Effective Practice Archives - Page 33 of 66 - Estyn

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Share this page

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Christchurch C.P. School is in the town of Rhyl in a Communities First area in Denbighshire.  The school is in the second most deprived area in Wales.  Many pupils come from socially and economically deprived backgrounds, with high levels of unemployment.  There are 385 full-time pupils on roll and 57 nursery aged pupils.  Around 60% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.  There is a specialist Resource Provision for Foundation Phase pupils based at the school.  Around 36% of pupils have additional learning needs.  The school currently has 30 pupils for whom English is an additional language (EAL), which is a significant increase over the last year.  Trends indicate that this will continue to rise. 

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

The challenging behaviours associated with some of the pupils in the school were impacting negatively on their learning and the learning of others.  Staff assessed the impact of the school’s interventions and felt that they needed further development in order to meet better the needs of the pupils, especially those with complex needs.

The school identified the needs of a specific group of pupils and established the ‘Sunflower Behaviour Group’ to target these.  The aims of the sessions were to:

  • follow the curriculum in a supportive environment
  • encourage good behaviour through positive reinforcement and reward
  • foster an environment where behaviour can be discussed openly
  • improve self-esteem and self-discipline
  • assist the development of social and emotional skills

The room has been set up to be warm and welcoming.  Areas in the room include a dark den, small pet area, sensory zone and quiet corner.

Specific pupils use the resource in the afternoons.  The session starts with an opportunity for pupils to relax and a hold a review of their morning in class.  They then attend curriculum based sessions, in small groups, with individual support for pupils when needed.  Staff split the lessons by providing a session of physical activity before commencing the final element of the afternoon which culminates in an evaluation of the afternoon and completing the pupils’ individual behaviour books. 

Utilising the Pupil Deprivation Grant, the school appointed two Learning Mentors, a Wellbeing and Learning Mentor and a teaching assistant with specific responsibilities for EAL.  The school created four new teaching environments that met the needs of different groups of learners.  Each mentor has a very different focus linked to their own area of expertise.  These include:

  1. a behaviour and nurture group
  2. three nurture and wellbeing groups across both phases
  3. cross phase speech and language therapy (SALT) provision
  4. literacy and numeracy focus groups
  5. cross phase EAL provision

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

Staff assess all the pupils who attend the nurture and behaviour support groups at the start of the programme and throughout the year using the Boxall Profile.  

All of the pupils who have been involved in the nurture provision have showed a significant improvement from their baseline scores.  This is evident in their day-to-day behaviour in school.

The pupils who attend the learning intervention groups have made significant progress in mathematics and spelling. 

Staff have seen the positive impact of the intervention groups, from the nurture groups providing a positive start to the school day to the provision of a calm and relaxing sanctuary at times when pupils struggle with their emotions.  They recognise every pupil’s individual needs and understand the importance of providing a bespoke provision for them, within the school.

Pupils themselves highlight the benefits of these intervention groups.  For example:

Year 5

“I am happy when we get our rewards.  It makes me happy when I know we have all worked together as a group.”

Year 5

“If I have had a bad morning, the relaxation helps me get the bad stuff out of my mind so I can get on with the rest of the day.”

Year 4

“I enjoy the privilege of looking after the animals.”

Year 4

“I like the dark den as it helps me calm down.”

How have you shared your good practice?

The school works closely with the local cluster, family of schools and the regional consortium to share joint planning and best practice ideas.  At a recent cluster ‘speed sharing’ event, teachers and support staff gave a presentation outlining how they use the school’s ‘learning mentor’ and pastoral support programmes to support vulnerable families.  The focus was on how they raise outcomes for pupils eligible for free school meals and have a notable effect on promoting good attendance and high levels of wellbeing.  The local authority also encourage other practitioners to visit the school and to observe the ‘learning mentor’ programme in action.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Share this page

Information about the school

Ysgol Glan Gele is and infant school in Abergele on the North Wales Coast.  There are currently 307 pupils on roll including 63 part time in the nursery.  The school has 11 classes. Approximately 34% of the pupils are eligible for free school meals.  This is significantly above the national average of 20%.  The local authority looks after a very few pupils. 

Baseline assessments indicate that for a significant number of pupils, attainment upon entry is below average.  Around 28% of the pupils have additional learning needs: this is slightly above the national average. Ysgol Glan Gele aims to provide a happy and secure learning environment for pupils, where all stakeholders feel valued and are able to achieve their potential.  

School leaders believe that parental engagement is fundamental in improving outcomes for pupils.  They offer a wide range of opportunities for parents and carers to become involved in the life of the school. Since 2010, the school has enhanced engagement, regularly delivering Parent Partner sessions each half term.  During these sessions, parents attend school to work on aspects of the curriculum with their children. These are well attended and successful and the school has developed an excellent partnership with most parents and carers.  However, it has been more difficult to engage with some families.  The Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG) has enabled the school to appoint a Family Liaison Assistant to encourage these ‘hard to reach’ parents to embrace school life in order to raise expectation, support their children and improve standards of attainment.

