Not all children have role models in their lives which they can use as motivation to achieve their ambitions, some children aren't even aware of the opportunities out there or the skills/grades required to get there.

In the words of Matt Lent, CEO of Charity Future First - "You can't be what you can't achieve".

Having workshops with previous alumni allows the children to see that they are able to achieve high earning positions in the future and succeed just as these students have who were subject to the same opportunities have.

Caroline, Leah, Abby and Erin

Not all children have the opportunity to go to university due to many different factors such as socio-economic, Financial. and geographical factors that hider childrens chances.

Providing Tutoring for these children will boost their academic attainment because if gives them that extra support to excell in their studies, which they may not be able to afford due to financial reasons

Financial and socio-ecomic Factors should not impact on a childs academic attainments as this is unfair, therefore providing tutoring intervention closes that gap as children who excell in their studies may be more likely to recieve scholarships and extra funding if they chose to go to university, futhermore it closes the gap between children who come from wealthy backgrounds and can afford tutoring giving equal opportunity.

Molly-Jae

For my intervention to support disadvantage pupils I have decided to create a Musical Theatre club.

Throughout my interventions I will work with the pupils to engage their theatre skills.

We will work towards a project (the aspiration) such as a mini show which will be performed (the attainment) to Parents/Carers/Governors and Teachers.

Throughout my intervention I will aim to show that the core Musical Theatre subjects such as Drama, Music and Dance have many wonderful benefits and can be seen as cross curricular subjects which aim to help the aspiration and attainment in disadvantaged students.

These subjects can be done outside of school with clubs and dance groups. I have to take into consideration that some disadvantaged pupils may not have access to these clubs due to costs and travel restrictions. Therefore to start my interventions I may also be giving the students an insight to a club that they may not have not got access to outside of school.

First of all, Drama gives pupils confidence which helps raise self esteem.

The pupils don’t have to stand on stage on their own, even simply speaking as a group (unison speaking) or in pairs.

Music has a massive benefit towards aspirations. For the show the students will be split into two groups. The students will learn piano chords and this will be their aspirations.

Throughout the sessions the students will get closer and closer to achieving the aspiration.

A quick summary, the final performance gives clarification to the students that they can go on stage and complete something completely out of their comfort zone, or something they have never done before.

As their teacher I will be enthusiastic and give lots of praise after the show proving the children should be proud of themselves and that they have achieved their goal and reached attainment.

I will encourage the parents and carers to congratulate the pupils too.

This project will ultimately raise the aspirations and attainment of disadvantaged pupils by proving that they can perform on stage!

To do this: once a week on Fridays we will gather the students who from classroom observation and assessment reviews will benefit from this. They will sit small cozy room in a circle along with the teacher with milk cartons and fruit after they've had their lunch to encourage them (instead of hacing it after school or during lesson which will affect their learning more) and they will have 1 child who begins and they will talk about how their weekend was and their mood today - then they will choose another person next until everyone has had a go - this will benefit their verbal skills and help them with their confidence by making sure they can all see eachother to have an equal gathering because all students and teachers are on the the same level, not judging and also making friends along the way.

Ciara and Gabrielle

Following this, we would put a scheme in place where hard work and effort will be rewarded, this could be watching films, golden time or school trips. We would reinforce this reminder by having a jar that is filled with gems every time hard work is noticed as a visible reminder that the class will be rewarded. Linking this back to children who are coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, being able to work hard and achieve higher grades will benefit them in the future as it likens their chances of going to universities and leaving with well paid jobs, likely giving themselves a better lifestyle.

Abby & Ellise

For example, the intervention could include bringing in people who are all from different backgrounds and specialise in a wide range of careers in order to explain to the children the ways in which they were able to get into their careers and any challenges they may face.

One way to implement this is to normalise it through the early years, for example, by setting up environments for children to use imaginary play playing the role in different kinds of careers, for example, nurses, doctors etc.

Our intervention therefore aims to show children the wide range of careers available for them.

By Annie & Ellie

• Molly

This will target the engagement of the students. (those who don’t concentrate in lesson or those that are behind in lesson)

How to run the intervention:

•    Select the pupils that are not engaged in lesson/are behind.

•   Decide who will run the intervention – (could be the class teacher)

•   This doesn’t need fundings, as the teacher is helping the pupil understand the learning they did in their normal lesson. It will be done after school in a classroom, for maybe 30mins-1hour.

•   Make sure its planned ahead of time and the parents are informed.

