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Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol Pen Coch is a day special school that provides education for pupils with a wide range of learning needs.  These include profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD), autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and complex learning needs.  There are currently 94 pupils at the school, aged two to eleven.

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Ysgol Pen Coch was opened in 2009 after the closure of three special school buildings.  The schools then merged into one primary and one secondary special school.

The three schools that closed were very different.  As staff were interviewed for jobs in the new school, many expressed concerns about their confidence in working with pupils who had a wider range of needs.  It was decided that staff at all levels needed to develop a self-evaluative approach to their work.  This self-review needed to be supported by appropriate structures in school, which provided both individuals and groups with feedback about their work and its impact upon the pupils.  It was important for the school to develop regular, extensive opportunities to examine and comment on the work of each area of the school and to engage in a professional dialogue with the staff involved.  The information gained would then be used to promote the overall development of work in that area.

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

In order to ensure that this approach was effective, it was decided that there would be a focus on one department or area (for example behaviour) each term.  The school developed a process of information collection including teaching observations, scrutiny of documentation, meeting observations, interviews and questionnaires.  The headteacher produced a monitoring and evaluation policy, which was made available on the school website. 

At the end of the monitoring and evaluation of a particular department or area, a report is produced that summarises the information gained.  The reports include comments on how well previous issues have been addressed, the quality of teaching, standards achieved by pupils, leadership and management of a department or provision and resourcing issues. 

The department or area co-ordinator is then responsible for working with the staff team to put a plan in place to address any issues raised by the report.  The headteacher and senior managers support them in this.  Some areas can be addressed within the department, but others need to be considered as whole school issues. 

In September 2016, the school also established processes for monitoring and evaluating areas of learning and experience (AoLE), in line with the new curriculum.  The curriculum co-ordinator takes a lead on this work and final reports are presented to the curriculum and standards committee of the governing body.  Where required, AoLE leaders provide annual reports about the progress and achievement of pupils in the area. 

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

The robust monitoring and evaluation processes have had a significant impact on the work of the school.

• Monitoring and evaluating areas of provision help the school to ensure that it is delivering the very best education   for the pupils in its care. 
• Leaders and staff know the school’s strengths and areas for improvement very well.
• The highly reflective and evaluative culture within the school enables it to plan for a wide range of interventions and adaptations to pupils’ learning experiences that meet the needs of pupils very well.
• The recent core inspection identified standards at the school as good and pupils’ wellbeing as excellent

How have you shared your good practice?

• The headteacher shares reports or summaries of the reports with staff and other relevant stakeholders.  These include the governing body, parents and the school improvement partner from the regional consortium.
• Copies of the reports are available on the school website.
• The school has shared this work with other pioneer schools.

 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Brief contextual information about provider/partnership:

Pembrokeshire College is the county’s largest provider of post-16 education and training.  Situated in Haverfordwest, the college has approximately 1,800 full-time and 12,500 part-time students including vocational, A levels, apprenticeships and degrees routes. 

Most of the college’s full time learners come from within Pembrokeshire, with a small proportion coming from the neighbouring counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.  Approximately 3% of the college’s intake are learners with moderate to profound additional learning needs.  The college’s independent living skills (ILS) provision ranges from pre-entry through to level 1 courses.  Underpinning this provision are strong multi-agency partnerships, which support the offer of a rich and comprehensive curriculum experience for the learners.

Context and background to excellent/sector-leading practice:

For some time the college had identified that the emphasis on qualifications within the ILS provision was not appropriate to the future needs and destinations of many of its learners.  In 2015, it reviewed its curriculum to reduce the number of credits that learners needed to achieve on each course.  This has allowed the department to develop and embed an enriched curriculum for learners and to focus on the development of learners’ life skills.

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

The college has a culture of inclusivity, partnership work and is committed to offering care, advice and guidance based on individual learner need.

A central element of this partnership work is the college’s schools link programme.  As part of this programme, pupils from Portfield School come to the college for vocational taster sessions on a weekly basis.  This helps to build strong relationships between the school’s pupils and the college’s teaching and learning support staff before the pupils join the college.  Strong and effective links with the school, the schools’ additional learning needs co-ordinators, the local authority transition team, advisory teachers, Careers Wales, Action for Children and the Pembroke Autistic Unit have evolved over a number of years.  Transport, including specialist transport for individual learners, is provided by the local authority and enables weekly attendance at the taster sessions.  As part of their experience, learners stay for lunch and integrate with the whole college student community.  This strategy ensures that there is a smooth process when the time comes for transition into the college.

This partnership working is replicated internally within the college, enabling ILS students to access a truly enriched curriculum, undertaking vocational education and training opportunities in routes as varied as catering, carpentry, brickwork, animal care, information and communication technology (ICT), horticulture, hairdressing, beauty therapy, engineering, art & design and sport.  The enriched offer is adapted on an annual basis, with the support of all faculties, to meet the particular interests of the incoming groups of learners.  As a result of this experience, two ILS learners have represented the college in the UK Worldskills inclusive skills competition held at the NEC Birmingham – both achieving a Bronze medal placing.  Other achievements include a group of learners participating in a 5 a side football competition, learners winning the 2D Artwork National Urdd competition for four of the last five years; learners successfully participating in the college’s enterprise fairs and activities, holding regular cake stalls and book sales.

