Effective Practice Archives - Page 20 of 66 - Estyn

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The governing body and senior leadership team recognised the rapid changes in the complexity of pupil needs attending Ysgol St Christopher’s School.  The implementation of the ALNET Act 2018 and the curriculum for Wales meant that the school needed to quickly develop its support for pupils’ wellbeing as well as staff’s professional learning to manage these challenges.  

The senior leadership team were very aware of the implications of the education reforms and wanted to ensure that specialist support and guidance was available to all staff to support them through the changes.  

The head teacher wanted to empower staff to ensure that they had access to timely specialist advice and guidance to meet their pupils’ needs in their class. Setting up the wellbeing team, enhancing internal provision and organising a support panel ensures that staff can request additional advice, support and guidance in a constructive way. As a result, pupils receive timely support and interventions and subsequently this has strengthened referrals to outside agencies once all the school’s internal support has been exhausted. 

The school is now in a strong position to support pupils, parents and staff as the pupil cohort changed significantly and the implementation of the education reforms. 

How did we do it? 

In 2019, the appointment of a new headteacher led to a re-structure of the senior leadership team in the school. The initial focus was on developing a universal wellbeing team to support the school community. The team was built around a family liaison officer, attendance and engagement lead and a health care co-ordinator. This has subsequently been enhanced to include a mental health co-ordinator. The universal team work together well to provide families with the first contact at school. They respond to attendance difficulties, queries about school, issues in classrooms and work closely with new families as they settle into school. 

In 2021-2022, the wellbeing team expanded to include specialist practitioners to support our pupils and staff at school. This included the appointment by school of a speech and language therapist, assistant educational psychologist, behaviour analysists and occupational therapist. 

The school facilitates an internal provision and support panel on a monthly basis that is chaired by the headteacher. School staff can refer to the provision and support panel to request additional support and guidance as they plan to meet their pupils’ needs in class.  The provision and support panel brings the specialist team together to discuss all referrals, appoint a lead professional to support staff and to discuss additional strategies to support.  The specialist team work closely with staff, pupils and families to assess our pupils, provide advice and model how best to meet needs. The provision and support panel also supports referrals to outside agencies to support, as needed.  

What impact has this had on provision and standards?

The introduction of the universal and specialist wellbeing team and its co-ordination through the provision and support panel has had a very positive impact on pupils, families and staff at school.  

Opportunities to discuss and share ideas as well as bespoke professional learning facilitated by the specialist wellbeing team mean that staff feel more confident in planning for and meeting the needs of pupils with a range of complex additional needs. Being able to access this support and modelling of strategies in a timely manner is building staff confidence and skills to meet the needs of a changing cohort at Ysgol St Christopher’s. 

Pupils have benefitted from timely and specialist support in an environment that they feel safe in. A particular focus has been updating pupils’ communication and learning profiles prior to leaving the school, meaning that transition is smoother and progression is better planned. 

Parents and carers have regular access to the team, providing them with further support and modelling strategies to use at home.  

How have you shared your practice?  

Ysgol St Christopher’s School has worked with other secondary schools in Wrexham to share their specialism, advice and support. 

The school regularly holds information evenings for parents and carers where the wellbeing team lead and facilitate information and informal session based on feedback from our families. 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The local authority prioritises the professional development of both local authority and school staff well. They are committed to ‘growing their own’ leaders to support with succession planning and improvement. In response to challenges in recruiting high quality headteachers and senior leaders, the local authority provides a highly effective Aspiring Leaders Programme. This has been modelled on a well-established  senior leadership programme for Council staff, and is research informed and focused clearly on leadership in practice. This programme has helped to accelerate the personal and professional development, and growth of future leaders for schools in RCT.

The local authority also makes strong use of apprenticeship and graduate programmes to develop a highly skilled workforce. For example, the highly successful Graduate Scheme provides a two-year work placement and structured opportunities to develop management skills in a dynamic and varied organisation, coupled with a Level 4 Project Management Level Qualification.

 

Description of nature of strategy or activity

There is a strong culture in the Council of investing in the professional development of its staff. Planning for professional learning and development is directly linked to the delivery of the Council’s priorities, including the Corporate Plan and Education Strategic Plan.

The local authority supports the development of aspiring school leaders well. They ensure that middle and senior leaders are offered a wide range of opportunities to develop and improve their leadership skills. The local authority’s Aspiring Leaders Programme is a particular strength. These programmes are planned and evaluated effectively to meet aspiring leaders’ expectations and needs and are routinely adapted to ensure that they remain fit for purpose.

The RCT Aspiring Leaders Programme is unique in both its design and delivery. The programme is planned in response to the specific needs of the cohort and local and national priorities. It has been particularly successful in promoting both the personal and professional growth of participants. It has supported effectively not only newly appointed leaders, but also the succession planning of senior leaders in all schools in RCT for the last decade.

There is a strong culture of identifying and nurturing potential in employees and the local authority invests strongly in the development of their workforce. For example, local authority staff aspiring to management positions have access to a variety of structured learning opportunities including a broad range of leadership programmes.

