effective practice in central south wales schools … · 2016 . 2 disclaimer the central south...

CENTRAL SOUTH WALES CHALLENGE

HER CANOL DE CYMRU

Effective Practice in

Central South Wales Schools

2016

w w w . c s c j e s . o r g . u k

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DisclaimerThe Central South Consortium (CSC) has produced this publication to support schools in the Central South Wales region and beyond to share effective practice with their colleagues.Whilst CSC have made every effort to quality assure the practices that are detailed in the case studies and have asked for all submitted case studies to include two examples of where the effective practice has been recognised, CSC cannot guarantee the accuracy, completeness or quality of the information provided.Challenge Advisers in CSC have approved the content of these case studies.The case studies within this document represent effective practice that worked in a particular school at a particular point in time. Users of this document are asked to remain mindful that the outcomes and performance of schools are constantly subject to change.CSC is happy to support schools to implement practice found in this publication, but cannot be held responsible for the outcomes of any practice that is replicated in a school without due consideration to the context.Please contact the Consortium on 01443 827500 or [email protected] if you require support to implement any of these practices in your school.

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C o n t e n t s

Introduction �� 5Archbishop McGrath Catholic Comprehensive School - Improving Pupil Outcomes In L2+ �� 6Bishop Hedley Catholic High School - Partnership Working with Welsh Water �� 8Bishop Hedley Catholic High School - The Impact Of Literacy Mastery Sessions On eFSM Pupils Using Digital Workstations �� 9Bodringallt Primary School - Improving Attendance �� 11Bryn Celyn Primary School - Improving Attendance �� 13Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive School - Effective Pupil Voice And Leading From The Centre �� 15Bryn Deri Primary School - Computational Thinking To Support Literacy and Numeracy Skills Development �� 17Bryn Hafren Comprehensive School - Effective Marking And Feedback To Raise Attainment Of eFSM Pupils �� 19Bryntirion Comprehensive School - Closing The Gap (Ipsos MORI) �� 21Bryntirion Comprehensive School - Prevention �� 23Bryntirion Comprehensive School - Using Success Criteria Rubrics To Close The Attainment Gap For eFSM Learners In Literacy�� 24Capcoch Primary School - John Muir Award �� 25Cardiff High School - Pedagogical Approaches To Close The eFSM Gap �� 27Cynffig Comprehensive School - Immersion (Learning Styles) �� 29Cynffig Comprehensive School - Mastery �� 31Cynffig Comprehensive School - Co-Construction: Teaching Teachers To Learn And Learners To Teach �� 33Darran Park Primary School - Microsoft Showcase School Status �� 34Darran Park Primary School - Improving Family Engagement �� 36Darran Park Primary School - Our ICT Journey �� 38Ferndale Community School - Partnership Working With Local Garages �� 40Ferndale Community School and Maerdy Primary School - Attendance Circles �� 41Ferndale Community School - Raising Standards In English And mathematics �� 42Ferndale Community School - Transition Fortnight �� 44Ferndale Community School - Closing The Gap (Ipsos MORI) �� 46Fitzalan High School - History Boys �� 49Herbert Thompson Primary School - Closing The Gap (Ipsos MORI) �� 51Llanharan Primary School - Emotional Literacy In Year 6 �� 53Llanhari Primary School - Excellent Practice In Teaching And Learning �� 56

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Llanishen Fach Primary School - Art And Thinking Skills �� 58Llanhishen High School - Principality Staff Providing Literacy Support For Year 8 Pupils �� 60Maesteg Comprehensive School - Closing The Gap (Ipsos MORI) �� 63Marlborough Primary School - Improving Attendance �� 66Marlborough Primary School - Using Continua To Improve Teaching �� 68Meadowlane Primary School - Wallpaper Activity �� 70Mount Stuart Primary School - Closing The Gap (Ipsos MORI) �� 72Palmerston Primary School - Engaging Effectively With The Community To Raise Standards �� 75Palmerston Primary School - Improve Whole-School Play Opportunities And Pupil Behaviour Through The Use Of A ‘Play Pod’ �� 77Palmerston Primary School - Improving Standards Of Literacy Across the School �� 79Pencoed Primary School - Improving Attendance �� 81Pencoed Comprehensive School - Words Give Us Power! �� 84Pencoed Comprehensive School - Closing the Gap (Ipsos MORI) �� 86Pontypridd High School - Construction Department Partnership Working �� 89Radnor Primary School - Improving Standards Of Welsh Second Language i a Primary School �� 91Roath Park Primary School - The War Room! �� 93Romilly Primary School - Growth Mindset Mentoring To Improve Literacy and Numeracy in Year 3 eFSM�� 94Windsor Clive Primary School - Coaching �� 96YGG Llyn y Forwyn (With SIG 22) - NBAR Well-Being Intervention �� 99Ysgol Gwaelod y Garth - Improve The Link Between The School And The Local Community �� 100