• And to make sure to do an assessment at the end of each session, to see how the children are progressing. The assessment could be done before they start to see how much they learnt in their normal lessons and after they’ve done the session to see how they benefited from the tutoring.

One way I could get the pupils that are not engaged in the lesson is to have an after-school tutoring group. This is where 5-6 pupils are put in small groups and receive tuition, so they’re not behind in lessons. This method is supported by EEF (educational endowment foundation), and it was found to be very effective method as it progresses to 4 months of additional progress. This intervention can fill up the gap in the students learning. Without these interventions the pupils will continue to struggle instead of progressing in their learning. This intervention can make the pupil feel confident enough to motive them to participate in the classroom. This will help the pupils socially and academically.

By,

Georgia, Daisy, Ella and Tele

The breakfast club sessions will each have different targeted sessions for the children many taking focus on celebrities, stars and influential people from surrounding areas who were disadvantaged themselves. For example, focusing on the work of Marcus Rashford who has dedicated his time to ensuring a better life to those growing up in the same position he did.

We feel that incorporating Rashford into our scheme will produce the perfect role model for not only the children in similar situations financially but the intersectional issue of racism - providing a positive black role model which is rarely praised in the media.

The breakfast would be substantial with fruit and water provided as an extra snack throughout the day. These sessions will run with a specific person of interest i.e. Rashford for the term and at the end of the term the children will be sked to create a fact file celebrating and demonstrating the knowledge they have acquired.

Our intervention aims to expose the children to opportunities out there for them that they typically would not know about, from information as simple as free spots clubs and extra curricular experiences. Hopefully our intervention helps children to understand they are not limited by their financial situation and the breakfast club should be able to relieve some financial burden off of the families.

Farrah and Rebecca

In order to support children to realise their potential and have high aspirations, we have decided to run a 4 week intervention that lets the children learn and develop their aspirations through experience. With visits from professionals and key workers such as the public service industry, arts, healthcare workers and the sporting industry, children will learn about the different professions and opportunities available to them. Children will also have the opportunity to engage in workshops and practical activities. Through this programme, we aim for the children to achieve intrinsic motivation of identity and personal values not just rewards/praise from extrinsic motivation. Moreover, we hope for these visits to not only inspire the children or reach their future aspirations but to motivate them within the classroom with their class work as they develop intrinsic motivation to succeed. This intervention will support the self-determination theory to motivate to meet their needs for personal development and growth: autonomy, competence and connection. Furthermore, to support disadvantaged pupils, the visitors and professionals will be part of a diverse group. This will represent all cultures, genders, religion, social class and disabilities to help the children realise their potential despite disadvantages they may face. 

Week 1: The local fire station comes to give a talk about why they decided to become firemen/ firewomen. They each tell their stories and let the pupils try on the work gear and then take the class outside for a demonstration of the fire engine hose and let students look around the truck. Hearing the fireman's stories would hopefully inspire the students to realise they can be anything they want to be and reach their full potential. Primary school students also remember exciting and entertaining guest speakers so by bringing in the firemen to demonstrate would be memorable from the students.  

Week 2: Local policemen/ policewomen again, come in to give a talk about why they decided to become part of the police force and how they got to where they are today. Again, letting students try on uniform and try using their radios from different classrooms, perhaps even letting pupils go outside and sit in the police car with the lights on. Again, this will excite the students and create a memorable activity that they will remember for years to come. Hopefully, inspiring the students to aspire for a job that they think is worthwhile. 

Week 3: Local Paramedics will come in and give a talk about why they decided to become a paramedic, how they got to where they got to where they are today and what inspired them to become a paramedic. They could teach students some basic first aid, let them try on uniform and then go outside into the ambulance where students can look around and see how important the work the paramedics are doing is and how inspiring it is.  

Week 4: A Local Recycling firm will come in and give a talk on why they decided to help the local area with recycling and what inspired them to do this. Maybe have a task where students have to figure out what is recyclable and what isn't, making an impact on pupils' everyday life and also helping them become more environmentally conscious. Perhaps a trip to the recycling plant could further inspire students to help make a positive impact on our environment. 

Our idea: A 4-week programme with different speakers coming into class to motivate and inspire the students.

