Effective Practice Archives - Page 62 of 68 - Estyn

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol y Gogarth is a day and residential special school situated in the coastal town of Llandudno.  It is the only special school maintained by Conwy local authority.  Currently there are 223 pupils on roll aged from 3 to 19.  All pupils have a statement of special educational needs for moderate and severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties or autistic spectrum disorders (ASD).  The school manages a residential facility that offers short-term placements for pupils who attend the school.  The school also provides a base for a number of other key services, including the children with disabilities social work team, the ASD outreach team, the sensory support service and child development centre for Conwy.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

In 2010, Ysgol y Gogarth started a collaborative project with Bangor University to develop evidence-based practice in the field of positive behaviour support.  Initially the school employed a behaviour analyst and secured consultancy from the university with the aim of targeting pupils whose challenging behaviours meant that their school placements were at risk of breaking down.  Since then, the focus of this work has been extended to include preventative, early intervention approaches within the foundation phase, and to develop whole-school positive behaviour approaches that support individual pupils in managing their own behaviour.  The work is based upon effective multi-disciplinary collaboration and addresses the development of pupils’ behavioural, social, communication and educational skills.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

The school’s model of positive behaviour support is based on close collaboration between teachers, behaviour analysts and other professionals.  The aim is to teach pupils the skills needed to reach their full potential and reduce barriers to learning.  Behaviour analysts support teachers to design programmes to improve communication, teach academic skills, and reduce disruptive behaviours that impede learning.  Over time the school has developed four areas of practice and research:

1) BESST (British Early Special School Teaching model): a teaching and classroom management approach developed by the school in conjunction with the university for pupils in the foundation phase

2) STEPS: a programme developed by the school to support pupils to manage their own behavior and engagement

3) Individual behaviour plans to support pupils with challenging behaviour

4) A whole-school approach to positive behaviour support

The BESST approach ensures that all pupils in the foundation phase receive an individualised curriculum designed to enable them to learn successfully.  The model aims to ensure that pupils learn the skills they need to communicate and succeed in school, thus ensuring a positive experience of school  from the start. 

The STEPS programme aims to support pupils who require additional support to manage and monitor their own behaviour, social skills and engagement in learning as they progress through school. It provides regular opportunities for pupils to reflect on their progress, incorporates incentives to achieve and includes relevant opportunities to increase progressively the level of challenge in terms of expectations of pupils’ behaviour.

Individual behaviour plans are implemented for pupils that require further targeted support.  These provide staff with a consistent approach that enables them to address behaviours that impede learning and to implement these effectively across the school day.  A functional behaviour assessment of pupils is undertaken by behaviour analysts and class teams of teachers and support staff.  Behaviour analysts then train staff in how best to implement the plans, monitor their impact and revise as necessary.  Functional communication training for pupils is a key component of most behaviour plans, allowing pupils to increase appropriate communication and thereby reduce challenging behaviours.

The whole-school approach to positive behaviour support incorporates all these strategies in a carefully structured model of behaviour management.  This whole-school focus ensures pupils at all stages of their education engage with school expectations and provides regular and meaningful opportunities for recognition of pupils’ progress and achievements.  The consistency and coherence of this model allow for a staged and progressive approach to the development of behaviours that aims to impact positively on pupils’ learning and independence in school and beyond.  

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

Since the initial collaboration with the university, the school has employed a further seven behaviour analysts to support and evaluate practice, extending their work across school.  The model has enabled all pupils to maintain their placements successfully at the school.  This has meant, for example, that there have been no permanent exclusions from the school for the last three years.  Pupils are included within all aspects of school and a few regularly access mainstream provision.

How have you shared your good practice?

The school has shared its practice in BESST through a replication study where six schools were supported to implement the BESST model.  This support included attendance at a conference, group meetings and ongoing dialogue with the school.

The school has shared its work in developing the STEPS programme with regional special schools through presentations at conferences and through local school-to-school collaborations.