These partnerships continue throughout the learners’ time at college and support the work placement experience that all ILS learners undertake.  Learners undertake work experience with a wide range of local employers, agencies and charities who work in partnership with the college to enable a wide range of opportunities.  Multi-agency reviews help learners to progress on to employment, further courses in the college or into adult provision and training.

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

This approach raises learners’ awareness of the range of vocational routes available to them and enables learners to develop realistic and achievable aspirations.  As a consequence, many learners progress successfully onto traineeships or mainstream courses at the college.  The internal support services, for example the college nurse, counsellor, safeguarding team, learner coaches and the learning support team, work together very effectively to enable these learners to integrate successfully with the main college community.

Further information on the ILS provision at Pembrokeshire College is contained in two case studies: ‘Flexible curriculum planning creates purposeful learning experiences for ILS learners at Pembrokeshire College’ and ‘How work experience leads to positive outcomes for ILS learners at Pembrokeshire College’ in Estyn’s recent thematic report: Learner progress and destinations in independent living skills learning areas in further education colleges

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol Y Bynea is in the village of Bynea near Llanelli, in Carmarthenshire.  The school has six mixed age classes and about a third of the children are eligible for free school meals.  There is also a Gypsy Traveller Service and Welsh Government funded Flying Start facility housed in the school building. 

Context and background to sector-leading practice

The school has grown rapidly in the last four years and, whilst there was very little spare space available inside the building, there were extensive school grounds.  The school already utilised the outside orchard area for Forest School activities but unpredictable weather and the need to store suitable clothing and equipment created the basis for the challenge of creating an outside learning village.  The school has a strong community focus and is proactive in the local community.  The school attempts to involve as many parents as possible in its work, and is lucky that its parents are always willing to come on board when staff ask them to do so.  There are a number of businesses in the local area that have proven to be a great asset and often support the school in fund raising when needed.  The school also involved its local comprehensive school and colleges as it needed a range of expertise for all the different elements of the project. 

The pupils invited the manager in charge of school modernisation for Carmarthenshire to come on board and he explained to them whom they needed to contact in order to plan their village and where they could get materials, and provided them with the basic rules of building regulations. 

Bynea School values all types of learning and staff believe that children need a wide range of real life experiences in order to grow and develop into responsible adults.  Children sometimes feel that those pupils who have strong numeracy and literacy skills are the clever ones.  In order to clarify these misconceptions, the staff needed to show the pupils that there are many different types of learner and that different skills are important in different situations. 

Description of nature of strategy or activity

The project originally started when staff gave the pupils a brief to design and make an outside learning village where they could take their learning outside the classrooms.  They had to be mindful of the school’s Eco Status and the need to ensure value for money.  The school applied for grants and was fortunate to receive funding.  Pupils spent much time discussing and drawing what they thought their ideal outside learning environment should look like.  Having discussed the project with the school council and older key stage 2 classes, the pupils were really enthusiastic and adamant that they should lead the project themselves.  They felt that they were old enough to take most of the responsibility.  They had the opportunity to meet and work alongside many professionals and learn the importance of how to communicate with others.  They had opportunities to email people, fill in forms, place telephone orders and write letters; all skills that they will need in their everyday life.  They also kept a photographic diary of their project and made an electronic presentation to governors and visitors at the end of the project. 

Pupils created scaled models to ensure that their designs would fit onto the piece of land designated to the project.  Once that had been completed, they looked at the type of structures they would like and what they could afford; they decided to call these structures learning pods.  The pupils had an original budget of fifteen thousand pounds and because they were responsible for the whole budget they had to keep accurate accounts for every penny they spent.  They calculated the cost and quantity of materials they needed and looked at value for money.  Once they had decided which structures they needed and had sourced what they could afford they were ready to start on the foundation bases for their pods or sheds.  They invited parents and the community in to help them measure and dig foundations and move chippings. 

Once the learning pods were in place, the pupils had to design and make dedicated paths between each structure so that they could use the village in all kinds of weather.  Parents and families came to paint the learning pods with weather proofing stain to ensure that they would last in good repair.  Each structure needed to have a curriculum area focus such as mathematics, language, science, creative arts, Welsh or a combination of learning areas.  Some pupils suggested that, if the science pod could have a sensory garden and possibly a solar panel, it would need more space around it than say the language pod.  This developed pupils’ thinking skills well.

Once the pupils had designed and built the main structure of the village, they had to decorate and resource the pods.  They had individual budgets dependent on the curriculum area and had to design and decorate the interiors of each pod.  They had to make the learning experiences suitable for all ages and try to ensure that activities taking place were largely focused on independent learning.  They worked with subject co-ordinators, artists and advisers to ensure that the activities they chose were worthwhile and demonstrated value for money.  They also recycled tables, chairs, display boards and other resources from another school that had recently closed. 

Once they ensured that the main structures and paths were in place, the outside physical play area of the village was designed by lower key stage 2.  They followed the same format where they created designs and then looked at what was affordable and practical.  Leaders gave them a budget of five thousand pounds and made it clear that they needed to keep money for labour and foundations for their structures.  They gained an understanding of using scale and the value of resources and the satisfaction of creating something useful.  They have since worked with parents to improve the area further and have recycled tyres into flower planters and are growing their own vegetables. 

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

During this project, pupils had opportunities to develop skills used by designers, architects, accountants, builders, landscape gardeners, graphic artists, and many others.  Pupils led their own learning and took responsibility for inviting people to work with them, ordering materials and balancing budgets.  The staff at Bynea take a holistic approach to learning and want all pupils to be well rounded members of the community to which they belong.  Witnessing them respond to this challenge showed levels of maturity and understanding that exceeded the high expectations of the staff. 

