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Carmunnock Primary School

Standards and Quality Report for Session 2012-13

1 About our Carmunnock Primary School lies in the South East of Glasgow City, in the school / conservation village of Carmunnock. The building dates from 1973, is set in attractive centre grounds and is well maintained. The school roll is currently 164 organised into seven classes from Primary 1 to Primary 7.

In session 2012-13 the teaching complement was 9.4 FTE, including the Headteacher and two Principal teachers. There is one PSA (classroom) and two PSA (ASN) supporting children across the school. A Music specialist visits the schools one morning a week to work with P2 and P3 as part of the Youth Music Initiative.

The school is part of Castlemilk Learning Community and as such benefits from input from an Active Schools Co-ordinator. Our partners are Castlemilk High, St Margaret Mary’s Secondary, Miller Primary, Castleton Primary, John Paul 2 Primary, St Bartholomew’s Primary, Arnwood Nursery, Machrie Nursery, Castlemilk Family Learning Centre, Kirkriggs School and Linn Pre-school Assessment Centre.

The parent body takes an active part in the life of the school and there is a Parent Council which supports the school well through fundraising, organising a parent helper rota and a variety of initiatives.

The school also has productive links with the wider community and children’s experiences benefit greatly from joint working with business, charities and other agencies.

2 Our vision, The school’s Vision, Values and Aims were revised in full consultation with values and staff, pupils and parents in 2010. aims Vision Statement

Our Vision statement is “Carmunnock Primary School Loves To Learn”

INTERAGENCY PRO-FORMA 1 School Values

Wellbeing Equality Community Achievement Respect Each other

School Aims 1. To maximise achievement of all our pupils, particularly in Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing. 2. To provide the highest quality of learning and teaching to enable our children to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. 3. To foster an ethos of achievement, inclusion and equality in which all members of the school community are happy, secure and valued. 4. To work in positive, productive partnership with pupils, parents and the wider community to enhance learning experiences.

What outcomes have we achieved? 3A Our successes Improvements in performance (Quality indicator 1.1) and achievements The attainment in maths, reading and writing remains very good, with almost all pupils attaining appropriate standards in maths, reading and writing, with a significant number of pupils achieving much higher standards than those which would normally be expected for their ages.

Children’s progress across Curriculum for Excellence levels is tracked in teachers’ planning and by using a range of assessment evidence. We have tracked progress in Writing using the Big Writing Scottish Criteria and use MALT testing in Maths. Teachers and managers discuss children’s progress each term. Children or groups who are not making expected progress are referred to the ASL co-ordinator who will give additional support as appropriate. She liaises with the Educational Psychologist as required. A record of children’s wider achievements is collected in Pupil Achievement Folios. Each child has an Assessment and Achievement Folio to track each child’s Learning Journey. This is the first session this has been utilised across all classes fully is under regular review to improve and expand this.

The school improvement plan for session 2012-13 has impacted positively on teaching and learning throughout the school. There has been an emphasis on Global Citizenship and the school’s strong link with its partner school in Trinidad is evident in conversations with the children. This partnership will be further developed as part of the Commonwealth Games Legacy.

There has been awareness raising of Nurturing School principles with all staff and these principles are reflected in our ethos. These will be revisited next year with our Learning Community colleagues. All teachers now feel confident to plan and teach Maths in a variety of contexts and using active and inquiry approaches. This change in methodology is reflected in lessons at all stages.

P7 profiling was further developed this year with our Learning Community partners and was fully implemented within our P7 class. Children were able to profile their achievements in their learning to share with parents and secondary staff. A simpler model of reflective learning logs will be introduced across the school next session.

INTERAGENCY PRO-FORMA 2 How well do we meet the needs of our school/centre community?

How well do we meet the needs of our school/centre community?

Learners’ experiences (Quality indicator 2.1)

The overall quality of learners’ experiences is very good. Children are well behaved, engaged and well motivated to learn. They work very well independently or collaboratively, in pairs or groups. They benefit from active approaches to learning in lessons. They are becoming more skilled in setting targets for their own learning regularly and receive useful feedback from staff. Reflective learning logs will be introduced across the school next session to enable children to review and plan next steps in their learning.