Behaviour analysts employed by the school have presented their work in both fields at conferences regionally and internationally.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol y Gogarth is a day and residential special school situated in Llandudno.  It is the only special school maintained by Conwy local authority.  Currently there are 223 pupils on roll aged from 3 to 19.  All pupils have a statement of special educational needs for moderate and severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties or autistic spectrum disorders (ASD).  The school manages a residential provision and provides a base for a number of other key support services.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

Initially in response to the 14-19 Vocational Pathways initative, the school reviewed its curriculum to improve the range of practical learning experiences available to pupils.  This included the development of school-based vocational provision as well as work in collaboration with the local further education college to design bespoke courses where appropriate.  The school’s effective partnership with the Conwy 14-19 network has helped to ensure that pupils with additional learning needs (ALN) are included in the development of a strategic vision across the county with a clear focus on individual pupils’ needs to support their transition to the college.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

Following the development of a more vocational curriculum at the school, the school reviewed the effectiveness of pupils’ transition to college.  At this point, it became apparent that due to the increased range of learning experiences available to pupils, the profile of their skills, knowledge and ambition had changed. Crucially, college courses available to a specific group of ALN pupils no longer seemed to offer appropriate progression.

In March 2014, Ysgol y Gogarth was instrumental in setting up the Conwy and Denbighshire Transition of ALN Learners to FE Group.  This was a multi-disciplinary group supported by the Conwy 14-19 network, whose aim was to improve the transition of pupils between the school and further education college. 

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

The Transition of ALN Learners to FE Group has provided a valuable forum for professionals from colleges, schools, social services, Careers Wales and the other relevant agencies to identify barriers to successful transition and implement ways to improve this.  This has resulted in improved communication, information sharing and greater collaboration between all parties.  Over time, this has helped to achieve a closer match between the needs of pupils and the range of courses offered at the local further education college.  For example, the college developed a new course designed specifically to meet the needs of pupils at the school who were more able and which offered pupils subsequently greater opportunities for progression onto mainstream courses at the college. 

The group is currently extending this collaborative approach to widen the range of courses and qualifications available to pupils at key stage 4.

How have you shared your good practice?

The Transition of ALN Learners to FE Group continues to meet regularly and year-on-year local provision has been reviewed at the school, local colleges and the local 14-19 network board.  The group has shared its findings with Careers Wales and the local social services department.  Staff from the school have shared the outcomes of the approach with further education providers and have produced case studies for use by Careers Wales.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Bryngwyn and Glan y Môr were formally federated in September 2014 becoming the pilot for secondary federations in Wales. They are 7 miles apart.  Bryngwyn School is an 11-16, mixed, community school. It is situated in Dafen, on the north-eastern side of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire and draws its pupils from parts of the town centre and from a number of outlying villages. There are 1,050 pupils on roll, and around 20% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.

Glan y Môr is an 11-16 community focused school in Burry Port, Carmarthenshire with 480 pupils on roll of whom approximately 30% are eligible for free school meals. Both schools not only work in partnership with each other but also work in close partnership with cluster primary schools, other secondary schools in the area and the local FE college.   Both schools are pioneer and lead creative schools

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Leadership is a key driver in any a school improvement journey, even more so in the context of federations where there is an expectation that leaders across institutions act autonomously.  New federations provide valuable opportunities to share best practice with new audiences, develop different perspectives and provide new impetus for change.   The effective management of federations requires developing truly distributed leadership at all levels and most importantly, throughout and across institutions.  It is this distributed model of leadership that has allowed rapid progress across the shared provision.  Over time a dynamic and collaborative leadership model has evolved.  Within both schools, there is ambition and drive to secure improved outcomes and strong levels of pupil wellbeing and the correct skill set to bring this about.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

The initial challenge for the two schools was to develop new senior leadership structures that would enable the effective leadership of each school while meeting existing demands at whole-school, local and national levels.   To address this, all leaders took on cross federation roles alongside their school based roles, with all members of the senior leadership team having “umbrella” federation responsibilities.  Over time, the challenge of operating across two sites has prompted the school to become more pragmatic in its leadership approach.  For example, line management duties that were once distributed across all SLT and across both schools sites have evolved so that middle leaders have greater access to SLT links who are resident on their site.

