Effective Practice Archives - Page 55 of 66 - Estyn

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context

Maes-Y-Coed Primary School is in Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taf.  There are 313 pupils on roll, including 56 who attend the nursery on a full-time basis.  There are 11 classes, four of which have pupils of mixed ages.  

Most pupils come from homes where English is the main language.  A very few pupils speak English as an additional language.  Around 18% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.  The school identifies that approximately 33% of its pupils have additional learning needs.

The headteacher, who was previously the deputy headteacher at the school, took up her post in October 2011. 

Strategy and action

The headteacher believes strongly in using external research, the outcomes of internal action based research and exploring good practice in other schools, both nationally and internationally, to inform the pedagogy in her school.  In recent years, senior leaders have visited many local schools to explore foundation phase provision.  They also visited schools in Denmark and Iceland to see how schools in Europe develop outdoor provision to encourage play.  Leaders are open to new ideas and follow up well on strategies they hear about when attending meetings and conferences with other professionals.  They visited a successful 13-18 high school in Yorkshire to learn about accumulated marginal gains and the principles that underpin the school’s teaching and learning philosophy.  They also recently attended an international conference to learn more about lesson study. 

Most teachers also take part in additional action research as part of their own professional development or as a member of a school improvement group.  Teachers have undertaken action research on a range of topics.  For example, topics include collaboration in the outdoors, developing the pedagogical principles of the foundation phase in key stage 2, using the creative and expressive arts and developing the use of continuous provision.  The school makes good use of the Leuven Involvement Scale to measure the impact of changes on pupils’ levels of involvement.  One large‑scale piece of action research combined the school’s work on developing the use of expressive arts, promoting outdoor learning and delivering the digital competency framework.  This project culminated in collapsing the school’s timetable for a fortnight. 

Leaders synthesise the findings from visits and research effectively, giving staff the main highlights to start discussions about what may be of benefit to their school.  Leaders and staff select carefully what they trial in the school.  They use the outcomes of their visits and research to inform, but not to determine decisions about their pedagogy and practice.

In 2016, after hearing a speaker at a national event explain the theory behind lesson study, the headteacher and a member of senior staff attended the international lesson study conference.  This led to a whole staff discussion about the principles behind lesson study.  Staff agreed to trial the approach in the academic year 2016‑2017.  Staff decided that each of five triads would consist of a higher level teaching assistant, a main scale teacher and a member of the senior leadership team.

The school started by formulating a policy that set out their approach to lesson study and joint professional development.  Staff agreed that lesson study would:

  • replace the school’s existing lesson monitoring system
  • remove the use of the existing session observation forms

This would mean that lessons or a series of lessons would not be graded.

Teachers and higher level teaching assistants agreed that triads would:

  • value all members equally regardless of their experience or status in the school
  • carry out research to improve teaching and learning in the agreed focus areas
  • focus on reflective analysis, professional dialogue and action research
  • use agreed planning, pupil interview and reflection tools to focus discussions
  • use video technology to aid analysis
  • accept all feedback constructively and build on discussions to improve understanding
  • share the aims and outcomes of lesson study with pupils

Each triad follows the same format.  Using data analysis and/or outcomes from monitoring, staff agree an area to improve, for example supporting borderline pupils to achieve an outcome 6 in writing at the end of the foundation phase.  Staff carry out their own research on the area before the first formal meeting.  The school provides cover for the full three days of triad activities for all staff involved.  In the first meeting staff:

  • discuss the research they have carried out
  • agree the focus for the first lesson
  • select three pupils who will be the focus of the joint observations
  • formulate questions to ask pupils prior to planning the lesson
  • meet selected pupils to pose the questions
  • discuss ideas for the lesson and agree learning intentions
  • make a list of questions to ask pupils at the end of the lesson
  • predict how the focus pupils will respond to different parts of the lesson

After these activities one member of the triad writes up the lesson plan, another creates the proformas and minutes of the day and the final member resources the lesson.

During the second day, one member of the triad teaches the lesson while the other two observe.  The lesson is recorded using video technology.  Although the focus is on the outcomes of the selected three pupils, noting as much as possible what pupils say and do, the group members make evaluative comments on all aspects of the learning and teaching. 

After the lesson, the group members meet the three focus pupils to ask the post lesson questions.  The triad members then work together for the rest of the day.  They discuss their initial reflections and watch the recording of the lesson to focus on key points and reactions of different pupils.  Staff write up their reflections in detail before sharing once again. 

A key to the success of this process is staff engaging in open and honest professional dialogue where they feel comfortable to challenge, make suggestions for improvement and hypothesise.  Prior to starting the lesson study project, the majority of staff had taken part in professional development activities that improved their coaching skills and helped them to see challenging comments as constructive suggestions rather than personal criticism.  Teachers state that they do not see challenge as a threat, as they feel it is challenge without judgement.

The triad members look carefully at the pupil responses to post lesson questions and compare how they thought pupils would respond to the lesson and how they actually responded.  They note any patterns or issues to explore further in the next lesson.  They use all the information gathered to decide what needs to be repeated or altered in the next lesson.  For example, in one session teacher reflection noted that two of the focus pupils did not use partner talk effectively to think about and discuss the teacher’s question.  This led to the suggestion that in subsequent lessons the teacher needed to walk around the partners to ensure the effectiveness of the strategy and to make sure that pupils understand what they should be discussing.  Triad members then plan and resource the next lesson jointly. 

Outcomes

Across the school, there is a greater emphasis on staff reflecting on and analysing their own practice and that of their peers.  Staff are more aware of their own strengths and areas for development in terms of improving their classroom practice and understanding the needs of the pupils in their classes.  Conversations in the staffroom now focus more on teaching and learning.  These conversations are solution focused with a willingness and confidence from staff to share any difficulties and to talk about what went well in lessons.  This helps staff to learn from each other.  Staff now place greater emphasis on what pupils can and cannot do.  They reflect on their teaching and make small changes that have a big effect on individual and groups of pupils.  For example, teachers now allocate roles in group work after analysis of video evidence showed that individuals were not contributing to group work.  The pupils not contributing were a surprise to staff as they were not the ones that staff would have predicted.

Leaders have invested heavily in developing the lesson study approach across the school by purchasing video equipment and allocating funding to release jointly every member of every triad for at least three days each academic year.  Lesson study is working for this school as all staff believe in the approach and are committed to making it a success.  This has led to consistently high levels of sharing pedagogy and resources and has improved the consistency and quality of teaching.

Next steps as identified by the school

The school will continue to use the lesson study approach and will monitor carefully its impact on pupil outcomes and the quality of teaching.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context

Rogerstone Primary School is in Newport.  There are 609 pupils between 3 and 11 years of age on roll, including 76 part-time nursery pupils.  The school has two learning resource bases with places for around 20 pupils from across the local authority.