Pupils learn best when they have a broad and balanced curriculum.  They all need to find something they are good at and, through a range of learning opportunities, they had an opportunity to respond successfully to a challenge and achieve success.  Staff challenged pupils with additional learning needs appropriately and supported them to achieve success.  Many pupils who succeed easily in reading and writing tasks often experienced frustration at not always getting things right first time.  This project further developed their levels of perseverance and understanding. 

The pupils viewed this as a very grown up project and they relished the challenge.  They developed mature skills and made relationships with a range of different audiences.  Creating this village will provide all pupils at Ysgol Y Bynea with an exceptional, extended outside-learning environment. 

How have you shared your good practice?

The school has shared this good practice with many other schools across the local and neighbouring authorities.  A number of schools have made use of the learning village by bringing classes of pupils to use this wonderful resource as a catalyst for independent learning.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth is situated on the outskirts of the town of Aberystwyth and serves the town and the rural areas of north Ceredigion.  Around half the pupils speak Welsh at home and 2% are eligible for free school meals.  The school was inspected in November 2016 and succeeded in attaining the standard of Excellent in all inspection areas.  The school is also a pioneer school and is assisting the Welsh Government in developing aspects of professional learning.

Context and background to sector-leading practice

The school has been successful in developing groups of teachers who work together in quartets in order to focus on agreed aspects of learning and teaching.  An important part of the process is the opportunities that are provided for teachers to plan, observe and evaluate jointly.  There is a great emphasis on using pupils’ ideas to create rich and interesting tasks that engage their skills and their curiosity towards learning.  The school’s role as a pioneer has ensured opportunities to develop this process by using themes that promote the recommendations of ‘Successful Futures’ and the Cwricwlwm Cymreig.  The need for teachers to be creative and to try to do things in different ways from the usual is emphasised, but to remember that activities need to lead to developing pupils’ literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT) skills. 

A description of the nature of the strategy or activity that has been identified as sector-leading practice

Rich tasks were developed by focusing on the theme ‘T Llew Jones’ in order to weave aspects of the arts across the eight classes in key stage 2.  As a result of the ideas that were gathered from pupils, mind maps were created and creative writing activities, digital presentations, drama activities, art, creative music and dance activities were agreed upon.  Plans were refined and opportunities were identified to work with the local community and to take advantage of the expertise of organisations such as Arad Goch drama company and Aberystwyth University. 

As a result of the school’s role as a pioneer, advantage was taken of the opportunities to work with the University of Wales Trinity St David, by weaving the initial teacher training programme into the ‘creative cauldron’.  Trainees from the university were part of the planning with teachers, and they succeeded in developing opportunities for them to observe and take groups during lessons.  This was successful and an important part of their training as trainee teachers. 

When evaluating lessons each week in reflective sessions, opportunities were provided for experienced teachers and trainee teachers to work together in order to improve experiences for pupils.  The culmination of the work was an afternoon of sharing good practice in the form of a presentation for all pupils in key stage 2, the school’s staff, governors, local authority staff and students from the university. 

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

The provision succeeded in having a positive effect on pupils’ oral and writing skills in key stage 2, and the creative theme engaged the enthusiasm of boys in particular – the wider opportunities for pupils to work in groups and role-play was a way for them to gain confidence and ensured opportunities for them to perform in a Welsh context. 

The digital activities that were delivered succeeded in providing opportunities for pupils to develop their ICT skills by using programs to create a film, prepare electronic presentations and use a green screen.  It was noted that the willingness of pupils and staff to try and use new programs enriched their computer skills across the school. 

How have you shared your good practice?

One of the priorities in the school improvement plan was to extend opportunities to share good practice in terms of learning and teaching across the school.  This was done effectively by ensuring that teachers developed observation and evaluative skills and improved the ways in which they give effective feedback.  There were opportunities to share good practice through the pioneer schools network, in the regional consortium’s conferences and with local schools. 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Llanrhidian Primary School is situated on the beautiful Gower Peninsula, approximately 6 miles from the City of Swansea.  Llanrhidian School serves a large area of North West Gower.  The school is within a designated area of outstanding natural beauty and close to the heritage coastline.  Many of the children arrive by bus from the Llangennith and Llanmadoc area.  Currently, nearly half of the pupils come from outside of the catchment area.  There are 168 pupils on roll, organised into 5 classes.   There are currently 17% pupils identified by the school on the additional learning needs register.  Over the past three years, the average number of pupils eligible for free school meals is around 3%, well below the national average of 19%.

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Since the previous inspection in March 2010, the headteacher and school management team recognised the need to further improve the self-evaluation systems to drive school improvement.  The school identified the need to consider a wide variety of information, and include all stakeholders when identifying and evaluating school priorities.  As a result Llanrhidian Primary School has been on a journey to develop a culture of continuous, rigorous self-evaluation focused strongly upon improving outcomes in standards and wellbeing for every pupil. 

