Customer Story: Hodge Hill Girls School
A correlation between Access GCSEPod usage and improved P8 scores
Hodge Hill Girls’ School sits in one of Birmingham’s most deprived areas, but its Progress 8 score at the end of Key Stage 4 is among the top 200 in England. Heavy promotion of the online GCSEPod learning platform is one of the factors being attributed to this outstanding success.
Access GCSEPod
Maintained school
Key Takeaways
- Strategic Promotion and Engagement: Hodge Hill Girls' School effectively promoted GCSEPod, fostering student engagement through innovative incentives like pin badges.
- Adaptability and Impact Across Subjects and Student Groups: GCSEPod's versatility benefitted diverse student demographics, aiding those with English as a second language and promoting independent learning across Key Stages 3 and 4.
- Continuous Innovation and Support: GCSEPod's constant updates and future innovations like Check & Challenge underscores the platform's commitment to ongoing improvement.
Promoting GCSEPod within Hodge Hill Girls School
We identified a correlation between high GCSEPod usage and P8, so we promoted GCSEPod more heavily. This saw more than double the number of Pods watched with 16,313 and a P8 of 0.73 for the school (up from the previous year’s 0.17)
Assistant Head - Claire Middlehurst
The power of the pin badge
The latest must-have fashion accessory at Hodge Hill Girls’ School isn’t a chunky choker, talking-point tights, or 70s throwback platform shoes. It’s a GCSEPod pin badge. Only a small number of students are currently sporting one of the badges, but assistant head teacher Claire Middlehurst says, “They are a much sought after fashion item. Only the top three GCSEPod users in each year group over the course of a month receive a badge, and we currently have between 20 and 30 girls walking around wearing theirs”.
A longstanding subscriber
Located in one of Birmingham's most deprived areas, Hodge Hill Girls’ School has been utilising GCSEPod for over five years. With a student body of 750, spanning ages 11-16, the school swiftly recognised the value of this resource.
Since its adoption, GCSEPod has consistently proven its efficacy. Claire, the school's GCSEPod lead, remains dedicated to optimising the platform for her students.
Introducing innovative incentives, such as pin badges and other reward schemes, has fostered a culture of enthusiasm for learning.
Recognising top GCSEPod users weekly, across all year groups, ensures public acknowledgment of their achievements. Furthermore, rewards like cinema and end-of-term bowling trips stimulate healthy competition and nurture student engagement.
Claire emphasises the importance of visibility for GCSEPod within the school community. While student usage has always been present, recent efforts have significantly increased its adoption.
This increased usage has not only had a positive effect on students’ exam grades, but Hodge Hill Girls’ School’s Progress 8 and other performance related results. Hodge Hill Girls’ School’s latest P8 score of 0.73 is well above the national average – a vast improvement on previous years, when the school stood at -0.05.
Observing an improvement in academic performance
Amidst various strategies employed, heavy promotion of GCSEPod notably contributed to Hodge Hill Girls’ School's progress. Although impossible to attribute progress solely to one strategy, GCSEPod's impact is evident, with lower achieving users demonstrating improved Progress 8 scores.
Since its implementation, the school has witnessed overall improvements in academic performance, with notable increases in Attainment 8 and EBacc entry rates surpassing national targets.
Claire highlights the platform's adaptability and effectiveness in reflecting current educational trends, anticipating further benefits from innovations like Check & Challenge.
Find out more:
Encouraging independent learning in schools | Access Education (theaccessgroup.com)
Results
This year [in which this case study was written] we had more than double the number of Pods watched with 16,313 and a P8 of 0.73 for the school (up from the previous year’s 0.17). Our top 20 GCSEPod users watched an average of 393 Pods each and achieved a typical P8 of 1. Of these, 10 achieved a P8 of 1 or above and three realised a P8 of 2 or above.
Related resources
If you resonated with any of the topics covered in Hodge Hill School’s success story, you can book a demo of GCSEPod or head over to the pricing page.
We've introduced fresh Key Stage 3 Content as part of GCSEPod, comprising Year 7 transition assessments, structured activities, independent learning materials, and resources for reporting and end-of-unit assessments. Explore further details here.