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We decided to develop an enrichment programme. It included the ASDAN universities award, community service, young enterprise, sports leadership and other initiatives. As a result the sixth form has regained its ethos and sense of community.

Ashmole School


		11-16 schools

		6th form schools

		Colleges

This case study shows the use of ASDAN awards as part of an enrichment programme supporting the school’s ethos.

The school

The school is an 11-18 mixed comprehensive school in north London with approximately 1300 students on roll. 17% have special educational needs without statements. There are approximately 240 students in the sixth form.

Using ASDAN awards in the curriculum

The ASDAN university award is provided as part of the curriculum in year 12 and in the first term of year 13. All sixth formers do the award and students taking level 2 and level 3 programmes work together on group activities. The school had replaced the ASDAN universities award with key skills taught in conjunction with AS and A2 courses as part of Curriculum 2000. However, the students responded less enthusiastically to developing a key skills portfolio, and staff felt that the sixth form experience had lost something of the ethos previously provided by the universities award through its promotion of community activity and teamwork.

The school uses the ASDAN universities award:

as a means of recognising broader curriculum activity
to provide assessment and certification of the wider key skills, linked to personal, social and health education, and citizenship
to improve the quality and breadth of the learning experience for individual students
to support the ethos of the sixth form and of the whole school.

Students must plan and negotiate their activities at the start of year 12. They have wide-ranging opportunities to choose the challenges offered in the universities award. They can achieve credit, for example, for an extended politics project, for tutoring younger students or for a topic introduced in PSHE. Students either select challenges from the examples provided by teachers, or from some other topic or interest outside school. Teaching staff are involved in setting the objectives and reviewing progress with students. Monitoring and review of portfolios is carried out with form tutors in daily tutorial time.

The activities involved in the challenges and in portfolio building develop communication and IT key skills. However, an additional aim of the scheme is to develop the wider key skills. The ASDAN coordinator at the school explains:

‘In a sense, it does not matter what activities the students do. In a guided way, they take hold of the activity. For example they organise an old people's party with their mates. This develops a wide range of skills. Others want to join in. The motivation is informal and strong. It also develops a sense of community.’

The challenge cited above proved useful for developing the wider key skill of problem solving. About 50 elderly people, some of whom could only be mobile in their wheelchairs, were brought to the school for a social gathering. This raised questions of access and logistics, as well as catering and reception. The students had to work together to organise the party. They owned the problem. They had to approach others and ensure everything went well. For example, they had to persuade and coordinate 20 members of staff in order to provide transport. This activity brought students studying for level 2 and level 3 programmes together, all working at key skill level 3.

In another example, students supported the school literacy strategy. They became student tutors to pupils at key stage 3, an idea generated by the ASDAN universities award guidance book. The students had to identify their own strengths, communicate with staff and younger students, and listen to the young students reading. The activity was carefully tracked, problems discussed with form tutors and other staff, and progress was monitored, reviewed and recorded.

Evaluation

The school considers that the ASDAN universities award:

offers sociable activities and the students enjoy it
has a clear and well-developed structure
allows learning and experience which is beyond the taught curriculum
helps with the HE applications and with interviews
has helped improve the social ethos of the sixth form and of the whole school.