Since 2005, many Education staff have engaged in a range of leadership programmes and cross directorate projects, which include developing coaching and mentoring skills and engaging in collaborative research projects.

These broad range of strategies have supported succession planning within the local authority well. Many former apprentices, graduates and trainees go on to secure permanent roles and leadership positions with the Council.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

Leadership across the directorate is strong and effective. The broad range of training has supported leaders at all levels to develop a range of skills. They lead well by example and have secured effective improvements across the directorate. For example, the school improvement team have strengthened the way in which they challenge and support the regional consortium to improve the support for their schools.

The local authority aspiring school leaders programme is well regarded by school leaders and has supported the growth and development of these participants well. All of the staff who engaged in the recent programme have secured leadership posts.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The development of management information systems (MIS) and the effective use of data and information have been central to the local authority’s improvement strategy.  In the last inspection in 2012, Estyn identified that the directorate needed to ‘‘improve the evaluation and analyses of data across service areas and partnerships to drive improvements in outcomes for learners’’.

To support this, the local authority focused closely on:

  • establishing centralised MIS that facilitates easy access to extensive datasets which are routinely analysed for the purpose of self-evaluation and to drive improvement across local authority services and educational settings;
  • developing live datasets where at all possible, analysed in a timely manner to effectively identify underperformance and inform targeted interventions and improved outcomes; and
  • using data as a tool for strengthening cross directorate working, strategic planning, local authority and school partnerships.

Description or nature of activity

The Education and Inclusion Service integrated three management information systems and multiple data streams to create one, streamlined data system. This has provided a solid foundation for developing increasingly sophisticated datasets, dashboards and reporting capacity.

This integrated system provides officers with immediate access to an extensive range of data and information relating to schools and services. This along with clear monitoring and evaluation processes enables the local authority to identify areas for improvement and respond rapidly.

In order to secure this improvement, the local authority has:

  • strategically reviewed and evaluated systems and data sources;
  • ensured that data functions have been retained within one highly specialist Data Team;
  • recruited high quality graduates and apprentices via the Council’s award-winning scheme, investing in their career progression and learning;
  • built in-house capacity, thereby reducing any reliance on external agencies and specialists so that services remain cost effective and efficient;
  • supported schools with their MIS systems, including daily system synchronisation and maintaining core data accuracy;
  • commissioned a single local authority pupil information system, supported and developed by the dedicated Education Data Team;
  • ensured the effective flow of information and data from schools, through the central system and into the appropriate reporting tools;
  • developed automated reporting to provide helpful information to support officers in identifying chronological and geographical patterns within datasets; and
  • improved more efficient communications and simple data collection approaches.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

The availability of live data from 115 schools, across up to 30 services with over 500 users, enables officers to access an extensive range of relevant and up-to-date information.  The Education Directorate now has live overviews of a broad range of interactive data.

This information and data is central to all strategic planning and delivery across the Education Directorate, including school re-organisation proposals, service self-evaluation, service review and performance management. Reports to Cabinet and Scrutiny meetings are well informed through access to live datasets.

The local authority uses a broad range of information, including demographic trends, birth data and housing developments to consider school capacities and admissions carefully.

Access to relevant data was crucial in supporting the Covid response. Vulnerable learner identification, particularly where there were associated issues, were targeted well for wellbeing provision and visits, and other support. Cross directorate work with colleagues in Children’s Services ensured that schools possessed up to date data on vulnerable learners in their schools according to different categories of vulnerability.

With staff now working in an agile manner, access to operational data on a suitable device has become essential. Attendance and Wellbeing staff now have access to attendance data on their smartphones and use this to support and challenge schools in a timely manner.

How have you shared your good practice?

Support for Track, Trace and Protect teams during the pandemic enabled structured contact data to be provided directly from school systems in a format suitable for direct upload to Health Systems. This process was shared with all Welsh Authorities. RCT regularly act as the contact and a reference point for specific technical and strategic information and advice. The team are active contributors to Welsh User Groups, via MS Teams technology and since Covid recovery, through face-to-face demonstrations to other local authorities.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi VA opened in September 2018. Located across three campuses, the school serves a predominantly rural community. The school has a strongly inclusive ethos reflected in its motto “do the little things”. There are currently 622 pupils on roll, 191 in the primary phase and 431 in the secondary phase. Around 11% of pupils are eligible for free school meals and 24% are identified as having an additional learning need.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park serves the school with a unique natural learning environment with each campus having its own environment and community. Prior to opening, the interim governing body held a series of community stakeholder meetings establishing a working party to develop the outdoor learning environments. It has established strong community links where pupils regularly interact with local artists, community groups, farm businesses, and public services to extend their learning experiences. As members of the All Age Schools Forum, staff travelled to Sweden and Iceland to research outdoor learning initiatives. The post-14 curriculum offer includes courses in Hospitality and Catering, Agriculture, Engineering and Childcare in order to respond to local employment needs. The Cathedral provides a unique resource for learning about history, culture, religion and community with clergy contributing to the development of music and Christian values.

