Quality in supplementary education, who organises it and why is it important?
Supplementary schools are, by and large, not campaigning organisations. Their strengths lie elsewhere:
- reflecting the identity of children and providing positive role models; offering dependable and regular activities;
- offering a culturally familiar space where children can let down their guard;
- demystifying the education system for newly arrived parents or parents whose own experience of mainstream education (whether in Britain or elsewhere) has left them ill-equipped to guide their children’s navigation through a changed but not always improved system 20 or 30 years later;
- giving space for adults to share their experiences as parents from ‘minority’ communities.
Vassie, P. (2016) Race Equality Teaching Journal (Vol 34, No. 1), Summer 2016
Reflecting identity
- Supplementary schools create a space for community members to meet. Many supplementary schools actively cultivate traditions and celebrate (religious) holidays. Staff at Manchester’s Sudanese Supplementary School said, ‘We have Ramadan coming up, we have a different way of eating food, a different way of dressing. It doesn’t mean we don’t want to integrate into the [British] community; it’s just that we want the kids to understand their history because if you don’t have a history you don’t have a future.’
Gaiser, P. Hughes. (2015) Language provisions in Manchester’s supplementary schools, Manchester, UK
The importance of cultural space
- The cultural context of supplementary schools is their strength. A community language teacher in London’s Tower Hamlets with experience in both supplementary and mainstream schools says, ‘In the Bengali Club, my main role was to promote language learning and help them to do well in mainstream school. Parents also wanted us to familiarise their children with their culture and language. After-school club had a welcoming environment where parents were involved and teaching was more focused on the content, not assessments.’
Learner on NRCSE ‘Teaching a language in a supplementary school’ course, 2015
Demystifying the system
- In 2013, London Borough of Haringey commissioned a study into 15 supplementary schools that had been receiving funding since 2008. Focus groups were held with parents at four of the schools. ‘In my life, changing country, changing life, everything. Coming to the community centre is good. I get to meet other mothers, without this centre I’d stay in the house, I’d have no social life.’ ‘The parents who don’t come here; their children leave school and get married or join gangs. They don’t go to college. The mothers don’t know what opportunities there are for their children so they can’t help them.’ ‘The teachers here at KCC tell us what our children need to learn, for example the times tables, and how we need to help them.’
Parents attending the Kurdish Community Centre, Haringey – March 2013
Space for community members to support each other
- ‘This school was started 40 years ago because children were not getting the best, they were being short-changed, expectations for them were not high. This school offered them that.’
- ‘Yes, my father was an educationalist, he was part of the movement founding African Caribbean supplementary schools, part of the equalities struggle. Cultural literacy is crucial to my daughter’s learning.’
- ‘It’s more than just an extension of mainstream school. The teachers here are using their Caribbean culture in their teaching. The children hear that.’
Management committee members, Lemuel Findlay School, Haringey – March 2013
Recent evaluations of impact
Surveys have consistently found that children attending supplementary schools, and their parents, think that they help with mainstream schoolwork, enable children to benefit from greater parental engagement, and have a positive impact on student motivation
Maylor, U. et al (2010) Impact of Supplementary Schools on Pupils’ Attainment: An Investigation into What Factors Contribute to Educational Improvements. DCSF report RR210.
Study of supplementary schools in seven London boroughs found that their students on FSM achieved results in key tests that were better than local averages
Evans, D. and Vassie, P. (2012) Evidencing the impact of supplementary education across the beneficial area of John Lyon’s Charity http://www.johnlyonscharity.org.uk/initiatives/schools/
One recent study notes that while a strong correlation with attainment cannot be concluded, supplementary schools build confidence, wellbeing, and other characteristics important to a child’s education.
Evans, D. and Gillan-Thomas, K. (2015) Supplementary Schools: Descriptive analysis of supplementary school pupils’ characteristics and attainment in seven local authorities in England 2007/08-2011/12.
However, it is hard to establish causality – parents who are prepared to give up time to attend and help out at school every Saturday are also likely to be driven and engaged in all aspects of their children’s education.
Bastiani, J. (2000) Supplementary Schooling in the Lambeth Education Action Zone, IPPR. London. Chowdry, H. (2009) Drivers and Barriers to Educational Success: Evidence from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England. DCSF Research Report No. RR102. London: DCSF. Strand, S. (2001) Surveying the views of pupils attending supplementary schools in England.
Young people talk about supplementary school
Quality Mark Awards
Since September 2017, supplementary schools in: Barnet, Bradford, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea, Lewisham, Liverpool and Luton have completed NRCSE quality assurance. Two primary headteachers, two local authority EAL leads, one Secondary EAL consultant and a UNICEF assessor for Rights Respecting Schools have acted as educational experts providing a new level of expertise to the NRCSE’s quality assurance process and the opportunity for professional exchange on teaching and learning that supplementary schools have long been asking for. We are immensely grateful for their time and expertise given pro bono.
As a result, 18 schools have been awarded an NRCSE Quality Mark for Supplementary Education. Their Quality Mark reports are available to read on the directory of quality assured supplementary schools.
Quality assurance of out-of-school education
Since 2009, we have supported 493 supplementary schools to develop the quality of their provision. Through training, facilitation and moderation of nationally recognised and respected quality assurance for the supplementary education sector that:
- raises awareness,
- improves quality, and
- facilitates partnership
Quality assurance tools
- Online self-assessment against government standards
- 3-day Good Management course
- Site visits by quality development advisers and trained mentors
- NRCSE training (open, full-day, modular accredited)
- Quality recognition meetings
- Quality Mark Awards
To access all of these tools supplementary schools just need to join NRCSE
3-day Good Management course
Replacing the previous Bronze QF award, the 3-day Good Management course:
- enables us to give tailored guidance and advice that recognizes the strengths and the challenges of community-led provision;
- contact the relevant local safeguarding children board/s prior to delivery of the course, and
- ensure that local guidance and best practice is embedded in every aspect of safeguarding we discuss and practice with the schools.
Quality Mark portfolio of evidence
Reminder of the new quality standards in supplementary education
- Create an effective learning environment
- Teach effectively
- Record progress and achievement
- Choose the right resources
- Plan and develop your organisation
- Select and support staff and volunteers
- Make sure that children are safe
- Manage finances
Recognition meetings
Supplementary schools present their portfolios to a ‘recognition meeting’ where two experts (one from a mainstream educational background and one from NRCSE) will:
- scrutinise the evidence,
- listen to a short presentation from school representatives,
- ask questions, and
- come to a decision about the level at which the 8 standards have been achieved.
Quality Mark Awards
Since September 2017, supplementary schools in: Barnet, Bradford, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea, Lewisham, Liverpool and Luton have completed NRCSE quality assurance. Two primary headteachers, two local authority EAL leads, one Secondary EAL consultant and a UNICEF assessor for Rights Respecting Schools have acted as educational experts providing a new level of expertise to the NRCSE’s quality assurance process and the opportunity for professional exchange on teaching and learning that supplementary schools have long been asking for. We are immensely grateful for their time and expertise given pro bono.
As a result, 18 schools have been awarded an NRCSE Quality Mark for Supplementary Education. Their Quality Mark reports are available to read on the directory of quality assured supplementary schools.
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