Gareth made some general changes for example

Programme Information

Network TV BBC Week 37
Feature – interview with Gareth Malone

SCHOOL SEASON
Gareth Malone’s Extraordinary School For Boys

Gareth Malone has never been one to shy away from a challenge. He made his name on TV as the choirmaster in BBC Two’s The Choir, a series which saw him bring together people from all walks of life and turn them into accomplished singers, and, earlier this year, he took on the challenge of helping to put together a group of young people to perform at Glyndebourne, one of the world’s most celebrated opera houses.

Back in April, though, Gareth took on one of his most ambitious challenges to date that saw him becoming an educator for a term when he agreed to take on a group of 39 boys from an Essex school to help them try to re-engage with their schoolwork. Many of the boys weren’t fulfilling their potential at school and, like others across Britain, lagged behind their female peers in literacy. The result is Gareth Malone’s Extraordinary School For Boys – a three-part series for BBC Two that forms part of the channel’s School Season (a range of programming encompassing documentary, drama and debate, focusing on schools, the tough choices parents have to make and exploring innovations in teaching).

The school in question is Pear Tree Mead in Harlow, Essex, which was chosen from the many that were keen to take part in the project. «It’s typical statistically,» says Gareth. «It represents the national picture when talking about literacy and the discrepancy between boys and girls, so it felt like the right place to go.»

With the head teacher’s full consent and involvement, Gareth was challenged to «show there has been an improvement with the majority of boys, increasing their reading age by six months in just eight weeks». The reading ages of the boys were assessed both before and after he spent time at the school so there was a clear way to assess whether his efforts had been successful.

Gareth’s approach focused on three key main elements: competition, immediacy and managed risk. His «lessons» – which were held over three days a week while the boys continued their normal curricular studies on the remaining two days – took place predominately outside the classroom. And, naturally, the head teacher Chris Thurgood had the right to veto any of his ideas if she didn’t feel comfortable with them.

With a history of working in schools at various points in his adult life, Gareth was keen to get involved. «I’ve taught drama and music and I was a learning assistant for a while in a classroom, working as a learning mentor for a boy who had special educational needs, which was a really good experience,» says Gareth. «This project really sparked my interest.

«The Choir tended to be about boys – or men. I find they often provide the most interesting points for debate. This was something I’d talked about, this discrepancy between boys and girls and the style of education they respond to, so I was really passionate about it.»

Head teacher Chris Thurgood acknowledged the discrepancy in her school, saying: «There are a lot of boys in the school who, for all sorts of reasons, haven’t made the progress we’d expect, and certainly haven’t made the same sort of progress as the girls, particularly in reading and writing.» She continues: «I want them to achieve what they’re capable of achieving – they deserve it.»

For two weeks, Gareth sat in on mixed classes to observe how the children were learning, before taking the boys on himself. «In general, there were boys who were doing perfectly well who didn’t need my help, and there were boys who weren’t doing well, and some girls, but generally speaking the boys were not doing as well as the girls in literacy.

«I was given eight weeks after they’d done their SATS and I had all the boys in years five and six. It was agreed with the board of governors that I was allowed a bit more freedom with the curriculum than teachers usually have and, on the days I wasn’t there, the school would ensure the requirements of the National Curriculum were met. The girls went off and had their lessons separately – they had good fun things to do as well and they were involved in the project but just not as much as the boys.»

After talking with educationalists, Gareth came up with his plan for the boys. «There’s some theory,» he says, «but also gut instinct, based on my own experience of being a learner. I was a cub and a scout, too, and that played into it a lot. And I was also one of those boys who didn’t really get excited about reading until I was about nine, although I had positive male role models at home who did read.»

Gareth believes the themes he chose are integral to educating boys. «We felt the themes were really important to boys and that they were perhaps not present enough or missing from their education. Their education wasn’t bad by any means, we just wanted to add some extra ingredients to help redress the balance, always with the ultimate aim of engaging the boys more in literacy.»

The first theme was competition. «Boys absolutely love competition – as do girls – but particularly boys. It fell out of fashion at some point. There is a way to do competition that doesn’t destroy people and, I think, it’s actually really important – it’s about learning to accept failure and bouncing back from it. If you’ve never done that until you go for your first job interview, or your first failure is when you fail your GCSEs, then you’re in real trouble.

«Primary school is a good place to help build resilience to failure in children so that they can learn how to succeed from that and learn that it’s about hard work and trying again.»

The second theme was immediacy. Explains Gareth: «Boys love immediacy – they need immediate tasks and need to be told, ‘Right, you’ve got 10 minutes to do this and then I’m going to come back’. Then they’re off. Girls are like that, too, but boys more so.

«Immediacy is about ‘What am I doing right now?’. To children, the past, which is 10 seconds ago, is gone, and the future, which is in 10 seconds’ time, is light years away. Boys are very much in the present tense and you’ve got to give them challenges that will captivate them in the present tense and excite them about what they’re about to do.»

The final element of Gareth’s plan was managed risk – but these all involved activities that were within the allowable parameters for the school.

«I’m not suggesting at all we put the pupils properly at risk but I wanted to engender a sense in these boys that there is excitement in what they’re doing. So things like climbing trees – but with a helmet and harness – all of which was health and safety checked and done with the permission of the head teacher.

«This is all about encouraging the children and teachers at the school to feel that actually you can do this stuff. Health and safety is not there to stop you going to the local woods – it’s there to make you think sensibly about it and about the risks and benefits of doing it.

«The head was willing to let us do most of the things suggested but there were things she said no to,» adds Gareth, «one of which was swimming in the sea – that, for her, was too far.» She felt that was an activity for parents – rather than the school – to choose whether or not to do with their child.

Risk, says Gareth, is about «personal challenge. The theory being that, if you are being challenged, you are learning to overcome obstacles in one realm and when you come back to the classroom you will have more confidence to tackle those things. It’s not quite as clear cut as that but that’s the general sense. You need these things in your life – you need to be challenged, I think it’s really important.»

One of the first challenges Gareth set up for the boys was a debating competition against the girls. «What I was trying to do was improve literacy, but not by teaching them to read and write. It was by doing other things that would stimulate them and excite them about language.»

While the boys were initially reluctant about the debating competition, it was a challenge that soon excited them. «They got really het up about it, saying: ‘Right, we’ve got to make better arguments.’

«We also had a reading world cup, where the boys read in teams, and they got really excited about that, too, because there was a prize at the end. They all really got into it.

«With the girls joining in, they also wrote their own school play, helped by author Jonny Zucker; and it was about aliens and Romans and William the Conqueror. The play was put on at the Harlow Playhouse, in front of the general public, and they were understandably pretty nervous about that, because they were responsible for something, and they slowly realised that we weren’t going to write it for them and they had to knuckle down. And it was scary – but good scary.»

Gareth says that it was this «general sense of interest in things» that he was trying to encourage. «If you’re getting a child excited about coming to school then you’re getting somewhere. You can always acquire knowledge, that’s almost the easy part, but how do you acquire enthusiasm and excitement? That’s more intangible and I think, actually, it’s as important, if not more important, than giving them just the focus on the core skills. These core skills are vitally important – you’ve got to have all that and the teachers were doing a good job of that, and most of the boys were able to read; they just didn’t want to and so some were behind the level they should have reached at that age.»

Gareth is keen to point out that the teachers at Pear Tree Mead were doing a great job and that they also supported him with the boys, particularly when he left the premises with them. «I was assisted and the teachers were helpful and hugely onside if, understandably, a little sceptical of my ideas sometimes! But it was my job to deal with the boys.»

He’s also not advocating same-sex schools and believes that both boys and girls need the balance of each other. «What I’m really supporting is giving teachers permission to say that boys are different and their education needs might be different sometimes and altered accordingly.

«I don’t want to give away how the boys did when their reading was tested again at the end of term, but promising is the word I would use for the results. I truly think it was worth all the hard work and effort, not just from me but the boys themselves.»

And as a new school term begins, head teacher Chris is looking at the activities Gareth used with a view to seeing which she might want to implement at the school over the next year and possibly beyond. And Gareth is hoping to go back to judge next year’s debating competition and to see how the boys are getting on.