Around 7% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.  Most pupils are of white British ethnicity and come from homes where English is the first language.  A very few have English as an additional language and only 1% of pupils speak Welsh at home.  The school identifies approximately 25% of its pupils as having additional learning needs.  A very few pupils are looked after by the local authority.

The headteacher was seconded from another school at the time of the inspection.  He became the substantive headteacher in September 2014.

Strategy and action

The school’s focus is always firmly on improving pupil progress and raising standards and wellbeing.  The aim is for all professional learning to have a purpose that links to a school priority and is clear to all staff.  Senior leaders encourage all staff to reflect on their practice and to take responsibility for improving teaching and learning in their classrooms.

As the school moved out of significant improvement, senior leaders had to work hard to improve professional trust throughout the school.  Now, the mutual respect and agreed understanding of high quality teaching that exists in the school is central to the school’s culture.  This ethos encourages teachers and support staff to develop very positive attitudes to their own professional learning.  Leaders, all of whom are effective teachers, model and share their own practice.  Teachers welcome and benefit from these opportunities.  The headteacher maintains that you cannot underestimate how important it is to know your staff and take them with you, particularly in challenging times.  An example of this is taking care to allocate tasks to the most appropriate people, taking into account their strengths and particular skills as well as their aspirations.

The school now uses a published framework to support all teacher observations.  There are three levels of classroom observations: formal lesson observations, informal ‘drop-in’ sessions, and collaborative, reflective observations between groups of three teachers.  All teachers take part in observations at one or more levels, depending on their role and the school’s focus at the time.  All senior leaders work together to quality assure the outcomes of classroom observations.  They personalise any follow-up to lesson observations so that they can address teachers’ individual developmental needs effectively.

When leaders carry out formal classroom observations, for example for performance management purposes, they consider all aspects of the published framework, always keeping pupil progress and standards as the main driver.  When senior leaders or subject co-ordinators carry out brief ‘drop-ins’, they focus on specific areas of the framework, relevant to school priorities or the needs of individual staff.  In a recent example, the mathematics co-ordinator looked at the pace of mathematical warm-up activities, and considered how successfully teachers pitched the session to meet the needs of different groups of pupils. 

To support teachers to work in triads, the school invested resources in video equipment and time for teachers to film themselves working.  Initially, teachers carried this out individually.  When teachers saw themselves teaching their own classes, many felt that this was a major turning point for them.  They could identify their own strengths and areas for development, without fear of criticism from others.  They had the time and space to reflect on their own teaching and the learning of the pupils in their classes.  Once teachers were comfortable with this practice, senior leaders organised teachers into phase coaching groups.  The groups planned a series of lessons together and then observed and filmed one another teaching.  After these observations, they reflected on a specific focus or on a general teaching point, using small extracts of the films as examples of good practice or to illustrate an area to improve.  This systematic approach meant that teachers became used to working in this way gradually.  It enabled them to discuss teaching more confidently and openly with supportive colleagues and develop a culture of genuine collaboration and self-evaluation.

A relatively new development is the use of pupils’ contributions to improve aspects of teaching.  A designated group of key stage 2 pupils observe teaching and learning alongside a member of staff.  They agree a focus and prepare a list of questions to ask pupils as they carry out a learning walk or a lesson observation.  The main focus for the group is to consider the experience of pupils, for example the usefulness of resources and displays and how well pupils engage in their learning.  However, this means that they also note aspects of teaching, such as teachers’ relationships with their pupils and look at how well teachers encourage their pupils to practise the skills they have learnt before.  Recently, for example, the pupil group carried out a learning walk through the school during early morning activities to see how well pupils were practising their spelling.

Leaders encourage teachers to be innovative in their approach to teaching and to place all learning into real-life contexts.  The school does not use a scheme for literacy and numeracy, but uses the literacy and numeracy framework as a spine for teachers’ planning.  This means that teachers have to be creative and flexible in their approach.  They design rich tasks to do this, focusing each term on a cross-school subject driver, such as geography, history, creative arts or science.  Teachers and pupils build their projects around this – they call it their ‘topic takeover’.  Each topic aims to cover a set of skills, but how they do this is up to the classes.

Outcomes

The school has moved forward considerably and is now has a good reputation within its community and across the local authority and consortium.  As a result of successful professional learning and the development of skilled leaders in the school, several teachers have moved on to senior posts in other schools.  Others have been appointed to the senior leadership team within the school, for example to become head of foundation phase and head of key stage 2.

The quality of teaching is a strong feature of the school.  Only a very few teachers currently receive support to improve and, because of the very clear and supportive framework and strategies the school uses, they are fully engaged in this process.  One of the key features of success noted by teaching staff at the school is the professional trust that has developed over the past few years between the head teacher, senior leaders and other staff.  Results of staff questionnaires say that a climate of trust and honesty exists in the school.  Staff feel valued.  They know their roles and responsibilities, they feel free to give honest feedback, and they are happy in their work.

Teachers say that the subtle changes that take place because of the school’s work to improve teaching are sometimes the most effective.  For example, after observing themselves at work, teachers began to think more carefully about how they used their support staff during lessons.  When discussing elements of particular lessons, teachers remind one another of elements of training they may have forgotten, or agreed strategies that might be missing.  Most importantly perhaps, teams of teachers build one another’s confidence by reflecting on what they do well, then sensitively, but honestly, talk candidly about what could be better.

Professional dialogue between staff is of a very high standard.  There is a culture of exploration as they embrace the purposes of Successful Futures (Donaldson, 2015) into their current curriculum and prepare for the challenges of a new curriculum.  Teachers and support staff embrace new ideas, are willing to try new approaches, and are confident that they have senior leaders’ support to do so.  For example, teachers felt that they were not doing enough to build on pupils’ oracy skills to engage them in learning.  To address this, one teacher set a group of disengaged, but able Year 3 boys the task of planning, writing, creating and filming a television magazine programme.  Senior leaders supported this approach by engaging specialist outside providers to help pupils to do the filming and recording and to work alongside teachers to develop their skills to make activities like this a sustainable feature of the school’s work.  Similarly, support staff know that senior leaders value their opinions and listen to requests for specific support.  For example, a recent survey of support staff revealed some gaps in their digital competency, so the ICT co-ordinators tailored sessions for support staff that met their needs precisely.

Pupils recognise that their voice matters in the work and life of the school.  They contribute effectively to school self-evaluation, collaborate with teachers to set their own targets and have opportunities to make suggestions about how and what they learn.

Next steps as identified by the school

The headteacher and deputy headteacher feel that the school has now reached a strong point in its improvement journey.  There are no current plans to introduce new strategies, but improvement planning focuses on consolidating and sharing the good practice that exists across the school to ensure consistency.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context

Sketty Primary School is in Swansea.  There are currently 472 pupils on roll from 3 to 11 years old, taught in 15 classes.  Of these, 54 attend part-time in the nursery.

Around 5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.  Many pupils are white British.  A few pupils speak English as an additional language and no pupil speaks Welsh at home.

