Working in partnership to provide quality study support. Opportunities for boys and girls aged 7-14 years
THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
STUDY SUPPORT GUIDELINES
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1. The Vision
To provide all children aged 7-14 (Key Stages 2 and 3) with an opportunity to raise their academic and football playing standards through the medium of football through out of school hours learning (OSHL) programmes.
2. Purpose
The purpose of this booklet is to identify how Football Association initiatives can be used to implement a programme of study support for Primary Key Stage 2 and Secondary Key Stage 3 schools in England.
What is available?
- Quality web site to support young peoples knowledge of ICT, numeracy, literacy and citizenship
- Quality FA work packs to raise numeracy and literacy standards
- Links to other football development programmes inclucling FA TOP Sport Football Programme and Active Sport Programme
3. Context
The Football Association National Game Division are committed to the following principles:
- To lead the successful development of football at every level
- To lead the development of a grass roots framework which will achieve the highest level of participation in the world
- To use the power of football to build a better future
This project applies those principles and in particular encapsulates how the power of football can assist to build a better future for young people and develop lifelong learning.
4. What is Study Support?
Study support is learning activity outside normal lessons which young people take part in voluntarily.
Study support is, accordingly, an inclusive term, embracing many activities - with many names and many guises. Its purpose is to improve young people's motivation, build their self-esteem and help them to become more effective learners.
ABOVE ALL IT AIMS TO RAISE ACHIEVEMENT
Extending opportunity: a national framework for study support. Department for Education and Skills 2000
In other words study support can include any activity, which aims to raise achievement, as long as it takes place before or after school, during the lunch hour, at weekends or during the holidays.
To achieve its full potential study support should be linked to the curriculum provision and part of a planned whole school development and improvement.
Study support can contribute to school improvement by giving opportunities for
- Additional learning experiences
- Staff development
- Targeted support of for specific pupils
- Pupil involvement and responsibility
- Improving and increasing the learning opportunity offered by ICT
- Strengthening links with the local and wider community
- Improved attendances and punctuality
Raised pupil achievement Study support and out-of-school-hours learning (OSHL) are terms that can be used interchangeably.
5. Study Support Background
Football has already demonstrated through the national Playing for Success Scheme it is an ideal vehicle for delivering quality study support programmes.
Playing for success is a national initiative, established by the DfES in partnership with the Premier League, Nationwide League and their clubs and LEA's. PfS aims to contribute to raising educational standards, especially in urban areas, by establishing out-of-school hours study support lessons in professional football clubs. Experience teachers manage centres. They use the medium and environment of football to support work in literacy, numeracy and ICT skills and provide facilities for pupils to complete their homework. With a focus on addressing the needs of underachieving young people in Key Stage 2 and 3, the initiative places a strong emphasis on improving pupils' attitudes and motivation to learn.
DfEE research brief no 167, Playing for Success: An Evaluation of The First Year. Football however has still more to offer. Football is socially and competitively enjoyed by all ages and is therefore an ideal medium for involving teachers, parents and other adults in the local Community.
Since 1997 a series of developments have moved study support into an important and strategic position. The Department for Education and Skills has taken an active approach to the funding and development of study support by building on earlier work by charitable bodies, notably by The Prince's Trust and Education Extra. From April 2000 the DfEE (now the Department of Education and Skills) through the Standards Fund provided £20 million to finance study support activity with a further £60 million available from April 2001.
There has been substantial investment of National Lottery money through the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) to promote study support. The priorities for the NOF funding are schools in areas where pupils are disadvantaged or at risk of underachievement.
The DfEE report for the Social Exclusion Unit, Schools Plus: Building Learning Communities (DfEE), 2000) has among its recommendations some that related to extending the out-of-hours activities offered by schools. It recommends a target of at least three hours of study support each week for school pupils.
The Government's recommendation of 2 hours of PE and sport, within and beyond the curriculum, as an entitlement for pupils aged 5-16 years, has clearly highlighted the need for a well-planned and strategic approach to study support.