«The great thing with The Choir is that you’ve got 100 boys on stage, all singing a song, and it looks like a miracle has happened. It’s much harder with this because you’re talking about an improvement in reading age – it’s less tangible, it’s slow. But the consequence is huge – there’s much more at stake in this series; this is boys’ lives and futures.»

Extraordinary school for boys

Урок 39. Английский язык 11 класс ФГОС

В данный момент вы не можете посмотреть или раздать видеоурок ученикам

Чтобы получить доступ к этому и другим видеоурокам комплекта, вам нужно добавить его в личный кабинет, приобретя в каталоге.

Получите невероятные возможности

Конспект урока «Extraordinary school for boys»

How are you? Hope, you’re all fine and ready for another lesson.

To begin with, answer as many questions as you can in one minute.

1. How many wives did King Henry VIII have?

2. What is the capital of Brazil?

3. Who wrote The Lord of the Rings?

4. How many megabytes are there in a gigabyte?

5. Who developed the theory of relativity?

6. What is 5*18 / 4?

7. How many legs does an insect have?

8. What is water made of?

hydrogen and oxygen

How many did you get right?

Now match the questions with the school subjects.

Now look at the photos. What can you see?

You’re going to listen to a radio programme about the experiment in one of the British schools.

Gareth Malone first made his name on TV as a choirmaster in BBC2 The Choir, a series in which he brought together all kinds of people who had never sung before and turned them into accomplished singers.

Then Gareth took even a bigger challenge. He became a primary school teacher for a term. His mission was to teach a group of 11-year-old boys from a mixed primary school in Essex in the south of England.

Many of the boys weren’t doing well at school and, like many other boys in Britain, they were a long way behind the girls in reading and writing. The result is Gareth Malone’s Extraordinary School for Boys – a three-part series for BBC2.

In your country, are boys usually behind girls in reading and writing?

Listen to Part 1 of a programm about the experiment and answer the questions:

1. How long did Gareth have to teach the boys?

2. What was his aim?

3. What 3 things did he believe were important?

Gareth had only 8 weeks for the experimen, during which time he would be teaching 3 days a week. His aim was to try to improve the boys reading age by 6 months. On the other 2 days the boys would have normal lessons with the girls.

His plan was based on his own experience of being a learner, and from talking to educational experts. He had 3 main principles:

First, that it was essential to make the work feel like play. “If I can do that, the boys will learn,” said Gareth.

The second principle was competition. Gareth says, “Boys absolutely love competition! It has gone out of fashion in British schools, but I think it’s really important. Boys have to learn to lose and to fail and to come back from that. If you’ve never done that until you fail your A levels, or until you go for your first job interview and don’t get the job, then you’ve got a problem.”

The third thing Gareth thought was important was to allow boys to take risks – all kinds of risk. Not just physical risks like climbing trees, but doing things like acting in front of other people. Doing things which are a bit scary, but which are very motivating if you manage to do them.

Are you ready to answer the questions?

1. How long did Gareth have to teach the boys?

2. What was his aim?

3. What 3 things did he believ were important?

While listening to the other part of the programme, complete the following chart, please.

Pay attention to what changes Gareth made and what he organised to improve their language skills.

When Gareth started, he made some changes to the way the children were learning. The boys spent a lot of time outside, and tey did PE every day before normal lessons began. They even made their own outdoor classrom.

Gareth also tried to involve the boys’ parents as much as possible in their education and he visited them at ther homes on several occasions.

Gareth set up 3 major activities for the boys to help improve their language skills. The first activity was a school debating competition against the girls. The topic that the children had to debate was “Computer games should be banned”.

When they started to prepare for the debates, the boys weren’t very enthusiastic, but soon they started to get more involved. In the end the girls won the debate, but the boys had learnt to argue and make points, to express themselves better. They were disappointed not to have won, but they wanted to do it again.

Finally, the boys (working with girls) had to write their own play and perform it at the local theatre. The play they wrote was about Romans and aliens. All the children, boys and girls, worked really hard and although some of them felt very nervous before they performed the play, it was a great success and the boys especially were thrilled. Gareth said afterwards, “It was a risk, and it was scary – but it was good scary.”

Now you are going to hear how well Gareth did in the experiment. Do you think the boys’ reading improved?

The boys had a great time with Gareth as their teacher. But at the end of the 8 week, had their reading really improved?

In the last week of the term, they had to do their national reading exams. The exams were independently marked, and when the results were announced the boys had made great progress – all of them had improved by 6 months and some of them had advanced the equivalentof two years in just 8 weeks!

Here are a few topics for you to think over or discuss. Decide if you agree or disagree and wite down 2-3 reasons.

1. Boys and girls both learn better in single-sex schools.

2. Schools should let children wear whatever they want to school.

3. Cooking and housework should be taought at school.

4. Schools don’t teach children the important thinhgs they need to know to be an adult.

5. School summer holidays sholud be shorter.

6. Children spend too much time on maths and IT, and not enough time on things like music, art, and drama.

7. Private schools are usually better than state schools.

Organize your ideas in the following way:

Gareth Malone’s Extraordinary School For Boys

In the summer term of 2010 I was welcomed by Chris Thurgood, the head teacher of Pear Tree Mead Primary School, to teach a class of 39 boys. Since arriving at the school two years previously, she had been aware of the discrepancy in educational achievement between boys and girls.

Quite simply the girls were doing better and they couldn’t seem to get the boys to knuckle down. She made an unlikely choice: She accepted my offer that I, a choirmaster, might be able to help her sort out the problem.

To begin, I spoke to many educational experts and drew on my own experience as a boy at a regular state primary school. I remember our headmaster, Mr Brine, was kind but imposing.

Later on I attended Bournemouth Grammar School. The selective atmosphere suited me down to the ground because I couldn’t bear to come last at anything academic. It was run on traditional lines and I think it’s influenced the person I am today in a number of ways.

Because I’m known as a choirmaster people imagine that I don’t do anything else, as if all choirmasters sit around listening to music from 1605. So when I arrived at Pear Tree Mead I was worried that I would not be taken seriously by the teachers when it came to literacy.

This was a departure for me and that made me nervous. That and the prospect of teaching 39 boys.

I was advised that boys need to know who’s in charge, what the rules are, and if they will be applied fairly. With that simple adage I progressed. I can’t say I always prevailed but you have to show the boys that you are not to be trifled with.

At the same time, boys can be very sensitive and when they are scared or not getting their own way they can lash out. Training the boys to listen to each other and be respectful of each others’ feelings is the work of a lifetime.

I was amazed how often boys cry over tiny things. We have this image that crying is for girls but, wow, the boys could cry at anything: Falling over, petty injustices in the playground, or just because they were not able to do something.

From talking to the experts, teachers and parents, I’ve become convinced that modern life is pulling boys in directions that don’t necessarily help the basic skills of reading and writing.

Many boys play hours and hours of computer games every day which can be over-stimulating. By contrast a book can seem rather dull and that too much effort is required for not as much reward. In addition, children aren’t allowed to roam as freely as they were in the past.

There are obviously real safety concerns about letting kids out unsupervised but too much ‘cotton-wooling’ is damaging for a boy’s sense of self belief, and I found that if I gave them responsibility to step outside their comfort zone they really rose to the challenge.

Some of the boys were very behind in their reading. It was deeply affecting and difficult to know how to help. Several times I wondered if my approach was having anything but a detrimental effect, because as a new teacher you measure your success minute by minute.

If an activity goes well then you are elated. If it doesn’t go according to plan it can leave you feeling pretty dejected and make you question yourself constantly. I think that over time teachers learn to roll with the punches.

But over the course of the term we did make a difference. I’m really proud that I tackled something that is of real importance. I’m proud of what I achieved with the boys and that the school will be taking some of my ideas forward.

I loved the excitement of the boys debating with the girls in the first programme, but camping in the school grounds was the most memorable experience. Tending the fire in the dead of night whilst the boys slept under the starlight was magical.