Context and background to sector-leading practice

The school’s self-evaluation process identified under-achievement in boys’ writing skills.  As a result, leaders decided to try and further engage Dads, Grandads and other male role models (big brothers, uncles) in boys’ literacy.  The school has a low on-entry baseline with some parents having poor parental aspirations.  Feedback from the Parents’ Forum and questionnaires, suggested that ‘Dads’ often have difficulty in engaging in school activities and workshops.  

The school’s literacy coordinator, a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) had recently undertaken her Forest School training and felt that this would be the perfect springboard to encourage ‘hard to reach’ Dads to become involved and break down barriers between home and school.  She named these sessions ‘Dads and Lads’.  The school identified and  targeted a group of under-attaining pupils to take part in this strategy.  These were mainly boys, eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their Dads.  Previous parental engagement strategies had limited success with this group.  Thus, staff identified an exciting outdoor project as the one most likely to engage Dads and allow them quality time with their ‘lads’ in a non-threatening environment in which they would feel at home.  This, in turn, would impact positively on their child’s writing once back in the classroom and raise parental awareness and aspirations for their children.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

When staff hold a ‘Dads and Lads’ session they ensure that they plan an exciting project for the boys to experience in the outdoors, in order to inspire their written work inside the classroom. Staff feel it is essential to give them first hand experiences on which to base their writing.  The teacher set the scene, for example, by planning an adventure whereby the ‘Dads and Lads’ are stranded on a desert island.  They learn how to build shelters to keep warm and how to build a fire on which to cook.

They took part in a safety quiz, which developed their oracy skills and recorded their answers together.  In the second stage of the session, the boys sat in their shelters and wrote an SOS letter in conjunction with their Dads.  The role of the teacher was to explain the different elements of the genre and give tips and advice on purposeful writing.  Later in the week, back in the classroom the boys attended further sessions where they had time to reflect and discuss the activity and redraft and edit their letters with further guidance from the teacher.

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

Feedback from Dads was very positive with many saying that they had thoroughly enjoyed supporting their child’s literacy through meaningful fun activities outdoors. This has led to an improved interest in their child’s education.  Many had not previously engaged in the school’s Parent Partner sessions.  They felt empowered by the knowledge shared during the sessions and this has raised their expectations and confidence when helping their children write.  They have a deeper engagement in their ‘lads’ learning and higher expectations of their written work. Attitudes towards school are also more positive.  

Several Dads were inspired to follow-up the theme at home and children produced extended pieces of writing which they brought into school to share with their teachers. These sessions are now very popular and the school has had to provide additional sessions to meet demand from ‘Dads’.  Word has spread amongst ‘Dads’ and engagement has increased beyond all expectation. This has had the additional impact of bringing more Dads into other sessions the school offers such as Family Learning, Share Sessions and Working with electronic tablets and building toys. 

Many of the boys commented that the ‘Lads and Dads’ sessions have been the best sessions they have ever experienced.  It has given parents time to experience quality learning with their child, supported by an experienced teacher.  This has raised their expectations and improved outcomes in terms of the quality of the written work produced by this group of learners. Standards at the end of the Foundation Phase have risen to just under half of pupils attaining at a higher-than-expected level. Standards amongst FSM pupils are also higher than local and national averages.

How have you shared your good practice?

The school has shared its work with countless schools and school leaders from across Wales and beyond.  Local schools also visit frequently and staff regularly host sessions to share the provision.  Students from a local university have also visited to view good practice in this area. Teachers have also presented to the regional consortium, Welsh Government and Governors Wales to share the practice.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Share this page

Information about the school

Howell’s School, Llandaff is an independent day school for girls from the age of three to 18 years and boys from 16 to 18 years.  The sixth form is known as Howell’s College and has been coeducational since September 2005.

Howell’s School was founded in 1860 by the Drapers’ Company.  In 1980, Howell’s School joined the Girls’ Day School Trust, a charitable organisation that provides independent education in schools and a few academies across the United Kingdom.  The Girls’ Day School Trust is the school’s proprietor.  Most functions of governance are carried out centrally by the Girls’ Day School Trust Council and chief executive.  The school also has a board of local governors who provide additional support and advice.

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Ensuring consistently high levels of wellbeing is at the heart of Howell’s approach to helping pupils settle in and progress well both socially and academically at each new learning point.  The high intake of girls and boys to the sixth form college means that 50% of Year 12 students are new to the school.  To ensure that the move to a new school was a positive experience where Year 12 students quickly felt welcomed, valued, happy and confident about their learning, the school introduced ‘First 50’ – a wellbeing programme that provides students with a series of experiences, activities, events and presentations over the first 50 days of Year 12.  The programme aims to ensure that all Year 12 students integrate successfully, participate actively and achieve well by the autumn half term.  The approach was so successful that Howell’s has now rolled-out the programme across the school from nursery through to all key transition points.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

The Year 12 First 50 activities are grouped: in six areas of provision::

  • academic
  • social
  • extra-curricular;
  • belonging
  • learning tools
  • parental engagement.

In each of these areas, specific practical arrangements support students in settling in.  This includes activities such as an organisational skills workshop; a hot picnic; a geographical game to get to know the layout of the school; a Freshers’ Fair promoting clubs and societies; structured extended tutor times; a study-skills programme; and a welcome evening for students and parents.