The school identifies around 8% of its pupils as having additional learning needs.  A very few pupils have a statement of special educational needs.  Very few pupils are looked after by the local authority.

Since 2012, the school has had three different substantive headteachers as well as brief periods when an acting headteacher was responsible for the school’s leadership.  The school’s current headteacher took up the post in September 2017. 

Strategy and action

Following the core inspection of 2015, the school needed to work strategically to address all recommendations.  Leaders realised that the unsatisfactory judgement for teaching made this the key priority for improvement.  In particular, leaders were acutely aware of the need to address issues of inconsistency in the quality of teaching across the school.  These issues included ineffective planning in a minority of classes.  This meant that in too many instances, pupils did not build on their prior learning effectively because they were receiving lessons that did not contain activities with the right level of challenge.  There was also too much variability in the quality of feedback to pupils, which meant that they did not understand well enough how to improve their work.  Processes for ensuring the accuracy of teachers’ assessments were not rigorous.  Leaders set out a plan for improvement.

The school amended its staffing structure and redefined the responsibilities of leaders.  It made sure that these roles supported the school in achieving its strategic aims, which at this stage were the inspection recommendations.  For example, leaders became responsible for carrying out lesson observations, scrutinising pupils’ work and giving professional feedback to teachers under their direct line management.

Initially, senior leaders worked with members of staff who needed support as part of a buddy system.  This enabled colleagues to start to visit each other’s classrooms to share practice.  At this point, it was important for the school to develop a shared understanding of what good teaching looked like.  They began to use the regional consortium’s teaching toolkit.  Senior leaders worked in pairs to observe lessons.  This was helpful in supporting senior leaders to have professional dialogue about aspects of teaching practice and to arrive at agreed judgements about the quality of teaching.  This practice was also effective in laying the foundations for teachers to become reflective practitioners.

During the follow-up visit in May 2016, inspectors noted that, ‘School leaders have used regular, systematic monitoring of lessons, undertaken internally and by the regional consortium, to identify strengths and areas for development in the work of individual teachers.  They have used guidance and training from the local authority and regional consortium well to increase the range of teaching approaches and to develop the capacity of staff to reflect critically on their own teaching.’  However, for a few staff, the constant pressure of judgements and the very wide range of expectations within the teaching framework proved daunting.  They saw this more as an affirmation of what they were not good at doing.  More recently, leaders have acknowledged this, for example by using non-judgmental lesson observations that focus on identifying strengths and areas for improvement. 

To develop consistency of expectation and practice, senior leaders undertook shared book scrutiny work with their ‘buddies’.  This was helpful, for example in addressing inconsistencies in written feedback to pupils.  It enabled staff to evaluate whether they were working in accordance with the school’s policy.  Over time, the school has developed this practice further by using additional strategies, such as marking in different coloured pens to identify strengths and areas for improvement and by leaving a blank page alongside an initial draft for pupils to respond to marking.  The challenge presented by teachers’ marking and the target setting arrangements now helps pupils to make progress in line with their needs and stage of development.  Across the school, pupils understand and respond well to these systems. 

The school re-launched the use of other assessment for learning strategies that had faded over time.  These included regular opportunities for pupils to talk with partners, for example to discuss prior learning. 

At the same time as introducing the teaching framework, the school identified the need to visit high performing schools to observe effective practice.  Teachers went to schools for focused visits.  They worked on effective strategies to use assessment information to plan next steps for learning that meet pupils’ needs successfully.  They introduced this practice well in classes.  For example, when planning to teach pupils to write for different purposes, teachers use books from the previous year as a starting point.  This enables teachers and pupils to pick up from the appropriate starting point by identifying what they did well, for example in their last piece of recount writing and what they needed to improve upon next time.  Over time, teachers have taken this approach further by introducing a useful child-friendly target setting process to support continuity and progression in learning.  This practice gives pupils a voice in assessing their own work against specific criteria and in identifying how they can improve further.  All teachers now keep the impact of this work under review to continue to ensure consistency and to share practice, for instance in phase meetings where different departments meet to evaluate their work.

The school has developed a sound understanding of foundation phase pedagogy.  Staff implement this consistently in their daily work.  They ensure that in most sessions there is a suitable balance between child-initiated and adult-led activities.  Teachers make effective use of direct teaching strategies, for example, to teach early writing skills.  Staff now plan learning activities in areas of continuous provision well and generally enhance these areas appropriately with resources that capture pupils’ interests.  The school has developed useful resources to teach pupils in the outdoors.  Worthwhile training opportunities for support staff have strengthened their questioning skills and improved their capacity to intervene in and enhance pupils’ learning at appropriate points. 

The school has developed the capacity of staff to use specific schemes well, for example to teach pupils early reading skills and to develop pupils’ understanding of different genres of writing.  Initially, the school used these as a tool to support consistency.  However, it is beginning to make more discerning use of these resources.  For example, teachers are starting to use them when needed rather than as a ‘one size fits all’ approach.  

Outcomes

The school’s internal monitoring arrangements identify that, in combination, this work has improved the quality of teaching so that many lessons are good or better.  The school judges that now, there is no teaching of an unsatisfactory standard.

There is a shared understanding of what constitutes good teaching and staff respond well to high expectations.

Strategic decisions, such as staff working as buddies and the introduction of phase meetings, have supported the staff to develop a culture of reflection and sharing.

The school is building well on these foundations.  The new headteacher has developed a strong team ethos in a very short time.  Subtle strategies, such as the competition to produce a design for classroom doors, have helped generate a team ethos and healthy competition.  She has changed the staffing structure to increase leadership capacity, for instance by introducing teaching and learning responsibility posts.  She is empowering the senior leadership team and teachers to reflect on successes in improving teaching and to secure further improvements.  For example, she has introduced a new system of video observations sensitively in a supportive and non-threatening way.  Overall, staff are positive about this development.  They are keen to reflect on their own professional practice against a published teaching toolkit to identify strengths and areas for development.  There is a strong sense of ownership and optimism among leaders and teachers in relation to how the quality of teaching will improve further from this point.  

The school has already begun to use the recently published national professional standards for teaching and leadership.  It uses these appropriately to support wider curriculum reform, for instance to embed the 12 pedagogical principles from Successful Futures (Donaldson, 2015) in its work.  There are many instances of this, for example, the school collaborated with an external provider to improve foundation phase pedagogy.  This led to bespoke on-site coaching for staff.  Staff found this beneficial in developing their continuous and enhanced provision and in improving the skills of teaching assistants to use these areas with pupils.  For instance, during numeracy activities, teaching assistants were finding it difficult to develop pupils’ numeracy skills.  Through coaching and support, they have developed a ‘golden numeracy thread’ of the week, which builds on skills that pupils have developed the previous week in direct teaching activities.  Leaders have worked collaboratively with community partners to plan learning experiences in authentic contexts such as a project to make, market and sell soap.  These opportunities combine many areas of learning effectively and challenge pupils at the right level.  The introduction of the Dw i’n meddwl bod (I think that) has helped develop pupils Welsh and English language skills.  It has also deepened pupils’ capacity to think and articulate their feelings about issues and to develop creative skills, for example by responding to a challenge to develop a new chocolate bar for Willy Wonka and to describe the powers it may hold. 

