Open Futures evaluation reports 2007-09 – summary of findings

Research objectives

The Research Centre for Learning and Teaching at Newcastle University was commissioned by the Helen Hamlyn Trust in September 2006 to conduct a formative evaluation of the Open Futures project. Since then, under the auspices of Professor David Leat, they have produced five six-monthly Evaluation Reports, which have been instrumental in helping to inform the ongoing development and national dissemination of the project.

The core aims of the research process were to provide an ongoing assessment of:

• The different forms of impact of Open Futures on pupil ability, well-being and development
• The perceived value and effectiveness of the core deliverables of the programme itself
• The impact of Open Futures on Headteachers and their schools, including curriculum development
• The ability of Open Futures to deliver against key national agendas and recommendations.

This report seeks to give an overview of the findings from within these five evaluation reports.

Project background

Open Futures is a skills and enquiry-based education initiative for primary schools initiated, directed and funded by the Helen Hamlyn Trust. Its purpose is to encourage children to “learn through doing and making” and so discover and develop practical skills, personal interests and values, which will contribute to their education and stay with them throughout their adult lives.

Open Futures began as a pilot project in 10 schools along the south coast in 2005, and is now running in 64 primary schools across the UK. This includes a partnership pilot with Wakefield Local Authority.

The Trust has brought together a number of highly respected organisations and individuals to work in partnership with schools in order to deliver training across four specific strands that enables children to:

• Make choices and effective decisions (askit, supported by SAPERE)
• Grow their own fruit and vegetables (growit, supported by the Royal Horticultural Society)
• Cook for themselves (cookit, supported by Focus on Food)
• Work with new media to produce images and share ideas with others (filmit, supported by a range of independent advisers)

Following four years of evaluation, the Trust has recently decided to launch the programme nationally.

Research methodology

The evaluation team has worked closely with all the schools involved with the programme across the two pilot areas. This has been done in a variety of ways, generating both quantitative and qualitative data, including:

• in-school visits: interviewing a range of head teachers, teachers, teaching assistants, governors and volunteers involved in the programme as well as the children themselves
• twilight (after school) evaluation sessions to encourage and inform schools how to generate their own evaluations, particularly for use amongst parents and children, as well as to receive feedback on how Open Futures was developing and impacting the curriculum
• stakeholder questionnaires sent to schools for completion by all adults who were some way involved in Open Futures
• attendance at a range of Open Futures related meetings, training events and conferences
• discussions with Open Futures partners and trainers
• analysis of schools’ documentation related to Open Futures, including curriculum plans, Headteachers’ reports to governors and school self-evaluations.

Summary of key findings

Evaluations by teachers, parents, children and support officers have been consistently very positive, confirming that the programme provides an experiential curriculum with tangible end products that have meaning for pupils and enable the school to explore a skills and enquiry based curriculum. ln particular:

1. Open Futures activities are seen by adults and children alike as being highly enjoyable, providing a long list of benefits such as improved knowledge, understanding and skills, improved relationships, improved confidence and motivation, and improved behaviour.

Ongoing assessment has consistently found that pupils are positively impacted by Open Futures, with positive outcomes relating to both ‘affective’ and ‘practical’ outcomes. An analysis of responses shows that adults tend to focus more on the former, whilst children focus more on the latter. The programme has also been seen to provide an excellent foundation for schools to develop home-school and community links, both of which have indirect impact on the pupils.

2. The Open Futures ‘package’ of training and resources have proved very effective, with teachers placing great value on both across all the strands, and evaluating them all highly.

The evaluations have shown that the training and resource package has been highly effective and efficient in getting teachers and TAs started. Where staff lack expertise, these training and resources have provided a very structured model of practical activity which helps build teacher confidence. The model also assists the development of whole school implementation plans.

3. Open Futures is seen as a flexible curriculum development model that allows for individual interpretation and ownership by each school, meaning that any changes made are likely to last longer and generate a wider range of outcome gains.

This stands in contrast to more prescriptive models, which have been proven not to last even when they generate short term gains in test scores. The evaluation also highlights the potential for Open Futures in general and enquiry based learning (in the form of Philosophy for Children) in particular to underpin a social and emotional curriculum and citizenship education.

4. Open Futures provides considerable synergy with a wide range of government initiatives, and delivers against the core recommendations of the two recent high profile Primary Reviews – the Rose Review and the Cambridge Primary Review.

Open Futures is considered to be a timely initiative that addresses many government policy priorities, particularly those represented by the Every Child Matters agenda. It also delivers against a substantial number of the recommendations made by the two Primary Reviews.

Headteacher endorsement

The following quote from one Headteacher exemplifies the positive impact of Open Futures:

“(It impacts) in so many ways! The project has brought a real sense of excitement and purpose to the children – they love taking part, particularly in growing and cooking and some high quality written work has been produced.

As a ‘Healthy School’ in the process of working at ‘Sustainable Schools’ the project has moved us further along the path of healthy eating – the children are much more prepared to try fruit and vegetables they might not have eaten, and when recipes go home we know the message is spreading there too from parental responses. We are becoming (as a school, as a whole and as individuals) much more aware of recycling through composting and the use of water butts. A great deal of incidental learning is taking place particularly in science (parts of a plant, micro organisms, soil types) maths and speaking and listening.

The children are working well as part of a team and learning about co-operation, sharing and taking turns. Hopefully when the ICT element fully kicks in (we have only just received the equipment) this will be further enhanced, and there will be a development in planning and forward thinking skills. I would also like the project to help us to encourage the children to take some degree of control over what they learn. There is a ‘Ripple Effect’ – children are taking ideas from the project home, there are more children cooking at home with parents...”

Conclusions

• Open Futures is a timely initiative in that it addresses many government policy priorities.
• It appeals strongly to commonly held values of teachers and parents concerning good primary education which are reflected in the important activities of growing, cooking and asking questions.
• It has strength as a flexible curriculum development model, which allows for teacher interpretation and whose impact is likely last longer and generate a wider range of outcome gains.