The refined processes are underpinned by the involvement of every member of staff, all of whom feel part of school improvement.  Systems are clear, transparent, and evolve to meet the school’s current needs.  All staff have a genuine desire for excellence, and adhere to an annual monitoring plan which clearly outlines accountability and minimum expectations.  The systems of monitoring have been refined to minimise workload, yet provide invaluable information which is routinely shared at an individual, whole school and governing body level.  Exemplary use of technology enables key documents to be shared and collaboratively updated, providing formative feedback to staff and immediate opportunities for change and improvement.  The pace at which the processes identify areas for improvement and implement change is key to the success of the school.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

The school’s effective pupil tracking systems have been continuously improved to ensure routine and rigorous evaluation of every pupil’s progress.  These systems are underpinned by consistent and accurate assessment procedures across the school.  Governors are kept well informed and receive pupil progress data termly, enabling effective and focused challenge from the standards subcommittee.  Formative data is collected against all national curriculum skills through an effective online planning and assessment tool.  This enables highly effective monitoring of curriculum coverage and standards in any area of learning, any cohort or per individual.  The tracking system also evaluates pupils’ wellbeing through pupil self-assessments, teacher observations and live and current data to identify pupils at risk and the impact of wellbeing interventions.  Such information also provides whole school wellbeing data to identify any training and development requirements for staff and to tailor pupil support interventions and provision.

The systematic monitoring of pupils’ work, alongside lesson reviews, has supported the school to identify practice worth sharing, as well as areas to improve.  Teachers have refined a POD (Plan, Observe, Discuss) peer approach to developing their own teaching, underpinned by the school’s regularly updated Teaching for Learning Policy.  This has a positive impact on the blended approach to teaching, and created consistency across the school.  A culture of self-improvement is embedded, where teachers are confident to take risks and try new ideas.  This has a positive impact on standards, the pace of pupil progress and in the development of an authentic and creative curriculum.  Feedback to staff is effective and has been developed into a narrative form through four areas (SOAP):

• Strengths
• Opportunities for sharing
• Areas for further development
• Pedagogy – effective methods and practice

Valuing and acting upon the views of stakeholders has enhanced the culture of school improvement at Llanrhidian.  Routine analysis of stakeholder views are collected through the school’s ‘My Voice’ online questionnaires.  Such information is considered, and shared back with the stakeholders via newsletters, governing body reports and the school’s twitter feed (#Llanimp). In addition, the school holds a successful ‘school development day’ for parents each autumn.  This is well attended, and parents offer their views on the school’s strengths and areas for development.  Pupil voice groups work alongside parents at this event, discussing school targets and future actions.  As a result, the school has responded to issues and parents feel that their views are well considered. 

There are a number of opportunities for pupils to improve their school and have their say at Llanrhidian.  For example, the ‘Wellbeing Warriors’ took on the responsibility of developing a child friendly anti-bullying policy, and supporting other pupils with worries or concerns.  Both of these areas had previously been identified through an analysis of wellbeing data.  Pupils share their views through a range of formats to leaders and governors, across the school.  Their voice is valued by all, and pupils are entrusted to identify, address and evaluate improvement as much as possible.  For example, pupils run a stationery shop and school bank, facilitate stalls at all events and present an evaluation of the child-friendly school development plan to governors annually. 

Specific types of monitoring do not happen in isolation at Llanrhidian.  For example, a pupil work scrutiny session will also consider evidence from listening to learners and analyse class planning and assessment data to ensure triangulation and accuracy of findings.  Learning walks are often undertaken to consolidate findings and incorporate perspectives from other monitoring activities.  This enables staff and leaders to know the school as accurately as possible.  It is this use of current data and information, by all staff, that is the key to successful and well-paced school improvement at Llanrhidian. 

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

• Information collected from the self-evaluation processes is used effectively to set priorities for improvement that accurately meet the needs of pupils
• Monitoring systems ensure that performance management targets are well matched to the needs of the staff, and impact positively upon standards across the school
• Timely tracking of pupils’ wellbeing has impacted positively upon attitudes to learning, coping strategies and the overall wellbeing of pupils
• Feedback from the monitoring of teachers’ planning, pupils’ work and lessons has an impact upon the quality of teaching across the school, particularly in understanding and identifying excellence
• Increased opportunities to listen to learners has empowered pupils to drive change in their school
• Questionnaires demonstrate that parents feel valued as a result of shared information and opportunities to have their say

How have you shared your good practice?

The school has close working relationships with a number of schools across the local authority, and has shared its successful strategies through training, school visits and mentoring.  A number of schools are using the school’s stakeholder questionnaires, tracking systems, and self-evaluation documentation. 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Llansannor & Llanharry Church in Wales VA Primary School is a single form intake English-medium primary serving the Rectorial Benefice of Cowbridge and the parish of Llanharry.  The school is in a rural setting four miles north of Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan and half a mile from the village of Llanharry in Rhondda Cynon Taf, and takes in pupils from both local authorities.

There are around 230 pupils on roll aged between three and eleven, including 43 in the part-time nursery.  The school teaches pupils in eight classes, which contain pupils from single year groups.  Around 5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals and the school identifies around 15% of pupils as having additional learning needs.  Nearly all pupils are of white British ethnicity and speak English as their home language.

The headteacher took up her post in January 2015.

Context and background to sector-leading practice

During a period of instability in Spring 2015, with nearly half of teaching staff on temporary short-term contracts, the headteacher’s main objective was to identify strengths and weaknesses in teaching, challenge underperformance, and develop clear lines of accountability.  A period of rigorous recruitment resulted in strengthening the leadership and teaching team through the appointment of a new Leader of Learning / Additional Learning Needs Co-ordinator (ALNCo) together with a Foundation Phase Leader.  The school appointed two Newly Qualified Teachers and distributed core subject responsibilities that were previously vacant.