We listen to pupils’ voices to improve their learning experiences. The P3-7 children‘s committees continue to impact positively on many aspects of the school’s work, however staffing issues during the session meant meetings were sometimes cancelled, hampering progress. Our updated House system was very successful this year with a positive impact on teamwork, motivation and behaviour. This also gave more children the chance to take a leadership role in the school.

As well as becoming successful learners, the wider achievements of the children across the school are excellent and reflect the success of the school in implementing the principles of “A Curriculum for Excellence”. Children are confident individuals who have a very good understanding of how they can make a positive contribution to their immediate and wider community.

Some of their achievements include:  Wide participation in after-school clubs, including Choir, Football, Rugby and Dance  Football team winning local leagues  Active pupil committees, including Health, Charities and Eco.  Accreditation as a Fair Trade School  P6 joint SOS project with St Bartholomew’s Primary.  Participation in the Scottish Country Dance Festival  Gymnastic team representing the school at the Glasgow Schools Competition  Various charity collections, including Catherine McEwan Foundation, Comic Relief and McMillan.  Playground Buddy scheme  Junior Road Safety Officers  Performing at class assemblies  Entering competitions at the local Horticultural show  Participation in the local Gala Day  P1-3 Nativity performance

How good is the education we provide? 3B The work and life of our The Curriculum (Quality indicator 5.1) school / centre The overall quality of the curriculum is very good. The children study a broad and balanced range of subjects with a strong emphasis on the core areas of Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing. The school has updated all programmes in line with the Curriculum for Excellence. Cross-curricular themes and meaningful contexts ensure effective teaching and learning in Sciences, Technologies and Social Studies. Maths, Language and Health and Well-being are taught across the curriculum. All teachers were involved in planning and implementing the Heinemann Active maths programme and the school has been asked to advise Learning Community colleagues with this next session.

INTERAGENCY PRO-FORMA 3 The use of special focus weeks, such as Health Week, Fairtrade Week and Science Week, helps children gain a deeper understanding about these areas. All classes benefit from two hours of PE a week and there is a Music specialist who works each week with infant classes.

Citizenship and Enterprise are well established through the school’s Eco programme, which also provides many opportunities for learning. The school has further strengthened its link with St Augustine South Government School in Trinidad and Tobago with the Headteacher visiting there in October. It is hoped that further reciprocal visits will be organised for session 2013-14 should funding from the British Council be secured. A joint project on global themes of biodiversity and sustainability has been successfully undertaken with children in both schools having excellent awareness and knowledge of these issues. The school also links with a range of different organisations to help enrich children’s experiences and have made very good use of local businesses, charities and community groups to work alongside staff and children. For example, the Countryside Ranger service worked with the school to develop the global diversity project.

A transition programme from feeder pre-five establishments is in place with good links made with the local nursery. A Principal Teacher meets regularly with the Early Years group within the Learning Community to plan and moderate learning experiences at Early Level. We have links with our associated secondary school Castlemilk High. We hope to build on these links in session 2013-14.

Meeting learning needs (Quality indicator 5.3)

The school is very good at meeting the learning needs of its pupils, with appropriate pace and challenge in almost all lessons. Self-evaluation shows there is some scope for teachers to plan more clearly differentiated lessons across the curriculum and this will be a focus for teachers’ classroom practice next session. This will be essential as there will be no teacher providing additional support for learning due to a reduction in staffing. All teaching and support staff are committed to inclusion and have been trained in the staged intervention approach.

Additional Support Plans are used in the school to ensure children with additional needs are fully supported. Pupils and parents are involved in the planning and review process. A Principal Teacher has lead responsibility for Additional Support Needs and has undergone training in this area. Careful records are kept which note any interventions, including these by Social Work and Health. This information is shared with other agencies where appropriate.

The school has very effective liaison with Psychological Services. The school continues to foster very good relationships with other partner agencies to ensure we meet children’s needs. Teachers and support staff working with children with specific difficulties such as ASD and ADHD have received training, which has helped foster an inclusive ethos.

Three members of staff have been trained in Glasgow’s Developmental PE programme. A group of children in P4/5 have daily exercises which are designed to improve co-ordination and concentration, however, due to staffing issues, this was limited this session. A PSA also is trained in the High Five reading programme and works with children to improve their skills in that area.

