Establishing a cohesive team for a successful federation - Estyn

Establishing a cohesive team for a successful federation

Effective Practice
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Gilfach Fargoed Primary School

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Information about the school or provider

Gilfach Fargoed and Park Primaries have been federated since September 2019. Both schools serve the community of Bargoed and both experience relatively high levels of deprivation. Over 55% of children in Park Primary and over 30% in Gilfach Fargoed are eligible for free school meals. The federation serves 307 children between the two schools with 3% of children speaking English as an additional language. Both schools have full time nurseries and mixed year group classes.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

There is exceptionally strong collaboration between staff across both schools in the federation, with the vision of “two schools, one team” understood by all. Coaching and mentoring activities, as well as other strategies to develop pedagogical practices, maximise the potential of the federation to allow best practice to be shared and developed widely. There are effective strategies in place for all staff to develop their leadership skills, often across the federation. This, not only builds capacity, but benefits the staff, in terms of their professional learning and effective deployment and. Most importantly, pupils benefit from the resulting effective teaching, making better than expected progress from their individual starting points.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

  • Initially leaders developed a supportive, open and honest culture across both schools, establishing expectations of teaching and of pupils’ learning. Securing a shared understanding of the non-negotiables of teaching and learning, the school prioritised their “Ten Commandments”, which link to pedagogical principles. To facilitate this development, staff shadowed others in a variety of roles to share best practice, and took part in professional learning to disseminate excellence.
  • The senior leadership team was expanded to include teachers from both schools. Leaders reviewed staff roles to focus on outcomes for learners and to strengthen leadership. Middle leadership roles were developed, with peer colleagues supporting one another in roles across the schools, and a collaborative approach to appropriate middle leadership training was taken.
  • Shared INSET days and training events enabled staff to work as a team and to facilitate relationships across the schools. For example, staff from both schools worked together to develop expertise in a specific AoLE as teams, attending training together and disseminating to all staff.
  • Involving governors proactively, in joint school visits to support self-evaluation activities, encouraged them to embrace the “two schools, one team” ethos and to reduce the impact of former loyalties.
  • There was an overhaul of existing cycle of self-evaluation practices so that practice aligned.
  • Staff established a shared calendar of events and activities for all pupils.
  • Coaching and mentoring teams worked across both schools, as did triad systems and paired roles such as ALNCo and Well-being lead. This enabled staff to develop a supportive culture of improvement, developing pedagogical practices for example.

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

Prior to federation, expectations of pupils at Park Primary were low, a culture engendered by the levels of deprivation in the community. The quality of teaching was inconsistent and the majority of pupils did not make the expected progress. There was very little evidence of pupil involvement in their learning. An Estyn monitoring visit found no evidence of collaborative planning in the school and “too little focus on consistency and progression.”

Following federation and confirmed by the Estyn inspection of 2023:

  • Most pupils at Park Primary School are now making “strong progress from very low baselines”. The strong collaborative work on Curriculum for Wales ensures that “nearly all children are capable and aspirational learners”.
  • Thanks to the effective development of pedagogy, and the consistency of expectations, teachers in Park Primary successfully motivate pupils to persevere and succeed in their learning.
  • Very successful partnership working on well-being, including an innovative approach to interventions, has ensured that standards of well-being are high in the school. Estyn describes this as “a notable strength and a valuable focus of the school’s work.”
  • Pupils now play a crucial role in school improvement, with many taking on useful and impactful leadership roles through a range of inclusive pupil groups.

Gilfach Fargoed Primary, too, has benefited enormously from the partnership, with enhanced opportunities for leadership roles, and wider team working, leading to improved outcomes for learners. In 2023, Estyn found:

  • There is effective use of distributed leadership throughout the federation, which works to the advantage of both schools, both being stronger as a result.
  • The focus on effective teaching and developing leaders has ignited a passion for learning within the school staff.

Collaborative planning and training, as well as shared research opportunities, have developed expertise, ensured a culture of enquiry and innovation and led to a more informed, reflective workforce who consistently demonstrate high levels of sustained professional practice.

How have you shared your good practice?

Gilfach Fargoed and Park Primary Schools Federation shares its good practice with other schools within its cluster regularly, as well as, more widely, in its role as a Partner School for EAS, focusing on wellbeing and numeracy. The Partner School role depends for its success on the thriving partnership between both schools in the federation.