Description of the nature of the strategy or activity

Cynefin is used as a vehicle to drive learning. For example, funding from ‘Learning through Landscapes’, facilitated professional learning and acquisition of key resources for den building, fire lighting equipment and an orienteering course. Staff research resulted in learning strategies having authentic commissions. Pupils’ development of skills is associated with real life contexts linked to the four purposes. Learning has focused on local and national themes with pupils:

  • Being commissioned as content creators to research and create Olympic websites, for example when interviewing and writing about ex-pupil Jasmine Joyce, an Olympic and Welsh International rugby player.
  • Becoming event managers for an Olympic event at Whitesands Beach. Pupils were trained by the Royal Signals regiment based at Brawdy.
  • Creating theatre production teams to launch, market, cost, produce and perform the Lion King and raising £3000 for Ukrainian pupils at the school.
  • Staging numerous exhibitions at Oriel y Parc, (tourist information centre), including art exhibitions and ‘What makes Wales Wonderful’ 2022.
  • Working on sustainability, biodiversity and zero input farming which involved workshops with Car Y Môr, (the first commercial seaweed and shellfish farm in Wales) and visits to Ramsey Island with RSPB.
  • Completing projects with Pembrokeshire Coastal forum, Darwin Science and Dŵr Cymru on Climate Change and coastal pollution.

Pupils regularly visit Erw Dewi (a local sustainable community garden) and Lower Treginnis, Farms for City Children, to help grow, weigh and bag produce which is sold in aid of the local food bank. Learning has involved design of a natural playground, ‘bio blitzes’ and learning about life processes.

Pupils utilise community resources during ‘Thrilling Thursday’. This includes setting up pop-up shops to sell items made in school. There are ‘litter free zones’ in association with Caru Cymru (Keep Wales Tidy) and pupils participate in regular community litter picks as ethically informed citizens.

The school community has strong global links. A ‘virtual walk’ to Lesotho in July 2022 and a ‘North Peninsula Big Switch Off’ preceded a visit to a partner school in Lesotho, to collaborate and drive learning on sustainable development goals and pupil wellbeing. Pupils from the school participated in an exchange with pupils from Wexford to learn about the shared heritage, pilgrimage and culture.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

These learning experiences are generally cost neutral and therefore inclusive.  Cynefin has acted as a vehicle to inspire and improve attitudes to learning. These activities have provided an engaging platform for developing the four purposes and pupils’ skills. Where ‘Cynefin’ or outdoor learning is embedded, planning for learning is sound and facilitates strong progress, the quality of teaching is consistently high and over time, most pupils make strong progress in their learning. Imaginative use of the ‘Cynefin’ enables pupils to learn in authentic contexts. Leaders plan the curriculum strategically for older pupils to study a wide range of suitable qualifications that makes worthwhile use of the local area, its resources and employers.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Anglesey authority’s Learning Service has made great strides during the last three years. Purposeful restructuring to add a number of senior managers has allowed the Learning Services to employ a senior manager with specific responsibility for co-ordinating and safeguarding learners’ well-being. The Learning Service’s senior leaders place great emphasis on promoting the well-being of the island’s children and young people and work closely and successfully with different departments within the authority smoothly and without barriers.

There is a strong culture of planning services that are aligned closely with the Well-being of Future Generations Act. The Learning Service has developed a ‘Tîm Môn’ ethos and mindset, where everyone works together and everyone’s contribution is valued, nurtured and used for the benefit of the island’s children and young people.

Within the Learning Service, a Senior Officer was appointed to pay particular attention to promoting well-being and cooperating across services and partnerships. The Well-being of Future Generations Act is at the heart of all of the work plans. Schools are aware of how their contributions to providing inclusive provision in their schools contribute within a wider context to regional and national priorities.  

The principle of preventative working is at the heart of all of the authority’s work. For example, an integrated method of co-operation has ensured that families in need have quick access to food banks.

The strong co-operation between different departments and agencies provides an integrated experience of support for all learners in the county, including those who are at risk of becoming disengaged and their families. The Learning Service works productively with partners, including social services, welfare officers, the Gwynedd and Anglesey inclusion services and youth services. They work proactively to prevent problems at an early stage to respond to the needs of vulnerable learners who are showing symptoms of anxiety to encourage attendance.

An ‘Early Intervention Hub’, which includes around twenty different agencies, is a good way of working together and planning efficient support for vulnerable learners and their families jointly, without duplicating the support unnecessarily. This, in turn, ensures that the children and young people of Anglesey are able to continue with their education at school, and exclusions due to anti-social behaviours are decreasing.

There is a strong focus on developing all practitioners’ awareness of trauma and the effect of trauma on children and young people. Training is co-ordinated at several levels, including teachers and assistants in schools and non-maintained settings, in addition to other stakeholders within the council who support children and young people. This practice has equipped the workforce to be able to communicate clearly when discussing the effect of adverse experiences on the development, self-image and confidence of individuals.

