Intervening early to help pupils struggling at primary level can dramatically improve their education thereafter. Pupils leaving primary at Level 3 attainment only have a 10 - 14% chance of obtaining five A-C GCSEs whereas those at Level 4 have a 70% success rate. At Preston Manor High School in Brent we visit an early morning early intervention breakfast club where Year 7 pupils are helped to reach Level 4. We also eavesdrop on a Year 9 cross curriculum group who have been given the task of finding out which of three teacher suspects murdered their head of year. The poor man is 'murdered' every year for the sake of boosting attainment! At Heathcote Secondary in Waltham Forest, staff try to interest their pupils in a Study Plus early intervention class by providing the applied maths skills needed to compare the cost of bargain villas in Spain. It is obviously working since last year nine out of ten students boosted their expected D grade in GSCE maths to that all-important C.

Video Series: Intervention Strategies
Release Date 2009