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Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

Ysgol Bryn Teg serves the Llwynhendy area, Llanelli, in Carmarthenshire. It is an area of high deprivation (WIMD 2019): in the top 10% most deprived areas for income, employment, health and education. It is also in the top 30% for community safety. The attainment and on entry baseline is well below expected age related outcomes for 2020 and 2021 cohorts.

There are approximately 280 pupils on roll. The school has over 40 % of pupils receiving free school meals, and a high level of low income families requiring additional support. Twenty per cent of pupils are identified as having special educational needs, with a speech and language specialist setting that caters for pupils from across the local authority.
 

Description of nature of strategy or activity

This close-knit community school believes in the value of the family and the community, placing great emphasis on the partnership that exists between the home, the school and the community. The foresight of the headteacher to employ a Family Inclusion Officer (FIO since 2017 has gone a long way in supporting this vision). 

Increasing need for mental health support was identified by school staff and the educational psychology service through lockdowns. Increasing demand, difficulty accessing support for children’s mental health and counselling services led to the headteacher looking to employ a Mental Health Practitioner (MHP).
 

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

The MHP has become central to pupil mental health and well-being in the school, despite being relatively new. Seven pupils access weekly 1-1 session with the MHP. Pupils attend sessions with the MHP during playtimes and lunch with 26% of pupils across the school attending. Two pupils have completed sessions with five children receiving greater number to support the needs. 

Bespoke support for the most challenged families has been provided through the MH family practitioner. One family has been supported with weekly sessions and a second family is now in process. The MHP has provided training and supervision for staff including trauma informed training.

The FIO and MHP counsellor have delivered parent sessions in school to support children’s mental health with 11 parents attending the first session. Sessions on self-regulation for parents to support pupils and parents’ mental health continue.

The PASS Survey is administered biannually to identify children who need support. The school leads, i.e. the headteacher, the additional learning needs co-ordinator (ALNCo), the MHP, and Health and Well-being lead, meet to review the findings. Pupils of concern are referred to MHP for 1-1 sessions. Pupil Attitudes to Self and School (PASS) survey results identified that many (88%) foundation phase pupils have a high regard for Learner self-worth. A Majority of Key Stage 2 pupils (60%) have a high self-regard as a learner. Strategies to support learner self-worth have been shared with staff to support pupils.

During lockdowns, the FIO delivered several online parenting workshops to support parents and families through mental health. Establishing routine and promoting positive behaviour strategies resulted in seven parents attending. Seven referrals have been made by the FIO to Teams Around the Family (TAF) since December 2021. Questionnaires have been completed with parents by the FIO to establish their priorities for further support sessions. Follow-up surveys allow for feedback, with opportunities taken to include mental well-being.

Since returning, the FIO meets the school community each morning during pupil drop off times. This provides early and informal support. The school has forged strong relationships with both the private nursery, Camau Tirion and the Flying Start provision in the Integrated Children’s Centre, ensuring that families are well supported from the very start of their journey at Ysgol Bryn Teg. The FIO has lead multi agency fayres, allowing parents to access vital information, resources and support in their community, such as Womens Aid. The school also worked in partnership with the Integrated Children’s Centre, supporting Summer Holiday Enrichment Programme (SHEP) where 40 pupils in 2021, and 87 pupils in 2019, benefited from the three week programme. 

Close working partnerships with the community governors have ensured ongoing support for families during times of hardship such as COVID-19 and Christmas. Financial donations have been made to the Llwynhendy/Pemberton Foodbank, where parents/carers can access essentials when needed. During the 2021 Christmas, the school supported 20 families with Christmas food hampers. Families in need are supported locally. Local businesses have provided gifts for the last five years. The school worked with a local department store, this partnership enabling the school to provide gifts that are hand delivered by staff each Christmas. In 2021, 47 children benefited from this partnership. Parents reported being very happy and appreciative of the kindness shown. The above has yielded the following results:

  • There have been improved standards in reading and writing across the school. In 2018-2019 around half of pupils were making expected progress in reading and writing; now, nearly all pupils are making at least good progress. For example, a minority of pupils were able to write basic sentence patterns in Key Stage 2. However now many pupils are using a wide range of writing techniques and adventurous vocabulary.
  • A significant reduction in the number and duration of exclusions has ensured that nearly all pupils are accessing education. This is underpinned by the school’s highly effective relationships policy, highly successful inclusion practice and valuable collaboration across the school community. 
  • There have been significant improvements to pupil well-being and standards. 
     

How have you shared your good practice?

  • The FIO has shared best practice with staff from local schools on the Nurture provision.
  • Our ALNCo has shared good practice through meeting other ALNCo’s in cluster. 
  • The school links with other schools/organisations/professionals and local agencies.
  • The headteacher works on local authority and national mental health forums.
  • The health and well-being lead has collaborated with cluster schools in developing the new curriculum and sharing good practice of the school’s whole school offer to support mental health and well-being.
     

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the setting

Cylch Meithrin Cynwyd Sant is a Welsh medium non-maintained setting based in the local Welsh primary school in Maesteg. It provides full day care for children aged two to five years, who will eventually transition into Ysgol Cynwyd Sant. The setting operates five days a week between 9am and 3pm. The majority of children come from English speaking homes and, at the moment, rarely hear Welsh spoken outside the setting within the local community.