For federation to work it was also essential to create a culture of innovation and accountability at middle leader level. Key to this has been the opportunity created by federation for greater partnership working and the unique privilege for staff to work across schools and to share pedagogical ideas and experiences.  To date, in the first three years of federation, 34 members of staff have benefitted from assuming additional leadership responsibilities at departmental, whole-school and federation levels, leading to significant new opportunities for CPD.   This has increased the school’s leadership capacity and enhanced its resilience to manage change effectively in the future.

It was also important to ensure that the federation’s governing body provided the school with a consistently high level of challenge and support and to develop robust, innovative governance that would provide strong strategic direction and accountability for the federation.  It was imperative to create mutually supportive yet locally autonomous governance for both Bryngwyn and Glan y Môr. This would enable the schools to flourish while preserving the unique characteristics of their respective communities and the populations they served.

To achieve these aims the school has developed a model of leadership that focusses on the “6Cs”:

1. Consistency – ensuring quality of provision, access to resources and developing specialist support across the federation has reduced in-school and cross-federation variation.

2. Collaboration – as working together becomes more natural and embedded, the school works smarter, and improves its practices.

3. Challenge – using context and data to set challenging targets that move the learner forward while never forgetting the need for pupils to enjoy their experiences at school.   The school’s mantra for both pupils and staff is simply ‘to be the best that they can be’. Rigorous, robust and meaningful self-evaluation and improvement planning across the federation has secured outstanding improvements to standards, learning experiences, and led to sustained, high quality teaching.

4. Capacity –by using the combined skills and expertise of all staff to share good practice and encourage a dialogue on pedagogy, the school enhances the experience of the learner and practitioner.   The school constantly seeks to change and improve, while anticipating what is over the “horizon” and trying to plan for it calmly, analytically and effectively.

5. Climate – Fundamental to the school’s success has been the promotion of a culture of “Trust and Dialogue” across the federation. All colleagues care passionately about what they do and understand the importance of working together in the pursuit of improvement for all learners. This extends across both academic and pastoral areas. The school’s simple ambition for its pupils is that they will help them to ‘build a life’ for themselves.

6. Competition: healthy and friendly competition exists between schools and across department within the federation and has helped to drive standards. Standards in both schools are high. Glan y Môr has seen significant improvement in outcomes year on year since federation while Bryngwyn has maintained its standards, achieving some of it best ever results in the last 4 out of 5 years.

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

In addition to the improvements in pupils’ outcomes noted above, the federation has developed an innovative approach to rewards and sanctions which has led to significant improvements in pupils’ wellbeing and positive attitudes to learning.   Collaborative working, involving joint meetings and the observing and sharing of best practices and resources has acted as an impetus for improvements across the curriculum, which have in turn been key drivers for engagement and improved outcomes for groups of learners.  Pupils, parents, staff and governors now have a strong sense of belonging to the federation and each school with a genuine pride in their collective achievements. The school’s motto ‘yn rhoi o’n gorau’ (‘giving our best’), captures the determination of both schools to achieve excellence but also expresses its focus on each individual giving their utmost to realise their potential.

How have you shared your good practice?

Good practice is shared through honest and open dialogue based upon thorough self-evaluation which celebrates strengths whilst increasing the ambition to improve further.  Staff at all levels analyse their strengths and areas for development with line managers.  A highly personalised coaching and mentoring programme is in place for all staff: teachers are carefully matched with lead practitioners within and across the federation.  Teachers at all levels are encouraged to take a lead role across the federation in the form of Teachmeets, INSET events and teaching and learning forums where staff engage in animated professional dialogue while sharing strategies that range from classroom-based practice to the habits of effective leadership.   Digital forums are used to embed good practice and continue sharing with further staff over time.