In order to support children to realise their potential and have high aspirations, we have decided to run a 4 week intervention that lets the children learn and develop their aspirations through experience. With visits from professionals and key workers such as the public service industry, arts, healthcare workers and the sporting industry, children will learn about the different professions and opportunities available to them. Children will also have the opportunity to engage in workshops and practical activities. Through this programme, we aim for the children to achieve intrinsic motivation of identity and personal values not just rewards/praise from extrinsic motivation. Moreover, we hope for these visits to not only inspire the children or reach their future aspirations but to motivate them within the classroom with their class work as they develop intrinsic motivation to succeed. This intervention will support the self-determination theory to motivate to meet their needs for personal development and growth: autonomy, competence and connection. Furthermore, to support disadvantaged pupils, the visitors and professionals will be part of a diverse group. This will represent all cultures, genders, religion, social class and disabilities to help the children realise their potential despite disadvantages they may face.

Week 1: The local fire station comes to give a talk about why they decided to become firemen/ firewomen. They each tell their stories and let the pupils try on the work gear and then take the class outside for a demonstration of the fire engine hose and let students look around the truck. Hearing the fireman's stories would hopefully inspire the students to realise they can be anything they want to be and reach their full potential. Primary school students also remember exciting and entertaining guest speakers so by bringing in the firemen to demonstrate would be memorable from the students.

Week 2: Local policemen/ policewomen again, come in to give a talk about why they decided to become part of the police force and how they got to where they are today. Again, letting students try on uniform and try using their radios from different classrooms, perhaps even letting pupils go outside and sit in the police car with the lights on. Again, this will excite the students and create a memorable activity that they will remember for years to come. Hopefully, inspiring the students to aspire for a job that they think is worthwhile.

Week 3: Local Paramedics will come in and give a talk about why they decided to become a paramedic, how they got to where they got to where they are today and what inspired them to become a paramedic. They could teach students some basic first aid, let them try on uniform and then go outside into the ambulance where students can look around and see how important the work the paramedics are doing is and how inspiring it is.

Week 4: A Local Recycling firm will come in and give a talk on why they decided to help the local area with recycling and what inspired them to do this. Maybe have a task where students have to figure out what is recyclable and what isn't, making an impact on pupils' everyday life and also helping them become more environmentally conscious. Perhaps a trip to the recycling plant could further inspire students to help make a positive impact on our environment.

Would consist of children being taken on short trips or to do workshops or take part in group discussions.

Rewards would be given out at the end of the programme such as house points, also, a ‘fun’ trip in the last week to act as a reward but also acts to motivate the children further.

Any children during this 5 week period who are put on time out, referral time or detentions, will use the time to take part in online activities focusing on future goal setting to use that time productively and reflectively.

Week 1- group session- discussing goals and how to achieve them. Allows pupils to relate to each other and feel as part of a community- therefore increasing their feelings of relatedness and contributing to self-determination theory. The leaders of the programme can gather where the children might want to visit and plan accordingly for the next 2 weeks.

Week 2- example trip to an office/ technological job- talk to the people who work there and take part in a ‘have a go’ session on the software they use- such as architects, artists, publicists etc.

Week 3- example trip to an emergency service industry workplace such as the local fire station and can take part in mini workshops led by the fire department and get hands-on experience).

Week 4- goal-setting workshop- bring someone in to talk to the pupils about their goals and aspirations, feedback from the trips and seeing what they are passionate about. Leader can guide them on how to achieve their goals.

Week 5- ‘fun’ reward trip to a hands-on museum or gallery such as the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. Pupils will learn about science whilst having fun with engaging activities there.

Eleanor, Amy, Ellie

After having a few weeks of lessons where different jobs roles and professionals have been discussed and explored, I will plan for guest speakers to come in. These speakers will be from the professions that we discussed previously in the classroom. I would aim to find people who are from the same place or have the same background or life story as some of the disadvantaged children in the class; I believe this will help inspire the children as they are able to relate to them.

Following the guest speakers, the children will reflect on the lessons and activities we did in the classroom as well as which professionals they found the most interesting. This would hopefully encourage the children to aspire to become that professional. Even if the children did not decide on a future job, they hopefully would be more interested in an area of learning.

Lunchtime and afterschool clubs will then be held following on from the children's feedback of what they were most interested in. The aim of the clubs is to keep the children interested on an end goal to keep being intrinsically motivated but also allowing them to be extrinsically motivated as they make success in the activities in the clubs. Children may not be successful in curriculum based lessons such as Maths or English, making they lack motivation when they aren't doing as well as their peers. So giving them different areas where they can succeed and where they have seen professionals be successful in these areas will hopefully keep the children motivated and inspired.

