Improving teaching through an emphasis on professional learning
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Information about the school
Parkland Primary School in Sketty, Swansea, is an English-medium school with 651 pupils, including 124 part-time pupils. 28% of students speak English as an additional language, above the national average. Around 12% qualify for free school meals, below the national average, and around 7% have additional learning needs, also below the national average. The school hosts a specialist teaching facility to support pupils in Years 3 to 6 with additional learning needs from across the local authority.
The school’s senior leadership team consists of the head teacher, two deputy head teachers, four phase leaders and one ALNCo.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
The school prioritises professional learning and has various processes aligned with the improvement plan and the Schools as a Learning Organisation model. Professional learning is closely linked to the school’s vision; ‘Together We Thrive’ and involves the whole school community in development and improvement. Recent focus has been on supporting staff in developing pupils’ thinking skills, in line with the Curriculum for Wales, which recognises the role of pedagogy in nurturing metacognitive skills for future success.
Description of nature of strategy or activity
Professional learning processes have been used to develop pedagogy across the school to support the development and use of pupils’ metacognitive skills – these are detailed below.
Book Club: Regular Book Clubs are conducted with all teaching staff. Teachers are given dedicated time to read and engage with various publications, including articles, books, podcasts, and videos. The headship team selects these publications carefully and provides guiding questions to help teachers focus their thinking. Staff then engage in discussions about the content and are encouraged to identify a key takeaway that they can apply to their practice.
Research/reading library: The school established a digital repository that contains summaries written by staff about publications they have engaged with. Staff members identify key information related to metacognition and reflect on how they can incorporate their findings into future practice. This library is easily accessible to staff, who can use the contents list to navigate to specific summaries that support their professional learning.
Professional learning/dissemination: External professional learning opportunities are utilised to develop staff expertise. Carefully selected staff members attend training sessions, and the school ensures that the knowledge gained is shared and disseminated among all staff. The school also dedicated several INSET days to support all staff’s understanding and confidence.
Action Research: Leaders engage all teaching and support staff in action research – to reflect upon their own practices, identify areas for improvement and implement changes based on evidence. The school sought guidance and training from a local university. Experienced mentors from the university assist the action research teams by refining research questions, designing research methods, and analysing collected data. Their expertise ensures high-quality and rigorous research. Teach Meets are scheduled to provide action research teams with time to meet, track progress, and plan next steps. Collaboration and knowledge-sharing activities allow staff members to present their findings, share best practices, and receive feedback, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Overall, the collaboration between the local university and school plays a significant role in supporting the staff’s use of action research and in developing bespoke pedagogy to support the development of pupils’ thinking skills.
Video platform: The school utilises a videoing system with which staff review their own practice and that of their peers. The focus of the videoed sessions centre on pedagogy used to develop pupils’ thinking skills. Leaders review recorded sessions to identify practitioners’ areas of strength and support needs. Leaders then strategically group staff to review each others’ according to learn from each other.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
- Staff regularly provide highly effective opportunities for pupils to reflect on their learning and have autonomy in making improvements. This is embedded across the school.
- Staff regularly model highly effective thinking skills across the curriculum at developmentally appropriate levels.
- Most pupils successfully articulate their thinking before, during and after learning activities across the curriculum.
- Most pupils understand their strengths and areas for improvement.
How have you shared your good practice?
The school has welcomed staff from many local schools to share their practice.