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Salford School’s Social Media Programme leads the way for Greater Manchester

Ambrose Barlow RC High School in Swinton is leading the way in the use of social media for education. For the past three years, the school has been using Radiowaves, a safe social network that enables students to create internet radio, podcasts, videos and blogs.

Radiowaves creates a safe, password-protected platform, like an educational version of Facebook, where the students can showcase their work, allowing teachers, parents and students from their own and other schools to view and comment on their efforts.

Everything they submit goes first to a moderator – one of the teachers – and they check it before it is uploaded for general viewing. Ambrose Barlow students have used the site for everything from academic work to setting up an anti-bullying website, and from uploading video interviews with Olympic athletes and Carlisle footballer Danny Livesey, to making radio shows for the BBC Schools Report programme.

Radiowaves has been such a success at Ambrose Barlow that the school has become the lead for the creative and media diploma for Salford, working with other secondary schools and four feeder primary schools in the authority – and now they are rolling out the programme with funding from Greater Manchester Challenge.

The Greater Manchester Challenge is a three-year programme, which aims to develop and secure significant improvements in education for each of the 600,000 children and young people in Stockport, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

Headteacher Marie Garside was so impressed with the effect of Radiowaves on the students’ results and attitudes to learning, that she decided to share the practice with other schools from different local authorities across Greater Manchester. As part of the Families of Schools programme, Greater Manchester Challenge offers funding to allow the schools to work together, with headteachers sharing a commitment to raising standards across the group.

Andy Shepheard, Head of ICT and Broadcasting Co-Ordinator at Ambrose Barlow, along with a staff member from Radiowaves, set up training days for Heads of English or Maths from nine different schools across Greater Manchester; All Saints Catholic College, West Hill School and Longdendale Community Language College in Tameside, Thornleigh Salesian College and St James’s Church of England School and Sports College in Bolton, Harrytown Catholic High School in Stockport, Lowton Community Sports College in Wigan and St Patrick’s RC High School and Sports College in Salford. The City Challenge funding also paid for an audio recording kit for each school that participated.

He says, “Everybody who attended the training day was really enthusiastic about Radiowaves and all of the schools which attended the course had posted videos, blogs and podcasts after just three weeks. Each school can adapt the technology and use it in its own way and it is a great showcase for the students’ talents.

“We began by looking at how the technology could be used in core subjects like maths and English, but in Ambrose Barlow the students were so enthusiastic that they asked their other subject heads if they could use it too, and so the teachers began learning how to use the technology alongside the students. It is now embedded right throughout our curriculum, and the other schools which are using Radiowaves can also adapt it in whichever way works best for them”.

Headteacher Marie Garside adds, “The benefits of Radiowaves have been incredible and the range of work produced is of a very high quality. As well as developing digital literacy skills, which today’s students will need to compete in a global job market, it also helps them right across the curriculum. In geography, they created animations showing rock erosion, and in history they recorded radio ‘interviews’ with David Lloyd George about the Liberal Reforms. We are proud to be able to share this good practice across Greater Manchester, proving how valuable it is for schools to work together.”

Her enthusiasm is echoed by the students themselves. Year 8 student Chris Aspinall says, “Radiowaves makes it easier to learn as you can access it from home and it is a much better way of working. We have been working with primary schools in the area too, filming netball matches and interviewing the teachers and players afterwards, then parents can watch it on the site and vote for player of the match.”

Higher up the school, Year 11 students Conor Scott and Faye Mallon enjoy using the site to upload their work and invite feedback from other students. Faye says, “It’s great because it makes learning much more interesting. I take work home and upload projects from the coursework which people can comment on, so I get feedback from my peers – including people from other schools, so it’s not just friends who would say nice things anyway. It makes me feel more adult and take more responsibility for my work, and I also get one to one feedback from teachers who use the site too.”

Conor adds, “It is a great resource – you can upload science revision guides to use at home or, if you are doing some research, you can post questions on the site and everyone will respond, which is so much easier than having to go round and do a survey in person. It is much more enjoyable to learn on the internet than it is from a book because it is much more hands on and you feel more involved.”

Marie Garside is enthusiastic about the project, and about being able to use Greater Manchester Challenge to share the scheme with similar schools across local authority boundaries. She says, “We are supporters of lifelong learning at Ambrose Barlow, and for us one of the most positive aspects of learning is when you discover something really good and share it with others who can then go away and make it their own. We are looking forward to continuing our relationship with our other Family schools, using Radiowaves to share ideas across the curriculum for everyone’s benefit.”


Greater Manchester Challenge

The Greater Manchester Challenge was launched in July 2008. It is a three-year programme, developed in partnership with the ten Greater Manchester local authorities and all those working in education in the city region. It is backed by significant additional investment of around £50 million up until summer 2011.
The Minister for the Greater Manchester Challenge is Diana Johnson, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, and the Chief Adviser for the Greater Manchester Challenge is Professor Mel Ainscow.
The Challenge aims to develop and secure significant improvements in education for each of the 600,000 children and young people in Stockport, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.
The Challenge seeks to locate and extend the great practice that already exists within the city region, finding innovative methods and local solutions to crack the cycle of disadvantage and educational underachievement. Building on improvements already under way, by 2011 the main outcomes of the programme will be:
• A sharp drop in underperforming schools, particularly focusing on English and mathematics;
• More outstanding schools and colleges;
• Significant improvements in educational outcomes for disadvantaged children and young people.

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