Gareth Malone’s Extraordinary School For Boys starts at 9pm on Thursday, 9 September at 9pm on BBC Two and is part of the channel’s School Season of programmes.

To find out times of all episodes from this series, please visit the upcoming episodes page.

Read the BBC Parenting blog post about the programme by David Shaw, member of the BBC Parent Panel.

Comments Post your comment

Comment number 1.

Comment number 2.

I can not agree with Majella more. Teachers have known this for years.

Does Gareth really think that he is onto something here and that he is now a pioneer in education? If I was allowed the time, money and release on expectations then does that mean that I can get a BBC programme too? Because I am sure that what Gareth has achieved is nothing more than every teacher would love that they could do on a daily basis. But, we can’t, pure and simple because of the pressures that are put on us.

Come into a real school situation and see the pressures that teachers are really under with monitoring, planning, no money, parents etc.

If you want to make a difference then get into Goverment and do something about it.

Comment number 3.

Comment number 4.

I’m watching with great interest as a Scout Leader in an area with some very poorly performing schools.

This programme is a great opportunity to educate parents and the general public about the deficiencies of our current education system. Hopefully, this will lead to more pressure for reform of the curriculum and of teaching practices.

Comment number 5.

Sorry Gareth, ‘awesome’, ‘amazing’ etc. are extreme adjectives. The superlative versions would be ‘the most awesome’ and ‘the most amazing’.

Looking forward to the next episodes though!

Comment number 6.

Stop being so negative about the show and take it as inspiration! I think even to take a couple of ideas and use them within singular lessons would be incredible! Boys can develop through not just them taking risks but by US AS TEACHERS TAKING RISKS! For the good of the children have an open mind!!

Comment number 7.

Everyone seems to be forgetting that Boys are fantastic and girls are elastic!

Comment number 8.

A fascinating start. It may not be a new idea but as a mother of a boisterous boy, I have gained a lot of insight into how they tick.
It may not be something that can be done in the education system but it shows where Scouts and adventure sports can assist in the education of boys. I disagree with the contributor who thought the word awesome sent the programme down hill. Find things they understand to give them the understanding then stretch their vocabulary. As much as we may dislike the work it is very much in common useage today. Did you see how excited they were about the highway man poem? I never got that excited over a poem at their age and I am a book worm!! I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Comment number 9.

Enjoyed the programme. I can’t believe the weather was so good all the time. What happens to the plan when Gareth goes away?

Comment number 10.

I am the mother of four sons. My third son had an IQ of 140+ but was ‘diagnosed’ as ADHD. He frequently skipped school during school hours, taking his younger brother with him. Reason? He was bored stupid. They made tents in the woods near the school. Despite my requests the school never alerted me when he was missing. Schools have been transformed into sausage making factories. if you don’t fit the mould you won’t get them the ratings in the tables and therefore they’d rather do without you. Why, if we are all different and appreciated for our diversity in the workplace, aren’t we appreciated and taught as individuals at school when it matters? The education system destroys more lives than any other insidious drug. We need to transform it to engage all of our community in a fair and equitable shot at life. The investment needs to start here. Not in their later life as benefit payments.

Comment number 11.

Its kinda sad the comments that teachers from the comments «already know this» so why has nothing been done? Im sure there are parents who could volunteer to help to give the boys support?

I rolled my eyes as a young girl talks about «positve gender mixes», the brain-washing already begining.

Men and women both have there strengths and weaknesses but it seems school has become too feminised. I’m in my thirties and remember back at school, the girls getting to go to special talks by women outside from industry but the boys had nothing! I can only assume things have got more one sided as time has gone on.

Comment number 12.

Comment number 13.

Comment number 14.

Comment number 15.

Interesting stuff, much of which we try to use in our school. We firmly believe that talk is very important and that risk taking, not just the physical, is important to help children to develop their desire to learn and their writing. I loved the idea of getting the children to give a commentary during the football match, I shall nick that one.
No Gareth Malone is not a teacher but I am sure that the research that backs up the program is valid and that he has had enough experience to do no more damage than the average student on a first practise. does anyone really think he has planned all of this without the help of well qualified teachers?
If you feel that taking a risk in the classroom is not worth the effort or if you are worried that by doing so you might fail then you already have. Take a risk and be open minded.

Comment number 16.

Sorry, but your moderation is taking too long so I will give up on this site

Comment number 17.

Comment number 18.

I was at school until the mid-80s when the govt announced that girls weren’t doing as well as boys at school so the schools had to do something about it. It seems to me that they were left by the wayside in order to meet govt targets.

Comment number 19.

I do like the ideas in the programme and I believe that the work with the boys has some mileage (I’m not saying that it would be practical in a «real school» environment). As some have already said, the practicality of doing this sort of thing is almost mind-boggling. The paperwork involved would be enormous, getting parents to agree etc.

The problem is that as teachers we are judged by Ofsted criteria, where an Ofsted inspector comes in for approximately 20 minutes in which time they expect to see significant progress in the knowledge of the class, or majority of the class. There was certainly progress during tonight’s programme for many of the students, but that was over a week. Unfortunately for Gareth, his entire week of lessons would have been graded «Unsatisfactory» by Ofsted as the progress was minimal in those short periods of time.

I’m not saying that it’s right, but teachers are now judged purely on snapshots of the school year, and the pressure placed upon teachers to cover the entire curriculum and show progress in short periods of time make what Gareth’s doing ultimately unworkable. As people have said on this blog, it would be lovely to do this sort of thing but it’s ultimately unworkable in the current education system.

Comment number 20.

I can see what Gareth is trying to do but he could maximise the effect of the games and outdoor activities by getting the boys to write about what they’ve just been doing.
He could also get them to stand up in class and tell everyone what fun it’s been and how they think it’s benefitted them. Also try to encourage them to read SHORT adventure stories and talk about them to an all boys class.
He could also try to encourage the parents to read TO their boys at home but stop just when the story gets exciting and make them read it themselves.
It worked for my boy

Comment number 21.

Comment number 22.

It’s brilliant to see such enthausiasm but feel that teaching the boys seperately from the girls is a mistake. Think that society as a whole through gender stereotyping restricts boys from achieving the same level of emotional inteligence as girls, with the outcome being that they trail behind girls in literacy. Encouraging boys to be emotional beings would be a good start. A good example being my 4 year old boy asked me if pink was a girl colour, to which i explained that a colour does not need to be assigned a gender.

Comment number 23.

I was genuinely saddened to see the lack of confidence these boys displayed. I think it is fantastic that this programme is out there. It is a real shame that paperwork comes before the children. Perhaps this will get more people volunteering as teaching assistants to support the terrible strain that teachers face.

The boys of the next generation certainly need to have the power of speech and belief in what they can achieve rather than the power of the bullet. It is true there are many factors that contribute to the shaping of our children but self-belief and compassion are the most valuable tools they can be armed with.

Comment number 24.

I really do admire Gareths approach to teaching the boys in the way he did. As a trainee teacher I really empathise with what he is trying to achieve and make a difference. This is the aim of any teacher to improve standards and make a difference and a positive impact on the way children learn. I am approaching my dissertation and am looking into whether engaging with childrens imagination through speaking and listening activities and drama, can effect children’s attitude towards writing. I especially liked his approach to using the highwayman poem. I hope the curriculum does become more fluid in times to come, and that teachers will not feel constrained, but will feel free to teach the way they want to achieve the best they can for their pupils.

Comment number 25.

Comment number 26.

Watched the programme and it made me feel sad. I left teaching this year after 14 years (secondary) despite good OFSTED grades etc due to the stifling target driven culture. This years results were our best ever, but I effectively «managed» coursework to ensure the grades. The system is a travesty and if I earn the cash I will send my kids to a local private school where they are actually treated like individuals. Rant over.

Comment number 27.

What Gareth is doing is not new to educationalists and does not encompass the many duties and red tape that teachers currently face. However that does not mean that what he is trying to do does not have value. He is trying to find that if the red tape and restrictions are removed then will it engage boys in literacy and raise their reading ages? And if the answer is yes then why are teachers not free to use this approach? And any programme which is able to do this, can only be a good thing.