 The 4-week programme will consist of sports, arts and crafts, exploring different careers, photography, computing, baking. All of which that teach skills that can be transferred in order to allow disadvantaged pupils to realise their potential. We have chosen these activities as they are all linked back to the curriculum, and all can be allowed to encourage children to develop skills that will allow them to meet their aspirations. At the beginning of each session there will be a link back to some careers that can be explored from this activity, this will be followed by the children rating how they feel about their abilities within this activity with red, amber or green this will be followed up at the end where they will be asked to rate again. Some activities they will do as they are disadvantaged they may have never done them before, which is perfect, this can be used as a tool to show to the children how many skills they have that they don’t even know about yet that can still be explored which will encourage their aspirations to be high.

In addition to this we also had the idea that the class teacher can run 1:1’s with the disadvantaged children every ½ term. In this 1:1 the teacher can discuss with the child why they are proud of them and look at their progress together. The teacher can point out the pieces of work that the child completed that the teacher felt was work to be proud of. This will help to grow the child’s confidence and hopefully push them to believe in themselves more and realise that they can meet their aspirations. The child will set goals to achieve by their next meeting and in the following meeting they will discuss how they have achieved these goals. The children chosen for this intervention will also be given the resources to create a diary to write at home. The children will be asked to write down something that they have done that they are proud of everyday and if the child is happy to share this with the teacher, they can discuss this in their 1:1’s too. This will help the children to realise that they have lots of reasons to be proud of themselves and will help them to realise their potential.

The children would be given a task to draw what they aspire to be when they are older, this could be a profession or the type of person they want to be. They would identify what skills and attributes they would need to achieve this ‘person’.

Working then in groups, the children would discuss what they have drawn and they would work together to work out the steps in which they would need to take to get their aspiration. A journey map can be drawn and it can be as detailed as they wish it to be. For example, if they want to be a teacher they may simply write go to high school, go to college, go to university and have the end goal of a teacher. This would paint a clear image to the children of the journey they wish to go down, giving them the belief that they can achieve this.

After I have reviewed the pupils dream professions, I would invite some visitors from particular professions into the school to talk to the children about their job, how they got there, what skills they required and what the day-to-day job is. This would help the children relate to the visitor and show them that the path is possible as someone has done it before. This would show they are in charge of their own destiny and if they really want something then they can achieve it, no matter how long the journey they have already started it by having that aspiration. They are at the start of the map.

We would put a post school ‘Cosy Club’ into place which would entail a session that provides these students with the resources to further enhance their learning with teacher admits to aid them. This means they could get on with homework or develop an understanding of current taught topics.

Alternatively, this time could be used to relax and unwind. This may include the pupils being able to colour, listen to music and socialise with each other.

We would strive to prioritise the wellbeing of each pupil and really dissect their issues to overcome obstacles they face. This may include academic progression alongside personal distresses.

An intervention that could be run in schools to improve the aspirations of children could be a career day. You could get students to dress up as the future career they wish to have, whether that be a doctor or lawyer or astronaut. By allowing them to think of their futures, it allows them to realise their potential and that the opportunities are endless, they can be anything they set their mind to, there are no barriers, despite them being disadvantaged students.  

After the children have all dressed in their chosen career they could go into small groups and talk to each other about why they want to do that career (improving their ability to talk to others). This also allows those students who are unsure what they want to do to learn more about different careers and set aspirations for themselves. Obviously, children know what their parents work as and that there are teachers but there are thousands of jobs, so getting the children thinking about their favourite things to do or learn and how that can turn into a job sets their aspirations, so they have something to work towards at school, thus improving their academic achievements.

The activity itself would be relatively cheap as many households would be able to provide the costumes however those, disadvantaged students who can’t afford costumes could participate in a DT lesson where they make costumes with glue and glitter and tissue paper or fabric and sewing depending on their age, so everyone can access the activity. Then whilst creating the costumes one of those students may realise, they want to be a designer therefore, setting themselves an aspiration.

The activity is accessible for all ages of student and if there is a bit more of a budget then the school could bring in some experts to talk to the kids about jobs and what they’d like to do, or some of the parents may volunteer to talk about their jobs so if they are a vet, they might bring in some animals. The opportunities are endless and would allow those disadvantaged students to realise that the possibilities of what they can do with their future are endless, they’re not disadvantaged forever, and they can break the cycle.

Nikki Westmorland

This allows children to get creative in the class room, to communicate on why they aspire you be this and how they may fulfill it.

I also gives practitioners the opportunity to get involved on a creative level, to remind children that they have the opportunity to be whoever they inspire to be and that the limits are endless.