The setting is a strong and supportive learning environment and the children’s well-being is always its highest priority. Leaders have established a positive ethos throughout the setting, ensuring a welcoming, safe and rich learning environment that stimulates children’s play and learning highly successfully. Both members of staff have a very strong vision based on creating a homely and stimulating environment with rich opportunities to develop the children’s curiosity and independence. They share the same vision and have high expectations for themselves and all the children.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

Practitioners have high expectations for all children and identify their learning needs exceptionally well. They encourage perseverance when the children face obstacles in their play and take excellent advantage of every opportunity to develop this. Individual interests and needs are considered by observing children playing and intervening skilfully at appropriate times to extend children’s knowledge, understanding and skills. When practitioners want children to develop specific skills, they begin the activity themselves and wait for children to show interest and join in with the activity. Staff provide frequent opportunities for children to make choices and solve problems and only intervene when they feel that there is a good opportunity to expand children’s understanding. Leaders use very effective strategies while interacting with children and always encouraging them to do their best.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

Practitioners always take account of children’s individual interests and needs. They take time to observe children playing to understand their individual needs and then provide learning experiences of a high standard. They ensure an effective balance between activities that develop children’s knowledge and understanding and rich opportunities for children to experiment and pursue their own paths in learning, through uninterrupted play. Staff are excellent role models. They provide stimulating learning areas both indoors and outdoors to spark children’s curiosity, enabling them to be completely independent in their play. They understand the importance of playing alongside the children, stepping in only when necessary to encourage and support.

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

Practitioners provide a rich stimulating learning environment both indoors and outdoors, which engages children’s interests exceptionally well. The environment and resources ignite children’s imagination successfully and enable them to take risks, explore, discover, and solve problems. Leaders have planned all areas to give purposeful opportunities for all children to develop a wide range of skills whilst giving staff perfect opportunities when needed to enhance their learning. Practitioners ensure that all resources and equipment both indoors and outdoors are at child level, enabling them to access everything they need to play independently.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The school was part of the ‘Schools as Learning Organisations’ (SLO) pilot scheme and, by developing this mindset at all levels across the school, staff were seen to be able to move as one in several contexts and with several aspects of their plans.

As a lead school in developing the Curriculum for Wales (CfW), a presentation was provided for headteachers in the county’s catchment area. The feedback was extremely positive during a period of major changes at local and national level. The principles and advantages of this method of working were seen to be a powerful tool in developing co-operation between the schools in the catchment area, with the aim of ensuring a level of consistency for pupils in the catchment area, whichever school they attend.

The catchment area has now been working closely together for several years and continues to share and emulate effective practice.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

By using the document ‘The journey to 2022’ as a framework, the SLO methods and mindset and pupil participation forums, the school has succeeded in developing a shared vision for the CfW with the voices of all stakeholders being clear and prominent.

The following groups have been organised within the school and the catchment area to develop priorities, to promote the development of the curriculum and to focus on developing learning strategies:

School Staff Level:

School staff AoLE groups – all of the school’s staff, whether teachers or assistant, are divided according to Area of Learning and Expertise (AoLE). There are now no subject coordinators but instead teams with responsibility for developing the areas. The school has a priority, which is the responsibility of the deputy headteacher, to develop pedagogy within the school. A CfW Google Classroom has been developed for all staff to drive the priority throughout the year and create a resource that is easy to access and collaborate on. This resource facilitated whole-school action, sharing information and ideas, seeking views and monitoring different aspect of the pedagogical principles. Firstly, ‘Microsoft Forms’ software was used for all teachers to self-evaluate against all strands of the 12 principles, before transferring this information to a whole-school tool for analysing the 12 pedagogical principles. This allowed us to identify areas for development.

The following strands were identified for action:

  1. Evaluate current provision against the 4 purposes
  2. To what extent has the school included all stakeholders in shaping the vision to enable all pupils to achieve the 4 purposes
  3. Learning walls

INSET evenings were held to share the findings of research and set termly targets for action jointly, namely – developing living learning walls across the school and raising awareness of the 4 purposes among pupils and parents.

Following this, there was a trial period in the classroom with staff feeding the Google feed and including what worked effectively. An aim was set by the end of the trial period to create a digital learning journey ‘What worked well for me…?’ There was a follow-up INSET for all teachers to present their slides to the remainder of the staff. Following this, we were able to agree as a school on a particular order for our learning walls, which is now suitable for the pupils’ ages and consistent across the school. This in turn has had a direct effect on methods for improving work in all classrooms and intertwines with the formative assessment procedure. The whole process follows the ‘SLO’ principles and will continue to evolve.

School children level:

Pupil participation groups have specific responsibilities and produce an action plan each year, which is an integral part of the school development plan (SDP). One group works closely with the deputy headteacher to develop pedagogy at the school e.g., by developing the feedback policy, developing the whole-school vision and creating mats for the 4 purposes. The pupil’s voice is evident in all aspects of school life.

Catchment area level:

Catchment area priorities are produced by one member of each school in the catchment area planning the basics of the priority jointly and then personalising it at school level e.g., pedagogy group, ICT group, ALN group. This is a natural extension of the individual school’s SDP, by identifying shared priorities and identifying a school/schools who will be able to lead the priority across the catchment area so that all schools move in the same direction, recognising that individual school are at different places with regard to the priority. This, in turn, leads to extensive and valuable opportunities for the school’s staff to develop professionally, to lead staff and have a highly positive influence on the school. This has also changed the mindset of schools in the catchment area to consider what is important to the catchment area, in addition to what is important to individual schools.