The preventative strategy ensures that there is a youth officer in every secondary school on the island. They facilitate the ‘drop-in’ service for learners and support provision of personal and social education. They also prepare employment courses for learners who are at risk of becoming disengaged so that they can gain alternative qualifications and experiences. Units from Agored Cymru, the John Muir Certificate and First Aid have been provided. Youth workers ensure that all secondary schools have established a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer + (LGBTQ+) group and evening youth clubs strengthen the link for young people to activities in the community and the link with school. As a result, projects such as ‘Prison Me No Way’ and ‘Gangs Getaway’ have had an influence within communities. 

The ‘Y Daith i Saith’ (The Journey to Seven) scheme by the Family Support Team promotes the development and well-being of the youngest pupils and is being developed jointly with a range of stakeholders, including a health service and a group of primary schools. As a result, this work strengthens the ethos of community focused schools and the preventative strategy at an early stage and provides the best opportunity for children on their learning journey.

The Learning Service ensures a strong link between national, regional and corporate priorities in terms of well-being and the practical and preventative work that takes place in non-maintained settings and schools across the authority. The close co-operation with different departments within the authority facilitates the work of schools in ensuring that inclusive provision in the classroom is manageable. The corporate strategy of providing training to improve practitioners’ understanding of the effect of trauma and adverse childhood experiences on pupils’ achievement and well-being is having a positive effect on the quality of provision in schools and now across services.

One of the strengths of the co-ordinated work is the way in which the Learning Service succeeds in involving headteachers in different forums to seek their views, influence, shape and plan new provision. For example, Safeguarding Champions has succeeded in raising the status of preventative work within safeguarding across their clusters and, as a result:

  • all schools submit safeguarding referrals of a high standard when concerns arise
  • investment in a common electronic platform has provided consistency in recording causes for concern across the county
  • all schools have adopted robust trauma-informed styles that align with a good safeguarding ethos

In addition to this, schools take confident action to make referrals to the Children’s Services Early Intervention Hub in conjunction with parents, where appropriate. All of this strengthens preventative work in schools and there is an ongoing commitment to safeguard and improve the well-being of learners. As a result, the most vulnerable pupils are given the best opportunities to engage with their education.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol Eglwys Bach is a rural Welsh-medium school with 62 pupils on roll, who are arranged across 3 classes. There is one class for the under 7s and two for the older pupils, one for Years 3 and 4 and the other for Years 5 and 6.  

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

Independence in the under 7s class has developed well over recent years. Disseminating this practice to the top of the school was important and a part of the school’s vision for the Curriculum for Wales. The aim was to ensure that the oldest pupils are given more opportunities to lead their own learning pathways, to work independently and continue to overcome challenges. That is, rather than understanding the meaning of the 4 purposes orally, that pupils live and realise the principles of the 4 purposes within their class work and through the work of the ‘4 purpose councils’.

Description of the nature of the strategy or activity

Pupils in Years 5 and 6 are divided into 4 groups, or the 4 purpose councils. There is advice for all purposes. Every half term, the 4 councils work together on a project with each group, leading to activities linked to their purpose to respond to the context. For example, under the heading ‘Ukraine’, one group decided that it was necessary to collect money for charity by organising a walk. Pupils organised the bus after contacting several companies to get the best price. The group contacted other church schools by e-mail to invite them on the trip. Pupils organised the route of the walk, taking into account the distance, time, safety risk and facilities. A group made biscuits with the Ukrainian flag in blue and yellow icing for the halfway break. The last group organised all correspondence, including details of how to sponsor and donate to the charity, for parents and the community. During the work of the 4 purpose councils, our role as teachers is not to lead, but rather to support pupils to realise their ideas and ask, ‘How is this going to work?’ 

To coincide with the work of the 4 purpose councils, pupils aged 7-11 have two ‘Busy Afternoons’ each week. Teachers work together to create a grid of 6 tasks for both ages, namely Year 3/4 and Year 5/6. In Year 5/6, the tasks are placed on the school’s digital platform, together with links to websites and research texts that pupils will need to complete the tasks. In Year 3/4, there are fewer guidelines on the digital platform as more verbal instructions are given before pupils start their work. During the afternoons, pupils are able to choose which tasks to complete from the grid. The tasks always include technology activities, science, physical health, design and various aspects of the expressive arts. If a new skill needs to be learned to be able to respond to one of the tasks or something that requires more explanation than can be shared on the digital platform, then teachers hold a formal lesson on the specific aspect at the beginning of the half term. Pupils have the choice to work with a friend or work independently to complete the tasks. As pupils work on their tasks, without any pressure to finish in one lesson or afternoon, teachers can step back and allow the pupils to experiment. Teachers do not intervene if things don’t work. They let the pupils implement their ideas and are there to support them if mistakes arise. Again, the teachers’ job is to question, and facilitate the pupils’ thinking. They ask questions such as ‘Why didn’t that work?’, ‘Can you think of a different way to do this?’, ‘Is there anyone else in the class who has a similar problem?’ If the pupil is happy with the finished piece, they can move on to another task or work on challenges that nurture their emotional well-being. However, if the piece has not met the expectations, it is important that the pupil has time to re-think and try again. The ethos of the classes encourages pupils to test their ideas, learn through their successes or, more importantly, through their mistakes. 