It also incorporates mentoring sessions with personal tutors, a first report to assess academic progress and a self-evaluation review to give students the opportunity to reflect on how well they had adjusted.  The pastoral team use the feedback from these approaches to identify where students need additional support and respond to this quickly by, for example using a buddy system or engagement in extra-curricular activities.

Building on the success of the First 50 initiative, which benefited both new and existing students on entry to their post 16 studies in the college, the school extended the strategy.  

First 30 was introduced at key stage 4 to meet the needs of the significant shift in demands on pupils at this key stage.  During the first thirty days of the autumn term, the school focuses on aspects such as the effective use of technologies to support learning and promoting new clubs and societies.  This helps provide Year 10 pupils with a fresh start approach and assists them to respond to the challenges of GCSE studies, while developing new support networks and friendships in option groups.

The First 20 programme is for pupils moving into Year 7 from Howell’s junior school or transferring from other feeder primary schools.  This programme incorporates the same categories as ‘First 50’ but the content is age and stage appropriate.  For example, activities include a ‘Buzz Your Brain’ thinking-skills workshop; an overnight bonding trip; and a clubs’ fair. 

First 10 and First 15 was introduced to the nursery and for Year 3 pupils, respectively.  Activities for the nursery includes simple tasks such as pupils learning their teacher’s name, eating a healthy snack with a friend and saying ‘goodbye’ happily to a parent.  While Year 3 girls are encouraged to join a club, use a thinking map and ‘take a risk’.  The range of motivating and achievable activities is designed to ensure all pupils settle quickly and feel successful.

Welcome Programmes were also introduced for pupils arriving at any point in the year, for whatever reason, with these pupils also assigned a buddy for an extended period.  The school’s specific welcome programme for new staff has also been well received, providing a defined support structure, including dedicated buddies as well as relevant mentoring and training.

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

The innovative way that the programme has been packaged has raised the profile of wellbeing amongst existing and new pupils and their families.  It has made everyone in the school aware of the priority the school attaches to a successful transition at each key point so that pupils can thrive academically.  Feedback from Year 12 students at the end of the first fifty days in the college has been extremely positive.  Some students say they may well have struggled to adapt to life in the college without the strong emphasis on the social and emotional aspects of the programme.  This feedback has been used to improve the events that are organised and Year 13 students are now directly involved in planning activities for the new Year 12 cohort. 

In the inspection of Howell’s School, inspectors noted that:

  • the school’s induction programmes are particularly well-designed and innovative 
  • pupils are extremely committed, enthusiastic learners who are mature and self-assured engaging confidently and productively in lessons and other areas of school life
  • pupils achieve extremely high standards at all stages of their learning
  • at key stage 4 and post-16, pupils’ performance in public examinations is outstanding when compared with that of other schools in both the maintained and independent sectors

How have you shared your good practice?

Good practice has been shared by presenting the wellbeing programme to other schools in the Girls’ Day School Trust network at key meetings.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Share this page

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Fingers and Thumbs Day Care Centre serves the town of Bridgend and the surrounding villages. It provides a playgroup, breakfast club, after school club, holiday club and parent and toddler session. The setting is registered to take up to 30 children. Children attend the setting from two years of age.

The inspection report states that:
“Self-evaluation and improvement planning are a regular and highly effective part of the work of all staff. They contribute well to an annual audit that identifies strengths and areas for development accurately. Leaders gather a wide range of evidence, including views from parents, children and other interested parties, to inform self-evaluation. These high quality procedures for self-evaluation, including work evidence reviews, lesson observations and a rigorous attention to data makes sure that everyone in the setting has a very clear and accurate picture of the setting’s strengths and areas for improvement.”

Nature of strategy or activity identified as sector-leading practice

Over several years, we have refined and improved self-evaluation processes. As a result, we know what we do well and more importantly, we know what we want do better. We use a wide variety of information as part of self-evaluation but the most important is first-hand evidence.

Monitoring the quality of learning, both formally and informally is a strong feature of our self- evaluation procedures.

We have a system of critical reflection, which serves us well in bringing about improvements. The leader monitors, evaluates and reviews all areas of provision during the year. Practitioners discuss these observations and as a team, we agree a way forward. More often than not, we act upon these discussions immediately but occasionally we need to plan longer-term objectives that require funding or additional training. Monitoring information is used effectively to:

  • measure the impact of change on outcomes for children;
  • identify what we need to do next;
  • inform future planning;
  • identify staff training needs; and
  • pinpoint where we may need additional resources.

All practitioners monitor day-to-day learning. They each take responsibility for an area of continuous provision, setting out the area and making sure that resources are appropriate. Practitioners monitor how children use their area and make changes if they see that play is beginning to ‘flag’. This has encouraged practitioners to take ownership of their areas and see a real purpose to self-evaluation. In addition, each day we release a practitioner from working with groups of children to ‘stand back’ and observe children’s play. Again, we use this information as part of self-evaluation i.e. where are the children playing, what activities are really engaging them?