Next steps as identified by the school

  • Develop the culture of reflective practice further through the use of video technology
  • Strengthen the capacity of senior leaders as observers of teaching so that they can provide the right support to individual teachers with different professional needs to help them improve
  • Build on the initial use of the professional standards for teaching and leadership to support improved teaching pedagogy and to enable effective curriculum reform
  • Improve provision to develop pupils’ digital skills

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context

King Henry Vlll Comprehensive School is a mixed 11-19 school in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire with 950 pupils on roll, 155 of which are in sixth form.  Around 11% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.  The school identifies that around 27% of pupils have additional learning needs.  Most pupils come from a white British background, and 1% of pupils speak Welsh at home.

The headteacher took up her post in September 2014, just a few months before the Estyn inspection and after a period of instability in the school at senior leadership level.  Although the inspection team did not leave a specific recommendation on teaching, it was clear to the headteacher that the school would not make progress against its recommendations without a clear focus on improving the quality of teaching.   

The school is currently a pioneer school and is working with the Welsh Government and other schools to take forward developments relating to the curriculum and other professional learning.

Strategy and action

On her first day at the school, the new headteacher communicated to all staff her vision for the school as one in which every pupil received the best possible education available, regardless of their background or gender.  To achieve this, she was clear that teaching and learning needed to be at the heart of everything the school did.  Improving teaching required a resolute focus on developing the capacity of leaders across the school to establish robust self-evaluation processes that linked well to improvement planning and informed a meaningful programme of effective professional learning for staff.

The headteacher also shared the draft school improvement plan with staff on that day, which identified a number of priorities to improve the quality of teaching in the school.  These included:

  • establishing a whole-school teaching and learning structure to share and develop best practice
  • establishing consistent approaches to formative assessment across the school
  • ensuring that all lessons provided appropriate challenge for pupils
  • establishing networks of professional practice with a clear focus on improving pupil outcomes and reducing in-school variation

The school undertook a number of actions immediately to address these priorities.  For example, leaders established networks of professional practice to address aspects of practice that they had identified as areas for development in the school’s previous round of teaching and learning observations.  In the first year, all teaching staff participated in networks of professional practice that focused on literacy, numeracy, group and pair work, effective questioning, self and peer assessment, marking, assessment and feedback, or planning for differentiation and challenge.  As part of this work, the school introduced teaching and learning briefings to enable the dissemination of the most effective strategies researched by members during the year.

The school also undertook a systematic review of its key policies to support the development of consistent practice across the school.  For example, the marking, assessment and feedback network reviewed the school’s assessment policy.  Senior and middle leaders worked together to construct the school’s teaching and learning policy.  Out of these discussions, the school’s key strategy to identify and develop good practice in teaching and learning across the school took shape, namely the development of a whole-school peer review programme.

The school introduced the first cycle of the whole-school peer review programme between September 2015 and June 2017.  It has proved effective in improving the quality of self-evaluation at the school, raising the quality of teaching and driving sustained improvements in pupil outcomes.

The peer review programme aims to evaluate standards of teaching and learning across the school through a focus on the experience of a small group of selected pupils.  Each peer review focuses on a sample of six pupils across the ability range from a particular year group.  A further peer review samples a group of pupils with additional learning needs from across the school. 

For each peer review, senior and middle leaders work together to evaluate the progress these pupils make based on evidence from a wide range of relevant sources.  This includes a robust analysis of progress data, interviews with pupils, auditing schemes of learning,  scrutiny of pupils’ work and lesson observations.  This joint working has enabled senior leaders to challenge and support middle leaders’ evaluation of the quality of provision and standards achieved by pupils much more effectively.  Over time, it has led to the development of much greater consistency in the work of senior and middle leaders across the school.

Senior leaders collate the outcomes from each peer review and share them with staff and governors.  The peer review report provides a detailed evaluation of the strengths and areas for development in terms of pupils’ progress and standards in each year group.  Crucially, it also provides an analysis of how effectively teaching is supporting pupils’ progress and how consistently teachers are addressing whole‑school areas for development in their teaching.  For example, in the first cycle, this included information about how well teachers had provided opportunities for pupils to develop their literacy and numeracy skills or on the quality of assessment and feedback.

At the end of each year, senior leaders summarise evidence from all peer reviews in a final annual report, giving comprehensive information based on the observations of all staff and the experience of more than 13% of pupils across the school.  As a result, leaders have rich information about the strengths and areas of development in teaching to inform the planning of professional learning activities.  A further level of analysis is available for leaders of subject areas, enabling them to evaluate the performance of their own department against benchmarks for the whole school and to plan priorities for development within their own department.

Leaders use the information provided by the peer review programme effectively to plan purposeful professional learning opportunities for staff.  As well as ensuring that these address whole-school training needs, the school uses the information from peer reviews to ensure they meet the individual needs of teachers at different stages of their careers.  This includes coaching and mentoring for teachers who need to improve aspects of their practice, as well as facilitating opportunities for staff to improve skills relevant to the specialism they teach.  A few teachers benefit from valuable opportunities to acquire higher-level qualifications in educational practice or leadership and management.  In addition, the school’s role as a pioneer school for the curriculum since January 2017 has ensured that teachers have increasing opportunities to develop their knowledge through their involvement in wider networks of professional practice.

A key feature of the school’s approach to professional learning has been ensuring that staff have had suitable opportunities to work collaboratively across departments at all stages of the school’s improvement journey.  Leaders plan professional learning days well to enable teachers to lead or participate in professional learning communities, and to work together on whole-school work scrutiny activities.  This has ensured valuable opportunities for staff across departments to work together, share best practice and reflect on subject-based approaches, as well as helping to build capacity for leadership through the school.

Outcomes

The school’s peer review programme has enabled the school to strengthen significantly the skills and capacity of middle leaders through their involvement in a comprehensive range of self-evaluation activities that focus clearly on the relationship between effective teaching and pupil progress.  It has provided school leaders with a clear sense of the school’s strengths and areas for development, and allowed them to plan professional learning activities to address these.

In June 2016, the school was judged to have made sufficient progress against its recommendations and was removed from the category of schools in need of significant improvement.  The inspection team noted in its report that the school has developed regular and systematic monitoring of teaching and assessment through focused book scrutiny and lesson observations.

It also noted that the school has implemented a comprehensive range of strategies to support the development of leaders.  This includes targeted coaching and mentoring for individual leaders, and planned involvement in the school’s professional learning communities.  The improvements in the quality of leadership and management have contributed to suitable progress in most performance indicators at key stage 3 and key stage 4, and in improving provision for developing pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills.

