What can schools actually do to help reduce the gender attainment gap?In the first, of this two part series, we look at the way The Matthew Arnold School, a mixed comprehensive in Surrey, and the all-boys school of St Aloysius RC College in North London attempt to breakthrough a range of barriers to boys learning. This programme shows how the Matthew Arnold School is trying a step-by-step change methodology to test strategies that can be practically introduced; and we see how St Aloysius RC College is working with their local football club, Arsenal, to develop raising achievement strategies. It appears that there are no quick fixes to raising boys achievement, and this programme acknowledges the wider social and cultural barriers that cannot be overcome by schooling alone.
What can schools actually do to help reduce the gender attainment gap?In this second programme, we continue are exploration of how The Matthew Arnold School, a mixed comprehensive in Surrey, and the boys school of St Aloysius RC college in North London are working to overcome a range of barriers to boys learning. This programme shows how St Aloysius is working with the Arsenal Football Club to develop literacy skills motivated by football materials; and how the Matthew Arnold school is undertaking multiple intelligence profiling to assess preferred learning styles and develop mentoring strategies. There are insights into the issue of boys fear of failure, which perhaps contributes more significantly than currently appreciated to their barriers to learning and attainment.