Comment number 28.

I am sick of all this, what appears to be, teacher-bashing nonsense! Malone certainly has his heart in the right place, but don’t we all? The vast majority of teachers are stymied by unrealistic targets, (what exactly is the «Fisher Family Trust»?); which are set by managers/politicians that are so enamoured of league tables that they think they are an opportunity to make themselves look successful, regardless of the learning experience of children. Malone ought to try his methods at secondary school (I’ve tried and been frowned upon because what I want to do isn’t easily «assessible»). We are ordered to teach children how to learn, and, for the most part, ignore subject specific content. God forbid! I despair! Why should we teach people how to learn? Surely learning is based on knowledge and experience? I quit!

Comment number 29.

As the father of an intelligent (I know all parents think their kids are the next Einstein) five year old I was very concerned by the attitude of the teachers. It seemed to me that they had already written off the boys as lower achievers than the girls. If I see this defetist attitude in my sons teachers then I will not accept it, just like the teachers should never display such an attitude to the children. If they see you giving up on them as low achievers then they WILL be low achievers, it’s a self fulfilling prophecy.

I’ll apologise for any spelling mistakes but whenI was at school I was forced to conform and never actually motivated, however in later life I have found I have a tested IQ of 142.

I also really feel that primary schools must employ male teachers and encourage male teachers to provide role models. At my sons school the only man is the caretaker (sorry, building manager!)

Comment number 30.

My husband and I have just watched the programme, we found the teachers showed favour toward the girls and although they said wanted boys to be more outgoing, they showed by their attitude after the first face to face with Gareth that they resented them speaking out and would have preferred them to sit down and shut up.
The teachers spoken English was poor and they were no example to pupils as they were untidy. This school as with many other junior schools in today’s education system needs more role models for both sexes, neither of this is evident in this school. Respect is a two way street, to get it you earn it but you also need to give it.

Comment number 31.

Comment number 32.

Comment number 33.

As a teacher in a primary school I found this programme only took the view that primary schools were dull, boring places where boys could not be inspired about anything. This is really not the case. Today I engaged my class in a lesson about poetry using body percussion and re-enacted a battle with my class on our school field to explain how the Tudors came to the throne! Yes of course we still do learn how to read and write but it can be done in an inspiring way! There are some teachers left who do engage their classes and try their hardest to find creative ways to deliver an otherwise dull curriculum. And I have been teaching for 16 years and not in the throes of an enthusiastic NQT year! I know I’m not alone either. Maybe if teachers were left to their own devices we wouldn’t ‘destroy more lives than any other insidious drug’! Bee wise? Open your eyes!

Comment number 34.

As a past school governor I strongly believe that girls are better suited to the standard classroom environment than boys. It is a question of engaging boys to stimulate them at a time when their communicative skills are less developed than girls. I do not believe that boys are any less able than girls, it is just that many are less engaged with a system which does not address these issues.

I agree with previous comments in that teachers are too constrained by rules, regulations, lack of funding and an over reliance on a one fits all National Curriculum.

Give schools and teachers back the freedom to teach our kids at their own pace! While all schools cannot re-create what Gareth is doing I feel that he is trying to address this fundamental problem and many lessons can be learned.

Comment number 35.

I am a teacher too and totally agree with Majella. Boys might well love this kind of approach but it just needs such a substantial improvement in the teacher/pupil ratio that it wouldn’t be workable.

Young males can tire of this approach too. I’ve seen so many ‘fun’ teachers seem to develop strong relationships with the boys in the class and gain an initial improvement which would eventually reverse as the ‘novelty loving’ boys tired of them.

Comment number 36.

Well Done!! Having a 10 year old son who is allergic to reading and writing I found this programme both inspiring and compelling!! Its about time someone realised. My sons favourite lessons are Maths and PE and Golden Time on a Friday! Lets face it even when they are allowed to play in the playground, there are so many health and safety rules on what they can play and do there is nowhere to be free! They are not even allowed on the play area if its slightly wet, in case they fall! 🙁

Comment number 37.

Comment number 38.

Comment number 39.

We definately need more male teachers in our primary schools. My 5 year old son reacts so positively to the male football coaches and gymnasts brought in on occasion. I think good male role models from early on is crucial for our boys.

Comment number 40.

Comment number 41.

I really enjoyed this programme and find the teacher responses to it hilarious and predictable. Listening to those boys just shows how the system is failing them when the main concern is about form filling in and risk assessments. If boys don’t learn to read at school they won’t be getting those jobs that require form filling! They consistently had low self esteem issues and their boredom leads to distraction and under performance. No-one is suggesting every school builds an outdoor classroom but this highlighted how engaging boys into one of the fundamental skills of long term success in life requires thought. I currently care for four boys as a childminder and have specifically ensured that they are enjoying books and pick up on their interests wherever possible. It does involve more time but they shouldn’t be disadvantaged by lazy teaching which doesn’t address the problem early on.

The health and safety concern serves to highlight why boys are being disadvantaged in general and many teachers need to think outside the guidelines. What’s more of a barrier to getting a job? A bruise or the reading age of a 10 year old when they’re 20?

Comment number 42.

Fantastic programme, just what boys need at school, but don’t they also need teachers that can speak english!

Comment number 43.

Surely the one of the big factors on boys underachievement at Peartree Mead is the lack of positive male role models on the staff. The female year five teachers who appeared on the first episode came across as very defensive and excessively negative of Gareth’s alternative approach. They seemed most concerned that the boys were kept in their place. How are boys meant to flourish if their essential nature isn’t accepted, celebrated and positively channelled through example?

Comment number 44.

I think it is great what gareth is doing, my son gets quite depressed when he is at school. He is himself when he is at home because he knows he is free to be himself.
Also i think there is a need for more male teachers in primary schools. Boys need grown up boys to look up to, to learn respect and trust. This is not sexist as I am female, how can you input a female way of doing things when you are not female in the first place, its like trying to make a cat be a dog.

Comment number 45.

We thought the teachers themselves had a lot to learn about use of the English language!

Comment number 46.

Comment number 47.

For 30 years the system has been destroying the ability to engage boys whilst making efforts to improve the outcome for girls.

Teachers need to lead and inspire.

Comment number 48.

I think the comments of Jenny «oh come on» and the scout leader articulate how I feel. All I add is that I felt very moved watching. How close each child everywhere comes so close to being let down by us adults and writing himself/herself off. For boys, maybe some positive discrimination process to get more men into primary schools required to offset the girl power. Those boys eatured just exhibit so many adult male characteristics and didn’t seem happy for it!

Comment number 49.

I completely agree with Jenny. The current education system is failing boys and as a parent with three boys aged between 9 and 19, two of whom are severely dylexic I have known this for years. Under the current system boys are feeling lost and «thick» as my boys have said they feel. The current system of course has limited funding (I work in the NHS and funding issues are a fact of life) but that doesn’t stop teachers being creative. It doesn’t cost a penny to take a class out into the playground or onto the school field, just a degree of imagination and creativity. Girls would learn this way just as well as the boys. Come on teachers it’s up to you to push the boundaries here. We all remember the teachers that inspired and motivated us. Gareth may not be a teacher but he most definitely has the right idea. Our boys deserve better.

Comment number 50.

I’m one of only two male members of staff in a primary school (the other being the caretaker) and have always been a passionate believer in helping make a difference in boys’ lives and education. I am currently a Midday Supervisor and Voluntary Teaching Assistant. Ever since I first started at the school three years ago I have been told regularly by other staff members, parents, children and members of the local community that boys need a «good male role model» like myself. I know for a fact how much the boys look up to me and respond differently to me than to any of the female staff because I have seen it. I am hugely popular both in and out of the school with children, parents and staff. Unfortunately, the head-teacher has repeatedly turned-down my suggestions and requests to do more work with the older boys, instead I am left to work with the Infants. She is completely aware of both how much I am needed and how much the boys want me, especially as some of them have even tried writing her petitions and letters to get her to let me work with them more. But she still won’t back down. I think this is extremely detrimental to their development as I have seen first hand how much they respond to me and how reluctant they can be to learn or read. I also think there are too many times when boys are quickly written-off as being badly-behaved or a «bit of a handful» in class, when in fact they have a huge potential to be better and have occasionally demonstrated this.