Since the core inspection, pupils’ performance has improved considerably in comparison with similar schools.  In 2017, performance in most indicators at key stage 4 placed the school in the upper half of similar schools based on pupils’ eligibility for free school meals (Welsh Government, 2017c).

Next steps as identified by the school

As the school plans the next steps in its improvement journey, staff have also played a key role in reviewing the first round of the peer review programme and recommending changes to its focus and remit.  For example, the second cycle of the programme will no longer consider year groups in isolation from each other, but look at two year groups together to focus on transition and progression between year groups and key stages.  In addition, lesson observations will no longer give individual judgements for lessons or teachers, but will focus on the impact of teaching on learning to inform more precisely, the school’s strategic planning to improve both these areas.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context

Tonypandy Community College is a mixed 11 to 19 community school serving the town of Tonypandy and its surrounding area in Rhondda Cynon Taf.  There are 619 pupils on roll, of which around 90 are in the sixth form.  Since the last inspection, the overall number of pupils in the school has fallen by around 200 pupils.  This is largely because the sixth form is being phased out as part of the local authority reorganisation.  Tonypandy Community College is due to close and a new 3-16 school will replace it on the current site in September 2018.

Many of the school’s pupils come from the nearby villages of Cwmclydach, Llwynypia and Penygraig.  Around 28% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.  Most pupils come from a white British background, and a very few pupils speak Welsh at home.

The school identifies that around 21% of pupils have additional learning needs.

At the time of this thematic visit, an acting headteacher and acting deputy headteacher, both of whom were members of the school’s senior leadership team during the core inspection, lead the school. 

Strategy and action

Senior leaders in Tonypandy Community College consider that their improvement journey began shortly after Estyn placed the college in special measures.  After the inspection, school leaders reviewed their self-evaluation activities and judgements.  They reached a clearer understanding of strengths and areas for development across the college, which allowed them to set more sharply focused priorities for action.  One of the most urgent priorities was to improve teaching across the college, and, in particular, to make more explicit the link between the quality of teaching and pupil outcomes.

The post inspection action plan prioritised teaching and learning, with a particular focus on a few key aspects such as questioning, setting objectives and success criteria.

In addition, leaders recognised that staff wellbeing was key to creating a culture in which to improve.  They ensured that all staff had the training to underpin the improvements expected, and that they knew how to access additional support and guidance.  For example, many staff took part in personal development activities, such as attending mindfulness courses.

To improve communication and distribute leadership more effectively senior leaders clarified and refined their own and middle leaders’ roles and responsibilities.  Over time, faculty leaders took more of a role in monitoring and evaluating the impact of the work, as well as supporting their colleagues.

Leaders reviewed the teaching and learning policy and staff handbook to ensure that their expectations around classroom practice were clear.  They also produced a toolkit that outlined these expectations in detail, and gave guidelines on how to apply a range of teaching and assessment strategies.  A few staff took part in a consortium led teaching programme.  However, the college soon decided that it was gaining more from focusing on a few clearly articulated expectations for all teachers rather than having staff attend external events.

Leaders built up a clearer picture of strengths and areas for development across the college through more robust and accurate observations.  This enabled them to arrange more relevant and, in some cases, bespoke professional learning activities.

One of the activities that the college considers to have had most impact is the use of video technology.  This enabled individual teachers to consider and reflect on their own practice, and to have an opportunity to share and discuss their teaching with other colleagues.  Each faculty had a trained ‘champion’ to support this activity, and to date most teachers have used the technology to reflect on their own practice.  In a few cases, the senior leader with responsibility for teaching and learning used the facility very beneficially to provide direct coaching through an earpiece.  All teachers that took part in the direct coaching activities improved aspects of their practice rapidly and have sustained these improvements.

Along with visits to other schools, and opportunities to observe each other, the culture in the college has become more collaborative.  Teachers talk about an open door policy and value the learning culture that is now more prevalent.

In preparation for the move to a 3-16 school, the cluster has worked more closely together.  Collaborative curriculum planning has been a rich opportunity for teachers to share practice in how teachers can best support pupil progress and to agree how best to develop pupils’ knowledge and skills.  Teachers are enthusiastic about these professional learning experiences as they have encouraged and supported cross phase work.

Outcomes

Nearly all staff participate in and engage well in the professional learning opportunities offered.  Teachers are enthusiastic about the opportunities they have to innovate and develop their skills.  Many now feel more able and confident to take risks and try new techniques.

Most pupils feel that teaching has improved.  They know what to expect in lessons and feel they are more involved in their learning.  They feel listened to through pupil forums, and think that the college responds to their feedback.

The college’s greater emphasis on good classroom practice has led to improvements in teaching and pupil outcomes.  For example, in 2017, around 45% of Year 11 pupils achieved the level 2 threshold including English and mathematics.  This is around a 15 percentage point increase on the results at the time the core inspection (Welsh Government, 2017c).

Next steps as identified by the college

As the college is preparing for closure, it will continue to work on its existing priorities prior to becoming part of the new 3-16 school.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context and background to sector-leading practice

Meal times at the setting used to be a time to dread.  All lunches were plated up in advance, which meant that children could not choose what they wanted to eat.  The plates, cups and cutlery were plastic.  There was not much time for children to eat their food and their behaviour was difficult to manage.  As a result, levels of wellbeing for the children and the practitioners were low. 

The nursery proprietor recognised that improvement was essential.  Leaders understood that there was a lot of potential for children to learn through hands-on experiences at lunchtime and they decided to make the most of these opportunities.  Initially, the setting arranged a trial with a small group of children.  Practitioners involved the children in the whole mealtime experience, letting them set the tables, serve the food and help clean the dining room after everyone had finished.  This made lunchtimes a happier and more positive and productive time for children and setting staff.  This practice has become embedded in the setting’s work over the past 10 years.

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

Following the successful trial, the proprietor developed the lunchtime provision further.  The setting invested in china plates and metal cutlery, tablecloths, vases for flowers, child-sized serving dishes, and cups and saucers.  The children had to learn to treat the resources carefully so that they did not break them or come to any harm using them.  Taking on these real responsibilities helped improve children’s behaviour and their self-esteem.

When children are old enough to move into the pre-school, practitioners introduce them to the lunchtime routine gradually.  They model different skills carefully, such as how to serve food from a dish onto a plate, and how to use a knife and fork effectively.  This means that children understand exactly what they are expected to do.  As children become more proficient at handling the crockery and cutlery, practitioners encourage them to become increasingly independent.  All children are given small tasks to carry out.  For example, they make sure that there are enough plates on the table and choose the flowers for the table centre.  This involves everyone meaningfully and gives children a strong sense of achievement and belonging.  Practitioners eat alongside the children.  This provides perfect opportunities to encourage children to develop their conversational skills and try different food textures and tastes as they sit around the table with their friends.

