SUCCESS FOR ALL!

I met Paul Prest yesterday. Paul is an old colleague and friend who now manages the Success for All initiative.

The Success for All programme was originally developed at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore by Dr Robert Slavin. In 1997, the Centre for Teacher and School Development, led by Professor David Hopkins and Dr Alma Harris, at the University of Nottingham began working with the 'new' Nottingham City LEA to develop a small pilot scheme for the adaptation of Success for All to English schools. At this time the programme was launched in five primary schools in the Meadows area of the inner city. After just one year, there was evidence of pupils making considerable progress in reading levels - in some cases, this was as much as one year's progress in one term.

Paul explained that currently, Success for All are working with primary and secondary schools across the UK from West Lothian in Scotland to Bromley, Bristol and Bridgewater in the South West to schools in Wales. The majority of these schools are in areas of high social deprivation with all the challenges and limitations of aspiration and achievement associated with this. In all schools, the programme has made an impact on the percentage of children achieving age-appropriate National Curriculum levels.

I first came across Success for All when I was working in Leeds. It is based on a co-operative Approach to Learning and their curriculum is driven by co-operative learning, which is embedded throughout the programme and focuses on individual accountability, common goals and recognition of team success. This emphasis on partner and team sharing, and the opportunities that children are given to work with peers, enables them to master new skills, whilst encouraging them to develop into active, thoughtful learners.

It was great to see Paul again and see how he is driving Success for All to reach more schools and continuing to make a real difference where it matters most. Paul is looking for more schools to work with, both primary and secondary and if you want to get involved or find out more you can visit their website at http://www.successforall.org.uk.