Head of Muir Primary School Standards and Quality Report 2016-2017
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Head of Muir Primary School Standards and Quality Report 2016-2017 Dear Parent/Carer, Each year the government and the council publish information designed to show schools and local authorities are improving pupil performance and achievement year on year. In similar fashion, we in Head of Muir Primary School and Nursery would like to tell you how we are progressing in our school. This leaflet is designed to do just that. It is our 'Standards and Quality Report' for last session. Inside, you will find a brief description of our main achievements during the last session. Whilst we do many things in the course of a year, we have focused on what be the most important areas. I have outlined the school's main priorities for next session. I hope you find the leaflet helpful. If you have any questions about it, please do not hesitate to phone the school office for an appointment. Fiona Anderson Headteacher September 2017 Our priorities for 2016-2017 – How did we do? 1 Implementation of new approach to phonics (extended to include other aspects of literacy and communication) This session staff at early and first level developed their approaches to teaching phonics through the implementation of a synthetics phonics methodology. Using the synthetics approach, children developed their literacy skills of reading, learning sounds and writing simultaneously. Teachers worked collaboratively to plan and implement a phonics programme linked to the reading scheme, Oxford Reading Tree. These materials have supported an increased motivation for learning by the pupils by sharing familiar characters and storylines and also enhanced teacher confidence in delivering this aspect of the curriculum. The RACI group also developed the Approaches to Early Literacy Policy taking into account the new methodologies. The impact of these developments are that not only have children developed an increased motivation and enthusiasm for all aspects of literacy, staff have observed an increased performance in emerging literacy skills in the majority of pupils. This session, after our School Improvement Planning priorities were established, we were invited to take part in the Denny Cluster’s Innovation Project. The project, supported with funding from the Attainment Challenge fund, supports primary cluster working in partnership with Speech and Language Therapy to ensure that children, regardless of their socio-economic background, experience improved spoken language, confidence and learning. Its aim is to develop sustainable best practice across a cluster of seven primary schools. This session staff took part in collegiate sessions looking at various strategies and approaches to learning including word aware, colourful semantics and Boardmaker. Staff within the early level classes worked to enhance the communication environment across the school through the use of symbols. Staff also welcomed the opportunity to work in partnership with the speech and language therapist both within the class and by job shadowing. This programme is being continued into 2017-2018. 2 Development of whole school approach to nurture Working in partnership with the SEED (Social and Emotional Education and Development) programme our aim this session was to promote emotional and social wellbeing, in particular with reference to developing a whole school approach to nurture and creating a nurturing school ethos. The RACI group’s first task (led by one of our class teachers) was to explore definitions of nurture and complete a whole school audit to ascertain what staff’s perceptions and understanding were. Using a workshop style approach, staff who recently completed nurture training cascaded information to all staff about nurture, identifying key principles of how to support pupils and different strategies to support all pupils. This session, staff also introduced the Knowing Me, Knowing You programme within classes to support social and emotional education. The programme allows for progression of learning from Primary1 to Primary 7 within the key areas of feelings, needs, wants, values, thoughts and choosing what to say and do. The impact of these developments is that staff have a better understanding of how to identify and support pupils with social and emotional needs that may attributed to attachment and nurture issues. Pupils are now engaging in a more comprehensive and structured programme of learning and have a better understanding of their own health and wellbeing and how to discuss this in terms of their rights and responsibilities. Using our Pupil Equity Funding, we will be exploring nurture and emotional health and wellbeing further. This will include improving the playground to develop quiet areas and exploring mindfulness with staff, pupils and parents. 3 Development of skills progression from Nursery to P7 in ICT The RACI group with responsibility for this area of the school improvement plan worked to identify our current skills progression in ICT and determine its effectiveness. The group audited a range of existing skills progressions from across Scotland to create skills development pathways for Early, First and Second levels. In key areas, staff identified the recommended a range of skills to be completed in progression. Although not complete, the group has worked to identify the most appropriate skills to be developed at each stage between Primary 1 – 7. This work will completed and shared with all staff later in the 2017-2018 session. 4 Further development of curriculum to include bundling of Es and Os in four aspects of the curriculum and introduction of progression pathways Following four years of development, this session saw the current structure of the curriculum being finalised and shared with all staff. Curriculum folders now include literacy and numeracy progressions (developed by Falkirk Council which include Education Scotland’s benchmarks), Interdisciplinary bundles and planning methodologies, and both bundles for development of skills for other curricular areas and those including the life and ethos of the school. As part of our most recent inspection by Education Scotland we identified this as our ‘choice’ quality indicator to engage in further dialogue and consultation. Our vision to develop further skills development across the curriculum was endorsed and we were reassured, that with some further development, our curriculum meets the expectations of Education Scotland. Our next steps in this area will be to increase pupil choice across the curriculum including through differentiation and inter-disciplinary learning. We will also be focussing on supporting pupils to develop their capacity to identify their own skills in their learning though the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Education Scotland Inspection In March 2017, the school and nursery were inspected by a team from Education Scotland (HMIE). The team of eight inspectors visited all classes and the nursery and met with members of the Senior Management Team, staff groups, parents and partners to evaluate our self-evaluation in six key areas. These included: 1.1 Self evaluation for self-improvement 2.2 Curriculum (chosen by school, no grading given) 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessment 2.7 Partnerships (chosen by nursery, no grading given) 3.1 Ensuring well-being and equality 3.2 Raising attainment and achievement The inspection team published their report in June 2017. The inspection team found the following strengths in the school’s work: Confident and friendly children who are enthusiastic about their learning. Passion and commitment of staff within the nursery class to provide an environment where the wellbeing of children and families is paramount. Headteacher and depute, along with the whole staff team who demonstrate a collective commitment to taking forward school improvement. Strong approaches to transition which help children move successfully on to P1. The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the Senior Management Team and a representative from Falkirk Council: Improve consistency in learning and teaching to ensure all children experience high quality learning. Continue to monitor the development of the curriculum to ensure the attainment of all learners improves. Extend further the range of opportunities across all area of learning for children to develop their leadership skills and contribute to school improvement. Further develop approaches to self-evaluation to ensure continuous improvement. Further information and the detailed report can be found at: https://education.gov.scot/inspection-reports/falkirk/5745527 Highlights of 2016-2017 August September Football Sessions by Stenhousemuir FC MacMillan Coffee Morning October November Re-launch of Community Groups St Andrew’s Day celebrations P7 visit to Ardeonaig Book Fair P7 Bikeability December January Christmas Concert P7 Burns Night Celebrations Talent Show Scots Poetry Competition Falkirk Schools Gymnastics Competition P1 Nativity February March Book Fair Community Quiz SEED Wellbeing survey conducted Visit from HMIE April May/June P6 Athletics P7 Bikeability Buddy Training Sports Days P7 Leavers’ Assembly School Improvement Priorities 2017-2018 Priority 1 Develop consistent approaches to learning and teaching across the school through further emphasis on Assessment is for Learning Priority 2 Extend health and wellbeing approaches to enhance nurturing principles and positive behaviour strategies Priority 3 Enhance leadership of learning for all pupils Priority 4 Support teaching staff to be more confident in assessing the achievement of a level with reference to national expectations. .