Practitioners plan effectively for children to practise and embed the skills they learn at lunchtimes during their free play.  For example, they provide opportunities for children to use china plates, pour drinks and wash up in the role-play area.

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

Nearly all children are extremely independent at meal times.  They co-operate very well with one another and develop strong social skills.  For example, they share clearing up tasks and make sure that these are completed to a high standard.  Children develop a strong sense of fairness when they share out food, and understand that everyone should have a sensible portion size.  They develop their physical control effectively when they manage challenges such as pouring suitable amounts of gravy with care.

Nearly all children transfer these skills successfully to other areas of provision throughout the nursery session.  They are confident and independent, maintain interest in activities and stay on task for sustained periods. 

Parents provide positive feedback, regularly saying that their children behave well at mealtimes at home and when eating out. 

How have you shared your good practice?

The setting hosts ‘practice worth sharing’ sessions for settings across the consortia to see how the lunchtime routine works.  Leaders share their good practice through presentations at foundation phase leader network meetings. 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context and background to sector-leading practice

The school ethos is based on the wellbeing of all learners and staff.  The school vision, ‘Achieve, Care, Enrich’ (ACE), is evident throughout the school.  To ensure effective support for vulnerable learners, the school employs a range of strategies specifically designed to meet the characteristic needs of disadvantaged learners.  A key part of the school’s strategy to reduce the barriers to learning and to improve outcomes for all learners is to:

  • ensure that there is a close match of support to the needs of individual learners

  • use the established tracking systems to monitor the progress of disadvantaged learners rigorously

  • identify and support particularly disadvantaged learners that may not be eligible for free school meals

  • prioritise the tackling of poverty and planning strategically to raise the performance of disadvantaged learners

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

Staff have devised a tracking system to monitor vulnerable learners across the school.  Teachers assess learners’ wellbeing, attendance, expected academic ability, behaviour and exposure to extra‑curricular activities.  Pupils are given a score that highlights their level of vulnerability.  Tracking sheets are completed in the Autumn term and re-evaluated and assessed for impact at the end of the Spring term.  This enables interventions and support systems to have maximum effect across the school.

The information collected is linked to academic tracking systems, and is used by all staff to inform teaching, learning and support that is appropriately tailored to the needs of individual learners.

In key stage 2, groups are selected based on scores from the tracking information, which ensures that there is sufficient support for learners’ social and emotional needs, as well as their confidence, motivation and self-esteem.  These groups focus on practical activities such as art, craft and outdoor activities.  In addition, an extra-curricular club provides pupils with extra support.  This programme targets out-of-school-hours learning, providing opportunities specifically to promote independence and deliver experiences that pupils might not normally have the chance to participate in outside of school.

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

Learners who are eligible for free school meals achieve well in Penllwyn Primary School.  Over time, pupils have achieved better results than those in similar schools.  The support and intervention for pupils eligible for free school meals have good impact on many pupils’ progress, from a low starting point.  The ‘Vulnerable Pupil’ progress tracker demonstrates that 78% of foundation phase pupils and 74% of key stage 2 pupils sustained or made good progress in relation to the indicators.  The performance gap between pupils eligible for free school meals and those who are not has narrowed notably.  Leaders provide a strategic and rigorous approach to monitoring progress, and this contributes well to most pupils making very good progress during the year. 

How have you shared your good practice?

The local cluster of schools works together effectively to ensure smooth transition for learners.  Information about learners’ wellbeing and levels of participation, as well as levels of attainment, is shared with the secondary school at the end of key stage 2.  Staff from both schools meet to discuss individual needs.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context

Ysgol Y Faenol is in the village of Bodelwyddan, about four miles east of Abergele.

Currently, 150 pupils attend the school, including 20 part-time nursery pupils.  The school is organised into five mixed age classes.  Very few pupils speak Welsh as their first language and a few receive support for English as an additional language. A few pupils come from an ethnic minority community.

A minority of pupils are eligible for free school meals.  The school has identified a minority of pupils as having additional learning needs and a very few have a statement of additional learning needs.

Stage 1:  Evaluating the current curriculum within wider self-evaluation arrangements

The school responded to the Welsh Government’s consultation on the proposed new curriculum by arranging a series of workshops for staff and governors.  These workshops focused primarily on what they wanted from a new curriculum.  School leaders addressed the desire to develop a more innovative and creative approach to pedagogy.  All contributors were enthusiastic and keen to embark on their curriculum development journey, one that would enable pupils to develop skills confidently in all aspects of school life.  They discussed the recommendations in Successful Futures, (Donaldson, 2015), and agreed that, for any changes in their curriculum, leaders needed to:

  • consider the extent to which staff already support children to develop the attitudes and dispositions set out in the four purposes
  • consider what staff do within the context of the national curriculum to strengthen practice and pedagogy

Leaders responded to this by evaluating the school’s current provision.  The school’s inspection report noted that, “the school meets the needs of the pupils well through a wide range of stimulating and innovative learning experiences.”  As a result of this judgement, the staff’s response to Successful Futures, (Donaldson, 2015), was one of apprehension and uncertainty.  They felt that they did not need to change the way they worked and were afraid of taking risks at the expense of diluting a well‑established and effective curriculum.  In light of this, the headteacher conducted a series of  discussion sessions that focused on understanding each of the four purposes.  Each meeting enabled the staff to identify current good practice and aspects that they did not want to change, as well as elements of the four purposes that needed to be developed and included in their planning.

Feedback from teachers and teaching assistants and evidence gathered from monitoring data, scrutiny of work, lesson observations and stakeholder feedback informed their evaluation and gave staff an overview of what was already working well.  However, they realised very quickly that, although they initially thought that there was little need for change, they recognised the need for radical reform to embed Donaldson’s four purposes.  The evaluation enthused staff.  They were excited about the prospect of having more ownership over the curriculum.  Leaders allowed teachers time to think.  They gave staff the freedom to focus confidently on projects and initiatives that would give extensive and creative opportunities to develop their pupils as ambitious, capable and creative learners.  They focused on the pupils, not on curriculum content.

Stage 2:  Planning and preparing for change

Following the discussion sessions , leaders incorporated areas for development into the school development plan.  These areas included developing:  

  • oracy projects, including ‘Noisy Classrooms’ and ‘Talk for Writing’
  • strengthening pupil voice
  • immersion homework
  • collaborative learning projects
  • resilience and mental health interventions

As these priorities were included in the school’s development plan, this enabled leaders to allocate resources appropriately.  Staff piloted the new Professional Teaching Standards, which enabled teachers to develop their practice and extend their experiences.  For example, teachers took responsibility for developing a strand focusing on specific aspects such as collaboration, professional learning and leadership.  Staff did not have specific support from any outside agencies, but worked collaboratively within a successful network of primary schools.