Impact on provision and learners’ standards

The impact of self-evaluation on children’s standards is best illustrated by a two examples. We identified that our outdoor area was unable to provide all the learning experiences we would wish. We explored the possibility of Forest School and now make a weekly visit to a Forest area. As a result, children’s physical skills have improved, they are more confident and have better social skills through learning to help each other with outdoor challenges.

We have worked hard to improve our children’s Welsh language skills. Feedback from parents has been very positive with parents wanting to help their children at home. To facilitate this, we have set-up Welsh classes in the setting for parents and children to learn together. This has improved children’s skills and their enjoyment of Welsh and strengthened our partnership with parents.
Self-evaluation works for us because we focus very much on the children and making things better for them. Recent initiatives, prompted by self-evaluation, have led to valuable improvements in planning for children’s literacy and numeracy skills. Children’s standards are improving because of these initiatives.

 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Share this page

Context

Hafod Primary School serves a former industrial area close to Swansea city centre.  The school is located in a Communities First area, and most pupils live within the 20% most deprived areas of Wales.  There are 233 pupils on roll, aged between 3 and 11 years.  Around 30% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.  This figure is higher than the national average of 19%. 

Just over two-fifths of the pupils speak English as an additional language.  There are 15 different languages spoken by pupils, the most common of which is Sylheti.  A very few pupils speak some Welsh at home.

Culture and ethos

Leaders at all levels at Hafod Primary School promote an inclusive and caring ethos where everyone is valued.  The way in which the school develops pupils’ understanding of their rights and responsibilities permeates every aspect of school life.  As a result, pupils share their understanding about rights and responsibilities with their families in the local community and with schools across Swansea.

There is a very strong emphasis on celebrating difference and diversity through the curriculum, assemblies and the very colourful displays, which celebrate and enhance pupils’ learning.  All pupils have equal access to the life and work of the school and leaders achieve this through clear policies, which show how the school engages pupils and the local community.  Teachers and support staff promote the respect of each individual particularly well.

Action

The school has an innovative range of pupil voice groups such as the ‘caring crew’, the ‘health and safety squad’, the rights respecting group and the pupil participation group.  Each committee has its own job descriptions and application forms. 

All pupils experience regular opportunities to influence decision-making at the school.  For example, every Thursday, representatives from the various pupil voice groups take suggestion boxes around the school ready for their meetings on the Friday.  Group members then feed back to the rest of the school in the ‘golden assembly’ on Friday afternoons. 

Every pupil in Year 6 is directly involved in a pupil participation group.  As active members of the groups, older pupils contribute very effectively to decision-making and help to set the strategic direction of the school.

As a result, nearly all pupils are confident that the school listens to their views.  These opportunities develop pupils’ self-confidence, self-esteem and speaking and listening skills. 

Pupils take an active part in the school’s monitoring cycle and support the senior management team in evaluating the quality of teaching and learning across the school.

Members of the pupil participation group conduct joint lesson observations with staff and interview pupils.  They identity strengths and areas for development and discuss these confidently with staff during feedback.

These pupils share the outcomes from the lesson observations with other pupils and governors.  For example, during a cycle of lesson observations, pupils highlighted the need to develop opportunities for pupils to work more independently.  Pupils write their own improvement plan in response to development areas that they identify and the governing body regularly monitors this.  Pupils also evaluate the school development plan, contribute to policy development and produce a pupil prospectus for prospective new pupils.

Members of the pupil voice groups attend the first part of the termly governing body meeting and give presentations on their reviews.  As a result, governing body members are well informed of pupils’ views on the quality of their learning experiences at Hafod Primary School. 

Outcomes

The school’s values and rights-based approach to education has enabled it to provide a socially inclusive and rewarding school experience.  The impact on individual pupils is that many pupils are highly motivated and take a greater responsibility for their own behaviour and learning.

Nearly all pupils value themselves, others and their environment.  They have a thorough knowledge and understanding of their own rights and a respect for the rights of others. 

Over time, nearly all pupils develop a greater sense of belonging to their school.  As a result, whole-school attendance has improved and there have been no permanent or fixed-term exclusions for over three years.  Almost all pupils enjoy their learning and sustain their concentration in lessons particularly well.  Many pupils in key stage 2 speak confidently, for example when representing their peers on one of the pupil voice groups. 

As a result of the focus on pupils’ rights and wellbeing, behaviour around school and in lessons is excellent.  Pupils’ attendance has improved significantly from low baselines, and has been in the top 25% for the past three years, when compared with that of similar schools based on eligibility for free school meals.

Leaders have successfully reduced levels of persistent absenteeism, which are now very low.  The local authority has shared this work with other schools, as an example of best practice.