Anyway, I think Gareth should be commended for trying to bring this out in the open about just how seriously boys need help, particularly from men to succeed and learn. He is a true inspiration to me and I will definitely be watching the rest of the series.

Comment number 51.

Comment number 52.

Comment number 53.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Comment number 54.

Finally someone who recognises the value of active learning and outdoor learning in motivating children beyond the age of 5. The boys comments to me outlined everything that is wrong with our education system. They are not being stimulated or challenged in a traditional classroom, are bored and have given up believing that they are capable.

Recognising that speaking fluently is a pre-requisite of reading and writing is also vital. Surely part of the problem is that boys are being forced to read and write in a formal classroom before they have had a chance to develop the underlying skills. Let’s look not at those children who have already given up and lost interest but instead look at what we can do to encourage interest in literacy from the youngest age and continue to foster this as they grow up.

Comment number 55.

Comment number 56.

If anything shows just how much schools are failing boys [and active girls] it was this programme.

Maybe the fault lies in the teaching rather than the taught.

I have taken a mixed age group of children from 2 years to 12 years to a Forest School where all of the children used sharp tools, made fires, cooked over the fire and not a hard hat in site despite the fact that saws and knives were used.

It requires more effort to make lessons exciting and maybe that is where the problem is.

Comment number 57.

What was really evident to me was that the centre of it all was the teacher. Gareth was an imaginative and courageous teacher, with little experience, training, behaviour or ‘classroom’ management skills. It was like watching a first term PGCE placement of a promising pupil. Give him another 3 or 4 years and his talent would have been grounded in experience and been wonderful. His premise works to a point, but a reflective practitioner would have been able to refine it further rather than dogmatically pursue his theory. I experience the lack of self belief amongst boys everyday with my own son. Many teacher oare demoralised by all the excessive paperwork designed for politicians to look good on the hustings. I was very sorry to see the scrapping of the Rose review ideas, as those seemed to be giving the power back to teachers

Comment number 58.

I hope all parents and teachers watching that programme winced as I did when one of the boy’s fathers said his son was not interested in reading because books were boring! Therein lies the a big part of the problem. I bet the vast majority of those boys’ fathers aren’t interested in reading either because, when they were at school, reading was definitely seen as «girly» and here they are passing on those same jaded views to their sons. It’s also a fair bet most of those dads (and too many of the mums as well) never read a bedtime story to their boys when they were younger because they either still don’t read well or still think it’s boring!
However, their viewpoint could have been vindicated by the female teacher’s choice of getting the class to write about a very «girly» fairystory in the first part of the programme!! No wonder the girls thought it was great but the boys were bored witless. And before anyone gets on their high horse about «sexism» and how boys «need to know about fairystories too», I also think we should be teaching girls that changing a plug and knowing the difference between a Phillips and a flathead screwdriver and what an Allen key does in flatpack furniture assembly, are not just male activities!
It is also right to say that teachers need to challenge overuse of H&S but sadly too many of them still seem to think it is a jolly useful tool (along with the perennial excuse of paperwork)to avoid having to do their real job which is providing their pupils with the motivation to learn which is exactly what Gareth is doing. Stop moaning and whining about how difficult it is to do your job and get on with it instead.

Comment number 59.

This programme deals with 39 boys who were considered to be under-achievers in literacy. Why therefore were 3 or 4 boys featured above the others? Were these boys chosen as truly representative of the whole group or because they made interesting viewing?

Comment number 60.

Comment number 61.

I take it that some people have never heard of forest schools.

Comment number 62.

Both boys are bright and above average intelligence; my eldest under achieved at the grammar school because the school was too focused on their position in the school league table and not on the education of their pupils and my youngest is doing ok but with a lot of encouragement and motivation from home because he is one of 1200 pupils and the teachers are too busy completing paperwork to actually teach!

Whatever the problems may be within our education system in the UK, the main cause of a whole generation of boys under achieving at school is in the way they are being taught. Boys are different to girls – their brains function differently, they learn differently and therefore they need to be taught differently. The sooner this fundamental difference is acknowledged by the Government and so-called educationalists the sooner the problem can be rectified.

It’s too late for my sons, both of whom have been the guinea pigs of experimental educational whims and policies but I do hope Gareth Malone’s approach to helping these young boys at Pear Tree Mead improve their literacy skills is taken on board by government ministers, the education departments, teachers, and parents alike! Every primary school should have a Mr. Malone.
Am looking forward to the next episode.

Comment number 63.

Does the fact that there are no male teachers at this school highlight the performance of the boys.?

Comment number 64.

As an aspiring teacher with specific intentions towards the advocation of Literacy and the skills involved, I am heartened to see Gareth’s attempt to make it more fun and refresh the whole concept in the wired, HD, full colour minds of children as they are today. It takes maturity, a sense of patience, almost a kind of deferred gratification to get from a book that which a game console can deliver with very little effort on behalf of the user. Children don’t fully possess these traits, indeed, they are on the cusp of understanding them, but largely forge them for something more interesting.
Interest is a huge part of education, I can remember myself that I did do and continue to do better in those subjects that I feel a passion for. Hence I am hugely disappointed in the comments of Majella and Ali who show a desire to do something on par with Gareth but seem resigned to the fact that it could never happen outside of the BBC and are even rebuking him for going against the grain and doing something unrealistic.
Call it idealism, call it naivety but I am a great believer that one person can make a difference, especially in teaching, and inspire children to extend their reach and be more than they think they can be. True enough, I shudder to think of the paperwork, the health and safety checks and the sheer organisation involved etc, but that’s not to say that unorthodox teaching methods like those shown tonight are an impossibility.
The education system needs people like Gareth once in a while to refresh ideas and break the mould a little bit. It must be very easy to get stuck in the repetitiveness of lesson plans, meetings, spoon feeding one class, then another, just to get it so they can pass their exams.
While perhaps not a pioneer, Gareth is fulfilling a very important role and certainly, watching his attempts to make learning fun was nothing short of inspirational. Should I indeed join the ranks of teaching professionals, that is the kind of teacher I want to be. Innovative, engaging and energetic. I look forward to the next one.

Comment number 65.

Comment number 66.

While acknowledging the difficulties Gareth’s experiment bring you can not deny that it was an inspiration.

I teach languages so any ideas to engage students, in my case not just boys, are always very welcome.

For a multi-cultural society we are increasingly arrogant about the importance of English. Being able to order a meal in a restaurant in Europe does not mean ‘everyone speaks English’ as many students seem to be more & more convinced by their parents.

Comment number 67.

At the end of the debate, Gareth kept telling the boys they had done really, really well and that they shouldn’t be disappointed in losing to the girls. While I agree with his emphasis in pointing out how far they had come in a week and what they had learnt etc, I believe that it would have been even more powerful if he had empathised with the boys’ feelings of disappointment.

What he was doing was repeating what has probably been done to them time and time again over the years by (often well-meaning) parents and teachers, namely invalidating the boys’ feelings by telling them they were wrong to be disappointed. Such invalidation is very destructive to a young person’s emotional well-being and could well contribute to one of the problems he struggled with, namely how to do something about the boys’ low self confidence.

It would have been much more effective if he simply said how he completely understood that they must be shattered, frustrated, annoyed etc having put in such an effort, progressed so far and still come second in the debate.

Great programme all the same! As my wife put it: «it must be autumn as there are some decent programmes on again».

Comment number 68.

Hmmm, The first Comments on this blog are a disgrace. Anyone who has read a Steve Biddulph book would know that. Boys are in general are bonkers but always in a good way. I work in schools every day, not as a teacher generally though occasionally. By that I am a school photographer and run several photography courses. Though with this subject the boys are brilliant in primary schools because there’s a gadget involved.