Leaders worked hard to develop a whole school growth mind-set culture, which ensures that staff are in a positive position for moving forward and preparing for curriculum change.  Staff and pupils have developed an approach to learning that encourages them to take on challenges, learn from mistakes, persevere and take measured risks.  Having such an ethos allows pupils to react positively and enthusiastically to the changes.

The main focus points that are currently being developed at the school following the publication of Successful Futures, (Donaldson, 2015), are:

Developing meaningful school-to-school collaboration

Sharing good practice and ideas for curriculum development amongst peers has been invaluable.  This allows staff to broaden their understanding of what constitutes an innovative curriculum.  They are aware that not all pupils respond to the same teaching styles and that teachers need to remind themselves of this.  They work successfully on relationship building between themselves and the pupils.

Developing staff’s professional learning

Teachers are encouraged to lead projects that involve research and evaluation, sharing good practice, collaboration with colleagues, and working within other settings.  As a result, staff develop effective pedagogy through maintaining an enthusiasm for teaching.  Nearly all have a deep understanding of the learning process and are committed to their own learning journey and are not afraid of taking measured risks.

Greater emphasis on developing oracy skills and pupil voice

When teachers and support staff considered atrategies to develop the four purposes, they felt strongly that good oral communication skills were a key feature of developing ambitious, capable learners and healthy, confident individuals.  They focused on developing pupils’ oracy skills through specific projects such as Noisy Classrooms, Talk for Writing, Collaborative Learning and through further developing the pupil voice.

When planning for curriculum development, the school’s evaluation highlighted one important barrier that might inhibit their ability to develop ambitious and capable learners.  Analysis of the school’s assessment data showed that the majority of boys’ speaking and listening skills were not as high as the girls’.  Staff reflected on this information and the implications for planning activities to develop confident individuals, capable of leading fulfilling lives as valued members of society.  Leaders were keen to address this issue as they felt that it was key to successfully implementing the four purposes.

The local authority’s behaviour support officers provided guidance for staff on meeting the needs of individuals who had difficulty responding to conflict.  Working in partnership with Flint High School, staff developed debating activities through their ‘Noisy Classroom’ initiative.  These activities focus on engaging disaffected boys as well as more able pupils who are not confident or successful speakers.  Regular debates actively encourage ‘talking’ and offer worthwhile opportunities for pupils to disagree and fall out with each other.  The emphasis is always on allowing others to speak and remaining calm when their peers disagree with them.  It is still too early to evaluate the outcomes of this initiative, but the headteacher is confident that boys’ ability to articulate themselves clearly and respectfully in a non-aggressive manner has improved considerably.  This has enabled the staff to plan purposeful and ambitious activities without fearing that low level disruption could have a negative effect on learning.

Teachers involve pupils in planning and believe that the flexibility of the new curriculum allows them to impact upon their own learning in a more meaningful way.  For example, at the beginning of a new topic, teachers read a novel to the pupils.  When reading the story, they may pause at key points in the text, highlighting that there is a ‘problem’.  The teachers summarise the problem and ask pupils to discuss possible solutions with a partner.  Pupils share their ideas with the whole class and teachers use these ideas to identify future learning opportunities. 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context

Cwmfelinfach Primary School is in the village of Cwmfelinfach near Caerphilly and has 210 pupils on roll. 

There are seven single-age classes, including a part-time nursery.  The school identifies a few pupils as having additional learning needs.  A few pupils are eligible for free school meals.  A very few pupils come from ethnic minority or mixed backgrounds and none speak Welsh at home.

Stage 1:  Evaluating the current curriculum within wider self-evaluation arrangements – developing an enriched curriculum

The school began its curriculum review by carrying out an audit of staff expertise to identify if teachers had the necessary skills to deliver activities to engage the pupils more successfully.  This helped leaders to identify relevant and worthwhile professional development training.

Following the introduction of the literacy and numeracy framework (LNF), staff were keen to adapt curriculum provision to focus more clearly on the development of pupils’ skills across the curriculum.  Staff reviewed each activity to link with LNF statements and planned each session to ensure that they covered skills at a suitable level for all pupils in that group.  In the first year, planning involved seven members of staff delivering a range of activities, including German, cookery, art and knitting.  As these activities developed, the school used them as an opportunity to increase pupils’ involvement with their local community.  For example, a local forest warden ran forest school activities for the pupils and members of the Cwmfelinfach Allotment Society worked with pupils to develop their own allotments.  The school organised pupils into mixed groups of pupils from Year 3 to Year 6, and arranged for the sessions to run on a six-week timetable for 90 minutes. 

Stage 2:  Planning and preparing for change

 
Planning for community engagement

Following the evaluation of the curriculum, senior leaders ensure that the school collaborates more effectively with pupils, parents and the wider community to implement changes to its provision.  Staff view curriculum development as an ongoing process rather than a single event.  Staff meetings focus clearly on continually reviewing and modifying provision to ensure the best outcomes for pupils.  Rigorous, evidence-based, self-evaluation procedures support this process.  The school works collaboratively with a nearby school, other schools in the cluster and across the consortium to observe and share good practice, to create an imaginative and engaging curriculum that places the community at the heart of pupils’ learning.

Preparing to implement the Digital Competence Framework

As a result of its self-evaluation work, the school has recognised a need to update the planning and provision for the development of pupils’ ICT skills.  The school’s ICT co-ordinator works closely with staff to ensure consistency of approach and continuity and progression in the development of pupils’ ICT skills.  Governors have also deployed an existing member of staff to teach specific ICT skills during teachers’ planning, preparation and assessment time.  This member of staff works alongside classroom teachers to ensure that they have the ability to develop pupils’ ICT skills in all areas of the curriculum.  In addition, pupils acting as ‘digital leaders’ support their peers in the transfer of skills from ICT sessions to cross curricular work.

In addition, the ICT co-ordinator works with staff and pupils to develop a vision for developing pupils’ digital skills across the curriculum.  As staff become familiar with the requirements of the Digital Competence Framework, they employ a wider range of strategies to raise pupils’ awareness and integrate its requirements into lessons.  Teachers integrate learning objectives from the Framework in their planning and share these with pupils.  Staff work with pupils to create displays in communal areas that celebrate pupils’ ICT work.  The school has revised its enriched curriculum sessions to include the development of pupils’ digital skills.  For example, pupils develop their understanding of coding with simple programmable toys and robotic arms, and they use gaming consoles to create buildings in virtual worlds.

The school places a strong emphasis on developing pupils’ awareness of themselves as digital citizens.  Pupils use their knowledge to support peers to be safe users of the internet and electronic communication.  Pupils use an online system to share and celebrate their work with parents and they collaborate with schools across the world through the internet.

Pupils carry out an audit of their own ICT skills in the autumn term and assess themselves as the year progresses to track their progress.  Teachers collate evidence of pupils’ use of ICT skills across the curriculum in class folders that demonstrate coverage and progression.  The school has developed a spreadsheet to track the development of pupils’ skills against the requirements of the Digital Competence Framework.  This helps staff to plan effective lessons to consolidate and practise pupils’ digital skills. 