The ‘logic model’ is used to plan priorities – a specific model and approach to planning expenditure. The model is divided into four parts – resources, activities, input and output – and is an effective means of sharing with stakeholders what we want to achieve, how we intend to reach our targets and how we will track progress. Logic models help practitioners and evaluators to understand the mechanism and structure of our improvement programme and leads to improving working methods and standards. To support this method of working, catchment area meetings are held each half term to monitor the priority’s progress, adapt when necessary, share further ideas and maintain momentum across the catchment area. As a result of this method of working, there have been several positive outcomes e.g., a regional blended learning website and international presentations.

AoLE groups have been established across schools in the catchment area (primary and secondary) and are led by primary teachers to interpret and understand content, take advantage of expertise and develop the curriculum consistently in the interests of the wellbeing and education of pupils across the catchment area. A website for sharing resources has also been created and established so that all members of staff in the catchment area are able to access it. This, in turn, has ensured that staff expertise is shared across the school and the catchment area as they present stimulating activities on the digital platform. The school’s staff and staff in the catchment area are now moving in the same direction, have the same mindset and are beginning to develop consistent learning strategies. 

Following training from Ysgol Corn Hir, the ‘Cyngor Ysgol Cefni’ group, which is a representation of all schools in the catchment area (primary and secondary), has created a new motto, “Ein Dysgu, Ein Dyfydol” (“Our Learning, Our Future”), which aligns with the new curriculum. Representatives of all of those schools have then come together to share their new mottos and crate one that is suitable for the whole catchment area.

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

The school is on track to ensure that all members of staff understand the requirements of the CfW and are equipped with the most suitable strategies to introduce the curriculum in the most effective manner. For example, working walls are used purposefully and consistently across the whole school to deliver and develop literacy and numeracy skills of the development of the 4 purposes mats.

The voice of learners and stakeholders is strong, not only in curriculum planning but also in the strategies that are used to deliver and develop the curriculum. A good example of this is the methods used to gather the views of parents and pupils electronically and weaving these ideas into the class’s scheme of work.

Pupils’ participation in lessons and their desire to learn are excellent – they take ownership of their learning and see themselves as part of the school team.

How have you shared your good practice?

The practices of the catchment area and the school e.g., creating catchment area priorities or training sessions and reflection clinics at the school, in addition to the work of the catchment area school council to improve the transition from primary to secondary, are shared through local forums e.g., Anglesey good practice forum, through half-termly catchment area group meetings and through the improvement advisers or education officers. The strong partnership within the catchment area means that all schools are willing to share. The school’s work and implementation methods have been shared through referrals from the regional consortium, with several schools coming to see our effective practice, both inside and outside the county. The work on feedback has been used by officers in regional and international conferences.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school:

Cathays High School is a multicultural, multi-lingual and multi-faith school in the centre of Cardiff. Around 42% of pupils are in receipt of free school meals. There are over 50 different ethnicities represented in the school community and 67 different languages spoken. Around 27% of pupils are categorised as being ‘below competent’ in English. Mobility rates are significantly higher than in nearly all other schools in Wales and around 60% of pupils come from outside of the catchment area. 

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice:

Whilst Cathays High School’s leaders have a clear focus on recognising and celebrating their school’s diversity, they also ensure that they create a sense of belonging to one community. This sense of ‘cynefin’ pervades all aspects of the work they do to support pupils to progress, the curriculum offer and the provision for the well-being of pupils.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

Through a robust consultation exercise with stakeholders, leaders established the explicit culture of the school focused on the mission to provide ‘Opportunities for All’. They identified three core values for pupils: Prepared, Respect and Pride. These values provide clear expectations for all pupils to be positive members of the school community. The mission and values are used explicitly in the positive relationships policy and are consistently referred to by staff throughout the school. As a result, they are well-understood and exhibited by pupils. The values form a key part of the school’s vision for the new curriculum and the development of the new school site and pupils reflect on them biannually through the pupil well-being survey.

Pupil voice was a key element in developing the school’s mission and values. It has also helped to create and sustain an inclusive and engaging environment where pupils’ opinions have an impact on school improvement, for instance on the development of the well-being provision. This has been further enhanced by the school’s quality assurance processes. These processes embed the feedback of pupils in first-hand evidence gathering, such as feedback on learning as part of the work scrutiny process. In addition, pupils are asked what excellent teaching and classroom culture should look like and their responses have helped to develop classroom routines. Consultation with pupils and other stakeholeders has contributed importantly to the sense of belonging and kinship where all members of the community feel they are valued and treated as individuals. The information gathered has also helped to influence the bespoke professional learning offer for all staff.

The school has developed an effective and extensive curriculum offer that values and meets the needs of all pupils, from the most able to the most vulnerable. The school has focused diligently on developing curriculum experiences across all learning experience areas that reflect its community whilst ensuring that all pupils have the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in school and in life after school. For example, it has a bespoke provision for young people at risk of disaffection or underachievement in Key Stage 4, which provides additional support and opportunities but importantly keeps them as part of mainstream. Whilst the pupils identified for this provision may access qualifications with outside providers and have a more bespoke timetable, they still attend core subject lessons and form tutorials with their peers. In addition, pupils who are new arrivals to the UK and have limited English have a highly effective curriculum offer that supports their development of English, orients them in being part of a school in Wales, and rapidly integrates them fully into mainstream classes when they are ready. As a result of the inclusive nature of their curriculum offer, the progress and outcomes of all groups of learners are strong whatever their starting points and whenever they join the school community.