With this also, extra lessons/activity’s can be planned if children may require 1:1 support in other subjects, for example if little Timmy aspires to be a fireman, and is struggling with his adding in maths, I'm able to create adding activity’s that may involve fire trucks! That will engage his interest in his learning.

This space will support parents and families at home, as it will all be in school. As being a teacher it’s key to remember that life outside school can be so busy for parents/carers. The last minute outfits and money can cause unnecessary stress, however this intervention is all under the school roof. So that all children can get involved and not have the worry in money, time, etc. Aswell as this, children can also talk about what jobs their grownups may do, and share the differences between them.

Mia Baumber

Annika, Jenna and Matilda

To tackle any issues with self-confidence within my children I would run a homework Club, at lunch times or after schools. On certain days a week, preferably not Fridays as they will mostly be checked out for the weekend.

Here we would work on our grammar, spelling , ect... and after a week or two, when the children are comfortable sharing their ideas to their peers, we would make groups of 6, featuring a child from every year (1-6) , and eventually they would share their new found knowledge in assembly with the school. (End of term/or year) .

This would also set them up to confidently speak infront of an audience. This can be useful for future projects, like school plays, ect...

I think this experience works well with motivating the children. Because it would create an aspiration for something bigger than just achieving good class grades, for some children at least.

Our goal to improve attainment and motivation within disadvantages children within my school can be improved by intervention tasks. These intervention tasks will consist of a weekly session with the children who we believe to be disadvantaged when it comes to opportunities and home life. Once a week we will aim to provide an extra curricular activity involving external specialists within STEM to give small speeches to the children. The external speaker will give the children an insight into their role and has a great opportunity to be taught subject knowledge. These intervention sessions are meant to be fun and engaging, boosting children’s overall confidence and motivation within school.

An example of a session we would produce would be possible career options within stem, we would sim to do this with children in year 5/6, to give them a head start into secondary teaching styles. We believe this would motivate them, because it shows them there’s a whole career path that stems from these subjects, it is not just a subject taught in school. We want to create the image for these children that they can be whoever they want to be.

Lucy (RED)

Bea and Lili (blue)

Harriet

I would want to run an intervention during the class session for disadvantaged kids. I think its best to do it within in sessions and make the whole class work in groups, so this doesn’t affect the self-esteem of the lower able pupils.

By grouping the whole class and giving sheets to the most able pupils and having a teacher assist them and then taking the less able pupils into another classroom won’t make them feel less able or less confident.

Then the teacher with them can help them with their weaknesses in the topic and for example if there are pupils who have English as a second language, they will have the attention and support they need to develop their understanding in a certain topic.

In a subject such as maths we can have sheets of different level and by starting off easy and building the pupils confidence is essential. Then the more moderate level and harder level sheets they can attempt to develop their understanding in the different questions they can receive.

I would also run intervention after schools where pupils can come and relax having something to eat and feel comfortable in their environment before focusing on schoolwork. I would help explain a topic and then ask pupils if they have any questions, anything they aren’t sure about and if they want me to repeat the explanation. Then once everyone seems confident do whole class questions and have them use whiteboards to make sure everyone answers are correct. Then starts them on sheets increasing in level of hardness and complexity.

This will help increase confidence in subject areas and improve a pupil’s overall knowledge. Also, by focusing on public speaking and confidence is essential in all jobs and careers pupils aspire to be in so if we need to help build confidence in speaking and being more open in classes and involving pupils, you can have techniques. Having smaller groups and having pupils talk about themselves and feel confident and reassure them it’s okay to be different. Increase the group size until the whole class is together and by doing this a student will be more willing in lessons to contribute. This will encourage them to ask more questions and therefore develop their knowledge in topics they may feel they aren’t the best in. They will also realise they aren’t the only one afraid to speak and that everyone is feeling nervous to speak, answer questions in case they get things wrong. (Hannah)

In order to support disadvantaged pupils realise their potential and meet aspirations, I would propose an intervention group named Mini Risers. This group would contain disadvantaged pupils from both KS1 and KS2. Pupils would attend sessions on a Monday morning, where nutritional breakfast would be provided  and a Friday afternoon where a snack and drink would be provided, these sessions would range from 30 minutes to 1 hour. There will be a new goup of students taking part each term e.g.,

- Autumn 1 and Autumn 2 = Group A (6-8 pupils in each group)

- Spring 1 and Spring 2 = Group B

- Summer 1 and Summer 2 = Group C

The first session would take place in week 2 of Autumn 1, where parents will have the opportunity to attend with children and discuss their child's aspirations either for the end of this academic year or for those who aren't sure, for this coming week. These could be, to move up a reading level or certain personal goals. As well as this, pupils will take part in an icebreaker task where their names will be written down and placed into a hat, children will then each pick a name from the hat and will be told to write down 5 things they like about the person whose name they have picked. From this task, a display will be made of all the kind things students have written about one another and will be placed on a wall in the classroom, as sessions go on each child's achievement for that week and work will be added to the board. This allows children to see the progress they've made and have their accomplishments celebrated.