This was a potentially fragile period with a considerable change in staffing and organisational processes and procedures, but it ultimately allowed the school to evolve and develop strong practice, which resulted in improved standards across the school over the last two years.

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

Clear aims and strategic objectives

The school revised its vision, values and aims with its community and launched them in Spring 2016 with a new logo designed by pupils.  The school badge accurately embodies the school’s strong Christian ethos and its future as seen by the pupils of Llansannor. 
 
The school shares its aims and strategic objectives with all stakeholders, and regularly revisits them during in-service training (INSET) sessions.  There is a good shared understanding of the areas that need improving, which ensures a relentless drive for improvement that is central to school life.

Roles and responsibilities of staff and governors and their contribution to school improvement

The roles and responsibilities of staff clearly define their areas of accountability and responsibility.  Leaders regularly review job descriptions with staff, which enables them to address priority improvement areas proactively and lead within their curriculum umbrella group.  Leaders distribute workload fairly and give staff appropriate non-contact time to fulfil their duties effectively, and meet agreed deadlines; this ensures that it secures pace and momentum. 

All leaders make a considerable contribution to school improvement; they manage their time effectively and reflect on their practice, taking a high level of responsibility for their subject improvement plans and targets.  Teachers share a corporate commitment to attain and meet these targets and analyse and reflect on a range of data confidently, to support them in this role.  Where leaders identify underperformance, they address any weaknesses quickly and efficiently, providing targeted support programmes.  This ensures that all staff share very high expectations.  Due to the established networks of support and trust, staff feel valued and morale is very high. 

Staff meetings focus on priority areas and on enhancing staff’s skills, with all transactional activity restricted to communication by email.  Standardisation and moderation of pupil standards form a regular part of the school’s INSET timetable, which has led to a good, shared understanding of assessment levels and very good consistency across the school.  This was essential due to the high turnover of staff and has effectively supported the development of newly qualified teachers.

Governors ensure that they understand the school’s strengths, shortcomings and future priorities very well under the leadership of an effective chairperson.  Members have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in holding school leaders and managers to account.  Link governors select an area of school improvement and meet regularly with the lead teacher to monitor, challenge and support progress. 

Effective Performance Management (PM)

The school’s performance management process clearly identifies individual and whole school training and development needs to support the school’s improvement targets.  All staff are involved in carrying out observations of teaching and this has led to the implementation of effective support programmes and triad working, with skilled teachers readily sharing their practice.  Leaders timetable non-contact time for staff, to allow professional and reflective dialogue.  This has resulted in a self-improving learning culture.  The process of triangulating lesson observations, scrutinising pupil books and analysing data ensures that the school’s performance management process impacts positively on teaching and learning. 

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

Newly improved management and leadership systems at all levels have ensured a strong trend of improvement over the past two years in teaching and pupil outcomes.  For example, all staff now apply a highly effective, consistent approach to the assessment and marking of pupils’ work.  This has made a notable improvement in the standards of numeracy that most pupils achieve.

Curriculum innovation projects, such as immersion days, allow pupils to contribute to planning, increasing the engagement of reluctant writers.  Nearly all pupils collaborate and engage well in activities and take pride in their achievements.

The most recent inspection in May 2017 judged the school’s prospects for improvement as excellent and inspectors reported that “dynamic leadership empowers all staff to contribute effectively within a strong, supportive team ethos.  Senior leaders challenge underperformance robustly to ensure that all pupils have equality of opportunity.  All staff are well-motivated and respond to the headteacher’s high expectations positively.” 

How have you shared your good practice?

The school shares its strong leadership and strategic planning processes with other schools through pathfinder, School Improvement Group and cluster groups.  In addition, it shares the high challenge and lines of accountability on the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) training programme and national challenge adviser training events.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Llansannor & Llanharry Church in Wales VA Primary School is a single form intake English-medium primary serving the Rectorial Benefice of Cowbridge and the parish of Llanharry.  The school is in a rural setting four miles north of Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan and half a mile from the village of Llanharry in Rhondda Cynon Taf, and takes in pupils from both local authorities.

There are around 230 pupils on roll aged between three and eleven, including 43 in the part-time nursery.  The school teaches pupils in eight classes, which contain pupils from single year groups.  Around 5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals and the school identifies around 15% of pupils as having additional learning needs.  Nearly all pupils are of white British ethnicity and speak English as their home language.

The headteacher took up her post in January 2015.

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Following a period of instability in Spring 2015, with nearly half of the teachers on temporary short-term contracts, the headteacher’s main objective was to identify strengths and weaknesses in teaching, challenge underperformance, and develop clear lines of accountability through implementing robust systems and procedures.  A period of rigorous recruitment resulted in strengthening the leadership and teaching team through the appointment of a new Leader of Learning / Additional Learning Needs Co-ordinator (ALNCo) together with a Foundation Phase Leader and two Newly Qualified Teachers.

In order for the headteacher and senior leadership team to gain an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development, they reviewed the arrangements for self-evaluation, monitoring and planning for improvements. 