The focus has also had a valuable impact on pupil outcomes.  In key stage 2, at the expected level 4, pupils’ performance in all subjects shows an improving trend.  Pupils’ performance in 2014 placed the school in the top 25% of similar schools for the core subject indicator, English, mathematics and science.  In the Foundation Phase, pupils eligible for free school meals perform less well than their peers, but, by the end of key stage 2, these pupils perform as well as, and often better than, their peers.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Share this page

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Hafod Primary School is located on the outskirts of Swansea in an area which is among the 30% most deprived areas of Wales. Hafod is a Communities First area. There are 242 pupils on roll aged three to eleven. The school manages the on-site Flying Start provision. Around 38% of pupils are entitled to free school meals. 50% of pupils are White-British, 45% are of Asian heritage, predominantly Bangladeshi. Almost half of the pupils speak English as an additional language. Fifteen languages are spoken. 30% of pupils have additional learning needs.

Nature of strategy or activity identified as sector-leading practice

“Kids in the Neighbourhood” (KIN) is a multi-agency approach to early identification, prevention and intervention. It began in 2011 when the Chief Superintendent of police approached the school with concerns of increased levels of antisocial behaviour/criminality in the community.

The school had also identified pupils involved in these activities and tracked them through the secondary phase. Many of these pupils were not in education, employment or training (NEET).

The community has been informed that the school, police and other agencies are working together to eradicate antisocial behaviour and crime. Members of the community have accepted and embraced the project and now use the school and its contacts effectively to share information and report incidents.

The project has evolved over three years, and now attempts to assess any potential barriers to learning. The school or its partner agencies identify and assess the pupils and their families and share information appropriately, effectively and confidentially, with the consent of all parents/carers. Staff analyse data from a variety of sources, such as: the ‘vulnerable analysis profile’, teacher assessments, attendance, and national tests. It also takes into account any other information from appropriate sources such as: the police, the antisocial behaviour unit, the local health department, the education welfare officer, the fire service, social services, and the local comprehensive school.

Agencies meet monthly at the school and contribute to the school’s monitoring/tracking systems, offering additional information, providing support or prevention interventions. During the first screening and identification task, the school discovered that:

  • 100% of the identified pupils were from deprived family backgrounds;
  • 60% had attendance below 89%;
  • 100% were not confident in core subjects;
  • 100% were not achieving their expected level;
  • 60% of pupil interviews did not match parent interviews;
  • 100% felt that they did not have anyone to talk to or positive role models;
  • 100% had been involved in antisocial behaviour in the community or playground; and
  • 100% were known to police or social services.

The school shared the information with its partner agencies along with its research on deprivation being strongly associated with poorer performance in education.

The school’s work has found that that:

  • low levels of educational achievement have a negative impact on an individual’s engagement with society and it is highly likely that these individuals will engage in criminal activity;
  • FSM pupils are three times as likely to have SEN. Eligibility for FSM is particularly high for three types of SEN – behavioural, emotional and social;
  • income and material deprivation influences educational outcomes reducing the number of educational resources and the home environment;
  • deprivation is associated with ill health, family stress, low levels of parental education and involvement in their children’s education, low levels of cultural and social capital and low aspirations;
  • pupils are at greater risk of low birth rate, which can influence cognitive/physical development;
  • low income has adverse affects on parents well-being which affects the quality of their parenting. Family stress can lead to problems with children’s education/emotional development. There is a higher chance of pupils being exposed to multiple risk factors e.g. depression, domestic violence, unemployment, overcrowding, substance misuse;
  • knowledge/skills/interests of pupils from different backgrounds (social/cultural) may be limited, possibly resulting in poorer social connections/opportunities; and
  • low levels of literacy on entry means pupils are more likely to fall behind and will find it difficult to catch up. This impacts on their levels of attainment, and engagement and ability to access the curriculum.

On completing the assessments and sharing the information and research findings. staff used Boxall profiles, attendance data, PASS data, teacher assessments, family engagement and analysis and analysis from the reading tests to measure individual progress and the success of the project as a whole. Staff devised an effective matrix to share information from/with partner agencies at monthly meetings.

Staff identify each individual’s needs and implement and monitor appropriate intervention programmes to improve outcomes for those individuals.

Interventions include: –
Support for families
Aims:

  • Employ a Family support officer and develop a family learning team to;
  • Develop a more stable family environment and address the root cause and negative impact of family poverty. Provide Parent and family counselling.
  • Enable a flying start in life providing health and parenting support
  • Provide English and numeracy classes for parents to focus on improving their own literacy and numeracy skills thus impacting on supporting their children’s learning at home.

Partner agencies include; Family support officer, Communities First Team, School Nurse, TAF team, Flying start team, Eyst.

Improving Literacy and Numeracy
Aims:

  • Provide Catch up sessions for pupils who are falling behind
  • Introduce a structured phonic approach
  • Introduce concrete resources to improve numeracy/reasoning
  • Concentration of resources – pupils supported in small groups
  • Targeted support for pupils with EAL, SEN and MAT

Partnership agencies include; EMLAS, EYST, ALNco

Improving Attendance

  • Appointment of Attendance/well being officer to work with EWO, pupils and families.