Effective relationships with teachers are vital when developing resilient and capable learners. This is an important element of cultivating the school cynefin. Pupils feel valued and respected in the classroom, which contributes to a positive working environment and a strong sense of belonging. Cathays High School has highly effective processes and provision to support the individual needs of all pupils, including those with additional needs and those requiring support for emotional challenges. For example  the wellbeing surveys are used to identify individuals and groups that require emotional support from the school’s “Safe Tŷ” provision. There is support to improve the academic and/or social progress of students with additional learning needs whilst they still attend as many mainstream lessons as is appropriate. This support is bespoke and contributes to the pupils’ feelings of being respected and valued by all adults in the school and a sense that they belong to a community that cares for their academic progress and their well-being.

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

Pupils recognise the value of the provision and its impact on their progress and well-being. Many pupils identify a strong sense of pride in belonging to Cathays High School.

Pre-pandemic outcomes at Key Stages 4 and 5 were strong and improving in nearly all indicators and particularly in value-added measures.

Pupil attendance was strong for three years prior to the pandemic and is recovering well since the return to full-time school.

How have you shared your good practice?

The school has been part of the regional consortium’s School Improvement Group and has shared its practice with other schools through this forum.

It has also built relationships with other schools with whom it has shared its systems and processes.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Cathays High School is a multicultural, multi-lingual and multi-faith school in the centre of Cardiff. Around 42% of pupils are in receipt of free school meals. There are over 50 different ethnicities represented in the school community and 67 different languages spoken. Around 27% of pupils are categorised as being ‘below competent’ in English. Mobility rates are significantly higher than in almost all other schools in Wales and around 60% of pupils come from outside of the catchment area.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

Cathays High School has a clear focus on supporting the career development of all their staff. Leaders ensure that they develop people with the right values and who believe in and promote the culture of the school. This has had a significant impact on the quality of teaching and pupils’ learning. Introducing evidence-based, bespoke professional learning for staff across all roles in the school has helped all staff to develop their skills and experience and have a positive impact on the learning and well-being outcomes of students.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

Through consultation with all stakeholders, Cathays High School developed their school vision based on the mission of ‘Opportunities for all’ and the three core staff values of: collaboration, ownership, and team-first. Through this they developed an effective approach to professional learning. This supported the school well to set clear expectations for all staff. This culture, where all staff consider the development of the whole school as a matter of course also refined the school’s vision and approach to Curriculum for Wales. In addition, the school adopted a leadership restructure to expand the scope and expertise of the wider senior leadership team to provide them with a more holistic view of the school.  

At the outset, the senior leadership team focused on improving the leadership skills of all middle and senior leaders. They remodelled the purpose of wider senior leadership team meetings from information sharing to experiential whole-school development activities. For example, they work in smaller groups to review and evaluate progress towards the priorities in the school development plan. Furthermore, they conduct sessions on developing leadership skills for all TLR holders to ensure that they focuse the work with their team on improving their impact in the core aspects of their role i.e. teaching and learning or well-being. The Raising Standards Leaders (faculty heads) are trained in leading the development of teaching and learning, which gives them the skills and confidence to lead sessions in team meetings. As a result, the new structure and focus of wider senior leadership meetings help all staff to gain a better understanding of the school and the progress made towards the school priorities through the year.

Improved self-evaluation and improvement planning processes ensure that leaders continuously monitor the impact of the school’s work. First-hand evidence is analysed by senior leaders, the wider senior leadership team and at area team level so that everyone is involved in identifying and sharing the strengths and areas requiring improvement. As a result, staff in all roles are part of the process to identify priorities and actions for improvement and team leaders understand the areas they lead in detail. This ensures that team leaders identify accurately the improvements required by every individual and consequently ensures that all staff undertake their role more effectively.

Professional learning is matched closely to whole-school, team and individual staff needs. This enables the school to provide a wide range of bespoke support.  Leaders also match staff closely to each other to share and develop strong practice across the school. Professional learning to develop leadership across the school is highly effective. The school develops leadership capacity comprehensively by providing existing and aspiring middle and senior leaders with professional learning opportunities on a two-year cycle. As a result, many leaders have taken on increased responsibilities over time.  The Strategic Development Groups, which are usually led by a TLR holder, support this work by providing opportunities for all staff to work on a whole-school priority.

Leaders are effective in identifying and supporting staff to make a significant contribution to school improvement. A number of staff have been supported into teaching roles, through a variety of routes, after having started as teaching assistants or in pastoral roles. The school actively supports staff to take up leadership positions across a range of roles to develop their understanding of the whole school. Consequently, a number of senior management team members who have curriculum responsibilities have also had previous responsibilities in the pastoral structure. As a result, the senior leadership and wider senior leadership teams work in a very collegiate and empathetic way to overcome the barriers to learning for all pupils.

