Contact: John Clarke, Deputy County Education Officer, Tel 01962 846459 [email protected] or

Chris Wilson, Senior inspector/Adviser (Strategic Management), Tel 01962 846517 [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This report sets out the results of the pupil attitude survey carried out with over 33,280 pupils in primary and secondary schools. The responses are compared with those obtained in the survey of pupil attitudes carried out in the previous four years. There is a marked level of consistency between the results of the last four years' surveys and this year's. This is reassuring and suggests these results are a trustworthy basis from which to plan improvements. Questions on computer use and access to the internet now show that nine out of ten pupils in the older year groups surveyed have access to computers and eight out of ten have access to the internet. It is recommended that the survey should continue to be undertaken each year and key indicators reported to this Panel to measure success in raising pupils' expectations of their education.

1.2 This paper supports Aim 1 of the Corporate Strategy (maximising life opportunities). This survey gives comparative information to schools about the views of their pupil body, which they can use as part of their self-evaluation. Self-evaluation is related to improvement and, thus, to improved outcomes for pupils.

2 Background

2.1 The pupil attitude survey was carried out for the first time in 2000. This year the same year groups, Years 2 and 6 in primary schools and Years 7 and 9 in secondary, were included in the survey. The same set of questions were asked as in 2003.

2.2 Completed forms were received from 8446 Year 2 pupils (60.0% of the year group in the county), 8298 Year 6 pupils (57.24% sample), 7797 Year 7 pupils (55.90% sample) and 8742 Year 9 pupils (61.34% sample), a total of 33,283 pupils (58.77% sample of all pupils in these year groups). This was an increase of 14% compared with 2003. Pupils in 289 primary and 50 secondary schools provided data, an increase of 54 schools compared with the previous year.

2.3 The year groups for the survey were chosen because Year 2 and Year 6 are respectively the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. It shows the attitude of pupils leaving these key stages. It would not be possible to undertake similar survey work with younger Key Stage 1 pupils. In secondary schools, Year 7 was chosen because it shows the attitude of pupils in their first year in secondary school and could be compared with attitudes in Year 6, the last year of primary school. Year 9 was chosen because it is the end of Key Stage 3 and shows pupil attitudes before they enter their GCSE courses.

2.4 One of the purposes of the survey was to collect data on pupils in Hampshire schools that was not focused on pupil outcomes, for example end of key stage assessments and external examinations. The attitude of pupils towards their learning contributes to their levels of attainment. Improving attitudes towards schools should lead to higher levels of attainment. In 2000, this survey was the first attempt to collect comparable pupil attitude information across the whole school system in Hampshire. It now forms a baseline against which changes can be assessed and can be used by schools as evidence to support their own self-evaluation. Ensuring that schools, parents and carers all work together to encourage positive attitudes by children towards school in pursuit of the outcomes of the Children Act will be a major challenge but the benefits for children's education will be significant.

2.5 A form pre-populated with school information with the same questions was used for Years 6, 7 and 9, but for Year 2 fewer questions were asked and the range of possible responses reduced. The guidance for Year 2 pupils also suggested that teachers could read the questions out to their children or work through the questions individually with pupils. In order to keep the burden of completing the questionnaires to a minimum, the number of questions was restricted to what could be easily and clearly fitted on two sides of A4 paper. It was estimated that most pupils could complete the questions in less than 15 minutes.

3 Results

3.1 Attached to this report, as Appendix 1, are the results from the questionnaires. There are data for each of the four year groups for all pupils and these are also analysed separately for boys and girls. As with other data from the survey, schools will be able to make comparisons between variations from their own averages and the average and range for the county.

3.2 As the questions for Year 2 pupils allowed fewer responses, three rather than the four on the questionnaires for the other year groups, comparison between the Year 2 responses and those for the other years has been made with care.

3.3 In all year groups there were some responses that did not indicate whether it was a boy or a girl completing the form. Therefore the total responses for boys and girls do not add to the overall total. The balance between the proportion of boys and girls responding should be kept in mind when considering overall response.

3.4 The questions asked of pupils in Years 6, 7 and 9 can be broken down into four groups. Questions 1, 5 and 6 look at overall pupil attitudes; questions 3, 4 , 7 and 10 at the pupils' attitudes to their work; questions 2 and 9 to the attitude towards teachers; and questions 8 and 11 to classroom methods. The questions for Year 2 pupils can be split into three groups. Questions 1, 2 and 3 about overall attitudes; questions 4 and 6 about attitudes to work; and question 5 about their attitude to their teacher.

3.5 Overall there is a marked level of consistency between the results of the last four years' surveys and this year's. This is reassuring. It does therefore appear that the survey is providing information that can be relied upon. The developing trends over four years indicate increasingly positive attitudes by children at all survey ages.

3.6 The comments set out below are based on questions where there has been a variation of more than plus or minus 2 percentage points between response in 2003 and 2004: that is, changes that are likely to be significant. Smaller changes could be the result of sampling error and random effects.