Partner agencies involved; School attendance officer, Family support worker, EWO, School clerk

Improving emotional well-being

  • Appointment of school Counsellor
  • Support staff trained in Play Derbyshire
  • Introduction of PATHs programme

Partner agencies: school counsellor, support staff, The Exchange, Barnardo’s
Embed the ‘SO TO DO’ project
Aim:

  • Reduce number of first time entrants into youth justice system
  • Reduce the number of pupils who become NEET
  • Reduce injuries caused by accidents

Partner agencies: Police, antisocial behaviour officer, fire, drugs/safety squad

The aim is to provide role models from the agencies. Pupils engage in sessions, to educate them about the consequences of their actions. This programme has had a powerful influence on our pupils and the number of antisocial incidents reported in the community has decreased significantly.

Impact on provision and learners’ standards

Since introducing the project:

  • attendance has improved from 87% to 94.7%;
  • all pupils make significant progress from baseline and nearly all attain expected levels for their age. Pupils eligible for free school meals and those with English as an additional language perform as well or better than their peers;
  • the school has not excluded any pupil;
  • relationships between those involved are excellent, with pupils experiencing seamless transition from pre-school settings to primary school to secondary school.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Share this page

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Herbert Thompson Primary School serves the Ely area of Cardiff. The majority of pupils are of white ethnic background and the remainder are of mixed ethnic groups. There are 17% of pupils with English as an additional language and no pupils speak Welsh as a first language. About 51% of pupils are entitled to free school meals, which is significantly higher than the average for the local authority and Wales. The school has identified about 45% of pupils as having additional learning needs, including a few who have statements of special educational needs. The number of pupils with additional learning needs is significantly higher than the local authority average. The school’s mission statement is ‘Find your talents, let them grow. Be the person that you’d like to know’.

The school’s vision is ‘that all the members of the Herbert Thompson community live with positive values and behaviours and have aspirations and skills to successfully move to the next stage of their lives’.

Herbert Thompson uses an effective pupil tracking system to monitor pupil progress. This provides staff with a wealth of useful information and data on pupils’ attainment in literacy and numeracy as they move through the school. Teachers analyse the information in preparation for the school’s termly ‘Learning Reviews’. Learning Reviews involve teachers, the Inclusion Leader and the Headteacher, who discuss every child’s progress in detail. This promotes consistency across the school and ensures that the staff understand pupils’ needs better. During the Learning Reviews, staff amend provision to meet the needs of individual learners and groups to ensure that all their needs are met appropriately. Staff produce ‘Additional Learning Needs Maps’ and record any further actions which become the responsibility of the Inclusion Leader. Staff make appropriate links with outside agencies and complete and follow up any referrals needed.

Nature of strategy or activity identified as sector-leading practice

The school has a relentless focus on improvement and a strong sense of responsibility and accountability. We wanted to extend this further with LSAs. We wanted to pursue the wealth of excellent and effective practice, by supporting LSAs to develop professionally through analysing data and understanding the impact of their work.

Therefore, the school provided LSAs with appropriate opportunities to specialise in and lead a range of intervention programmes to support pupils with additional learning needs. Creating a professional climate where staff’s talents and interests are developed and valued ensured that interventions were matched well to the skills of a dedicated team.

Leaders introduced a clear line management model where all LSAs are accountable to class teachers and the Inclusion Leader. Building on the success of Learning Reviews, ‘Mini Learning Reviews’ were introduced and implemented to tightly track the impact of each intervention. As a result, LSAs have developed ownership of their intervention programmes and areas of learning, leading to improvement in standards across the school.

Mini Learning Reviews are carefully planned for and take place at the end of each half term. Each LSA is given a Mini Learning Review appointment and an individual tracking tool to ensure that data relates directly to specific areas of learning. LSAs prepare for their review imputing data for each pupil and completing short evaluations to raise any concerns around possible lack of progress or unforeseen difficulties arising within the programme. During the Mini Learning Review, the Literacy Leader and Inclusion Leader, discuss and analyse individual pupil progress. Through collective decision-making, they modify the provision to constantly meet the needs of all pupils and improve pupil outcomes. The reviews also relate to LSA performance management targets which are evaluated during each review. As in Learning Reviews, SLT leaders record any further actions required to ensure the best learning opportunities for pupils and staff. At the end of every term, senior leaders evaluate all intervention programmes, making a progress judgement’ and identifying ways forward.

Impact on provision and learners’ standards

Teachers and LSAs believe that every child can achieve well. They feel that they have responsibility and are accountable for their work. They feel empowered, valued and equipped well to do what is expected of them. Staff now have high levels of confidence and enthusiasm and all have developed leadership skills, sharing practice with other schools.

All pupils receive well-targeted support either in the classroom or through well-planned intervention programmes.

Nearly all pupils who follow additional intervention programmes make very good progress within a short space of time.
This has also improved attendance and reduced the number of exclusions significantly.

Despite high levels of disadvantage and significantly low baselines, end of key stage 2 performance has continued to improve and has been higher than the family, local authority and Wales for the last four years in English and the last two years in mathematics and science. Pupils eligible for free school meals perform just as well as those not eligible.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Share this page

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Glasllwch Primary School is in a residential area on the north side of the city of Newport. There are 210 pupils aged 4 – 11 years at the school, taught in seven single aged classes.

Currently, 1% of pupils are entitled to free school meals. 16% of pupils have additional learning needs. Most pupils come from English speaking homes. No pupils speak Welsh as a first language and very few are from a minority ethnic background or learn English as an additional language.