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

School self-evaluation

Following a review of self-evaluation processes, the school’s monitoring, evaluation and review cycle focuses rigorously on improving outcomes for pupils.  Strong distributed leadership ensures that all staff make a considerable contribution to this process.  Subject leaders take ownership of their improvement plans, which they draw up based on their monitoring evaluations and analysis of performance data.  Leaders plan robust monitoring cycles that use a variety of monitoring activities throughout the year to check quality; these include evaluative reviews of pupils’ work and lesson observations.  They measure progress and assess the impact of actions at key points, preparing summary reports that outline the strengths and areas requiring further improvement.

Pupils also contribute to the school improvement process through ‘immersion’ planning days, allowing them to make decisions on how, and to some extent what, they will learn the following term.  Pupil ambassadors observe learning in lessons and make recommendations for improvement; their comments were key in developing pupil targets and the marking and feedback policy.

The outcomes of self-evaluation across the school determine clear priorities and targets for improvement.  These form the basis of a detailed school improvement plan, which sets out responsibilities, actions, timescales and procedures for monitoring progress clearly.
 
Use of data

The school gives high importance to using a variety of data to measure progress.  Leaders use robust and detailed electronic tracking sheets to record a range of pupil assessment data, and staff use these confidently and regularly to monitor and evaluate performance of pupil groups.  Teachers understand very well how they are accountable for pupil progress.  Supported by leaders, they review progress termly, and identify appropriate actions to achieve future targets.  This process has created an adaptive and responsive culture whereby staff maintain high expectations and link any changes to provision or training directly to pupil need. 

Responding to stakeholder views

Leaders encourage all stakeholders to contribute to the self-evaluation process through annual questionnaires, attending workshops, parents’ evenings and various pupil voice groups across the school.  School leaders carry out detailed analyses of findings and respond promptly to areas identified by particular groups.  For example, leaders improved communication with parents, by using social media and introducing mid-term pupil progress reports, which parents appreciate greatly. 

Collaboration in networks of professional practice

Leaders value the benefits of collaboration and partnership working both within school and with other schools and partner agencies.  External agencies have carried out reviews on Foundation Phase provision, marking and feedback and health and safety.  Findings from these reports have helped the school to address identified areas and move forward quickly.  The school also engages openly with its cluster of schools, school improvement group, pathfinder, local authority, regional consortium and challenge adviser on a number of projects.  Staff regularly visit other schools with excellent practice and reflect on their findings, disseminating what is relevant and appropriate for its own setting.  This work has provided good external perspective, challenge and support whilst facilitating the two-way sharing of resources and effective leadership processes. 

Staff plan, prepare and assess pupil work in teams, and help each other to develop and improve within a supportive, caring and trusting ethos.  All teachers have the opportunity to observe others teach and, through planned professional and reflective dialogue, they identify areas to celebrate and share.  This has resulted in a self-improving learning culture where staff feel valued and morale is very high.

All staff are encouraged to embrace an area of action research linked to a particular area of curriculum innovation, ensuring that the school continues to improve.  These have included: growth mindset, innovation/entrepreneurialism, thinking skills, pupil immersion planning days, habits of mind, modern foreign language learning, outdoor learning and marking and feedback. 

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

All evaluation activities focus rigorously on improving outcomes for pupils and this has ensured a steady trend of improvement in reading, writing and mathematics across the school.

All staff understand the school’s priorities for improvement and their role in bringing about the desired results.  The very strong ethos of staff teamwork and support has meant that staff are willing to take certain risks.  This has allowed the school to work on a number of innovative curriculum development projects that have had a positive impact on pupils, for example improvements made in using questions to challenge pupils’ thinking more effectively. 

As a result of successful improvement planning, the school now has a strong record of success over the past two years in raising standards for most pupils.

How have you shared your good practice?

The school is leading a project to share its good practice in tracking and use of data with other schools.  The school has shared its strong leadership and strategic planning processes with other schools through pathfinder, school improvement group and cluster groups.  It has also shared its high challenge and lines of accountability on the National Professional Qualification for Headship training programme and other national challenge adviser training events.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Oldcastle Primary School is in the centre of Bridgend.  There are 437 pupils on roll, including 58 in the school’s nursery class.  Pupils are organised into 15 classes. 

Around 8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is lower than the national average of 21%.  A very few pupils are looked after by the local authority.  A very few pupils speak Welsh at home.  A few pupils speak English as an additional language, and many of these pupils have only very recently joined the school.

The school has identified that around 12% of pupils have additional learning needs.  This is below the national average of 25%.  A very few pupils have a statement of special educational needs. 

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.

The school was last inspected in June 2017.  The headteacher took up the post in March 2013.

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Many schools adopt approaches to support pupils through structured interventions, training staff and working with other schools to provide training and support.  Oldcastle started in much the same way, having researched a very successful numeracy intervention that supported teaching and support staff to develop a high level of mathematical understanding.  The intervention built on research that demonstrates that structured interventions are more likely to lead to more significant improvements in attainment.  Staff then saw an educational opportunity in the use of teletherapy to support pupils with speech and language needs. 

The combination of approaches to learning, which build on partnerships with universities and the private sector, have improved outcomes for pupils.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

Using a structured intervention has transformed mathematics for the lowest achieving learners and raised standards for all the learners in the school.  At Oldcastle, staff use an intensive intervention strategy for learners in Years 1 to 6 who have the greatest difficulties with mathematics.  They use a specially trained teacher to deliver the intervention.  This teacher also supports other staff within the school to develop a deep, professional understanding of mathematics, enhancing the use of concrete resources and providing a rich learning environment.
 
