Research into all-age schools is limited, due mainly to the relatively low numbers of all-age schools in Wales and in other countries. Research published during the last 20 year focuses mainly on the potential of all-age schools. This includes their potential to improve pedagogy and care, advantages for developing learning, and potential challenges for leadership.
Many local authorities benefited from the 21st Century Schools and Education programme (Welsh Government, 2019) to establish all-age schools. This provided large infrastructure investment in schools and colleges. As a result, many all-age schools are situated in either brand new buildings or newly refurbished and extended sites.
In 2018, the most recent research paper by Reynolds et al. (2018) explores the effects of an all-age model internationally and to examine how it might compare with the Welsh model. The report is based on visits to six all-age schools in south, mid and north Wales, and semi-structured interviews with leaders, teaching staff and pupils. It contains a literature review of international work on all-age schools. The report concludes (Reynolds et al., p.11):
- That ‘emerging benefits of an all-age model on the pedagogy, and an innovative and synergistic approach to teaching and learning allows for combining of the most effective elements of teaching strategies in different educational phases for the benefit of pupils’ learning outcomes’.
- An all-age school model ‘appears to stimulate the professional development of staff, enrichment and diversification of their skillset, and with it, increase in their professional competence and confidence to create the best learning environment for their pupils’.
- ‘The continuity of the education throughout the key stages within the same environment can allow for greater coherence and reduction in the transition related issues, which in consequence may minimise pupils’ stress, enhance their wellbeing and give them a better chance for more favourable educational outcomes and a higher quality of life in the future.’
In England and Scotland, research has focused on the benefit of an all-age school model. A paper by the Department for Education and Skills (2006) identifies potential benefits but with no evidence to prove the fulfilling of that potential. In 2011, the inspectorate of Scotland provided a guide to opening up learning in all-through schools and identified current strengths as being (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Scotland, 2011, p.6):
- climate and ethos, including the quality of relationships
- partnerships with parents and the local community
- meeting the needs of young people with additional support needs
A report by Swidenbank (2007) on the challenges and opportunities of leading and managing an all-age school for the National College for school leadership highlighted opportunities and challenges for leadership of all-age schools. The opportunities included (Swidenbank, 2007, p.6):
- being part of something new and exciting
- having the ability to change and to develop as a leader, which in turn promotes distributed leadership
- reducing the barriers to learning across the primary and secondary phases
- improving the personal development and wellbeing of students and gaining a greater understanding of the community
- gaining greater value for money through economies of scale
Whilst the challenges highlighted were (Swidenbank, 2007, p.11):
- changing the culture and addressing the context and the history of the school
- changing perceptions and raising awareness about what it means to be a primary or secondary school teacher
- time pressures and facilities
International research in Jamaica (Jamaica All-Age Schools Project, 2003) and Finland (Wilborg, 2004) were only small-scale studies and made generalisations about the system within their own countries.