During the half term, demanding tasks can be added as necessary to challenge pupils further. For example, Year 5 and 6 pupils designed and created a moving toy using battery power. Now that pupils understand an electric circuit, they have worked on creating a Christmas card that lights up an ‘LCD’ bulb when opening and closing the card, and connecting and breaking the circuit.

At the end of each task, pupils are required to upload their work or a photograph of their work and evaluate it on age-appropriate apps. Once they have evaluated their own work, they sometimes evaluate the work of their peers in pairs or together as a class.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

Nearly all pupils are confident when choosing their tasks as they are allowed to choose what interests them. They choose and collect their resources carefully and are aware of reducing waste. They work safely and completely independently and know when to ask for help and whom to approach, when necessary. Nearly all pupils are willing to take risks and keep trying to improve their work. Creativity across the two classes has blossomed as pupils set out to complete the same task in completely different ways. Because of the ability to choose tasks that interest them, everyone is on task and this maintains a high standard of behaviour. When evaluating work, pupils develop their ability to receive feedback and see it as a positive thing. They also gain confidence by offering feedback to their peers and focusing on the important things. 

How have you shared your good practice?

Three local schools from our cluster have been to see our Busy Afternoons and the work of the 4 purpose councils. Our consortium, GwE, and the Diocese are aware of our vision to modernise and prepare pupils for a changing world.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Description of nature of strategy or activity

At Caban Kingsland, self-evaluation has always been the backbone of the setting’s work. Practitioners continually review their practice to ensure that the process remains a current reflection of the service. They consider what has taken place, and share ideas to encourage the well-being, engagement and educational outcomes for all the children in their care. This supports each child’s individual needs and enables the whole team to understand the best possible ways to create a provision that responds to the latest developments in early years education and care. 

What impact has this work had on provision and children’s standards?

It’s crucial that leaders ensure whole staff ownership of the self-evaluation process. It’s not just a routine that takes up time and effort. It’s a process that allows everyone to reflect on successes and aspects that need to be developed further. At the start, self-evaluation helps practitioners to identify the areas that need improvement and this can be stressful as they try to ensure that the provision is doing well. 

The process of regularly evaluating does have its own reward. Pin-pointing areas for improvement, introducing changes, reflecting and actioning further improvements reminds practitioners how well they are working. It’s an opportunity to recall the fantastic experiences and the challenges they identified and changes they introduced and worked hard to embed. In its own way, self-evaluation is the best continual personal development tool available. 
 

Challenges

It’s not easy to work closely with others and then call their practice into question, particularly if they are doing what they have always done. Changes to the curriculum, legislation, additional learning needs legislation and the impact of COVID-19 identify that, as a team, changes need to be continually considered. It’s crucial that leaders include all practitioners in the process, allowing them time to identify their own personal development and professional learning needs. The engagement of all practitioners in the process enables everyone to reflect on areas of best practice. This has a positive effect on the team who feel involved and empowered to shape the provision. 

Practitioners ensure opportunities for parents and carers to provide feedback about all aspects of the provision and their child’s experience at the setting. They provide opportunities to receive feedback from other partners and agencies with which they work. This also feeds into opportunities to develop awareness of successful practice and helps identify areas for improvement. Practitioners don’t forget to evidence the positive feedback they receive, and take pride in this as they move forward. As things develop in the provision, practitioners add those little changes. It could be as simple as how they respond to something a child said or did. As a reflective tool, it’s the little things that set the standards for inclusive practice and build a better future for the children at the provision.

Paperwork can be challenging at the best of times. The self-evaluation processes can be daunting. However, as every day is different and practitioners’ heads can be so full of information, they write down questions; how well are we doing? how do we know? How can we improve? Through analysing their work and moving things to a positive conclusion, they look out for the positive impact on the setting. Self-evaluation will clearly identify the best way forward and remind everyone of the great work they do. They enjoy knowing that everything they do is in the best interests of the children and moving things to a positive conclusion as a team. Then they move on to the next issue. 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Background

The main aim of the language centre is to provide successful and fun immersion education for pupils who are newcomers to the island. This is done by providing a full course, an aftercare course, a pre-centre course, face-to-face and digital support for teachers and schools in the county, producing and sharing resources and, of course, any bespoke training.

The language centre on Anglesey develops provision for newcomers to the language by:

  • Holding a full-time immersion course in two language centres (Moelfre and Cybi).
  • Preparing and presenting a new scheme for foundation phase classes.
  • Preparing and delivering support for the county’s secondary schools.
  • Providing aftercare to former pupils of the centre (secondary and primary).
  • Delivering digital resources aimed at newcomers, to be used in our schools for pupils in local schools.
  • Digital resources.
  • Providing training.
  • An app (being designed).

Full-time immersion course

The best possible opportunity is offered to our newcomers by arranging a place for up to 16 pupils in each centre each term. Pupils are taught full time for up to 12 weeks by two teachers, one for every 8 children. A carefully structured, bespoke scheme is delivered to introduce the language in a lively and intensive way – “Cynllun y Llan”. The aim is that 80% of newcomers have reached Level 2 or above (first language) in spoken language and that 75% reach Level 2 or above in reading and writing by the end of the course.

