Strathearn School School Development Plan 2017-2020
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Strathearn School School Development Plan 2017-2020 Strathearn School School Development Plan 2017-2020 1 | P a g e Strathearn School School Development Plan 2017-2020 11 Jun 2017 SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLAN Preface This School Development Plan (SDP) details the priorities of Strathearn School for the period 2017-2020. These priorities have been identified after an analysis of a range of information and consultation with parents, pupils, staff and the Board of Governors of the school, as well as educational and community partners. The Board of Governors has delegated to the Principal the requirement to monitor, evaluate and review the School Development Plan on an annual basis through verbal and written reports from those members of the Senior Staff and other parties who are responsible for each Action Plan based on the stated success criteria. Members will monitor progress through meetings with those responsible for the Action Plans on a termly basis and report to the Governors and Principal annually. Introduction Strathearn School is one of the top girls’ grammar schools in Northern Ireland. It has a national reputation for academic success and is locally renowned for music, sport and drama. The last ETI Inspection in September 2010 details more fully the ‘very good’ quality of education offered by the school. The overall size of the school with 780 pupils and small class size allows each individual pupil to develop in a caring and supportive environment. The school is situated in extensive grounds and enjoys complete seclusion in very attractive surroundings with well-equipped buildings and excellent sporting facilities. Pupils are drawn from a wide ranging catchment area including East Belfast and North Down. The school completed a new build in Autumn 2014. Good schools, like all successful organisations, reflect carefully and regularly on their practice and on progress made towards the achievement of their goals and the realisation of their vision. There is embedded in their culture a process of rigorous, honest, self-evaluation and review, combined with a commitment to continuous improvement and the establishment of Action Plans to reach their targets and we in Strathearn School are no different. We are committed to the pursuit of excellence in a caring, supportive environment and we embrace the culture of continuous improvement based on rigorous self-evaluation. This School Development Plan [SDP] 2017-2020 recognises key strengths, identifies areas where improvement and development are needed and contains eleven agreed Action Plans to improve the standard of education provided to our pupils. There are many challenges facing our education system and schools today. Curricular changes and developments in area-based planning seem to have been a constant feature of 2 | P a g e Strathearn School School Development Plan 2017-2020 the education landscape over many years but undoubtedly the current climate of financial restraint imposes severe limits on what can be achieved. In spite of these constraints, our School Development Plan charts a path which will help us move forward to address the priorities we have established to ensure that our young people will fulfil their potential, develop an appreciation of learning as an enjoyable, continuous process and leave the school, equipped with the skills and values that will support them for the rest of their lives. 3 | P a g e Strathearn School School Development Plan 2017-2020 1. A Statement and Evaluation of the School Ethos Strathearn School is a selective single sex girls (11-19) grammar school which serves young people from the East and South Belfast, North Down and the Ards peninsula through the promotion of academic excellence. It is an inclusive school welcoming pupils of all faiths, respectful of all religious beliefs and encouraging the religious development of all in their own faith. Vision Statement Strathearn exists for its pupils; we put the needs of the girls ‘first’ Aims – We strive: To demonstrate equal value for each individual To show that excellence and endeavour have an equal place To encourage the development of each girl’s various talents and abilities To provide the best possible learning experiences To create a pleasant and purposeful working environment To make real the partnership between home and school – pupils, parents, teachers and governors Evaluation (review of last three years) In Strathearn we are very aware that young people have varied needs and gifts, and our aim is to meet the former whilst helping them develop the latter. They need personal support within a relevant and enjoyable academic framework; encouragement to enjoy their leisure time and the worlds of art, culture and sport, as well as the challenge of intellectual discipline; the opportunity not only to succeed themselves, but also to serve and perhaps to lead. Our committed staff working in our excellent facilities caters for almost all of our pupils’ interests, be they popular or specialist. The school’s pastoral care structure, based on Tutor Groups, helps each girl grow towards maturity and seeks to ensure that they become independent, life-long learners. We are a vibrant school, proud of what we have achieved, and in this rapidly changing world we are constantly seeking better ways of preparing our pupils to meet its challenging demands. The provision for pastoral care within the school is outstanding. The school is highly committed to the on-going development of the pastoral provision. Among the strengths of the pastoral provision are the very supportive and inclusive ethos; the learning experiences 4 | P a g e Strathearn School School Development Plan 2017-2020 provided for the pupils beyond the classroom to develop their personal and social skills; and the effective communication of pastoral policies and information to parents. In the Kirkland Rowell, undertaken in October 2015, parents gave the school an outstanding overall performance score of 89.0%, based on twenty Core Parent Priorities. In terms of the school’s performance 94.8% of parents gave a rating of ‘good or very good’ while 92.4 % of parents said they would recommend the school to another parent. Parents considered the delivery of the following non-academic areas to be ‘outstanding’: school facilities, school discipline, school security, choice of subjects, availability of resources, school communication, exam results, developing moral values, levels of homework, teaching quality, control of bullying, developing confidence, social and health education, truancy control, happiness of the child, community spirit, computer access, careers advice and developing potential. The non-academic areas of careers advice and choice of subjects was considered to be ‘good’. In their survey pupils gave the school an excellent overall performance score of 90.0%. In terms of the school’s performance 82.8% of parents gave a rating of ‘good or very good’ while 93.5 % of pupils said they would recommend the school to another pupil. Staff gave an excellent overall performance score of 94.1% with 100% rating as the overall score for the school performance and 100% would recommend the school to prospective parents. Evidence Kirkland Rowell Surveys of Student, Parents and Staff. October2015. Pastoral Care Team minutes Year 14 student destinations School Council Minutes Areas for Development Develop further the communication between staff and parents/school community and focus the engagement on educational success and achievement 5 | P a g e Strathearn School School Development Plan 2017-2020 2(a) A summary and evaluation of the strategies in place for learning, teaching, assessment and promoting the raising of standards of attainment, in particular in Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT. Learning and Teaching There are a number of strategies in place for Learning, Teaching and Assessment. These have been agreed at whole school level and include policies for Teaching and Learning, Acceptable Use of Mobile Devices, E-Safety, Examinations and Controlled Assessment. The staged approach to incorporating these strategies into the curriculum has been rolled out over the past three years with policies regularly reviewed and updated. Over the past two years there has been a strong emphasis on extending e-learning opportunities for pupils. Teaching and support staff work continually to create and maintain a supportive and motivating atmosphere for learning. Routine classroom practices involve a balance of teaching approaches including whole class, group, paired and individual activities. Classroom strategies include the use of all three strands of AfL: effective questioning, formative feedback and scaffolding reflection. Teachers maintain realistically high expectations for all pupils and they cooperate effectively with technicians, librarian and classroom assistants in order to maximize the learning opportunities for all pupils. The learning and teaching approaches adopted are such that pupils achieve suitably high standards. There has been whole school In-service training sessions on SIMS Lesson Monitor, action planning, e- learning and Data Protection. Over the past two years, an extensive iPad training programme for staff was delivered by iTeach. The established Learning Support Team (LST) ensures effective intervention and support are in place to meet the additional educational and other needs of pupils and to help them overcome barriers to learning. Recent whole school PRSD objectives have focused on Assessment for Learning,