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

There has been an improvement in the recruitment and retention of staff, which has limited the impact of the pandemic on pupils’ well-being and learning. As a result, the school has re-established routines and processes quickly and pupils have made strong progress in their learning this year.

Prior to the pandemic, outcomes at Key Stages 4 and 5 were very strong and continuing to improve, particularly when looking at value-added performance.

Teaching, preparation for Curriculum for Wales, and the provision to support the learning and well-being of learners are strong and mean that Cathays High School is well-placed to continue to develop effectively as a community.
 

How have you shared your good practice?

The school has been part of the regional consortium’s School Improvement Group and has shared their practice with other schools through this forum.

It has also built relationships with other schools with whom it has shared its systems and processes.
 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Clwyd Community Primary School is located on the edge of the large Community First area of Penlan, which is part of the Penderry district.

School context:

  • 382 pupils on roll
  • 56% free school meals, against Wales average of 21%
  • 93% of pupils from 30% most deprived areas in Wales
  • 17% of pupils have English as an additional language (EAL)
  • 49 statements and four Specialist Teaching Facilities (STF) for children with ASD and MLD

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The school strives to develop and inspire pupils by providing a wide range of additional opportunities to enrich their school experience. In 2016, staff in the STF observed that many of the pupils were interested in football, but found it challenging to join in with their mainstream peers. This led to staff playing football with the pupils during playtimes. Staff soon observed that this had a marked impact on the pupils’ levels of engagement. Pupils enjoyed playing and grew in confidence.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

Following this, staff developed the idea of establishing a football league specifically for children with additional learning needs (ALN). The original idea to set up the league came from a member of the teaching support staff in the STF with a particular passion for sport, inclusion and supporting pupils with ALN. This initial idea has had far reaching and positive consequences for many children and their families. 

The vision of the Super Teams Football League was to give pupils opportunities to represent their school whilst playing competitive football against other teams of similar ability and understanding. The aim was to develop their self-esteem as well as their physical and social skills. By celebrating the pupils’ performances and results the school could see that the profile and standing of STF pupils within the school increased. The league also gives pupils’ parents an opportunity to watch their children compete for the school.

There were some practicalities to consider, Firstly, the school had to find a suitable location. Playing on open, marked pitches was not always appropriate for most of the pupils. The decision was made to hire pitches at the local small-sided football facility. This was ideal, as the ball always remained in play and, once in, pupils were safe and secure. From this, Clwyd’s key stage 2 STF began to play friendlies against other STF in Swansea. The observations and feedback from other schools highlighted that the venue and concept of the games were successful and had potential for growth.

Later in 2016, staff from the STF launched the league at a STF Network Meeting. They invited teachers to join a group on HWB. There was a good response and the league began. The league went from strength to strength. Pre-COVID, there were 200 children from 14 schools taking part. Currently and post COVID the league has recommenced and the numbers participating are rising.

All staff regularly observe pupils playing. This has resulted in useful feedback for the STF staff who have made refinements and adaptions, for example to the organisation of events and ‘rules’, to meet the needs of all the pupils. There are now two divisions for pupils aged 7-11 and a ‘football experience’ pitch to maximise opportunities for inclusion and participation. Division 1 is for pupils who understand the concept of a match and how to join in. It is for children who are physically confident. The games are competitive with minimal adult intervention. Division 2 is for pupils who have a developing knowledge of how to join in a game of football. Supporting adults can be on the pitch to ensure that all of the pupils engage and kick a softer ball. The Football Experience Pitch is an unstructured pitch with a range of different sized balls and sensory equipment. It is for children who do not yet have a concept of a match. Adults facilitate the exploration of the equipment and skills related to football. This can be accessed at any time by any pupil. This is helpful should a pupil need time and space to ‘cool off’.

Staff have also developed a foundation phase section of the league for younger pupils. The rules are simply, for example, to stop when the whistle blows, to try not to handle the ball and to shake hands afterwards. The referees double-up as coaches. They run the matches but also teach the pupils elements of the game (depending on ability). Before each session, the rules and a skill are demonstrated by the staff. There is an emphasis on fair play, teamwork and winning and losing well. The games are approximately 10 minutes long and the school aims for 6 aside. Both are flexible depending on numbers of pupils and level of fatigue.

The league is celebrated each year in July during a key stage 2 festival. This includes matches, parachute games, crafts, Kerling, and a bouncy castle. It is also a time for every pupil to receive a medal and the division winners a trophy. As well as the annual key stage 2 festival, the school has fixtures every half term, meaning that there are six events each year. It is affiliated with the Swansea School’s Football Association. Looking ahead, the school would like to help other counties set-up similar leagues and set up a representative side from ‘Swansea STF’ to play other representative sides.

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

Staff at Clwyd primary believe that the project has been an amazing success, with pupils looking forward to all the football events. The differentiated experiences help the school to meet individual needs and have made a significant and very positive impact on the pupils’ confidence, engagement, resilience and skill development.

Feedback from an STF teacher of Cadle Primary School, Swansea:

You have created something really exciting that promotes inclusion for our children and also makes us as a staff feel part of something bigger…the impact is immeasurable. I had a child in my class last year who cried all through his first match in the league because he wasn’t ‘having a turn’; he now plays rugby and football in his comprehensive school…honestly my class only play football in the league and I have never seen them work together in the way they do on the pitch.

