ABSTRACT
In this chapter consideration will be given to one school and its attempt to tackle the problem of disaffection and low attainment among its pupils. The school concerned is a real comprehensive school, which for the purposes of this book has been fictitiously named ‘the Valley School’. (Certain other alterations have also been made in order to protect the privacy of the school, its parents, pupils, teachers and local authority.) The two most important features of this chapter are: (i) the way in which the three concepts of respite, relationships and positive-signification (opportunities), which were generated in the study of the residential pupils’ perceptions (Chapter 7), can be shown to provide useful structures for organising our thinking about this school’s approach to enhancing its effectiveness; and (ii) indications that are given as to the ways in which developments and changes within the school were managed. The data on which this section is based were collected in a series of interviews with staff (including the head teacher) and pupils at the school. The aim of this chapter is to describe one school’s practical experience of a successful transition from a situation in which pupils and staff were disaffected and poorly motivated, to one where the consensus is that the school has improved its effectiveness, and where there is a shared confidence among the staff that the school has the means to further improve its effectiveness. It is suggested that this approach to the concept of school effectiveness, which places stronger emphasis on the subjectivity of staff and pupils than conventional approaches, contributes a valuable perspective to the debate which is complementary to existing work in this area.
