Researching Caped Crusaders: The Boys Flying High Project in Early Literacy at Camp Hill

Abstract

Boys at Camp Hill Infants State School have not yet learned to fail. Their superior performances in reading, writing and numeracy on The Year 2 Diagnostic Net in relation to State averages for Year 2 children generally, and for other boys particularly, are indicative of a sturdy resistance to factors seemingly inflicting their peers across the State and nationally. Newspapers, TV and radio, sensitive to public interest in the phenomenon, have interviewed the school's children, teachers, principal and university associates, all of whom speak positively about this result and the learning environment in which the boys have done so well. In this presentation, the principal, a critical friend and his critical colleague consider recent research of the management practices used at the school, pedagogical adaptations made to better suit boys, how Camp Hill SIS's boys appear to become engaged in the education process, and how school and home sustain boys' interest in learning.