At ESA this year, we are pioneering a new approach to our learning together. Inspired by the work of Bill Lucas and Guy Claxton, we are implementing a ‘split screen’ curriculum where we focus even more on the person we want to become as well as the outcomes we want to achieve. This is more important than ever in these ‘unprecedented’ times.

The Problem with the ‘Assessment Model’

‘unprecedented’. Ugh… that word! I know it’s been over used by every politician and journalist for the last 8 months, but it’s also apt. There have been a number of unprecedented moments and none more so than the embarrassing exams debacle over the summer. Some educationalists have been arguing that standardised exams have become too dominant in the education landscape for many years. My educational super star, Sir Ken Robinson (may he rest in peace) has long been warning of the negative social impact of an educational system addicted to tests and results. For too long governments and Ofsted have been deciding the success and value of a school by over concentrating on exam results and failing to recognise other more valuable measures of success such as confidence, safety, resilience, creativity and empathy. This year (summer 2020), this skewed dependancy on one particular definition of success was proved madness and folly.

I watched with dismay and legitimate sadness as students had an algorithm applied to their GCSE and A Level results, often bringing them down and in line with a national average when they had not even taken the exam! Wait, say that again slowly… yes they were awarded grades and these grades were shaped and sculpted by a national algorithm when they had not even done the exam. Like some strange science fiction film (Gattaca 1997 springs to mind), young people were sorted into a stratified system of winners and losers based on data which had nothing to do with them or their own performance. The government thankfully u-turned when it became apparent that this system unfairly disadvantaged students from poorer postcodes.

So what can Educational Success look like?

During February half term 2020 (six weeks before the first lock down) I read a wonderful book called ‘Educating Ruby’ by Lucas and Claxton. In it they look at what constitutes educational ‘success’ and how we should reconfigure what we truly value and what we want schools to give our children as they grow and develop. I felt challenged to think even more radically about ESA - yes we want students to get good grades and even more we want them to develop technical skill and we want them to make links with potential employers and gain valuable industry opportunities but more than any of that, we want them to become good, strong and loving people.

What is ‘Split Screening’?

Claxton and Lucas helpfully introduce the idea of ‘split screening’, which we have spent this first half term planning and implementing. It is a fairly simple idea… they put it like this - there are 2 games playing at the same time. On one screen is the examination game - this game is well understood by Oftsed and people who look at school league tables. This examination game is the one most schools focus on the most - In this game you are either satisfied or dissatisfied, you either win or lose. The sad thing is there are lots of losers in this game.

“Examination boards (and politicians) are constantly tinkering with pass marks and grade boundaries… the fact is that a lot of children have got to do badly at the examination game; it is a statistical necessity. It’s a deceitful claim that everyone can win if they try hard enough.” [Claxton & Lucas, Educating Ruby, Crown House Publishing, 2015]

If everyone can beat the national average, then there’s no average. This was proved true and mad all at once this year when the national average was applied to students who didn’t even take the test. Children were stratified into winners and losers even though Coronavirus had disrupted the whole process. Everyone scrambled to find a way of standardising regardless of the unprecedented context and in the end this summer’s results will not count as formally recognised data. More than ever before we need a new way of judging educational value, a new way of recognising growth development and ‘good progress’. So whats on this ‘other screen’?

Alongside the ‘examination game’ is the ‘character game’. This is what is playing on the other screen - this game is not just about what result we get but rather who we become.

“We shall call these the seven Cs: confidence, curiosity, collaboration, communication, creativity, commitment and craftsmanship. This in a nutshell, is the ‘other game’ of school. Whether you are a winner at the grade game or not, you can still come away having been a a winner at the character game”. [Claxton & Lucas, Educating Ruby, Crown House Publishing, 2015]

If the ‘unprecedented’ exams debacle of 2020 taught us anything, it showed that the character game is more important than ever. The folly of algorithmically calculated exam grades proves that strength and resilience and authenticity of character must be focussed on more explicitly alongside the grades we pick up along the way. This is not new to us at ESA, for years our professional partners in the creative industries have been telling us that, while grades have some importance, they are not crucial like honesty, integrity, hard work and a good learning attitude. Industry may like grades but they really love character. In our relationships, it’s the same. I am proud of my partner’s achievements and the achievements of my children but these are not why I am in love with them, rather it is their good humour, diligence, care and imagination.

ESA plans and delivers the 7Cs

ESA has begun planning the seven Cs into all of our schemes of learning. We are developing our lesson plans too so that students are explicitly aware of how we are developing character together. For example our music and sound technology teacher recently wrote me an email saying:

“I used the ‘I statements’ in my lessons today and this generated some really interesting self assessments around the seven Cs! This worked extremely well in conjunction with students completing their ‘Craft Logs’ and reflecting on their learning over the last 4 weeks.
One student recognised that he struggles to take criticism within his music production work (confidence) but strives for perfection (craftsmanship). We will be working on this together.”

We have identified twelve ‘I statements’ for each of the seven Cs and every subject is auditing their plans to ensure that students get the chance to reflect on their character as we learn together. All students will get the chance in their personal development lessons to reflect on their growth in each of the seven Cs.

I have included each of the seven Cs below along with each one’s I statements so that you can explore them together as families and friends. As this stand at the moment, we are expecting exams to return in the summer term of 2021. There is a lot of pressure for students to catch up on the time they missed during lock down. There will be national tutoring schemes and intervention programmes. Sure, there will be a lot of emphasis back on the examination game - and we, like every school, will go every extra mile possible to support students to get the best grades possible BUT we will not pursue grades at the expense of character. We will be sure to keep our emphasis on who we become and not just what we get.