Some quotes taken from the pupils:

  • ‘I make new friends.’
  • ‘I like to I love being involved.’
  • ‘I kicked the ball to my friends.’
  • ‘I love football because you teached me to play football.’
  • ‘I scored 3 goals.’
  • ‘I love wearing the school kit.’
  • ‘I feel confident in the games and I don’t mind if we win or lose.’

How have you shared your good practice?

The school uses its Twitter account to celebrate the league, and has a hashtag of #superteamsfootball. Staff were invited to speak about the league in the 2017 ERW ‘Closing the Gap’ conference. The focus was to share good practice that increased the engagement levels of stakeholders and raised standards in pupil attainment. The concept of the league was well received by the delegates. The league has also been featured in the Swansea Evening Post and Western Mail newspapers. A PE teacher at the school was awarded the South Wales PE Teacher of the Year award in 2018. This reward was in recognition of the impact of the league and the work done by the founders of the league.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context and background to the practice

Clwyd Community Primary School is in Penlan, Swansea. It serves an area with a high level of deprivation and unemployment. Over 90% of the school’s 365 pupils live in the 20% most deprived areas of Wales. Approximately 56% of the pupils are eligible for free school meals. These statistics are well above the national averages. The school also hosts four specialist teaching facilities to support pupils with additional learning needs from across the local authority.

Description of nature of strategy or activity identified as effective or innovative practice

The school places great emphasis on developing and encouraging pupils’ aspiration for future achievement and employment. This aspiration leads staff to arrange frequent real life, purposeful learning experiences that broaden the pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the opportunities they might encounter in the future.

Annually, the school provides the pupils with the opportunity to experience working with employment advisers from Jobcentre Plus. They provide a morning workshop, curriculum vitae planning and mock interviews. This enables pupils to have first hand experiences with potential career planning, job seeking and future aspirations. This is directly linked to the school’s ‘Meet the Worker’ event. This is an organised occurrence where the pupils are asked to suggest possible careers that they aspire to experience. The school then invites representatives from these careers into school and the pupils ask them questions that interest them in a ‘round robin’ format. This has developed into a large event that is recognised as innovative practice and has allowed pupils at Clwyd to meet dozens of workers from a wide ranging group of professions including: doctor, firefighter, solicitor, actor, welder, engineer, police officer, midwife, vet, scientist, footballer, bricklayer, hairdresser, entrepreneur, paramedic, armed forces, librarian, bank worker, accountant, plus many more.  

The pupils have the opportunity to apply for some of these jobs and experience a one to one interview in front of their peers. Feedback from the interview is given to the candidates by school staff, the employers and other members of the panel. This has been a very powerful way of preparing pupils for future challenges they may face. It has also highlighted to them the skills that might be required to gain future employment.

Putting the skills into action has then been a focus. Clwyd Pop Up Shop is organised, stocked and supervised by pupils. This is an opportunity to work in and run a local shop unit within the community. They design and make most of the stock and man the tills, create rotas, problem solve and advertise. This also gives pupils the opportunity to think creatively to design products. As part of planning for the Curriculum For Wales, the pupils calculate budgets, profit and change, and develop real life, purposeful lkiteracy and numeracy skills. Every year, this has developed a range of different and essential life skills that fit in perfectly with the skills discussed during ‘Meet the Worker’ day. The rewards and profits from their hard work in the Pop Up Shop have resulted in the school being able to afford to buy a school minibus. A real, practical example of pupils’ hard work paying off.

In addition, and on a yearly basis, Year 5 and Year 6 pupils participate in The South West Wales Reaching Wider Partnership (SWWRWP). This is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales. The aim of the programme is to raise the aspirations and further and higher education awareness of young people who are currently underrepresented in higher education. This is done through activities and workshops, which take place at higher education institutions, colleges, schools and community settings. Pupils attend Junior ACE days and Subject Taster Days at Singleton Campus, Swansea University. Pupils also work with student leaders to undertake a series of group activities.

To help determine whether the activities are helping participants move on from school into further education, higher education and employment, the programme records information about the outreach activities and the pupils who take part in them so that they can track the educational journey of the outreach participants into university and beyond into employment.

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

  • All pupils asked agreed that they had benefited from ‘Meet the Worker’ day and that it had developed their thinking towards future career options.
  • Nearly all pupils have a clearer understanding of future education and employment possibilities that exist in their locality and the wider world.
  • Nearly all pupils have a greater understanding of what they need to do to achieve their aspirations. This has a positive impact on attitudes to learning across the school.
  • All pupils have the opportunity to experience activity related to the world of work.
  • Analysis indicates that pupils’ future aspirations have risen significantly.
  • The school has positive, enduring and beneficial partnerships with a range of employers and education institutions.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context and background to excellent/sector-leading practice

LWNW has been at the forefront of Welsh for Adults providers in Wales in its continuous emphasis on research that underpins developments in the field. A further strength of this work is that it is based on working with various academic schools within Bangor University and bringing expertise from different disciplines together for the benefit of the field.

