Biometrics in Schools

Biometrics have always been part of the social world, but it is only recently that we have moved from an instinctive human model to a digital one. Anyone who has been a school student will be aware that, along with eyes in the back of their heads, teachers are supposed to have a mythical sixth sense that means they are able to smell potential trouble a mile off, or identify potential culprits by individual gaits as they attempt to escape. Teachers have also long been regarded as societal experts in identifying homework and examination cheating, in the form of informally analysing patterns of handwriting and pencil use, as those of us who have attended school ourselves may recall. However identification techniques in school are currently in a process of being corporatised and commoditised, with biometric technologies being at the forefront of these developments. This chapter discusses the social and theoretical context for such change

Biometrics Institute 20th Anniversary Report

The purpose of this report is to mark the 20-year anniversary of the Biometrics Institute on the 11 October 2021. More importantly, however, this report celebrates the work of the Biometrics Institute over the past twenty years, which together with the support of its members, has provided a platform for a balanced discussion promoting the responsible and ethical use of biometrics and a deeper understanding of the biometrics industry

Creating year 7 bubbles to support primary to secondary school transition: a positive pandemic outcome?

In this paper, we explore the benefits of new forms of in-school grouping for children moving from primary to secondary school during the COVID-19 pandemic in England. Our three-phase study with over 400 students and teachers found that protective measures to limit COVID-19 though year group ‘bubbles’ generated an environment more aligned to children’s previous primary school experience. This natural experiment smoothed the process of transition by providing a better correspondence with students’ developmental needs, especially for those on the cusp of adolescence. We recommend that physical, administrative and pedagogical school structures are reimagined for this age group to this end

Starting secondary school in 2020 - Teacher Guide

This is an exciting time for Year 7 students as they see their friends again, and move up to secondary school. However they will arrive back at school with a very wide variety of experiences, losses and learning over the pandemic period. These will not necessarily align with socio-economic background or prior attainment as communicated by their primary school. Many, especially those with particular learning needs, or from badly-hit groups, will feel particularly insecure or concerned after missing usual year 6 transition routines, and having experienced little ‘normal’ schooling over the previous 6 months. Those with the greatest concerns or with experience of significant trauma may not be able to accommodate new expectations, or concentrate, as well as they normally would. Some might even worry about the size and noise of a secondary school more than usual. Reduced physical activity also threatens wellbeing further. Here teachers can help, by demonstrating positive expectations and providing opportunities for physical engagement with learning where possible. The emphasis here should be on student and teacher welfare rather than seeking learning gains in isolation, in the context of everyone adapting to a new way of approaching schooling

Starting secondary school in 2020 - Student Guide

Moving up to secondary school is an exciting step. There will be lots of opportunities, but also some challenges. You will have to get used to new students, new teachers, and a larger school site. You might have to travel some distance to get there. All these changes take time to get used to. They also bring new opportunities for specialist teaching, a variety of different and interesting ways to learn, new subjects, specialist rooms and special equipment, so it can be very exciting. Here is some advice to get you through the first term

Moving Up: Secondary school transition processes during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 global pandemic of 2020 onwards has revealed, and continues to reveal, a great deal about many of the social structures and processes that we take for granted. One of these is the everyday practice of sending children to school. It has been disrupted in a manner unprecedented outside wartime, with consequences that are not likely to become fully apparent for a long time. This study, funded by the UCL Office of the Vice-Provost (Advancement) and the Wellcome Trust, looks at the particular case of Year 6 children in England (aged 10-11 during the school year 2020-2021) who were undergoing transition from primary to secondary school during the initial phases of the pandemic. We chose this group of children as they were on the cusp of adolescence, and working through challenging educational experiences, the effects of which have been magnified by the pandemic. Our study is interested in how these exaggerated effects have shaped their future educational progress, social relationships, and mental health. Our review of the research literature suggests that a smooth transition to secondary school plays an important part in the general development of young people as they move towards adulthood. It also indicates that a successful transition is often the result of positive home and primary school experiences. Several additional factors are key to this. The first is carefully managing children’s expectations of secondary school. Ensuring suitable continuity of learning, as well as minimising any missed learning opportunities, are also important. All of these were heavily compromised by the pandemic. To investigate this, we used a combination of surveys and semi-structured interviews to engage with 196 children and 64 teachers in different regions and social circumstances across England via two fieldwork phases. The first took place in summer 2020 and the second in autumn 2020. We asked children and teachers about the different ways children’s educational experiences had diverged during the pandemic, whether there was likely to be any lack of learning opportunity or consequences for mental health and asked them to suggest changes that could be made to secondary school transition processes in general, in order to improve things in the future. A number of key themes emerged as a result of the research. Our participants reported that there had been increased fragmentation of learning, with some children making greater progress than usual, while other children missed out. This was sometimes, but not always, linked to deprivation. There were many problems with technology which had created barriers to learning, including deficits in national broadband infrastructure and tariffs, as well as hardware availability in some schools and homes. There was a general picture of uncertainty, compounded by the cancellation of Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) scheduled for the end of Year 6, which meant that teachers were unable to report formally on progress in the ways they were used to. Many children reported feeling more anxious than before about their education, as well as their peer relationships at school. In our findings, there were some positive outcomes of the pandemic for schooling, however. The teaching profession was forced into a programme of rapid modernisation and investment in terms of developing high level remote teaching skills. Additionally, those children attending school during the pandemic, because of Free School Meals (deprivation) status, or parental key worker status, sometimes made accelerated progress as a result of small group attention. Other children were able to explore their learning interests and hobbies in more depth than usual. We conclude that both positive and negative aspects of these children’s experiences during the pandemic provide opportunities for reflection around, and improvement of, secondary school transition processes generally. We make two specific recommendations, namely working further towards a distinct Year 7 phase in secondary school, and improving training in, and use of, educational technology by children and their teachers

Sense of competence, autonomy and relatedness during primary-secondary transition: children express their own experiences

This paper contributes a greater understanding of the importance of a sense of competence, autonomy and relatedness to children experiencing the primarysecondary schooling transition, drawing on the perspectives of the young people themselves. We address how the perspectives of transitioning children can further substantiate and illuminate Ryan and Deci’s Self Determination Theory (SDT; Ryan and Deci, 2019). SDT claims that satisfaction of a person’s needs for competence (attainment and confidence), autonomy (self-direction and capacity to critique) and relatedness (feeling affectively bonded to others) allows them to achieve ‘positiveexperience and wellness outcomes’ (p.219). We draw on data from two research projects, one a survey study of 288 transitioning children; and one a life-history study of 23 transitioning children. Our findings illustrated the potential benefits of policymakers giving priority to a wider range of conceptions of competence beyond attainment in mathematics/English, in order to support transitioning children’s sense of competence including their self-confidence. Findings also highlighted the need to nurture children’s capacity to recognise and direct their own schooling trajectories more autonomously, directing their energies into engagement with learning and relationships rather than into riling against controls or seeking to avoid humiliation and punishment. Most positively, our data manifested children’s high levels of relatedness to both peers and teachers as they transitioned to new secondary schools. And above all, our data emphasised and exemplified the need for relatedness to accompany children’s strong sense of competence and autonomy during transition