The results at both centres are consistently positive. At the end of each term, questionnaires are shared with headteachers, and headteachers note a clear development in the Welsh levels of pupils who have attended the Language Centre.

Aftercare

As a follow-up to the immersion course, we re-visit the centre’s newcomers annually by visiting the home school and providing aftercare sessions. Additional units of work from the scheme are presented as aftercare activities. Teachers from both centres present lively sessions that last up to an hour, once a week, in the home school. To measure the effect of this work, we send questionnaires to the schools at the end of the period and visit schools to check the pupils’ linguistic progression. All responses are positive and class teachers see the newcomers’ confidence expanding further following these sessions.

The aftercare scheme is usually offered during the summer term.

The teachers who remain at the centre provide a refresher course for pupils in Key Stage 2 who lack confidence in the Welsh language. These are pupils who have perhaps joined the Foundation Phase at the end of Year 1 or during Year 2 and have not had an opportunity to immerse themselves fully in the language.

 

New Foundation Phase scheme

The authority welcomes the views of stakeholders regularly. For example, during a  discussion with the school language co-ordinator for the Holyhead catchment area, concern was raised about the language of Foundation Phase pupils following the lockdown period. As a result, the Centre’s teachers have created and presented a unique scheme that was delivered in the Cybi catchment area during the spring term 2022. Nearly all schools in the Cybi catchment area took part in the project. A teacher from the Centre was seen demonstrating lively immersion lessons in the classroom and sharing various immersion methods and techniques during the lessons. Teachers and assistants observed during lessons and schools had digital access to the resources and plans to develop the work.

Following the success of the scheme, the sessions were delivered in the primary schools in the Syr Thomas Jones catchment area during the autumn term 2022. The intention is to co‑operate and demonstrate lessons in all catchment areas on the island.

Secondary support

Aftercare and support has been offered to pupils in all secondary schools from the Spring Term 2022. Teachers from the centre travel around all secondary schools providing weekly sessions and sharing plans and ideas in a dedicated digital class. A teachers from the centre works closely with each secondary school and responds to the needs of each school individually by providing aftercare or immersion sessions, as necessary. The response of secondary headteachers to this support has been extremely positive. The aim is to use grant funding to expand and develop this support further.

Pre-centre scheme

There is a waiting list of pupils who wish to access the centre’s services. As support for those pupils and schools, a pre-centre scheme is shared. All schools have access via a link to a digital classroom. This means that the scheme is available to pupils as necessary. Six units of work are delivered digitally, including oral activities and games. We will update and develop this scheme annually. These units of work provide pupils with a solid foundation before they receive the full immersion course.

 

Digital resources

Running full courses and providing face-to-face aftercare were not possible during the restrictions of the pandemic. As a result of, the lockdown period and the need for distance learning, a new digital class was created which included interactive resources with verbal support for parents. These resources were available to all schools on Anglesey and headteachers and teachers responded positively to these resources. The class now continues to grow and includes thematic resources, in addition to resources that present and review language patterns in the classroom.

The class is now available for schools to browse and select activities as necessary. There is also a simple plan and resources as a guide to introducing language patterns through the ‘Ysgol Camau Clebran’. The link to this class has now been shared with teachers across the county following visits from language immersion teachers from different areas in Wales.

Training

Following the lockdown period and the lack of opportunities for pupils in our schools to practise and use the Welsh language, a need was identified for training in language immersion methods for school staff. For this training to be available simply and conveniently in the midst of a very challenging time for school staff, a decision was made to create a new digital classroom. The classroom includes clips of immersion training. More clips are added regularly. The centre’s teachers visit schools and offer face-to-face immersion training for staff, according to the school’s wishes. The Anglesey language centre has worked with Canolfan Bedwyr for several years by providing immersion training sessions for assistants in the northern counties, namely the ‘National Sabbatical Scheme’. There were very positive responses to the sessions through the university’s evaluation processes.

App

As part of the need for modern resources for our newcomers, part of the funding from the immersion grant was used to begin to create a bespoke new resource for learners. The expertise of teachers from the Anglesey language centres is being shared with a local company to develop a bespoke app for newcomers. This app will be available soon and will be full of exciting resources and activities.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Greenhill is a special school, maintained by Cardiff City Council, that provides day education for 66 pupils aged 11 to 18. All pupils have statements of special educational needs in relation to their social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Many pupils have specific learning difficulties that may include dyslexia, dyspraxia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A few pupils also have particular medical needs. 

Almost all pupils live in Cardiff and a very few come from neighbouring authorities. Currently all the pupils on roll are boys. About one fifth of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds. A very few pupils are looked after by the local authority. Currently no pupils speak English as a second language. No pupils speak Welsh as their first language at home. Around 80% of pupils are in receipt of free school meals. 