In general every Monday session will consist of children identifying their aspirations for the end of the academic year or the end of that week. Teachers will then  steer children towards facilities in the school to help them achieve these goals or work towards achieving their goal if it is one they have set for the end of the year. A checklist will then be created by the group as a whole and the teacher for each student based on their goal.  

In the Friday session children will come back with evidence of tasks being completed e.g., photos of them completing tasks or work they've completed. They will show this to the group and how they achieved their checklist or what parts of the checklist they couldn't complete and why, if any. The teacher administers prizes to children who complete checklists or teachers could create a chart children get moved up on if they complete their checklist. This chart will have steps depending on how many weeks there are in the term e.g.,

6 week term = 6 step chart. In the penultimate week, parents will be invited in again to take part in a fun bonding activity. For example, cooking club where children and parents cna work together to make food e.g., fruit kebabs, decorating cookies. At the end of term a party gets thrown for those who made it to the top of the chart to celebrate their achievements.

In sessions where parents attend, pastoral leaders/family support officers will attend to have a chance to speak to parents and offer any support they may need. For example, food bank referrals/food parcels, benefit information and general concerns that parents would like to raise. This will offer support to disadvantaged parents if they require it and just someone to talk to if needed.

This links to motivation and aspiration as extrinsic motivators are included e.g., awards charts, prizes and opportunity to have an end of term party. However, intrinsic motivators are included through the use of a checklist being created and giving children something to work towards and make themselves proud.

The intervention I have created is targeted towards the parents of disadvantaged pupils. It will be a six-week online program which parents will have to attend if they want to support their child’s development. They will learn how to encourage their child at home and understand certain techniques they can use to ensure their child is attaining information and skills at school. It will provide the parents with a chance to ask questions to a professional, meaning they feel supported as well which will create an ongoing effect for the children.

It takes a whole team of people to build a child’s confidence and ensure they are motivated and inspired when they are growing up. This is why I think it's important for parents and teachers to work in partnership with one another so children, especially disadvantaged ones, have a strong community around them. This intervention ensures partnerships are being created as it is allowing parents to realise what they can do at home which will inspire their child and support them within school. I do understand it can be hard for parents to make the time when carrying out this intervention as they will most likely have many other responsibilities however, one hour a week, online is not much to ask for, to support their child and give them better opportunities in life.

I think this intervention is both extrinsic and intrinsic. It is rewarding for a parent to know they are working extra hard to support their child however it is also a personal choice to carry the program out and takes time and energy to do, meaning they are motivated themselves to put the work in for their child.

To conclude, I think this intervention would be very beneficial for motivating and inspiring disadvantaged pupils. It focuses on providing information to parents on how they can ensure their child has aspirations for the future and how they can support them to get there.

This intervention will run for a period of 6 weeks and consists of an individual from a professional background to come into school once a week. It will run for one hour and will be split up into 4 sections.

Section one will last for 10 minutes, and this is where the children write down their assumptions and thoughts about the profession and what they think it involves. This is mainly a discussion amongst the children to see their ideas.

The second section will also last for up to 10 minutes and this will include watching videos about the career and gaining a better understanding of it.

Section 3 is the main part of the lesson, and this is where the professional will come into the classroom. They will present what their career is composed of and the steps they took to achieve it. For example, they may explain what they did for their GCSEs, A levels and if they went into higher education. They will also explain the advantages and criticisms of their career and provide a further insight into why they enjoy doing it. This will last for approximately 30 minutes.

Lastly, section 4 is the time for children to ask questions for 5-6 minutes about anything they are curious of.

Plan for the 'Professional Pathways' term:

Week 1 - Firefighter

Week 2 - Doctor

Week 3 - Engineer

Week 4 - Lawyer

Week 5 - Journalist

Week 6 - Chef

It will take place after SATs and during the last term for year 6 students. During this phase, children will have a lesser burden of worrying about their exams and can focus on the next stage which is moving onto the GCSE time frame and what careers they would want to invest in. To conclude, this intervention will positively impact children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds as it provides a clearer understanding in how to achieve in a certain field that they may be interested in. It is also free of cost and allows disadvantaged children to be inspired and be motivated to reach their potential.