Where possible, opportunities are also explored beyond the federation as staff are encouraged to share their strengths with colleagues from other schools both within the family of schools and across the region.  

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Teaching and assessment – Active and experiential learning

Chapter 4 of this active and experiential learning film looks at teaching and assessment in the foundation phase. 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Standards in literacy and numeracy – Active and experiential learning

Chapter 1 of this active and experiential learning film looks at standards in literacy and numeracy in the foundation phase.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Pupil voice and independence – Active and experiential learning

Chapter 2 of this active and experiential learning film looks at pupil voice and independence in the foundation phase. 

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Provision for literacy and numeracy – Active and experiential learning

Chapter 3 of this active and experiential learning film looks at provision for literacy and numeracy in the foundation phase.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Leadership – Active and experiential learning

Chapter 5 of this active and experiential learning film looks at leadership in the foundation phase.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol Y Deri is a residential special school maintained by the Vale of Glamorgan local authority.  The school opened in November 2014 following the amalgamation of Ysgol Erw’r Delyn, Ysgol Maes Dyfan and Ashgrove School.  The school shares a site and facilities with a mainstream secondary school.  Currently there are 246 pupils on roll aged between three and nineteen years.  All pupils have statements of special educational needs for severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties or autistic spectrum disorders.  Pupils are drawn from the Vale of Glamorgan as well as from the neighbouring local authorities of Cardiff, Newport, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Swansea.  Nearly all pupils have English as their home language. Thirty-five per cent of the pupils are eligible for free school meals.  The headteacher has been in place since the school opened.

The school caters for a range of ability from ‘Routes for Learning’ to ‘A’ level, making it unique in Wales.  It has 240 staff on site.  The school is a new build that opened in November 2014, less than two years before its inspection.

Context and background to sector-leading practice

In 2009, the local authority formulated a plan to amalgamate its three special schools into one, co-locating the school on a shared site with a mainstream secondary school next door.  When the decision to amalgamate was made, there were three headteachers in place and, once the shadow governing body was established, four governing bodies. 

Two of the headteachers decided to retire and the governing bodies agreed to federate.  The remaining headteacher was appointed to the new school and took up post initially as the Executive Headteacher of all four schools.  A leadership team was then established for the new school comprised of members of the existing teams.  In total, it took five years to plan and build the school.  

The three schools had very individual and distinctive cultures.  The challenge for the leadership team was to bring the staff together and to do this with a shared vision and a shared sense of ownership, thus ensuring that the new school became one school with its own distinct identity. 

Description of nature of strategy or activity

The leadership team were clear about the challenges ahead and were well versed in the research behind successful change management, including work by Professor Michael Fullan amongst others.  The team’s key priority was to put in place suitable strategies to ensure that pupils, staff and other stakeholders had equal voices in the design of the new school: its facilities, curriculum, vison and ethos.

Four key areas were identified:
1. The management of change for the staff
2. The design and provision within the new school
3. The curriculum for the new school
4. The understanding and management of the pupils by the staff and how they would come together

It was decided that the staffing and pupils would be ‘mixed up’ from day one of the new school.  The first task was therefore to enable the staff teams to meet each other.  Team building exercises were organised on joint INSET days to enable the staff from each of the three schools to get to know each other.

Specialist teams were set up with representatives from all schools and across support and teaching staff to design and advise on all aspects of the new build, the provision, the curriculum, and to identify training needs.  Everyone who wanted a role was engaged and several media for circulating the outcomes were used, including email and Yammer.

The teams involved in the building design worked with pupils and architects to ensure that the building would meet the needs of staff and learners.  These teams were encouraged to think imaginatively so that the school did not simply re-create what already existed.  The project also initiated the concept of ‘Construction Ambassadors’.  These were two pupils from each of the four schools involved with the project (including the mainstream school).  They visited the site regularly and reported back to their peers in the schools through verbal reports, presentations and video.