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The school’s vision and values are the driving force behind all interactions, initiatives and developments at the school. The vision is to create a school environment where pupils:

  • are happy, safe, secure and have the opportunity to develop their talents
  • thrive in a caring and supportive community
  • are equipped with the skills to help them to become the best they can in order to make a positive contribution to society

These aims underpin the school’s values of relationships, respect and responsibility and colour every conversation between the adults and pupils at the school.

Most of the pupils are effected by socio-economic disadvantage. As a result, the provision of basic equipment and uniform places additional economic pressure on the finances of the pupils’ families. The staff and governors have taken the decision to provide pupils with a wide range of experiences where there are no financial barriers to participation. In January 2020 the governing body decided to provide all pupils with free school meal provision. 
 

Description of nature of strategy or activity

There are a wide range of strategies to ensure the school provides pupils with full access to all educational experiences. The senior leadership team has played a very active role in sourcing grant funding and donations to the school’s charity. Leaders and staff firmly believe that outdoor education activities and visits to places of cultural interest are an essential part of achieving the school’s vision. As such, the headteacher, supported by the governing body’s finance committee, ensures that a substantial part of the budget is set aside to facilitate this and to fund the purchase and upkeep of the school’s fleet of five vehicles. The school has also developed a partnership with the Storey Arms Outdoor Education Centre, employing two of their staff for three days a week to enable the school’s approach to the curriculum for Wales.

All food at the school is provided free of charge, and includes breakfast, healthy snacks and lunchtime meals. The school employs a chef who provides a daily menu of healthy food and which provides for all pupils individual dietary requirements.

The school uniform is optional. However, it is free for the pupils who wish to wear it. This also extends to sports kit, specialised kit for outdoor activities and work specific wear for work experience. Where a student is in need of new clothing this is discreetly provided and individual needs are met. The pupils are encouraged to take pride in their appearance and receive free haircuts from the school barber.

Links between home and school are extremely strong and supportive. The school holds regular coffee mornings with parents to help foster positive working relationships. These opportunities beneficially develop parents’ understanding and support of children’s social and emotional needs. When a parent finds it difficult to arrange transport, the school provides it for them. During the pandemic, fundraising and food donations provided by local shops were used to provide food parcels for all families in need within our school community. This successful practice continues for those families who find themselves in need. In addition, the local authority has provided every student with a laptop to support learning.

Visits and educational experiences

There are ‘well-being visits’ each week to various places of natural beauty or of cultural interest. The focus of such visits is the development of positive relationships and appropriate social communication skills. For example, pupils who had never travelled by aeroplane or stayed in a hotel were taken to Edinburgh for a two day visit as a Key Stage 4 to 5 transition activity. This was fully funded by the school. 

Outdoor education is an essential part of the school’s work. The curriculum provides valuable opportunities for pupils to learn and enjoy the natural environment of Wales, via the school’s COED (Creative Outdoor Education Development) programme. Each child experiences the whole curriculum through the medium of visits, activities and experiences throughout Wales. Residential visits include expeditions to Eryri National Park, Bannau Brycheiniog, canoeing on the River Wye, developing camping skills in Hereford, fishing in Tenby, activities at Storey Arms such as caving, SUP boarding, orienteering, white water rafting and surfing. All pupils have the opportunity to attend one of the residential visits which are fully funded by the school. In addition, the school provides pupils with the opportunity to study music, cook meals for their families and to study vocational courses with no cost to the pupils. 

At Christmas, all pupils can choose a present to take home for themselves and we arrange a raffle where all pupils choose gifts for siblings or other family members. The school also arranges an Easter egg hunt at Easter.

The development of social skills is an important part of the work at Greenhill and pupils are taken to restaurants as part of this work. It also aims for all pupils to experience the arts and theatre – for example, pupils have attended performances of Matilda and Bugsy Malone at the Millennium Centre. All these activities are funded by the school.

Qualifications and life skills

The school ensures that all pupils experience a range of positive experiences to help to develop self-confidence which prepare them well for the next steps in their lives. Pupils are taught to use public transport with staff accompanying pupils on journeys that they will be required to make as part of everyday life. The cost of this transport for staff and pupils is funded by the school. Older pupils apply for provisional driving licences, are coached for driving theory tests and have driving experiences at no cost to the families.

Pupils gain qualifications in climbing and motorcycling, as well as more traditional qualifications such as home cooking skills, work focused skills such as a certificate in Barista training, construction skills and work experience with the Local Authority Parks Division in landscape gardening. Pupils also have the opportunity to achieve the Duke of Edinburgh bronze and silver award. Pupils are actively encouraged to find places of education, training and employment after Key Stage 5 and are given additional support with career or higher education choices. Pupils who decide not to stay at the school’s Key Stage 5 provision are accompanied to various places of training or employment until the pupils feel confident about their decision.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

The impact of this approach to funding has been significant. The well-being at the school is monitored closely and data shows that nearly all pupils have a reduction in their barriers to learning and an increase in their prosocial skills. There has been a reduction in negative incidents throughout the school over the last three years and exclusions have reduced significantly.