Leadership at all levels is integral to the consistently high standards achieved across school. The Head Teacher has communicated a clear vision to staff, governors and parents about high expectations. This ensures a relentless drive for improvement which is central to school life. As a result, many pupils achieve above expected levels in National Curriculum teacher assessments, standards of wellbeing are excellent and procedures for self evaluating and planning for improvement are excellent.

The school places a strong emphasis on effective distributed leadership. This promotes a strong professional learning culture throughout the school. All staff have well defined roles and job descriptions which are reviewed regularly through performance management arrangements and tailored to drive forward school development plan priorities.

Nature of strategy or activity identified as sector-leading practice

The existing staffing structure has been reorganised to build leadership capacity across school and to meet the needs of the school more effectively. All members of the leadership team have clearly defined job descriptions and a good understanding of their strategic responsibilities and accountability, including performance management, monitoring, evaluation and review. Staff receive useful professional development to assist them in theirleadership roles within their areas of responsibility. Weekly management meetings focus on school improvement andraising standards according to school development plan priorities.

Curriculum Subjects are grouped together under the following areas of learning: communication and culture, innovation and problem solving, and Exploration and Enquiry. All staff and governors are allocated to these teams according to their expertise or areas of interest.

Individual staff lead on specific subjects within each area. Roles and responsibilities within teams are identified by team leaders according to the aspect of self evaluation being carried out. Self evaluation timetables are drawn up alongside priority action plans which are identified as a result of whole school self evaluation.

A focused staff meeting and training schedule ensures that all staff are kept well informed of school issues (priorities) and have effective professional development according to the needs of the school. Foundation Phase and key stage 2 leaders also meet regularly with staff to ensure initiatives are implemented effectively with positive outcomes. Teams work together to reflect on current practice and amend or improve in order to achieve high standards of teaching and learning.

Continual reflection is encouraged and practiced by all staff. The sharing of best practice through classroom observations, professional dialogue and team working creates a supportive climate based on openness and honesty.

The staffing structure includes a team of well qualified and experienced teaching assistants. Three HLTA’s and two level three TA’s provide excellent cover for PPA, management release, CPD and sickness. This ensures continuity in approach to teaching and learning and has a positive impact on pupil well being and standards. The school has had no supply budget for the past six years as all cover is carried out within school. The HLTA’s have leadership responsibilities for Welsh second language, intervention programmes and testing for pupils with ALN.

A designated annual INSET day in May each year, involves all staff and governors working together to evaluate the previous years action plans and to identify strengths and areas for development across school. As a result, priorities are identified for the following year and action plans drawn up.

The involvement of all staff and governors working together throughout allows for an effective and transparent process.

The governing body works very closely with the leadership team and holds the school to account rigorously. Governors have an excellent understanding of provision across school and are persistent in seeking improvements in standards and quality. They have developed an innovative, online document management and information system to provide them with quick access to all relevant material. This system enables traceable collaboration on governing body documents which promotes broader participation and increases efficiency.

Pupils are given frequent opportunities to undertake leadership roles within the classroom and across school. Regular pupil voice activities are planned into the curriculum. Pupils have a say in what they want to learn, how they want to learn and how they want to record their findings. This impacts positively on pupil wellbeing and standards.

Pupil Participation groups play an active role in communicating research projects and their findings to school leaders, staff, parents and other schools. They are effectively involved in decision making about the learning environment, how pupils learn best, health and hygiene, improving reading, school behaviour and the impact of breakfast on pupils concentration in class.

Impact on provision and learners’ standards

The school’s practice of distributed leadership has positively impacted on:

  • Consistently high standards, significantly above local and national standards
  • Consistency in planning, teaching and learning and assessment
  • A shared professional learning culture
  • A climate based on mutual respect, openness and trust

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Share this page

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Christchurch (C.I.W) Voluntary Aided Primary School serves the central area of Swansea. Of the 140 pupils on roll, 67% are live in areas of high social deprivation), 12% are entitled to free school meals, 22% speak English as an Additional Language and around 27% have Additional Learning Needs.

In Christchurch School we strive to meet the needs of all pupils and enable them to reach their full potential intellectually, socially, spiritually, emotionally and physically. With 27% of children identified as having Additional Learning Needs including emotional and social difficulties, we introduced an innovative approach to address the underlying influences that affect pupils’ behaviour and sometimes limit their ability to reach their potential.

Nature of strategy or activity identified as sector-leading practice

Music and Music Therapy are used to counteract two major barriers to learning: emotional turmoil and the associated inappropriate behaviour. Music is the medium through which the children are engaged. It is used to structure their social and emotional development and in turn, their progression. This process involves four main stages.

  1. Developing a relationship through improvisational music therapy.
  2. Talking about emotions and exploring difficulties.
  3. Starting to learn as a group through music.
  4. Performance.

Pupils receiving music therapy are identified by the class teacher in communication with the SENCo, a qualified music therapist and the headteacher. Sessions take place individually, in pairs or small groups depending on the needs of the child. The pupils find a safe place through the music to explore their feelings and to learn strategies for managing their own behaviour.