Description of nature of strategy or activity identified as excellent/sector-leading practice

Recent academic research that has been conducted includes the following:

Changing behaviour

PhD research in co-operation with the School of Psychology on changing the behaviour of passive Welsh speakers. From this research, LWNW has been able to apply the findings to ‘Confidence Building’ courses with the public in Bangor, in co-operation with the National Centre for Learning Welsh, and more recently with Menter Iaith Bangor with businesses in the city. This led to producing a guide on running confidence building courses for the other Welsh for Adults providers. At the National Centre’s request, national pilot confidence building sessions are being held at Gwynedd Council.

e-Learning

PhD research into e-Learning and the effectiveness of e-Learning in comparison with face-to-face approaches when acquiring language. The research includes measuring the effects of Welsh learning apps developed by LWNW. The findings are intended to be used to feed into LWNW’s online offer in 2022/2023.

Difficulties with pronunciation

PhD research into Linguistics that focuses on the main difficulties faced by Welsh learners. The National Centre contributed to sponsoring this scholarship. The evidence from this research will be able to contribute to changes to the content of coursebooks/guidance for tutors, in addition to the content of national training for tutors.

Strategic management of language training in the workplace

PhD research initially, which has led to further studies (as can be seen below). The findings of this 

research have led to changes to the way in which LWNW discusses and plans language training with workplaces (including staff at Bangor University), so that there is a much greater strategic element to the way in which learners are ‘selected’, but also to the way in which training is managed to assure active users of the Welsh language.

Other applied research projects include the following:

  • A European grant was obtained from NPLD (Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity) to lead a project with partners in Italy, Spain, and Scotland, paying particular attention to online learning. The work will be completed in the autumn term 2022, with an international symposium being organised to share findings and good practice, in addition to lessons that different counties in Europe can learn from each other. This study also includes a comparison of arrangements and quality management techniques, training tutors and producing learning materials. As part of this study, LWNW is working closely with Conwy County Borough Council to research the effectiveness of its staff’s language training (as part of the Work Welsh scheme).
  • A similar study to the one conducted with Conwy County Borough Council is also being conducted with Gwynedd County Council, which is looking at the effectiveness of planning and application from the perspective of staff and managers.

The importance of this work with workplaces is to provide a toolkit to the National Centre and its providers, and the Welsh Language Commissioner, in order to ensure that language training in the workplace is as effective as it can be for the organisations, new learners and the public who receive a service from them through the medium of Welsh.

Sharing research findings

LWNW is very keen to share its findings with the field in Wales and beyond. To this end, in addition to the symposium that was held in 2019/2020 and the international conference that will be held in 2022, the following recent / ongoing publications also share detailed information and findings about Welsh in the workplace:

  • An article in Current Issues in Language Planning
  • An article in Gwerddon
  • A chapter in Y Gymraeg a Gweithle’r Gymru Gyfoes, a volume published by University of Wales Press

LWNW has also published a chapter (‘Addysgu dysgwyr ail-iaith’ – Teaching second language learners) in the volume published by Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol (2020) entitled Cyflwyniad i ieithyddiaeth (Introduction to linguistics).

What impact has this work had on the quality of provision and learners’ standards

A notable feature of the research is that it is applied research. This means that the findings are applied and used to underpin teaching and learning strategies in the day-to-day work of LWNW and the sector and, as a result, have a direct, positive effect on learners’ standards.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Welshpool Church in Wales Primary School is on the outskirts of the town of Welshpool and opened in September 2017 after the amalgamation of pupils from four of the town’s schools. After operating across three former sites since opening, the school moved into new premises in January 2021.

There are 280 pupils on roll, which includes 25 in the school’s pre-school provision. Thirty-eight per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals. This is well above the national average (21%). The school serves a community that is situated in an area ranked amongst the 10-20% most deprived areas of Wales (WIMD).

Thirty-nine per cent of pupils have additional learning needs. There are three additional classes at the school, two for pupils with moderate learning difficulties and a Nurture Programme for pupils with BESD, all of which serve the wider area of schools. Around 20% of pupils speak English as an additional language. The school also hosts a Flying Start facility and a Three- and Four-Year-old setting.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The school had always recognised the role of young carers, and had previously been invited to take part in a Carers Trust pilot scheme. However, the pandemic resulted in a heightened awareness of how these children were being doubly disadvantaged, particularly during periods of lockdown. The school’s system of contacting vulnerable learners at these times further highlighted that some young carers were still being unrecognised. The school was determined to put procedures in place to ensure that young carers would always be enabled to enjoy their rights under the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child, both during and following the pandemic.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

The school needed to ensure that there were robust procedures in place to identify young carers and to encourage a broader culture within the school that learners in a caring role at home should be recognised and supported. The school nominated a member of the pastoral team to lead on responsibility for this area of work and who could act as a point of contact for young carers. This person would champion their needs and link with a named governor to make sure that wider stakeholder involvement was in place.

This operational lead began by raising awareness amongst all pupils about the role of young carers, so that any ‘hidden’ carers would be able to identify themselves. It was important that this was done carefully to ensure that no stigma would be attached to self-identification, and that a positive school ethos could be established where young carers and their families would be respected and valued.

Following this, the operational lead worked with the senior management team to ensure that all teaching and auxillary staff as well as governors understood the school’s responsibilities to young carers and knew who they were across the school. Young carers were noted on class registers and through One Page Profiles so that supply teachers would also be aware of their status and the need for allowing special circumstances, such as a phone call home, support with homework or to avoid unnecessary questioning.

The school set up a young carers peer support group that meets each Friday with a member of a Powys young carers charity, Credu, and with the nominated link governor. This allows the pupils to share their stories and to have time to be children, not carers.