The ICT co-ordinator has created a clear monitoring, evaluation and review cycle.  She listens to learners to understand pupils’ attitudes towards their digital learning and evaluate their individual skills.  The school places a strong emphasis on pupil voice through its ‘learning spy’ groups.  This involves pupils carrying out learning walks and monitoring books with a specific focus on pupils’ ICT skills.  Monitoring outcomes are shared with senior leaders, staff and governors through regular impact reports.  These inform school improvement actions and changes to provision.

 
 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Context

Bryn Deva County Primary School is in Connah’s Quay in Flintshire.  The school has 290 pupils on roll, including 35 who attend the nursery on a part-time basis. 

Many pupils are of white British ethnicity.  A few pupils are from a minority ethnic background.  A few pupils speak English as an additional language.  Very few pupils come from Welsh speaking families.  The school has identified a minority of pupils as having additional learning needs.  A very few pupils have a statement of additional learning needs.  A minority of pupils are eligible for free school meals. 

Stage 1:  Evaluating the current curriculum within wider self-evaluation arrangements

Developing a vision for curriculum change

In September 2015, the school revisited its vision and core values to place improving standards and practice at the heart of its work.  This followed a period of visiting schools both locally and further afield in Wales to view best practice.  Throughout this time, the school took every opportunity to consider the implications of Successful Futures, (Donaldson, 2015), to inform its vision for children and subsequent curriculum developments, for example whole staff training events and updates for governors.  This ensured that they understood how the new vision and developments corresponded to the direction set out in Professor Donaldson’s report. 

Stage 2:  Planning and preparing for change

The school focuses on developing good practice through establishing internal reflective practice projects.  All staff, governors and pupils contribute to the process of developing core values.  In order to gather the views of parents, leaders used a digital ‘app’, which led to good response levels from parents.  The outcome of this work was to establish a new vision statement to ‘Be the best version of us that we can be’. 

The starting point for achieving this vision was to refine the school’s provision to make pupils’ wellbeing the number one priority.  The school’s rationale for this is that, without effective provision for wellbeing, pupils will not develop their skills and competencies in other areas of learning.  When planning and preparing for change, leaders identified the following key principles:

  • Changes to the curriculum arise from needs identified through self-evaluation activities, aimed at improving pupils’ outcomes
  • Health and wellbeing are at the heart of the curriculum and pedagogy
  • Curriculum planning must be flexible to respond to changing needs of individuals and groups of pupils
  • Pupils have an active role in planning how and what they learn
  • Learning experiences are creative and broad, and cover the range of the current national curriculum
  • Learning experiences focus on developing pupils’ literacy, numeracy and ICT skills in engaging and relevant contexts
  • The school’s curriculum enables the school to connect with and enhance its reputation and standing in the local community
  • All staff contribute to leading initiatives and there are effective arrangements to develop leaders and staff at all levels
  • There are strong systems to review developments and a culture of reflective practice
  • Staff take proportionate risks in planning; for example, they do not always know exactly where learning activities might lead

Stage 3: Realising change

The school usually realises change through a mixture of whole-school initiatives and group projects that focus specifically on the needs of the three age stages at the school.  All initiatives and projects link to the school’s core values and have a direct impact on priorities from the school improvement plan.  Importantly, whether it is a whole school initiative or a phase improvement strategy, planning, preparation, implementation and evaluation follow a common format. 

Step 1:  Identify the issue and specific targets for improvement

  • This arises from self-evaluation activity.

Step 2:  Identify leaders and specific actions

  • The school uses phase leaders or individuals with specific skills to lead projects and to identify the actions required to deliver success.

Step 3:  Implementation

  • Staff implement the strategy in a supportive climate.

Step 4:  Evaluate the impact

  • At the end of a pre-identified period, leaders, including governors, reflect on the impact a project has had on securing improvements for pupils.

Whole school curriculum developments that support the four purposes

The school implements many strategies for improving pupils’ wellbeing effectively.  These include a bespoke nurture class and a class for pupils with additional learning needs, and highly effective partnership working arrangements with families, specialist agencies and wrap-around care providers.  The school also works with a cluster of local schools to share good practice in supporting children and parents.  Leaders track the progress of pupils and parents involved in these programmes and strategies.  They use this information carefully to tailor provision to meet individual needs and to identify which programs are the most effective.  These are fundamental in supporting all pupils to access learning experiences successfully.  When combined with an innovative curriculum, they are highly effective in engaging and sustaining pupils’ interests in learning, developing pupils’ skills and enabling pupils to make very strong progress from their individual starting points.  This aspect of the school’s provision contributes very well to developing high levels of self-esteem and confidence amongst many pupils.

Whole school curriculum organisation and provision for skills

Each phase leader works with teams of staff to develop the curriculum.  They do not use published curriculum models.  Instead, they select themes according to the needs and interests of pupils at the school.  Staff plan a two-year cycle of topics.  Each topic starts with ‘immersion’ events such as an educational visit, visitors to the school or other specially planned events.  These days secure pupils’ interests and provide them with the chance to direct their own learning by identifying what they would like to learn through mind maps.  This process is effective in securing high levels of enthusiasm and engagement.  It also ensures that the school’s developing curriculum places a high priority on incorporating the three cross-curricular strands identified within Successful Futures, (Donaldson, 2015).

Innovation through teamwork – Boatbuilding on the River Dee

Leaders identify specific aspects of provision that need to improve.  This leads them to implement projects that feature prominently in the school’s improvement plan.  They also support the school to strengthen its leadership capacity.  A variety of staff from all levels lead the projects.  Through staff meetings, project leaders give feedback to colleagues participating the projects, and identify potential barriers and solutions to these issues.  One example took the pupils out on the River Dee.

The boat building project aimed to improve upper key stage 2 boys’ literacy through creativity.  As part of the lead creative schools initiative, pupils worked with the local watermen’s association to build a ship in the form of a dragon and sail it on the River Dee.  As part of this project, teachers undertook training to support them to assess pupils’ creative skills and apply creative approaches to teaching.  They used this training well to plan a rich range of activities.  This gave pupils’ learning a tangible context that meant a great deal to them, and this led to very high levels of engagement and enthusiasm.  The project provided real inspiration for pupils’ reading and creative writing and enhanced pupils’ understanding of the heritage of Connah’s Quay and Wales.  It has led to notable improvements in pupils’ ability to work respectfully with others and, in particular, in the work ethic of boys. 

The project culminated in a boat-launch on the local quay, celebrated by pupils, parents and community members.  This was highly beneficial for the pupils and the school.  A strong driver for improvement was to raise the profile and reputation of the school.  This project was highly visible in the local community.  It enhanced the name of Bryn Deva in the community and enabled pupils to be proud of their achievements and of their school.