I know from school principals that budgets are horrendously tight but from a few enlightened school heads they know that boys are very different from girls when it comes to comparing levels of ability in early years. Our society has changed dramatically in a very short space of time. For hundreds of years boys have been moved to apprenticeships at roughly age 13 to spend time with older all male peer groups. With the collapse of heavy industry and manufacturing this no longer happens. In ancient societies, American Indian for example boys left the family to be brought into manhood by other men within the tribe but not their father.

During these times in the industrial age school for boys was something to get through and tolerate. Obedience was hammered into them rather than engaging them. Boys simply develop slower than girls but catch up in later years when they have decided that academia is for them.

Comment number 69.

I have to say I enjoyed watching someone with a possitive attitude having a go at trying to make a difference. Rather than milling along with the usual poor teacher response that there is too much red tape and not enough time to do these kind of things in a normal school enviroment. I help in my childrens school doing gardening, general running around, pond dipping and shown 4-6 year olds how to cut hazel wood to make canes to grow the beans up, there are no health and safety problems around me doing these activities with the children. otherwise why would i be asked to come in and do it all the time.
My sister in-law has just opened up the woodland at her school (that she is the head of) so the children can climb trees and explore and make shelters etc, following the idea of some scottish schools that have outdoor classrooms.
Also my mother in-law has been complaining about how much outdoor activities they have been doing in the school she works in, because as my father in-law does scouts/cubs etc there is a lot of cross over from the school into what she termed as ‘scout activies’.

So, shame the outdoor edge isn’t available to everyone to involve in the national cirruculum, or is it just that some schools/people opt not to use it? as surely it is national?

Comment number 70.

Gareth Malone’s efforts are well intentioned but poorly executed. He fails to stay true to the course that he charts at the outset.
For instance the choice of the debating team was not done on merit or degree of improvement, or in fact on any criteria that the boys could be reasonably expected to understand. Unfortunately that fundamentally flawed policy of inclusiveness dictated that the selection of the team was fairly random and that made a sham of the spirit of competitiveness Gareth was attempting to engender.
He then failed to prepare the boys adequately, wasting the motivational opportunity of the upcoming battle with the girls to maximise the ethos of discipline that could be milked from the event. When the boys lost he should have drawn out the lessons that could be learnt from losing such as how to reflect on your performance and use it as valuable information and motivation to improve for the next competition. Instead out came that lame cliche that it’s the taking part that counts.
Gareth efforts are to be commended but he needs to follow the logic of competition through more comprehensively. The boys’ fragile self confidence will improve if competition is used to motivate them, and the results of competition are used to inform them so that they can see the opportunities for improvement.

Comment number 71.

I loved this programme it shows what could be done if teachers were allowed time and oppotunities to teach outside the «Ofsted Box».
I work in early years and was upset to see how many boys think so little of themselves at such a early age,these are the problems that need to be addressed and if Gareth can make a difference to these boys then his job has been done.

Comment number 72.

Really liked this programme and thought he had good ideas. So looking forward to the next one.It gives us all plenty of food for thought.

Comment number 73.

And those who keep saying «employ more male primary teachers», short of an 18th/19th century press gang policy, this isn’t going to happen. Primary schools would snap up decent (and I stress the «decent» bit) male primary teachers if there were loads around. The fact is that most trainees for a primary teaching qualification are female. It’s quality of teaching that’s required, whatever gender those teachers happen to be.

Comment number 74.

Gareth Malone is right to start with speech training and isn’t it time this became more important in the curriculum. Two of my grandchildren go to a small rural school in New Zealand and from starting school at 5-6 years they have a daily ritual whereby they sit in a circle in their respective classrooms and are encouraged to speak to the whole group in turn. They often take along ‘props’ to help like a favourite toy and, of course, if something exciting has just happened in their life, they are just bursting to tell about that. As each child finishes the group are invited to comment and then the child next to him/her is invited to speak and so it progresses round the circle. No child is obliged to speak but they all seem to at some time (according to my grandchildren) as most children do like to be the centre of attraction if only for a short time. The teacher makes sure that comments are kindly, that no one child ‘hogs’ the time available and generally gives encouragement.
I remember I emerged from school at 16 with a impressive number of ‘0’ Levels and an inability to speak! I’m glad this won’t be so for my grandchildren.
As for introducing a spirit of adventure into school life here again New Zealand seems to triumph. Playtime has them playing on a ‘jungle jim’ arrangement in the playground or enjoying the copse beyond the achool field where they build huts, etc. At the slightest hint of trouble this becomes banned land for a period so the children respond accordingly with reasonable behaviour.

Comment number 75.

to add to my previous comment, I agree with caroline davies who wrote the 17th comment on here, my mother in-law is working in a welsh school, she says the enthusiasm and general involvement in the ‘outdoor’ schooling is much better than it ever was in the ‘normal’ classroom enviroment.

Comment number 76.

Watched Gareth and his ‘experiment’ with teaching boys. Yes it was fun and exciting but we have to remember that it was also edited! We didn’t see the fall outs between the boys, the panic on teachers faces when Bulldog was reintroduced, the extra staff that were on hand.

We also have to remember that every move the boys made was recorded on camera. There was a whole extra team, not just Gareth who would have got to know the children and even without any contact with the recording team, this would have had an effect on the boys. All those extra expectations to live up too.

As the new coordinator of the school library I wait with baited breath as to how Gareth gets the boys into books.

Comment number 77.

Congratulations Gareth, Well done sir. Nothing new but you have kick started new debate. Intresting that one of the difficulties you had to overcome in the first programme was negative teachers in the staff room telling you it could not be done. That you would loose control. Well done for pressing on. I am glad to see from the messages posted on this bog that there are still teachers that still have a ‘have a go’ attitude and don’t just want to press how hard they work, how imposible the job, how cleaver they are.
I don’t think that in this fist show you proved your point. Risk taking and being outside did not make the difference. You did. You kept going. Kept being positive. When faced with challenging behaviour you insired the children and kept steering the helm. The children believed in you and followed where you led. Prehaps other teachers rather than getting caught up in the practicalities of how to run such projects just need to be inspired by your energy.
It seems that we are increasingly loosing the battle to engage both young boys and girls in our schools. It is not the fault of educators but it is clear that we need new or re invented ways of reaching out to all children.
Once again congratulations for trying something different. I look forward to the next programme.

Comment number 78.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Comment number 79.

My son attended a State Upper School, which is a Sports College. When doing his compulsory GCSE qualification in PE, the whole class he was allocated to was not allowed to play physical sports such as Rugby because there were girls who were unable to participate in contact sports.

The bias toward the adverse teaching of boys is not confined to the classroom.

Boys are losing their sense of identity as boys and this aspect does need to be addressed. We have three sons and from this and other experiences through their education I do feel schooling in some lessons taught separately would benefit both boys and girls.

I understand why the promotion of teaching methods of girls has improved but there is now an imbalance in many schools, particularly in schools that do not have many male teachers.

I never thought I would say this, but I have come to see the value of an All Boy School or All Girl School as I feel the benefits would outweigh the deficits educationally. We have the knowledge today to make it work better than in the past.

Comment number 80.

The most worrying aspect of this first programme was listening to the two young teachers. If an official teacher cannot string a sentence together without including ‘er like’ ‘yer know’ and ‘literacy an stuff’ what hope is there for those poor boys. Are those two young teachers actually qualified and if so how?

Comment number 81.

Comment number 82.

Gareth has recognised a dismal failing in our state school system repeatedly failing boys which many people have suspected for some time: there are simply too many women teachers or rather not enough men teachers. I believe this teacher gender imbalance can have a negative affect on the developmental growth of self-worth and feelings of competence in boys. If anything, there is a need for more male teachers than women in all state schools to compensate for the large number of single parent matriarchal households. I have the deepest empathy for these growing boys struggling to express their masculinity surrounded by all these women no wonder they feel diminished and lack confidence. Good luck Gareth you are doing a splendid job!

Comment number 83.

I too was struck by the low self-esteem that seemed to have been indoctrinated into the boys, perhaps they have been told to sit down and shut-up too often in, what is to them, a female dominated environment with lessons tailored for girls.

The improvement was clear, keep it up boys.

Comment number 84.

Comment number 85.