Pupils receiving music therapy also perform in the ‘Bell Group’. This group work helps pupils improve concentration, develop relationship skills and experience how rules are made in a group. In addition, it builds self-esteem and gives the opportunity for performance and achievement.

Impact on provision and learners’ standards

Pupils are assessed at the beginning of the therapy under four development headings; cognitive, emotional, social and musicality. After just six months of music therapy all pupils showed a significant inprovement from their baseline scores. This was evident in their day to day behaviour in school. We noted a heightened sense of justice, increased empathy for others and improved ability to trust others whilst allowing others to rely on them. In turn, we noted that their behaviour in the classroom was improved, with better concentration being the major benefit.

Pupils themselves feel that they have made progress and they look forward to the sessions.

Below are a few quotes from the pupils themselves.

‘It calms your brain down so you can think more’. – Year 6 pupil
‘The music pushes the worries out of my head and my head feels full of music’. – Year 5 pupil
‘It helps me to calm down, sometimes I feel upset about things and the sessions help me to deal with things’. – Year 6 pupil
‘We are better at working as a team’. – Year 5 pupil

Both research and practice have demonstrated music therapy to be an effective means of reducing the anxieties and associated behaviours that result from emotional turmoil. This has been evident in the progress made by the children at Christchurch who were identified as having social and emotional difficulties. We have seen improvements in the classroom and at play time and believe that targeting the root of the problem is a more effective and longer term solution than managing the symptoms with more traditional discipline.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Share this page

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Llanyrafon Primary School is situated in the town of Cwmbran in Torfaen and provides education for 370 pupils aged 4-11. The school is popular, with 64% of current pupils coming from out of its catchment area. The number on role has gradually increased over 5 years. Generally, pupils’ baseline scores on entry are good relative to LA averages. Approximately 5.4% of children are entitled to free school meals. Around 4% of children have English as an additional language and no children speak Welsh as their first language. Approximately 31% of children are identified as having additional learning needs

In addition to reacting to the call from commerce and industry for more Welsh entrepreneurs, the school identified the opportunity to develop the standard of children’s basic and key skills within a real and meaningful context.

The school adopted Business Enterprise as a vehicle for securing improvement in Literacy (particularly oracy and writing), Numeracy, Thinking Skills, ICT and developing aspects of personal and social education – in addition to improving pupils’ independent learning skills.

The development of Business Enterprise projects fully supports the school’s mission statement:

LEARNING FOR LIFE; COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE

Nature of strategy or activity identified as sector-leading practice

At Llanyrafon primary, business enterprise takes place in all year groups and provides opportunities for pupils to apply and develop their skills in real and meaningful contexts. Pupils are encouraged to work independently, choose who they wish to work with and contribute to the planning and assessment processes. Children are encouraged to present, debate and seek solutions to problems set within contexts that are real and challenging.

Pupils have the opportunity to participate in business enterprise several times during their time in this school which encourages pupils to build on their previous experiences, knowledge and successes. Over the last eight years, projects have enabled the school to develop very good links with the local community through visits from local businesses and entrepreneurs. The school is developing the literacy and numeracy framework across the curriculum but had previously embedded 3-19 skills so that all elements of the business enterprise project are skills driven. Staff plan collaboratively to ensure continuity and cohesion.

A clear objective has been to develop pupils’ writing and oracy skills. The real life context provides relevant and stimulating opportunities for staff to encourage pupils to write fluently as well as exposing them to the high level oracy skills of adults and children in formal and informal situations. Pupils of all abilities participate and have the opportunity to take a leading role. This greatly enhances their life skills and, and improves their confidence and well-being.

When undertaking business enterprise projects, pupils take complete ownership of the process. They:

  • handle budgets;
  • negotiate loans and interest rates with adults;
  • procure products;
  • use formal letter writing to apply for positions within a company;
  • use ICT in a real context to present business plans/e-mail companies;
  • work together to plan marketing strategies;
  • use creative skills to advertise and promote their product/s; and
  • participate in job interviews.

The project culminates with pupils inviting parents and the wider community to an afternoon where they sell their products. The last sales event in Summer 2013, generated £2,000 in one afternoon.

Pupils decide what to do with the profits. Examples of how profits are spent include: paying for the class to attend the cinema and purchasing items such as wet playtime games and outdoor furniture. This ensures pupils maintain a real sense of control and ownership.

Pupils display a great deal of enjoyment, focus and commitment when participating in business enterprise projects, which impacts extremely positively on their well-being.

Impact on provision and learners’ standards

Participation in business enterprise has had a significant impact on developing pupils’ well-being and their social and life skills.

Estyn judged pupils’ social and life skills as “outstanding”.

Through participation in successive projects, pupils display excellent standards of oracy. Estyn described pupils’ oracy skills at the end of KS 2 as “exceptional”.

Writing in a real context has supported pupils’ development with most children achieving at least 2 sublevels per year in writing. 2012/13 data shows 92% of Y6 made 2 sub levels of improvement; 45% made 3 or more sub levels of improvement; 9% made 4 sub levels.