Pupils at a Carlisle school will swap Dickens for drill lyrics in a new project which aims to address barriers to literacy.
Drill is a sub-genre of hip hop and Andy Hopkins, assistant head of Trinity School, hopes its introduction will engage students who are not thriving.
The project will use a unique combination of tutoring, counselling and music and has been given funding by Let Teachers Shine, which supports teachers with innovative education ideas.
Students from low-income families in years seven, eight and nine will be involved in the project. They will receive access to a counsellor, who will listen to their concerns and encourage them to verbalise their thoughts, fears, issues and ideas.
They will also work with a literacy tutor, who will teach English language skills using hip-hop and drill lyrics in place of more conventional texts.
Then the youngsters will use what they have learned to write and create their own music, with support from former students and professional producers.
Andy said: “As an English teacher working in a small city, I am aware of the gap in literacy between the fortunate students that I teach and the less fortunate.
“In the North West we’ve got some of the most deprived areas in the country and we’ve got students who would benefit from creative ways to engage with the curriculum.
“And even though they might go home and listen to quite complicated, incredible music, they still regard the production of that music as being outside of their reach. They don’t know how to get the skills and they don’t think that either they or the art form are treated seriously.
“This project is a way of encouraging them, building their confidence, and giving them the language to talk about what they already know and the way to express themselves.
“We will be giving them the skills to begin to express themselves verbally and also through their own music.”
The school has run a smaller-scale version of the project in the past.
Andy added: “I have seen what some often reticent and grossly under-confident young people can achieve across time when taught how to use contemporary musical tools. By introducing literacy lessons and helping with their social and emotional wellbeing as well, we can achieve a much wider impact.”
He said students who had otherwise struggled to engage with English lessons were much more open to analysing texts that they were more familiar with, such as rap.
He said: “Students can be notoriously difficult to impress, or even to reach some days, but they are genuinely keen to take part in this.
“There are lots of schemes that can put a computer in front of some students and address literacy skills in isolation, but this is about tackling a deep-seated issue and putting in place holistic support for students who are often in need of more personalised support.”
“I hope this project will have a positive impact on their lives, but also the impact that they wouldn’t necessarily notice, which is that they get better at reading and writing and able to succeed in a world that is not always geared up for them.”
Shine interim chief executive Helen Rafferty, said: “Andy is hugely passionate about his students and we are proud to be supporting him in his efforts to improve literacy skills.
“The art of a great teacher is sometimes to look for new and creative ways into a subject, knowing that some students need a different approach, and Andy’s project embodies this. We look forward to learning more about the impact of this project as it develops.”