Due to the improved relationships and trust forged via the many experiences provided by the school, nearly all pupils show improved focus on their learning in class and have increased their reading and numeracy scores. They also show improved attitudes to learning. Pupils also demonstrate a greater capacity to regulate their emotions as a result of being trusted when taking part in extreme sports and activities. Older pupils offer help and sit with younger pupils who have become dysregulated and share strategies they use to regulate.

There is a calm atmosphere at the school and behaviour during break and lunch times has improved significantly. There are positive relationships between staff and pupils and an openness to share feelings. Staff training in trauma informed practice has supported a positive change of culture and improved ethos at the school. Positive handling has reduced over the last three years.

How have you shared your good practice?

The school has ‘Flag Ship Status’ for the inclusion quality mark and has shared its practice through regular teams meeting with many schools who belong to this national network. The school has an open door policy and welcomes visits from other educational establishments and has been visited by other special schools and PRUs in Cardiff and the Vale. The school was also invited to the national TIS Wales conference to share its practice with a wide audience and has been featured as a case study for trauma informed practice with Key Stage 5 pupils. More recently, the school has been invited to share its journey on the TIS UK website.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni is a bilingual secondary school for 11 to 18-year-old pupils that is maintained by Isle of Anglesey local authority. The school is situated in the town of Llangefni in the centre of Anglesey and is mainly a Welsh-speaking area.

There are 719 pupils on roll, including 91 pupils in the sixth form. Seventy-eight point five per cent (78.5%) of pupils come from Welsh-speaking homes. The percentage of pupils who are eligible for free school meals is around 18.9%, on average. The senior leadership team includes the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, two assistant headteachers and two acting assistant headteachers.
 

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

In preparation for the arrival of the new Code of Practice for Additional Learning Needs (ALN), the school has prioritised preparing staff to enable them to provide confidently for pupils with ALN. This has happened at several levels, including governors, the senior management team, middle leaders, teachers, assistants and support staff. The school believes that ALN is everyone’s responsibility and the ALNCo was given responsibility for ensuring that all members of staff have the ability to realise this.
 

Description of nature of strategy or activity

The ALN register is a live, comprehensive document that refers specifically to barriers to learning and includes specific guidance on how to overcome them. There are also direct links to the one page profiles of all pupils with ALN. Information is recorded about any personal support methods that are suitable for each individual, in addition to reference to universal support strategies.

A provision map refers specifically to all interventions that are provided by the school. Particular attention is given to the input and output criteria for each individual intervention. Attention is also given to the further action that will be needed if the intervention is unsuccessful.

When producing individual learning plans, attention is given to pupils’ aspirations and an attempt is made to produce outcomes that lead to those aspirations. As a result, it is ensured that any additional teaching provision is pupil-centred.

The school identified a decline in pupils’ basic skills following the lockdown periods and not necessarily among pupils who would need additional learning provision. In response to this, the school identified a priority to ensure ‘Quality First Teaching’ in the school development plan, which means developing teaching strategies that highlight the need for personal learning methods that encourage prioritising the needs of pupils with ALN when planning. 

The school is on a journey to becoming a trauma-informed school, which has included whole-school training, SMT training and facilitating a number of the school’s staff and stakeholders to complete a relevant diploma. This means that pupils with ALN are given opportunities to use alternative methods to communicate their feelings, placing less emphasis on verbal or written communication.

To realise this vision, the school has invested time and money in training classroom assistants. Comprehensive training opportunities have been prepared, such as the ‘Practising Teaching Assistant’ programme, ELSA and ‘Drawing and Talking’. The ALN department has also created discussion prompts to be used with pupils to promote independence; work that is based on EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) research.

Recently, the ALN department has transformed its approach to conducting departmental meetings. It now holds ‘Datrysiad’ (‘Solution’) meetings, which provide opportunities to share good practice and experiment with a range of support strategies.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

As a result of the training presented to all staff on the new Code of Practice and the priorities in the school development plan, all members of staff are aware of their duty to provide appropriately to meet any barriers to learning for pupils with ALN. This has enabled departments to evaluate their provision for this specific group of pupils. These valuable evaluations are used to plan future improvement through the school development plan and departmental development plans.

Investment in provision-mapping software has enabled the school to evaluate the success and value for money of any interventions that are in place. In cases where there is no progress, reference can be made back to the provision map to adapt additional learning provision. Recent evaluations show that the assistants’ response scripts have led to a reduction in superficial support that prioritises ‘task completion’ and an increase in practices that prioritise the process of learning and metacognition. These indicators are also a strong reflection of the successes of staff in differentiating effectively for pupils with ALN. Evaluations of a secondary questionnaire on trauma also show the positive effect that the support given to pupils with ALN has on their emotional well being.
 

How have you shared your good practice?

The school works closely with primary schools in the catchment area and cascades good practice through meetings of the catchment area’s ALNCos. The school works closely with secondary schools on Anglesey and makes use of the ‘Cynghrair Ysgolion Môn’ (‘Anglesey Schools Alliance’) co-operation plan to share best practice and seek the opinions of other colleagues on this work.