4 Overall attitudes to school

4.1 Year 2

· More boys and more girls always enjoyed being at school, but one in twelve boys say they never enjoy school - the lowest figure for the last three years, but still representing 342 boys across the primary schools with Year 2 boys in the survey.

· More boys and girls say they often get something to do at school that they are good at.

· More pupils now say they always do their best at school, although the number of boys continues to be significantly less than the number of girls.

4.2 Years 6, 7 and 9

· Overall there appears to be an increasingly positive attitude to school by pupils, with a lower number of Year 6 pupils saying they never enjoy being at school than any of the other three age groups.

· More Year 6 girls say they always get to do something they're good at at school, and more boys say they often get to do something they're good at at school. The trend for this year group is positive.

· In Year 7 fewer girls agree that they often get to do something they're good at compared with last year's cohort.

· More Year 9 boys agree they often get to do something they're good at at school and the trend in this year group is positive.

· More boys and girls in Year 6 agree they always do their best at school and the lowest number ever say they never do their best.

· More Year 7 girls now say they always do their best at school and the overall trend is positive.

· More Year 9 boys say they always do their best at school and the overall trend is positive.

· Compared with the attitudes expressed by last year's respondents, there is a more positive trend, similar to or better than the one for pupils in 2002.

5 Attitudes to work

5.1 Year 2

More boys and girls say they always have work to do at home.

5.2 Years 6, 7 and 9

· More pupils in Year 6 find their work usually rather than sometimes interesting, with an improving positive attitude from boys in this regard.

· In Year 6 more pupils are usually set homework with an increasing trend for homework to be set.

· In Year 7 the trend has shifted from Year 7 pupils usually being set homework to their sometimes being set homework, a trend continued in Year 9 where fewer pupils say they are always set homework. The trend in Years 7 and 9 would suggest that pupils' perception in 2004 was that homework was less regularly set than in the previous year.

· Pupils' perception of how hard their work is has remained stable in Year 6, but is less stable in Years 7 and 9 where slightly more pupils felt their work is always too hard for them. The number of boys in Year 7 and Year 9 who feel their work is just about right for them has declined over the past two years, whereas girls' perceptions have remained much the same. More boys in Year 9 now perceive their work as sometimes too hard than in previous years.

6 Attitudes to teachers

6.1 Year 2

More girls now feel their teacher always tells them how to make their work better and the trend is positive across boys and girls.

6.2 Years 6, 7 and 9

· More pupils in Year 6 now think their teachers are always fair, with boys and girls feeling similarly and the trend becoming more positive.

· More Year 7 and Year 9 boys and more Year 7 girls think their teachers are usually, rather than only sometimes, fair, and fewer boys feel that their teachers are never fair. Again the trend is positive in attitude.

· In Year 6 more pupils now feel their teachers always tell them how to make their work better, and fewer never tell them.

7 Classroom methods

7.1 Year 6, 7 and 9

· Fewer Year 6 boys, now, never like answering questions in class and the trend is positive as it is Years 7 and 9.

· In Year 6 the trend is for girls to be more frequently asked questions in class with the responses in the other year groups similar to those in previous years.

· Across the three year groups there is more involvement of girls in questions in class and they are generally more positive about answering.

8 Access to computers at home

8.1 Pupils in Years 2, 6, 7 and 9 were asked about their access to computers at home and their use of these facilities for homework. More than eight out of ten Year 2 pupils and nine out of ten pupils in the older age groups now have access to a personal computer at home, and more than eight out of ten of Years 6 and 7 are able to use their computers for homework, and more than nine out of ten of Year 9 pupils do this.

8.2 The number of girls in Year 6 who now use their computers for homework has increased compared with previous years.

8.3 More than eight out of ten pupils in the older age groups have access to the internet at home and use the internet to help them with homework. The girls in Year 6 have increased access and significantly increased use of internet for their school or homework, a rising trend also noticeable in Year 9.

8.4 Whilst the use by Year 7 pupils of computers and the internet is similar, the trend is increasing.

9 Analysis by districts

9.1 In 2002 and 2003 a further analysis was undertaken, breaking the results of the survey down by district council area. At the time of reporting it has not been possible, because of pressure on staffing resources in the Information and Research Unit, to undertake this data analysis which will, however, be completed later in the year. As this will have been the third year with district level analysis, the indication of trends will be particularly useful for estimating differences in approach and provision that might be needed across different localities in Hampshire in response to the attitudes expressed by pupils to their schooling, and which may be helpful to the LEA in determining the local focus for school improvement initiatives in the future.

10 Conclusions

10.1 The survey has established itself as a reliable indicator of pupil attitudes and might prove useful to schools in undertaking their own self-evaluation of pupil attitudes and approach to school.

10.2 It is proposed that further surveys should be undertaken.

11 Legal implications

11.1 None.

12 Financial implications

7.1 None.

13 Personnel implications

13.1 None.

14 Impact assessment

14.1 Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

15 Crime prevention issues

15.1 None.

16 Views of the Local County Councillor

16.1 Not sought in the drafting of this report.

Recommendations

1 That the report is noted.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act

None