where relevant, the findings from this literature inform the development of the Department’s guidance on design and maintenance. The Department uses this guidance to communicate with contractors, designers, schools and sixth form colleges about the standards in class room design.

Professor Barrett has met with officials from the department to discuss the findings of his research. Professor Barrett’s recommendations regarding daylight, temperature and air-quality in schools reinforce those already made in the Education Funding Agency’s (EFA) Building Bulletins and the requirements in EFA’s Facilities Output Specification, used in procuring many new school buildings.

Report of the APPG for Education meeting on the impact of the classroom environment on educational attainment

On Tuesday 9th February, the APPG for Education hosted Professor Peter Barrett of Salford University as the key note speaker at a meeting on the impact of the classroom environment on educational attainment. Professor Barrett presented the findings of his research and suggested possible policy implications of his report, entitled “Clever Classrooms”. The full academic paper that underpins the report can be found here.

APPG for Education

Professor Barrett began by presenting an overview of the report. His research, based on data about 3766 pupils in 158 primary school classrooms, provides evidence that differences in the physical learning environment are responsible for 16% of the variation in attainment of pupils. The difference in attainment between pupils in the best and worst environments can be as great as 1.3 national curriculum sub levels per year. This impact is driven by a combined range of factors, covering the dimensions of: naturalness or comfort, individualisation of classrooms and the appropriate level of stimulation.

Professor Barrett explained that there were some surprising findings. School level factors (as opposed to the design of individual classrooms) had a muted effect on attainment, owing to a big variation in the quality of classrooms within schools. In addition further research is highlighting that certain emphases in classrooms can lead to improved results in certain subjects. For example, a more individualised classroom seems to be beneficial to attainment in maths. Professor Barrett theorised that this could be because maths is a subject that is strongly linked to confidence.

Professor Barrett then explored some of the practical implications of the research for teachers, and for those involved in school design. His presentation to the Group can be viewed here. 

The APPG Chairman, Danny Kinahan MP, began the question and answer session by asking if Professor Barrett had seen a difference between rural and urban schools. Professor Barrett explained that the research had been carried out in a range of schools, but the differences between urban and rural settings had not been specifically explored. He added that he would soon be travelling to Norway to compare practices at an international level.

Danny Kinahan added that he would be interested to hear what assessment the Department for Education has made of the report. He stressed the importance that the report’s findings are imparted to schools, training establishments, unions and to the devolved administrations.

Sonia Case, a head teacher from Newham, asked if there were specific implications of this research for the use of ICT (whiteboards) in teaching. Professor Barrett responded that a badly designed classroom with too much glare would make it difficult to use screens and interactive boards. This means that the blinds installed make a big difference, especially their ease of use as difficult to operate blinds discourage teachers from using them appropriately.

Lord Storey asked if characteristics of classrooms, such as the use of certain colours, helped in relation to behavioural outcomes. Professor Barrett explained that the researchers did collect information on exclusions, etc, but did not have enough data points to draw firm conclusions.

Patrick Hayes, of the British Educational Suppliers Association, asked what advice Professor Barrett would give to a teacher inheriting a bad classroom environment. Professor Barrett responded that while the advice depends on what is wrong with the classroom, most changes that a teacher can make are fairly easy and quick to put in place and often will involve very little expenditure.

 

Wayne Bates of the NASUWT noted that some academy chains exercise central control over the design and decoration of classrooms. He asked if Professor Barrett thought that this might have a negative impact, for example on individualisation factors. Professor Barrett noted the importance of control of the classroom space at a local level. He gave the negative example of a school centrally controlling the temperatures within classrooms via underfloor heating, despite different rooms receiving different levels of natural heat and light.

Lord Watson asked if the number of pupils within each class affected the impact of the classroom environment. He also asked if there was a difference between primary and secondary schools.

Professor Barrett explained that the research had not found an impact to fact class size per se. In their sample they had not really encountered any classes with less than thirty pupils, but the measure used had been the number of pupils per square metre.

Professor Barrett noted that new research is needed focused on secondary schools. The likely differences between primary and secondary school would be that school level factors would be more relevant at secondary level, as pupils move around the school a lot more. He added that because secondary schools tend to include specialised classrooms, this issue would also need more examination.

Hayley Francis of PTA UK asked if the impact of the classroom environment varied according to what sort of learner a pupil was – visual or auditory for example. Professor Barrett responded that whilst his data was not granular enough to assess that, every classroom environment should, as far as possible, be designed to cater to all different types of learner.

Danny Kinahan MP thanked Professor Barrett and those who participated in the Q&A, and brought the meeting to a close.

Chair of the APPG for Education, Danny Kinahan MP, thanks Professor Peter Barrett

Danny Kinahan MP, Chair of the APPG for Education, thanks Professor Peter Barrett

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