All Equality Policies reflect our inclusive principles. Staff adhere to these guidelines appropriately. Our Health and Wellbeing programme, incorporating themes from Glasgow’s Anti-Racist Education and Citizenship packs, is fully used across the school.

Improvement through self-evaluation (Quality indicator 5.9)

The overall quality of improvement through self-evaluation is very good. The Headteacher and staff are all involved in evaluating the work of the school. All staff, including support staff where appropriate, contribute to the yearly review and planning cycle. All teaching staff participate in initiatives which drive forward aspects

INTERAGENCY PRO-FORMA 4 of the improvement plan. They are strongly committed to improving the school through evaluating its practice. Teachers undergo an annual Professional Review when they reflect on aspects of their practice which they would like to develop; these are linked to the school improvement plan. All support staff also have personal development plans.

There is a clear monitoring calendar in place, agreed on by all staff. This includes sampling of work and pupil views, monitoring of planning, classroom visits and peer shadowing. Teachers reflect upon their own teaching by evaluating and setting targets for their teaching using “How Good Is My Lesson?” All evidence gathered is discussed at staff meetings with good practice being highlighted and shared. Any areas for development are also discussed and used to inform the school improvement plan. An annual sample of pupil and parent views also helps the school benchmark progress.

Parents are asked to comment on the school’s work through a variety of ways. Evaluations of special focus events, such as Health Week, are given out. End of session reports provide a chance to comment on their child’s progress and there is a regular comments section in the school newsletter. Many parents also give informal feedback through the Parent Council. Many parents have indicated that they would like more regular updates on their child’s progress. This will be an area for discussion and development next session, in partnership with the parent body.

Teachers evaluate teaching and learning in termly plans. Children are encouraged to also evaluate their own learning and set new targets through reflective logs. In many classes children are involved in giving feedback to their teachers. The children’s views in terms of school improvement are sought through the school committees structure. There is scope for further developing pupil leadership of aspects of the Improvement Plan and we are working to do this in meaningful ways, such as Thinking Circles at assemblies.

The school is working towards its Fourth Eco-Flag and is a Health Promoting School. We are also accredited as a Fair Trade School.

How good is our leadership? 3C Vision and Leadership Leadership of improvement and change (Quality indicator 9.4 with aspects of QIs 9.1-9.3)

The overall quality of leadership of improvement and change is very good. There is a strong ethos of collegiality and distributed leadership throughout our school. All staff, including support staff, have leadership responsibilities such as Eco Co-ordinator, Parent Co-ordinator or being part of the Health steering group. All teaching staff are part of working parties which take forward aspects of the improvement plan.

The Headteacher and two principal teachers lead all staff well by supporting them through change and developing their capacity to respond to this. Open and honest communication among staff is key to this with leaders at all levels listening to each other. Staff are also supported and encouraged to try new and innovative ideas.

The Headteacher has been involved in Peer Headteacher visits across the city this session. This process encouraged greater reflection, self-evaluation and sharing of good practice. We are now seeking to develop a similar shadowing programme for Principal Teachers next session across the three schools involved.

School staff work with colleagues across the Learning Community. This professional dialogue and shared work on, for example, P7 Profiles, has supported and challenged staff to improve their own practice. This has developed staff confidence in the principles of assessment and moderation and further opportunities for this have

INTERAGENCY PRO-FORMA 5 been planned for this wider collegiate approach in next session’s Working Time Agreement.

What are our areas for improvement in the coming session? 4 How good can we be? Session 2013/14 is year one of a three year School Improvement Planning cycle. In addition to the school’s own audit using robust self-evaluation evidence, our priorities respond to initiatives set out by the Authority and Scottish Government.

The priorities for 2013-14 are:  To develop teaching, assessment and moderation in Reading  To further ensure Nurturing School principles are reflected in our school ethos.  To involve children and parents are more fully in reviewing and setting learning targets.

All staff will have a part to play in the success of the improvement plan through the Working Time Agreement and distributed leadership responsibilities. The school’s collegiate approach and firm commitment to leadership at all levels has built capacity for change and the school is in a strong position to further improve.

For further information contact: Carmunnock Primary School 158 Waterside Road Glasgow G76 9AJ Tel no; 0141 644 4164

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