At Oldcastle, staff used part of its Pupil Deprivation Grant to fund a ‘numbers count’ strategy.  They work in partnership with Communities First, not only to target pupils at the school but across the cluster of schools.  This intervention strategy targets pupils and their parents or carers.  It focuses on raising the mathematical attainment of the lowest achievers and also provides richness to mathematics teaching for all pupils in every class.  It has enabled the school to support an ‘in-house specialist’ mathematics teacher, who helps to raise standards for all learners and staff.  Many of the school’s specialists have taken career progression opportunities to support and lead other schools. 

Oldcastle’s structured intervention uses a specially trained teacher who gives learners at least three 30-minute lessons a week for a term (12 weeks, 40 sessions), individually or in pairs or groups of three.  On a few occasions a Learning Support Officer also works with small groups of target pupils.  After a detailed diagnostic assessment, the teacher plans a tailored programme for each pupil.  Teachers provide the learning support staff with detailed plans and resources to help fulfil their brief.  Rigorous, active lessons focus on number and calculation, helping learners to develop skills and attitudes that will ensure good progress in class lessons.  The specialist teacher liaises with parents and shares their specialist knowledge with colleagues informally and through structured CPD, raising standards for all learners. 

Training and professional development is paramount to ensure that the intervention is successful.  This includes a number of days of local training by an accredited trainer over two terms, enhanced mathematical subject and pedagogical knowledge beyond what would be required as a non-maths specialist undergraduate.  It also includes high quality continuous professional development for support staff in the use of structured intervention strategies that result in accreditation for the teacher, the learning support officer and the school.  Ongoing continuous professional development and the provision of resources and support continue to build the skill set of all staff involved. 

In addition to this mathematics intervention strategy, the school states that it became the first in Wales to use teletherapy to support pupils’ speech and language therapy.  Using a custom built online platform “Speech Deck” provided by a service provider, identified pupils take part in weekly sessions linked to clear targets.  After a very short period, Oldcastle noticed that its pupils engaged with this new system well, both in specific sessions and back in their usual classes.  The system enables the school to track and make use of data more efficiently in relation to speech and language targets and, most importantly, pupils are getting better outcomes. 

Oldcastle’s Speech and Language service has changed the way it delivers speech and language therapy; streamlining communication between teacher, therapist and parents and delivering an evidence-based intervention that is not only functional but fun!  The school aims to create memorable therapeutic experiences for pupils and all teaching staff. 

The package of support comes with high levels of continuous professional development for support staff, which ensures that they grow in confidence and can apply the skills learnt in different contexts. 

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

These structured interventions have enabled teachers to plan a relevant and engaging curriculum that meets the needs of all learners.  Teachers have ensured that they use the school’s rich learning environment effectively to provide challenging contexts to develop pupils’ numeracy and language communication skills.  The school states that pupils now apply a range of numeracy skills confidently to a very good standard, particularly in mathematics lessons, and is now applying these across the curriculum.  Leaders feel that this impact is evident both within the school and across the partnership schools.  The school states that pupils on the teacher led intervention typically make 14+ month progress over four months, with many making around 20 months progress in this period.  Learners on the Learning Support Officer interventions make around 12 months progress over three months.  Most of these pupils retain the gains made at the three and six monthly check points.  Leaders at Oldcastle feel that pupils with speech and communication needs have seen a significant benefit in using the teletherapy system.  Many pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder maintain their place in mainstream provision and parents report that it has been life changing for them.  The school feels that all the pupils targeted make excellent progress in their oracy assessments. 

How have you shared your good practice?

Staff within both projects have shared their practice with a number of local schools and groups of teachers.  Teachers, senior leaders and support staff have visited the school to shadow staff, and observe activities and strategies in practice.  They have observed how the school develops its provision for the use of concrete resourcing in mathematics.  They have also shared the practice with partner universities, both in Wales and in England, and with other professionals and parents.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Oldcastle Primary School is in the centre of Bridgend.  There are 437 pupils on roll, including 58 in the school’s nursery class.  Pupils are organised into 15 classes.

Around 8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is lower than the national average of 21%.  A very few pupils are looked after by the local authority.  A very few pupils speak Welsh at home.  A few pupils speak English as an additional language, and many of these pupils have only very recently joined the school.

The school has identified that around 12% of pupils have additional learning needs.  This is below the national average of 25%.  A very few pupils have a statement of special educational needs.

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.

The school was last inspected in June 2017.  The headteacher took up the post in March 2013.

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Science, technology engineering and mathematics has become a core part of the learning at Oldcastle School.  Through its science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) week, the school works with teachers, university partners, and local and national businesses to help them to bring these related topics alive.  This is done by working with curriculum developers, producing useful teaching resources, enabling teachers to share ideas, and encouraging scientists and other professionals to get involved both in first hand school based education and through outreach work.

Oldcastle has built a collection of resources and activity for primary school children, aiming to give them an understanding of the importance of STEM in the world and an awareness of the relevance of science and technology to modern life.  This includes aquaponics and composting, in order to demonstrate learning both of skills and knowledge first hand.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

In 2013, the school identified that science and associated STEM subjects had a lower profile and that pupil performance at the expected level and above was lower than expected.  Leaders and staff decided that, if it wanted great technologists, scientists and mathematicians, then it needed to review its provision and approaches, in order to ensure that it supported all learners in developing a love of these subjects.

