This academic year we have introduced a new way of working: the 'ACE Programme'. A culmination of Masters' research and the team's hard work on developing our evaluative strategy, twenty schools across Hull are taking part in our pilot year.
Children living in areas of socio-economic disadvantage start school on average four months developmentally behind their peers. The attainment gap for these children only grows across their time in the education system, increasing to almost two years by the time they take their GCSEs. In fact, research shows that just by living in The North, children are at a disadvantage, with the attainment gap being much wider than in The South.
Going on an out-of-school experience has positive impacts on wellbeing, relationships, behaviour, development and learning. They offer opportunities to work collaboratively and give concrete experiences on which classroom teaching can build. Research shows that, in particular, the attainment gap caused by socio-economic disadvantage can be narrowed by carefully planned out-of-school experiences. Here at HEYCU, that was music to our ears and this was where the hard work began!
In order to be most effective, out-of-school experiences should be carefully planned and sequenced into the curriculum, be relevant and interactive, and should draw upon the children's prior knowledge, particularly through interactions and communication. We know that our experiences can be life-changing from feedback we have gathered across our (almost!) 30-year existence, but realised that we could do more to truly squeeze out every bit of their potential. Thus, the 'ACE Programme' was born!
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The Hull & East Yorkshire Children’s University’s ‘ACE Programme’ is a series of experiences outside of the classroom, that progressively build on each other in terms of knowledge and level of difficulty and confidence required. All of our Learning Experiences are developed around our ACE acronym: supporting aspirations, increasing confidence and promoting engagement. We work closely with schools to ensure they are timetabled as effectively as possible into the school curriculum, so that the learning can be embedded and the experiences no longer feel like 'one-offs'.
In Year 3, children venture into their city centre, learning all about important local figures on our ‘Ambassasdors of Hull’ Learning Experience. This is built on in Year 4, as children get to travel a little further, visiting York by train. With an informative tour of the historic city and a visit to one of York’s fantastic tourist attractions (Jorvik Centre, Catsle Museum or York Chocolate Story), links can be made between their home town, important figures and their own history topics. Confidence builds in Year 5, where the children take a trip to London. These are among our most popular experiences currently, with a jam-packed itinerary seeing the key places of interest and making note of the ties to our little city in The North! Finally, in Year 6, the children return to the city centre, learning a little but more about the everyday people that have shaped the city through events within living memory either on ‘Blitz in Hull’ or ‘Trawling from Hull’.
Our aim by the end of the programme is for all children to:
...have a dream for themselves in the future, no matter how big or small (supporting aspiration);
...feel like they can be their true selves (increasing confidence); and,
...feel like they can participate in activities and that their contributions are important (promoting engagement).
As part of the package, schools have been allocated a Learning Experience Lead as a key link, and Learning Experience Packs provide pre- and post- activities and challenges to embed the learning into the curriculum.
We are excited to see how the year unfolds!
Rebecca, Learning Experience Manager