The Government's plan for sport refers to 'every pupil having an equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits that participation in sport brings and that there is a need to look at ways in which PE and sport can be made more inclusive and attractive to pupils who have traditionally been turned off by school sport'. Study support programmes can offer opportunities to these groups. PfS centers will be an integral part of the FA study support programme, assisting to bring Professional Football Clubs, Local Education Authorities and The Football Association together to develop young people.
Current situation/issues for consideration
As the PfS scheme has demonstrated football has a great network and in developing study support opportunities, schools are challenged to think beyond the school perimeters. It may be that activities could be supported by local County Football Development Officers as the programme develops in years 2 and 3, through the development of the FA TOP Sport Football Community programme or through the Football in the Community Schemes in local areas.
Schools may wish to consider using the premises of local FA Charter Standard Football and FA Charter Standard Community Clubs and therefore create immediate possibilities for further lifelong learning activities.
Football is an ideal and powerful vehicle for developing Study Support. Over the next three years every primary and special school in the County will have the opportunity to be part of the FA TOP Sport Football Curriculum initiative, which provides teacher training, equipment and resources cards which can be used with the PE curriculum or as part of an OSHL programme. Football Specific Study Support programmes at Key Stage 2 are an ideal extension to this programme. A study support programme could provide could provide an ideal link to Active Sports (girls football) through the FA Kick Start Schemes at Key Stage 3.
The national framework suggests that study support can be grouped under three headings. However these area's do not sit in isolation, activities may overlap sections, depending on whom they are targeted at and the learning objective. Adapted from a framework produced by Education Extra.
Enabling
Developing basic and key skills
- Using problem solving activities to reinforce thinking skills; through purposeful football activities in which players have to solve problems and make decisions either on their own or as part of a team.
- Targeting support to develop core skills (e.g. kicking, trapping a ball)
- Enabling development of leadership and key skills through the FA Junior Football Organisers Course.
- Developing literacy, ICT and independent learning skills through classroom based FA study support resources
Enrichment
New Opportunities for learning
- These are activities that provide learning opportunities that are different to those provided through the National Curriculum.
For example:
- The FA Junior Football Organisers Course for 14-18 year olds provides young people with an opportunity to develop their interest in football in a leadership, refereeing and administrative role.
Extending
Building existing class based activities
- These are clubs or activities that build upon the learning experiences that are offered through the National Curriculum.
For example:
- The FA TOP Sport Football Community programme builds on the skills a young person has learnt in their physical education lessons.
- A study support programme for gifted and talented pupils in football. The objective of these programmes would be to extend pupils further than might be possible in curriculum time.
- Working with relevant partners to assist talented pupils to progress into clubs/centers of excellence etc
- Using the FA study support resources to extend literacy, numeracy and ICT skills.
Enabling
An FA TOP Sport Football club, specifically targeting Year 3 pupils who have poor basic physical skills, specifically kicking a ball and spatial awareness. Some pupils also have poor literacy skills. The study support programme will provide opportunities for the pupils to practice basic physical sills in a small group situation, moving on to working with others in space on their own, or as part of a team. There will also be some time spent working through some of the FA study support classroom based activities, to enable the pupils to have the opportunity to focus on developing their literacy skills.
- Benefits - Developing physical skills, safety awareness, literacy skills, language, communication and enjoyment.
Enrichment
The FA Junior Football Organisers Course, which provides young people with the opportunity to develop an interest in leadership, refereeing and administration within football. This could link in with the Citizenship Curriculum.
- Benefits - Develop new skills. Try something new, which they have not had the opportunity to try before. To experience success in a new activity.
Extending
FA TOP Sport Football / homework club for Year 6/7 pupils. A club held at the primary school site for one term and the secondary school site for the next term. Pupils spend half the time completing their homework, with the support where necessary and the second half of the session playing football activities from the FA TOP Sport Football cards. Pupils who are in the process of taking their FA Junior Football Organisers Course assist with running the activities at the club.
- Benefits - Have somewhere to complete homework with help at hand. Have the opportunity to catch upon work not understood in class. To develop and improve football and games skills at own speed. To find new ways to learn. To develop links between the primary and secondary schools.