Research News

St. Luke’s prides itself on being a highly reflective school, which actively engages in educational research within the school and actively draws on the results of rigorous research within other educational settings. It has close relationship with the Institute of Education in London and was involved in a very exciting two year project looking at the impact of research in schools. We also work closely with the University of Brighton and we are members of the Cambridge Review programme.

Our research follows an annual cycle and our research planning follows the pattern outlined below:

Autumn Term

Use data to identify areas for improvement
Define a question to investigate
Propose possible solutions based on changes to practice

Spring Term

Establish baseline data
Trial the approach
Review and refine
Present findings

Summer Term

Adopt changes to practice where there is clear evidence of benefits/improved progress for the children

At present we are looking at dialogic learning and teaching and exploring the best ways to create purposeful dialogue in the classroom where children jointly co-construct knowledge, conceptual understanding and skills through planned talk.

In the past, we have researched among many things:

Best practice in supporting disadvantaged pupils

Promoting Growth Mindset towards writing in the Early Years

Improving the impact of Teacher Assistants

The best way to bring choice into the curriculum

Mixed attainment approach to teaching

Promoting effective collaborative learning

The impact of ‘free writing’ opportunities on a child’s attitude to writing and themselves as a writer

The link between handwriting competency and broader writing attainment