The young carers themselves also asked if they could set up a Pupil Voice group to include carers and non-carers. This group now meets to re-write child-friendly versions of key policies alongside the school’s Super Ambassadors to ensure that they reflect the rights of young carers. They have also been active in securing young carer identification cards for all those who wish to carry one.

The school tracks the progress of young carers as a group of learners in all aspects of their school life, including well-being, attainment and attendance. Trends are analysed to ensure that any changes that may be attributable to their caring status are noted and supported as necessary.

The school wanted to ensure that, once a young carer transferred to secondary school, their rights as a young carer continued to be met, and so a transition group was established with the local high school. It was highlighted through this group that siblings of primary carers could be ‘hidden’ in the secondary sector, and so a joint notification form was established where the primary and secondary school could work in partnership to identify where siblings may have joint caring responsibilities.

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

The young Carers in school are proud of their caring status, and the school has noted that since self-identification has been encouraged and since being part of a peer support group, many have increased levels of self-esteem and self-confidence.

How have you shared your good practice?

The operational lead has spoken at the All Powys Wellbeing Work Group, leading to recommendations being shared with all schools in the authority.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the setting

Ysgol Feithrin Pont-y-pŵl is a Welsh-medium, non-maintained nursery in the heart of the town of Pontypool. Sessional and day care, as well as a breakfast club and lunch club, has been provided in an old registered building opposite the facilities at Pontypool Park for more than 40 years. Children are admitted from two and a half years old and stay with the setting until they move to the reception class. Most children come from homes with non-Welsh-speaking parents. The leader is a Welsh speaker and all staff have extensive experience of childcare.

The building includes a large, open hall on the first floor which is the home of the nursery. There is a large, welcoming entrance, purposeful toilets and a practical kitchen, in addition to storage space. Outside, there is an open, secure and varied play area that provides experiences for children to develop their physical, creative and investigative skills. On the ground floor, there is a second hall where the Cylch Ti a Fi meets on a weekly basis.

Ysgol Feithrin Pont-y-pŵl has a close relationship with the Welsh-medium primary schools in the Pontypool area – it works closely to ensure that the four-year-old children are given opportunities to meet the teachers and visit the schools before they transfer to the reception classes.

The setting provides an open-door policy for every child who is interested in Welsh medium education and believes strongly in the practice of equality and diversity.

Context and background to the sector-leading practice

The aim at Ysgol Feithrin Pont-y-pŵl is to ensure that the children’s voice is at the heart of everything it does. The setting encourages children to express their views, discuss the topics of the day and acknowledge the importance of their locality, families and friends. Children play an integral part in choosing what happens on a daily basis, putting out equipment and resources indoors and outdoors and helping to develop the role-play areas. The aim is to provide exciting play and learning opportunities for the children and allowing them to lead and develop to become ambitious learners who value their locality.

The staff have

All members of staff have received a copy of the Curriculum for funded non-maintained nursery settings and have completed various training courses. The nursery plans its sessions in line with the developmental pathways, observes the children to understand their schemas to inform provision and responds to the children’s interests. Practitioners try to be good role models for the children and encourage them to express their views, respect others, take an interest in their community and learn to be independent.

Staff go out of their way to forge a close relationship with the children’s parents and families and encourage them to feel part of the setting’s extended family. Staff stay in contact with former parents and follow the development and lives of our former pupils closely, many of whom are now parents themselves and speak Welsh with their own children.

Being a community nursery is extremely important. There is an open invitation to everyone to attend any concerts, shows and fundraising events that are organised, and ensuring that opportunities for children to learn about their community is an important part of planning. 
 

Description of the nature of the strategy or activity that was identified as effective or innovative practice

The nursery makes extensive use of the excellent local park to learn about nature and the seasons. Visits are organised to the library, weekly market and local supermarket, and the children enjoy visiting the local care home for the elderly, forging a close relationship with the residents and preparing activities and choosing books to share with their new friends. In addition to being part of their local community, the children are encouraged to be curious about Wales, the Welsh language and other cultures. The children enjoy learning Welsh folk dances, Welsh songs and nursery rhymes and about St Dwynwen and the Fari Lwyd. At the same time, they are very keen to learn about the traditions of other countries, such as celebrating the Chinese New Year. With the support of staff, the children found a video showing a celebration parade in China and, as a result, they created a 3D dragon head-dress and organised a parade around the hall, with some of the children creating an instrumental band.

What effect has this work had on provision, wellbeing and children’s standards?

The children are enthusiastic about the learning opportunities around them and extend and develop their own ideas confidently. If the children decide to build castles in the block area, they know that they can search for ideas in a book or on a tablet. If they see a flag on the tower of one of the castles in the picture, they go to the woodwork area to design and create their own flags and work out how to place them on top of the castles’ towers. They may then decide that they want to add a moat with water from the tap. The children work well as a team and develop as ambitious and capable learners. Staff are there to encourage the children to extend their ideas, take ownership of them and move forward, and this has a positive effect on the children’s confidence and well-being. Natural equipment and materials are used extensively, for example wooden cups and plates in the mud kitchen, and the nursery aims to provide authentic resources in all learning areas, such as fruit and vegetables from the market or garden in the farm shop, loose change in the till, a full-sized guitar in the music corner and hammers and saws in the woodwork area