Well done Gareth & a big «Thank you» to Mrs Thurgood for being prepared to take such a huge risk!
I am the mother of 2, now grown up, «boys» one of whom was completely unable to concentrate at school whilst the other couldn’t get enough of books. I understand the difficulties teachers face with large classes (although there were larger classes and no classroom assistants until fairly recently), league tables and risk assessments but agree with Gareth about what he calls «cotton-wooling». We live in a risk averse culture caused by the «sue» culture imported from the USA. Not only does it hike up the cost to all of us with insurance but it stifles creativity and experimentation. Personally, I have had to make choices between freedom+risk or safety+no risk many times in my life and, after considering carefully I tend towards freedom because I believe that it isn’t life without freedom.
I hope that this debate (hope the kids from Pear Tree Mead School are reading this!) will contribute to a move towards more freedom and, hence, more risk. It will go wrong sometimes but perhaps that’s the best way to learn. It certainly was in my day!
Keep up the good work, Gareth!

Comment number 86.

I have boy girl twins and have seen them both have completely opposite experiences of junior school. Whilst my daughter has been engaged and enjoyed most aspects of school life, my son has been disinterested and bored, particularly with literacy. It certainly seems to me that teaching in schools appeals much more to the way in which girls learn. Boys are excitable, energetic and challenging by their very nature and need to learn in a different way. I don’t know if the approach of Gareth Malone is right or wrong but I think there does need to be a debate about how boys are taught and his programme may just be the trigger required to stimuate this.

Comment number 87.

Firstly, I would like to say that I found Gareth’s attempt at ‘inspiring’ the boys completely archaic. I can understand his thinking by getting the boys outside, mixing it up, using drama etc. All these things are strategies that would benefit both genders. I think it’s a slightly sexist outlook to think that chopping trees, hunting criminals in the forest and commentating on football will appeal to ALL boys and not any girls.
His encouragement (at times) to the boys would not please an ofsted inspector. Especially the young lad who ‘never saw himself as a winner before.’ Maybe it was the editing, but Gareth very rarely offered praise to the boys. When they were in a large group he only told them what they were doing wrong and no praise was offered to those doing the right thing.
I agree with the comment that the teachers of the school seemed to have formed the opinion that the girls would outperform the boys, and that was just the way it was. If you expect children to fail. inevitably they will.
The inner london school I work in has no such gender difference in regards to attainment. We attribute this to the fact that of the 8 class teachers-4 are male and 4 are female. Children receive a balanced gender education (with all it’s human flaws) and have role models of both sexes they can look to.
On another issue. are there any children at Pear Tree Mead PS who come from an alternative ethnic background to those shown?

Comment number 88.

We are not really educating many pupils any more, but training them instead, and the chance of change is minimal (Ruth Kelly, when education supremo some years ago, got this very same point muddled when visiting my school).

Comment number 89.

Comment number 90.

as a non parent i think that teachers should learn from there own mistakes as i was put i a slow learners group Back in 80’s at the age of 12 then i desarrged with the teach and said i wasnt slow at learning so i done a spelling test got 99% in spelling then went into main class rooms i have learned more out of school then when i was in school i was things would have been different back then but there will never be no change in school unless there get more funding and more surpport

Here is a goood web site which i hope people will look at and learn from it https://www.helpguide.org/mental/learning_disabilities.htm

Comment number 91.

While I think Gareth is doing a great job, but what will happen after his 2 months? will the boys go back to normal or carry on being «new» boys?

I’m watching to see if I can use his ideas in my 10yr old Daughter, not only boys suffer in school, get bored or whatever, also my daughter has fibromaylgia, ME/CFS so learning is hard, she’s had to have her tonsils out about 5yrs ago then speech therapy, she has had lots of days off due to illnesses/infections, moved to a new area, seperated from her dad, this school she is at, well, not sure what I think of it, She started yr 6 this week and only now realised she need 1-1 tuition, she is behind average in everything.

She often complains her teachers dont listen or ignore her, mainly cause she takes so long to say what she needs to say, they give up.

I have found through play they learn more and quicker, its a shame teachers cant do this in class more.

I will watch and hopefully learn more myself, just seems a shame, the boys are having a great time 3 days a week for 2 months, then nothing!

Also i agree with one post, if teachers cant pronounce their words fully, what hope do the children have?

Comment number 92.

Final point. Gareth if you look at the comments I wonder how it makes you feel, and. what did the girls do in their time? I’m really interested if the other teachers found this an exciting opportunity to give them some more varied class techniques, or more sitting, reading and writing.

Comment number 93.

Comment number 94.

Forest School leaders up and down the country must, like myself, have been bouncing up and down on their sofas shouting at the telly, «Tell them it’s Forest School!» Many of these methods, employed in an outdoor classroom, are employed in school grouds and local woodland by educators trained in tool use, health and safety, woodland ecology, learning styles, behaviour management techniques and how to raise self confidence and self-esteem in our students. The benefits of Forest School are well documented and, although I welcome the programme, deivering it as though it is all Gareth’s idea is disappointing. It would have been beneficial to teachers, parents and students across the country to know that this is available in many counties and can be delivered by trained individuals either in school grounds or in local woodlands. The problem is raising awareness and changing the attitudes of some of our teachers. Most of the curriculum can be delivered outside and, usually, more effectively for many learners. Have these people never heard of the ‘Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto’ which was adopted by our Government and, therefore, our schools? I look forward to seeing how the programme progresses and how it is received by the families and schools I work with.

Comment number 95.

They published that in 2007, and have since actually sponsored the World Conker Championships.

Sadly, too few teachers (and others) are willing to challenge daft or idiotic rules put in place by people who clearly are incapable of assessing risk properly.

Comment number 96.

I trained as an Adult Literacy Tutor and one of the concepts we learned about was about how much value Literacy ability is given. We judge people on their spelling and grammar skills and pronunciation. As a society we place less value on other skills.
However a factor in this is because we need such high levels of literacy to function in society. Even our vocational qualifications are obtained by producing written descriptions and reflective accounts on how we do a task. My own personal opinion is that in the past we never really monitored our performance in schools because it didn’t matter as much. It is possible we are no worse off these days than we were. In our more industrial past there were always economically productive roles in society that didn’t require such high levels of literacy and famillies and communities were not as widespread so were able to offer support to those with literacy needs.
During my teaching experience I met an Italian lady that was illiterate in both her native language and in English but had still worked for over 30 years in England in a factory assembling components. She also lived in a vibrant supportive Italian community in this country. She had had a very successful life. She turned to learning literacy skills in her retirement years because she struggled to fill in the never ending forms that we now need to fill in and the vibrant community that she was once part of started to disintegrate as people got older and the younger generation moved away because they couldn’t afford the house prices of their prosperous parents neighbourhood.

Probably what I am trying to say in a long and rambling way (I need a debating coach!) is that literacy targets are there for several reasons. They provide a trigger for funding to be released and they provide a cost/benefir analysis which is ingrained into the public sector. The education system has to produce a workforce/society that meets modern requirements. So unless those requirements change then the targets remain and teaching will retain its present focus.

Comment number 97.

When I was looking for a school for my boy then 4, now 6 and asked schools specifically what they were doing to address the needs of boys within their schools, the headteachers looked at me like I was an alien. Gender differences are a fact of life, failing to address the differences between the sexes does everyone a disservice, particularly boys at this time, in this system. My son is currently in Year 2 and has been assessed as ‘under average’ in reading and writing, despite the fact that he is very bright. The realisation that this trend is likely to continue for the rest of his school life is profoundly depressing. It shouldn’t be like this. All children are natural learning machines, there’s no reason why girls should be better than boys, or vice versa.

Our children’s brains are changing. Mass media consumption, saturation and speed is affecting attention span, this coupled with anxiety about child safety and a litigious culture makes being a child in the UK today a very different experience from even a generation ago.

Great to see this issue get some air-time. Even if it is celeb-rified.

Comment number 98.

A lot of negative comments above, many suggesting that it’s OK on a programme from the BBC, but couldn’t be adapted to practical everyday teaching. I disagree.