Ayesha & Saima

Mahriyah, Iris, Naomi and Ava

For the intervention group itself, I would teach children how to problem solve, to use reading comprehension skills and to learn how to learn. This has been proven by the Education Endowment Foundation to reduce the attainment gap by 6 months (EEF, 2022, p. 1.)

I would also try to introduce conversational tasks, maybe a problem to solve as a team which can give a sense of satisfaction and achievement once completed. Care would have to be taken to ensure the task is not too easy or too hard. This not only improves verbal skills, but also shows children what they can achieve, especially if the TA is also well-trained in social commentary to increase the quality of the interactions for all pupils.

References -

Education Endowment Foundation (2022) Closing the Disadvantage Gap: Intervention Strategies from the EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit. Available at: https://www.ase.org.uk/sites/default/files/Closing%20the%20Disadvantage%20Gap%20%28EEF%20Toolkit%29%20ASE%20IIS.pdf (Accessed: 6 November 2023)

Lucy Red Group

I think it is common for pupils from lower income areas to believe they have little to no control over their future due to where they have come from and the seeming lack of opportunities around them. It can be demotivating for students to aim high in their aspirations and future jobs if they begin to believe they are not attainable due to factors that the child can not control.

Therefore, I think it would be a great idea to search for visitors from the specific area of the school to come in during a careers week and speak about their experiences and their careers now. Local authors, professors, police force, NHS staff, etc could all come in and tell the children about not only the tasks they carry out in their day to day job but also a little bit about their background and how they got into the career they chose.

The speakers being from the same area would be vital in this intervention as they will show the students that they can succeed and attain aspirations they may have had little faith in due to where they’ve grown up, what school they go to or what level of income they’ve grown up with.

This would hopefully boost intrinsic motivation in the children as they gain a sense of motivation and realise that they do have control over what they want to achieve. Furthermore, representation is crucial to children. Therefore, seeing and hearing the experiences of people just like them who’ve achieved large accomplishments in life will give a sense of relatability and make the children feel heard.

Furthermore, having a peer mentor whether it's from the same year group or a year above, would create a brilliant support network around each student who is struggling and in need of a bit of extra help. There are some advantages to having a peer mentor that would come from an older year group and also from the same year group. Having older students as mentors would ideally apply to become a learning mentor for younger students to provide extra support from a buddy. This in turn could look really good on the older students learning record. The benefits from having an older peer mentor are that students feel comforted that the older student has been in the same position they are in with needing support with their learning.

Students that come from different backgrounds would see benefits in this intervention as some may not have any older siblings or educated parents to get support from at home. They may not have been able to access an intervention like peer mentoring before, therefore, this would provide the students with a sense of aspiration that they can do well within their learning. The peer mentor would provide the student with the aspiration to do well within their learning and have the hope and ambition into achieving something. By having the influence of a peer mentor, students will be able to have a better vision of their future self which will aspire and motivate them to keep working to achieve their goals within learning and to improve their work. They will have the support from their peer who can help them understand their learning in a way which would be different from the teacher's explanation they would be able to learn different skills from their peer mentors and learn from each other which would benefit both students.

Hannah & Stacey

Hina

Katie-purple

Joe Quai & Millie Stables

This next bit is specific to my own experience but I am willing to assume that many others at the very least have felt the same way as me.

Very quickly after starting high school we had CAT tests, and as close to a direct quote I can remember was the teacher sitting in our CAT test room said “SAT Tests are more to evaluate the performance of your primary school, we use the CAT tests to determine what sets to put you in and see where you are at”. Now this may not be necessarily be true, but imagine being 11 years old having just spent 7 years at a place where it all felt like it was building towards these SAT Tests that where important, to then be told they was not. Like i said wether other teachers said the same as mine, I am confident other children also felt in that moment something along the lines of “why are we doing these, what was the point in one or the other”. In my own experience this one incident was the turning point for alot people i knew and it was when i would say they lost all chance of being intrinsically motivated.

So, now the heavy context is out the way.

My Intervention would intend to inform children of the meaning of the education system and what it means for them. Every child should understand the reasons as to why they are doing what they are doing. For too long have we treated children like children, telling them only what we as adults decide they need to know.