As the curriculum was designed, it was trialled in the three schools, and pupils were consulted on its suitability.  A process of feedback then ensured that the curriculum developed according to the needs of all pupils.  Qualification routes for 14-19 learners were established and assessment and recording procedures were standardised.  New staff uniforms were purchased, with the new uniforms for the pupils designed by pupils and parents.

A planned series of staff exchanges took place over the two years of the build.  This involved pairs of staff working for two week periods in the schools they had no experience of.  Every member of staff spent at least two weeks in one of the other three schools.  This helped to identify training needs and provided opportunities for staff to share experiences.

The senior leadership team also exchanged across the schools, although their ‘swaps’ were of a much longer duration to ensure that they had a firm understanding of the needs of pupils and staff.  It was also important to get to know the staff in each school and establish a rapport early on.  Pupils in the 14-19 age group also went to different schools to take part in an options day every week.  Great care was taken to ensure that no one school led the others and that everyone had an equal stake in the new school.

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

Staff and pupils were well prepared for the new school.  They were familiar with the building and had met new teachers and school friends.  There was a shared understanding of the needs of the pupils, and staff were well prepared to meet their physical, emotional and educational needs.

The school could deliver a cohesive curriculum, qualifications and assessment framework to ensure that achievement and standards were high from the beginning.  All pupils in the first year of opening met their targets and all leavers left with at least one recognised qualification.  Nearly all pupils’ wellbeing was assessed as good or excellent.

The building supports a highly effective, extensive and varied curriculum.  It has a wide range of provision, including a television studio and a professional kitchen, to ensure that the wide range of needs of learners are fully met.  Provision for ICT is a particular strength.  Pupils make extensive use of information and communication technology across the curriculum and nearly all pupils across the school make strong progress in their ICT skills.

The Construction Ambassadors spoke widely beyond the school, including to politicians and the building industry, and received awards for their work.  The Ysgol Y Deri ambassadors won the Speaker’s Award for School Councils and went to the Houses of Parliament to address MPs.  The impact on their confidence, self-esteem and wellbeing cannot be overstated.

How have you shared your good practice?

The school has hosted visits from across the UK and internationally.  Frameworks for the 14-19 curriculum are used in other schools.  Other schools are supported in their ICT development journey in provision, learning and teaching.  The school is also working alongside the Welsh Government, supporting and advising local authorities on new school buildings and sharing ‘lessons learned’.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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‘The curriculum at Fitzalan High School is highly flexible and responsive to the needs of individual pupils.’ Estyn 2017.

Context and background

Fitzalan High School is an English-medium mixed 11 to 18 school maintained by Cardiff local authority.  There are currently 1,721 pupils on roll, including 344 in the sixth form, compared to 1,440 pupils, including 254 in the sixth form, at the time of the last inspection.

The school is situated close to the centre of the city, and serves a catchment area in which there are high levels of social and economic disadvantage.  The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is 32.7%, which is considerably higher than the national average of 17.4%.  Around 60% of pupils live in the 20% most deprived areas of Wales.  Around 35% of pupils have a special educational need, which is above the national average of 25.1%.  The proportion of pupils who have a statement of special education needs is 2%, which is lower than the 2.5% average in Wales.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

Key stage 3

Curriculum provision in Fitzalan High School is differentiated according to the potential, progress and ability level of each pupil.  The school aims to meet the needs of all pupils; to be flexible and responsive; provide breadth and depth, and secure the best possible outcomes for all.  The dynamic nature and flexibility of the curriculum mean that staff can respond to individual circumstances and pupils’ needs throughout the academic year.  This is particularly important in Fitzalan, as pupils come from an extremely wide range of linguistic backgrounds and with different levels of prior education.  There is also a very high level of mobility within each academic year.  The school’s curriculum therefore needs to adjust to match the needs of pupils who are new to schools or new to Wales.  

