Building effective partnerships to improve learning outcomes and wellbeing

Information about the school

Presteigne Primary School is in the small county town of Presteigne, on the Welsh-English border in the Powys local authority.  Pupils attending the school come from the town and the surrounding rural areas.  There are 168 pupils, aged between three and eleven years on the school roll.  There are seven classes with those in the Foundation Phase being of mixed age. 

Context and background to sector-leading practice

Presteigne Primary School is a reflective and self-improving school.  It strives to improve teaching and learning, and to give pupils the best opportunities to achieve positive outcomes.  As a community school, serving a rural town, it is committed to developing partnerships with stakeholders and the local community; it has an extensive range of partnerships that support pupils’ learning and wellbeing successfully.  The school is pro-active in seeking out staff professional development opportunities at local cluster schools and at schools further afield where there is evidence of excellent practice.  The school has an identified  member of the senior management team who has responsibility for the development of partnerships.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

Presteigne Primary School has developed highly effective partnerships that have led to the pupils achieving very good standards, outcomes and well-being.  The school has very active and effective pupil voice groups, which empower the pupils and enable them to contribute to developing the school. 

The school council has extended its understanding of democracy by the attendance of the town’s deputy mayor at school council meetings.  The deputy mayor leads discussions about the processes and protocols of town council meetings; this has resulted in pupils having a deeper understanding of the role of elected office.  This has supported the school’s vision of having purposeful pupil voice groups that have a noticeable impact on the quality of teaching, learning and wellbeing of the pupils. 

The school council also holds meetings with the local high school’s student council, thus developing joint project opportunities.  For example, all school council members (Foundation Phase to key stage 4) have completed surveys on the provision and facilities for children and young adults in the town.  They shared this information with the town council with the aim of securing future improvements. 

The school council leads ‘learning walks’ and ‘listening to learners’ activities.  Staff and the senior management team use the information gathered from doing this to identify priorities to improve teaching and learning.  For instance, the pupils identified aspects of information and communication technology (ICT) that the school could use to support elements of learning within lessons.  As a result, teachers now plan for the use of ICT in an increasingly creative and purposeful way.  The learning walks also identified strengths and areas to develop with regard to the pupils’ Welsh language skills and use of everyday Welsh.

The school is actively involved with ‘Dementia Friends’, an Alzheimer’s Society project.  All staff and governors have received ‘Dementia Awareness’ training from a facilitator.  This involved working through everyday tasks and considering the challenges that dementia sufferers face.  Children in upper key stage 2 have received training, and now participate in a range of school and community based activities, which develop dementia friendly communities such as villages, towns and cities where more people understand dementia, thus reducing fear and avoidance.  For example, a project has focused upon how senses, such as sound, can act as triggers for memories.  Pupils and sufferers have been learning songs from the different decades.  As a result, pupils at the school have an excellent understanding of how their contributions can support the wellbeing of others in their local community whose experiences are different from their own.

The school plans opportunities to develop family engagement on a termly basis.  The school runs open afternoons for parents and carers to visit and see the whole school at work.  It also invites parents and carers to have lunch with their children.  The school provides opportunities for parents and carers to visit their children’s classroom and work alongside their children and to forge close links with the teachers and support staff.  Staff invite family members to visit classrooms when they are delivering a specific aspect of the curriculum, such as Welsh, reading or ICT.  This strengthens family-school links whilst informing parents of classroom practices, standards and provision. 

Sharing best practice is a regular agenda item for staff meetings.  The school has also developed a peer support network, which enables staff to work alongside each other to observe and develop best practice.  To extend this, staff identify opportunities available in other schools that will develop aspects of standards, provision and wellbeing.  This has included staff and members of the senior management team visiting schools across the local authority, regional consortium and Wales.  Examples include visiting and observing best practice with regard to ICT and the Digital Competency Framework, marking, giving feedback, responding to pupils’ work, and developing numeracy by using rich tasks. 

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

• Pupil engagement and pupils’ interest in learning is high.  They demonstrate very positive attitudes to learning and engage well in lessons and in developing the whole school.  The pupils work positively when contributing to community-linked projects.  As a result, attendance has been very good over the past 3 years, and the school is in the top 25% when compared with similar schools. 
• Behaviour in lessons and around the school is exemplary.  Pupils are polite and show respect for adults and each other.  The school puts great emphasis on the value of the pupils’ ideas and contributions to whole school development.  The sense of shared ownership and responsibility has resulted in nearly all pupils becoming more self-governing and reflective with regard to their learning and wellbeing. 
• Parents and carers are developing a greater understanding of their children’s learning.  This has led to an increase in parents’ own confidence, skills and participation.  For example, 98% of parents regularly attend parents’ evenings and over 95% of parents regularly attend school events such as the annual Eisteddfod, St. David’s Day celebrations and school productions. 

How have you shared your good practice?

Presteigne Primary School has shared its practice with the partners involved.  Staff welcome the opportunity to share their experiences with other schools and contribute to the development of partnership working.