The Intervention would target 3 different year groups, Y3-Y4 and Y5. In the time available Y3-Y4 would be informed of the progression system, ie GCSE -> College (A-Levels) -> University. They would learn and hopefully understand that what they do today doesn't define them forever as appose to in my experience teachers using the fear of failure as motivation. I would invite guest speakers from colleges, high schools, and maybe even past students who have graduated from a university, too highlight the variety in paths to a career of success. If budgets allowed it visits to colleges and/or Universities would be ideal where a careers advisor would hopefully discuss the plethora of ways to success. The theme would be that no one way is the right way and would hopefully encourage children both intrinsically and extrinsically.

Y6 would have a very different week. In y9 children are expected to pick their GCSE Options. What they dont realise in that moment is not picking a subject such as history, could bite them later if they need it for college. So the week for Y6 would include the following. A visit to the feeder highschool meeting the headteacher and viewing the facilities. Alongside a visit to a careers fair. The purpose of the fair is to encourage children to find two things. 1. A career that resembles them, the plethora of stalls would allow most if not all children to see a career stall that they may be interested in intrinsically due to their own hobbies and interests, introducing this to children at an earlier stage allows them to aspire for something tangible and also have an idea on what is required of them to achieve this. Without this inner drive aquired from seeing something other than the same classroom every day how can children be truly self motivated?

2. How and what they need in order to achieve a career in the industry that they have been drawn to themselves

Once all year groups have had their day. I would then have a classroom based day where the in class teacher would reinforce what they have learned. I would provide a worksheet that allowed the children to outline what car they were interested in and what they need to achieve it.

Obviously children in most cases dont have a firm identity and any firm idea about their futures. However, this does not mean they should not be infromed of the way the system works and what will be expected of them. At the very least the children will come out of this week with a level of understanding that in my opinion and experience is actively hidden from younger children and suddenly dropped on them in y9.

Every child needs to understand the whys before you can expect them to want to aspire for anything more. Allowing children to have an understanding of this would hopefully see more engagement from the children as appose to when they are just dropped off and picked up without really understanding why.

Josh

·      3 week intervention

·      This form of intervention would act as external motivation for the children which will help them to be driven and competitive.

·      Through this intervention we hope that through the many different areas/activities which the children will be exposed to that there will be one with is of particular interest and inspires each child. Therefore this can be internalised and provide the child with intrinsic motivation to achieve their goals.

·      Through this intervention the children are likely to decide on their aspirations within their life as the intervention provides them with many opportunities to take part in different activities and also learn about new things which may interest them.

Advantages:

-It can help to build the children’s self belief and confidence

-Provide them with opportunities which they may not receive outside of school

-Improve attainment within lessons as they have a goal which they are striving for

-Have the chance to develop new relationships/ friendships with their peers

Week 1: One aspect of the 3 week intervention would focus on skills that disadvantaged pupils may not have developed at home it would involve a cooking class that would teach the children vital skills to aid them to cook at home by making budget friendly meals and teach them facts about a balanced diet. Other pros to this scheme would be that children have a nutritious meal that they can take home with them and it may aid them in developing healthier eating habits that are affordable.  This activity could help spark a passion for cooking and inspire children to help out more at home. To ensure this activity is successful it will have to be engaging and involve the children with a hands on approach as well as being equally informative as it is enjoyable. 

Week 2: The next aspect we are focusing on is school visits. For example the children could be take on a trip to the zoo and have a lesson on animals and how they are looked after. Additionally they could also go on a trip to the theatre or museum. Through doing a variety of different visits and experiencing different environments this should hopefully inspire children. School trips offer students the opportunity to learn about a subject in a more hands on and immersive way than they can in the classroom therefore children are more likely to engage.

Week 3: Having different weekly influential speakers such as motivational speakers, mental health speakers and sporting speakers, for example Ashia Hansen. All of which can talk to the children about specialities within their lives that can impact the children. It can encourage and motivate the children in different ways, some of which they may never have experienced before. 
In week 1 a motivational speaker can come and talk about ways to motivate and improve in faulty life which can push children in a specifically deprived area to work towards their goals no matter the foundation of which they are starting out with. 
In week 2 a mental health therapist/speaker would come in to discuss mental health and the importance of how it can affect everyone around them. This will make the children think of others as well as themselves which is an important life lesson for all children. It can also help children to open up therefore opening a close relationship with professional adults. Something which a child in a deprived area may never have experienced before. 
Finally, in week 3 a sporting speaker would come in to talk about careers and hobbies. This would encourage the children to become more physically active and want to push to potentially start a sporting career. This can be followed by clubs and free training sessions provided by the school and local council.

Hannah, Amy, Isabella