Harnessing the skills of parents working in science-based industries, the school was able to draw on local resources and companies, STEM ambassadors and teacher expertise from partner universities to develop a STEM week.  Staff planned activities around topics and projects that were already within the curriculum, but with a better emphasis on additional enhancements or enrichments to ensure that pupils had opportunities for deeper learning.  Staff designed the STEM week to bring together opportunities for pupils to work with staff and resources from many local large and small businesses and allowing them have hands on experience in many exciting activities.  This built on outreach visits to plants, factories and sites of interest, both within walking distance to the school, and also further afield.  Teachers used their skills and expertise to design related activities during the week so that there was a coherent learning pathway for pupils.
 
The school was then also able to organise visits and onsite activities for parents, including a visit to an aircraft maintenance centre, and activities such as coding and stargazing.  Giving the parents these levels of in-depth experiences that the pupils had already experienced strengthened discussions between pupils and with their parents both in school and at home.

Due to positive feedback, the school, with the support of a parent STEM ambassador, was able to grow the provision, include further partners (having evaluated other school priorities) and purchase equipment to strengthen the work, not just during STEM week but also for other areas of learning.  This led to the creation of high quality work, including wallpaper designs as part of a co-linked art project.  The school’s linked STEM ambassador has subsequently worked with other schools in growing provision.  Oldcastle was fortunate to have been used to trial and test projects and programmes before they become available at museums and education centres linked to STEM areas.

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

The school states that pupils of all ages are more positive about STEM subjects and see the exciting links to the workplace, beyond the school setting.  Feedback suggests that 65% of the pupils would be more likely to look at a career based in a STEM subject.  Results at the expected and the expected level plus one in key stage 2 have improved.

A proxy measure is that parental engagement has improved.  A significant number of parents (over 60%) have attended at least one of the parent-focused activities over the last two STEM weeks and are positive about the impact on their children.

How have you shared your good practice?

Staff and STEM ambassadors have shared their work with a number of local schools and groups of teachers.  Teachers, senior leaders and support staff have visited the school to shadow staff, and observe activities and strategies in practice.  They have observed how the school develops its provision, including mapping for STEM week, as well as the arrangement whereby partners provide learning not just for pupils but for parents, while also inviting other successful schools to share their work in this field.  The school has also shared this work with partner universities, both in Wales and in England, and with other professionals and parents.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Hendredenny Park Primary School is in a residential area on the outskirts of Caerphilly.  The school has 249 pupils on roll including 39 who attend part-time in the nursery.  There are eight single-age classes.  Around 5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is well below the average for Wales.  The school identifies 12% of pupils as having additional learning needs, which is much lower than the national average.  Very few pupils have a statement of special educational needs and very few are in the care of the local authority.  Nearly all pupils are of white British ethnicity and come from homes where English is the main language.  A very few pupils speak Welsh at home. 

Context and background to sector-leading practice

As the school has low numbers of free school meals, leaders feel that it is important to provide sufficient challenge for the more able while ensuring that it meets the needs of all pupils.  Following self-evaluation, leaders identified the need to streamline assessment for learning practices, and to improve consistency and responsiveness to close skills gaps across the Foundation Phase and key stage 2.  They decided to utilise available technology and whole staff expertise in information and communication technology (ICT). 

The deputy headteacher has undertaken the role of assessment co-ordinator since 2010.  However all staff are engaged with high quality assessment for learning. 

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

All staff engage with assessment for learning by recording their observations of pupils’ progress and evaluate their performance on a shared electronic document accessed via Hwb.  When staff identify a skills gap in pupils’ learning, this is recorded on a collaborative e-document within OneDrive, which all practitioners can access immediately.  These formative observations enable class teachers to be responsive by planning immediate ‘close the skills gap’ interventions, allocating resources and staffing to address group and individuals’ needs.  This is often on the same day and sets learners on a path to mastery. 

Staff encourage Year 6 pupils, particularly the most able, to record their own ‘next steps’.  If they find a skill challenging, they make a record and the teacher then prepares a choice of resources to support them, allowing them to work on a skill independently. 

Pupils in Year 2 also choose pieces of work where they feel that they have demonstrated a particular skill well.  They take photographic or video evidence and upload it to their own storage area within Hwb, using the J2E program.  Pupils annotate their work, using the ‘learning conversation’ option.  This provides opportunities for them to reflect on their learning and for teachers and pupils to have a long-lasting and meaningful dialogue in a variety of settings, including the home. 

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

Pupils make very good progress in their literacy and numeracy skills.  All staff working with a cohort have a clear understanding of pupil achievement and all pupils have individualised targets.  When staff or pupils identify any issues, they usually address them promptly, the same day or in basic skills sessions the next day, therefore maximising pupils’ learning opportunities and enabling them to engage fully in the next step of their learning journey. 

The school is consistently in the top 25% of similar schools for literacy and numeracy, and pupil performance at the higher level is above the national average.  Pupil Attitudes to Self and School (PASS) questionnaires provide evidence that they engage well in their own learning and are becoming ambitious and capable learners. 

How have you shared your good practice?

The school has shared this good practice widely through presentations, demonstrations and workshops in a variety of settings:
• The regional consortium’s ICT co-ordinator’s network meeting
• Caerphilly information technology ‘Good Practice’ event
• Peer schools/Green school review
• Cluster
• The regional consortium’s maths ‘Good Practice’ event
• Pioneer schools marketplace
• Partnership schools
• Governors’ meetings