In key stage 3, the most able pupils study Latin and Spanish in addition to French, and all other core and foundation National Curriculum subjects.  Pupils with literacy or numeracy deficits have specific ‘project’ lessons on their timetable where they improve their skills through thematic lessons that are linked to curriculum areas such as history or science.  Those with significant challenges have daily timetabled lessons to improve their reading and writing skills, including a focus on phonics to ensure that they attain functional literacy.  These pupils also follow an integrated humanities course and have a reduced number of teachers.

The school’s ‘Curriculum Access Team’ leads additional interventions: small group intervention groups focus on pupils with specific learning difficulties, visual impairment, speech and language needs, and emotional needs.  Pupils in all years who need nurture have timetabled sessions in ‘Cartref’ to improve their ability to manage their behaviour and emotions and to thrive in social situations.  From Year 8 onwards, pupils with significant behavioural needs are integrated into an ‘extended opportunities’ programme as part of a ‘graduated response’ to their behavioural needs.  Pupils on the extended opportunities programme follow a full curriculum.  They are taught by subject specialists and receive intensive behavioural support from BESD specialists.

Pupils who are new to learning English are taught in specific induction groups for most of their subjects, with an emphasis on developing their English language skills.  To help these pupils integrate into the school as a whole, they have form time, physical education and mathematics lessons with the rest of the year group.  Pupils who are new to learning English, but with good maths skills, are able to move quickly up through the maths sets while still receiving the support they need to gain a basic grounding in English.

Pupils of all ability, including those on the extended opportunities programme, are offered coaching in their own language and, where there is an appropriate examination course, the opportunity to gain external accreditation.  In addition, the school has recently introduced a ‘creative option’ into Year 9: pupils choose a music, drama, technology or art based course.  This was introduced to support creative examination courses, to keep pupils motivated throughout Year 9 and to make sure that all pupils develop the skills needed to study for and gain external accreditation.

Key stage 4

In key stage 4, a combination of free choice options and differentiated pathways mean that the curriculum is stimulating and aspirational, and that it meets pupils’ interests.  A wide variety of traditional GCSE and vocational qualifications are available and pupils start their key stage 4 curriculum in the summer term of Year 9.

To ensure that all pupils have breadth, depth and a balance between core subjects and option choices, the school runs a fortnightly 60 period curriculum plan.  The more able pupils in key stage 4 are offered four option subjects, including Latin, ancient history and computer studies.  All pupils have the freedom to make choices that appeal to them and receive individual guidance to support them to make the best choice and reach their full potential.  Almost all pupils sit an external examination in English literature, including pupils on the extended opportunities programme and pupils new to learning English.  Most pupils achieve external accreditation in full course Welsh and full course religious education.  Differentiated pathways and a focus on skills development have enabled pupils’ outcomes to remain high, particularly for those crossing the five A*-A, level 2 plus and level 2 threshold.

Pupils who are new to learning English or developing their competency in English undertake the school’s ESOL programme.  They follow externally accredited GCSE and vocational courses with an emphasis on developing and improving their English skills. 

Sixth form

A free choice options process means that pupils can choose a wide variety of subjects, some offered in partnership with other schools, or with Cardiff City or Glamorgan Cricket Club.  Each pupil’s offer is based on their key stage 4 outcomes.  Pupils can follow an AS/A2 and Welsh Baccalaureate programme, a level 3 Vocational programme, a level 2 programme, or a mixed provision, which is a combination, tailored to each pupil’s ability. 

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

At Fitzalan, the curriculum provision combined with the commitment of staff, the support of parents and high levels of pupil engagement have all contributed to the school’s success.  In Fitzalan, pupils ‘learn together to be the best that they can be’.

Over the last four years, at key stage 4, the school’s performance places it in the upper half of similar schools in most indicators, and in the top quarter in the majority of them.  More able pupils, pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with additional learning needs achieve very highly.  In lessons, many pupils make strong progress in their knowledge, understanding and skills.

Most pupils demonstrate exemplary behaviour and high levels of engagement in their learning.  Rates of attendance are exceptionally high.