There isn’t a school in the world, even the most impoverished, that can’t introduce,(at no cost) debating skills, an essential ability in answering those exam questions later in life that go «blah di blah di blah» –discuss!

Even the poorest school in the world can act out the meaning of a poem or the storyline of a book, at no cost.

When I was in school, a long time ago, many of the things that Gareth is doing were extracurricular. Debating and acting (passages of the Bible) was done in Sunday school.

The rough and tumble outdoor activities were done in the Cubs and the Scouts.

Competing in elocution, poetry reading or writing, singing, dancing, artwork and a hundred other forms of expression were provided by the local to national eisteddfod movement, encouraged by schools but outside the school curriculum!

It is a shame that children aren’t members of as many extracurricular societies as I was 40 years ago. If schools are expected to make up that deficit, then school hours need to be extended.

An interesting point that Gareth made is that boys have to take risks. I agree. It is interesting that girls started overtaking boys academically when corporal punishment in school was abolished, when the risk of six of the best for the rudeness to Gareth that some of the boys on the programme displayed would have earned them a whacking in my day.

The abolition of CP has reduced the risk in boys education and reduced their achievements at the same time!

Comment number 99.

Comment number 100.

Once again I’ve thoroughly enjoyed seeing Gareth coping so well with the challenge of managing 39 boys. I was also amazed at the inability of some staff members to pronounce their words correctly.I realise local dialects feature in language, but am appalled at the lack of attention in diction generally given to our speech today. How we express ourselves initially in any situation/interview must be one of the most important lessons we ever learn. Well spoken English is a joy to the ear and we all should be proud to hear and speak it correctly.

I. This November a hundred million butterflies will drop from the sky over Mexico, like autumn leaves. But for how long? Genetically modified maize could mean extinction for this beautiful butterfly. Rafael Ruiz reports.
II. In November, millions of Monarchs fall like bright, golden rain onto the forests in the mountains of central Mexico. In the silence of these mountains you can hear a strange flapping of wings, as the Monarchs arrive at their destinations. 1) ______________________________
III. Before reaching their journey’s end they have faced strong winds, rain and snowstorms and they do not all manage to reach their destination. When the winters are really bad, perhaps 70 per cent of them will not survive. Their long journey to Mexico is thought to be one of the most amazing events in the whole of the American continent. When they get there they will stay until the beginning of April, when their internal calendar tells them that it is time to go back. 2)__________________________________.
IV. These delicate creatures now face danger of another kind – from scientific progress.
3) ____________________________. Laboratory experiments have shown that half of the butterflies which feed on the leaves of genetically modified maize die within 48 hours. Not all experts agree that this variety of maize is responsible for the threat to the Monarchs. In spite of these doubts, the European Union has refused to approve new crops of genetically modified maize until further investigations have been carried out.

A. In the US, millions of farms grow genetically modified maize which is pure poison for the butterfly.
B. In the mountains, which reach a height of 3,000 metres, the butterflies are safe.
C. According to the investigations of the European Union, the Monarch butterfly may disappear in several decades.
D. The long journey, with all its dangers, begins again. [3]

Find words in the text which have a similar meaning to these definitions.
Example: An organism containing genetic material that has been artificially altered genetically modified.

4. when a particular kind of animal no longer exists (paragraph I) ______________ [1]
5. the noise wings make as they move (paragraph II) ________________________ [1]
6. what a scientist does in order to find something out (paragraph IV) ____________ [1]

Total [6]
Writing

Task. Choose ONE of the topics to write.

Topic 1. You are asked to write a story with the title ‘An Exciting Adventure’ for your school magazine. Write 3 paragraphs using the plan below:

Topic 2. You are asked to write an article about ‘The Saiga’ for your school newsletter ‘Our Endangered Planet’. Write 3 paragraphs using the plan below:

lonely Выберите один ответ: a.adjective¥ b. adverb

Choose the suitable answer. The engineers reported that it was too early to determine what might have caused the catastrophic collapse of more than 100 metres of the multi-span, cable-stayed suspension bridge thaw had been/was completed just over 50 years before.

The assessment of load capacity requires the calculation of stresses and strains developed within a mechanical member. Выберите один ответ: Верно Неверно

According to the experts, Chinese might outrun English in many spheres and become a global language. Выберите один ответ: a. false ео р. true с. not given

We dinner at a nice restaurant on Saturday, but we have»t booked a table yet. (to have) Ответ: are going to have

Palaeontologists in New Mexico 1) _ have unearthed (unearth) the remains of at least on dinosaur from the late Jurassic period. The palacontologists, from Canada, 2) _ have been digging (dig) in a formerly unexplored part of the Morrison Formation — a vast fossil bed — for the last eight months. Early last week one of the group 3) found (find) а section of rock which 4) contained (contain) a number of bones from one, or possibly more, large herbivorous dinosaurs. Since then, the group 5) Ваз been trying (ry) to release the bones from the rock and piece then together. the palaeontologists believe that the bones may form a whole dinosaur family. It is possible that the whole family 6) _ perished (perish) while trying to protect the young from predators. According to Bryce Larson, the group»s leader, the bones are from a large brachiosaurus. These animals 7) existed, (exist) approximately 150 million years ago and are counted amongst the largest dinosaurs that ever 8) walked (walk) the Earth. Other brachiosaurus remains 9) have been found (find) in the Morrison, but these latest bones are very large and may prove to come from the largest dinosaurs anyone 10) has discovered (discover) to date. For a long time, the Morrison Formation 11) Ваз been (be) one of the most productive fossil beds in the world. Since the first bones 12) were found (find) there in 1877, it 13) has produced (produce) tonnes of material. The Morrison, more than any other fossil bed, 14) I Ваз allowed (allow) us an insight into the Jurassic period in North America. It seems that the latest find could reveal even more about the giants of the Jurassic.

On Sunday at 8 o»clock I my friend. (to meet) Ответ: am meeting

By 6 o»clock the rain hadn»t stopped. Выберите один ответ: а. Дождь не перестал идти после 6 часов. b. В 6 часов дождь не перестал идти. с. Кбчасам дождь не перестал идти.

I didn»t go to the party.” She told me that she had not gone v tothe party.

Choose the correct option. You»ll never get better if you don»t eat. You»ve touched your dinner! Выберите один ответ: а. hardly b. hard

Listen to the recording and put the topics covered in this extract into the correct order. 0:00 / 0:00 и Distribution of precipitation over the State of California 2 The description of the water storage and distribution system В The need to reduce water demand и Water-related problems т farming regions of California 5 Legal approach to handling the problem of water distribution and storage 6 Future actions that must be taken to improve water management

The main idea of paragraph С is Выберите один ответ: a. only our behavior can express our personality р. our biological and social traits make us behave in specific ways c. people act differently in similar situations

The continuous infinitive refers to the same time as that of the preceding verb and expresses an action in progress or happening over a period of time. Выберите один ответ: Верно Неверно

Use the words in brackets to complete the abstract. Scientists use both meteorological (meteorology) methods and historical records for determination (determine) of the greatest amount of precipitation which is _ theoretically (theory) possible within a region. The historical data consists of point precipitation amounts measured at rain gages throughout the region being studied, or a region with very similar topographic characteristics. These rainfall data are subsequently (subsequent) maximized through «moisture maximization» and other numerical methods. Moisture maximization is a process in which the maximum possible atmospheric moisture for a region is applied to rainfall data from a historic storm. This process increases the rainfall depths (deep), bringing them closer to their potential maximum.

They hadn»t been staying at the hotel since May. Выберите один ответ: а. Они не жили в отеле весь май. В. Они не жили в отеле с мая.

Match the expressions with their meanings. work-life balance workstation time management time-consuming spend time how much time you spend at work and home the place in an office where a person works, especially with a computer organizing your time effectively taking up a lot of time use or pass time doing a particular thing o % o

Mammoth TBMs Types of TBMs The first tunneling phase Ring building phase Excavation phase Various TBMs for London underground infrastructure

Building load includes the weight of the structure and everything that is inside the structure, аз well as people moving into and out of the building. Выберите один ответ: Верно Неверно