Additional Sources Of Case Studies From Central South Wales Schools �� 102Estyn �� 102School Improvement Groups (SIGs) �� 103Governors Wales �� 104Learning Wales �� 105Reducing The Impact Of Poverty On Educational Achievement – Policy Observatory Report �� 106Business In The Community �� 107Lead Creative Schools –Arts Council of Wales �� 108Wales Audit Office �� 109Good Practice Wales �� 110

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In January 2014, the five local authorities that constitute Central South Wales (Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taff and the Vale of Glamorgan) launched a major new strategy to raise standards across all schools in the region; the Central South Wales Challenge.The Central South Wales Challenge has been designed to enable schools in the region to become self-improving� In order to support school-to-school working the Central South Consortium has developed an ongoing knowledge bank of effective practice case studies that have taken place over the last two years�

All the case studies can be accessed via the Consortium’s Case Studies website (case-studies-cscjes.org.uk) and can be searched according to various criteria� We are adding new case studies from a wide variety of sources on a weekly basis� If any schools in the region would like to submit a new case study or would like to add an existing case study please contact [email protected]�

I n t r o d u c t i o n

About the Central South ConsortiumThe Central South Consortium (CSC) is a school improvement service which operates on behalf of five local authorities: Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

This region is the most populous in Wales� It includes over 400 schools and serves 135,000 learners - a third of the country’s school age children� The region is home to the highest number and the largest proportion of children living in poverty; it is also home to the capital city and the economic, financial, creative and media industries of Wales.

Our ambition as a region is that, by 2018:

• our learners achieve the best educational outcomes in Wales, rivalling similar parts of the United Kingdom;

• the poverty-related attainment gap is closing faster here than anywhere else in Wales; and

• that the region is known and recognised for its high-quality school-led professional learning.

Context and background to case studyImproving the percentage of pupils achieving the Level 2+ was identified as a key target through the evaluation of the 2013 GCSE results. The percentage of pupils who were achieving this threshold had remained static for 3 years and standards were below the benchmarking median� The Deputy Headteacher, working in conjunction with the CSC Challenge Adviser, reviewed current systems for tracking and assessing pupil progress in the L2+ and set more challenging targets in line with FFTD5�

Senior leaders identified that tracking procedures needed refinement and greater accountability was required at class teacher and middle leader level to ensure the accuracy of unverified assessment data� A more robust method of tracking pupil progress over the Key Stage was required so that reactive planning and targeted interventions would impact on standards.

The restructure of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) led to the appointment of an Assistant Headteacher to develop systems and quality assure assessment data and the analysis of this data. Line management intervention was increased to support and challenge middle leaders, with regular reviews of progress and updated targets for improvement�

Improving the Level 2+ was embedded as a key target within the new SLT’s strategic priorities. Information on the importance of achieving the Level 2+ was given to parents in the Year 11 parents’ evening and in the Key Stage 4 consultation evening. Improving performance in this benchmark was highlighted as a priority for all staff in the INSET day dedicated to the launch of the new team and its vision for ensuring a rapid improvement in standards�

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Archbishop McGrath Catholic Comprehensive School

Nature of strategy or activityA new system of providing Minimum Expected Grade (MEG) for each pupil was implemented. The base level for this was the FFT (D25) estimate. If a HoD wanted to set a MEG lower than this a case would need to be made in a line management meeting. Line managers would challenge any incidences of this but flexibility was also required� In many cases the MEG was set higher than the FFT (D25). The FFT(D5) estimate was maintained but renamed the Aspirational Target�

New interim reports were designed show MEG, Current attainment and Aspirational Targets then information evenings were held for parents and assemblies for pupils to explain the new data� The feedback from both was very positive.

New data analysis documents were implemented showing an analytical breakdown of target groups such as MAT EAL FSM M/F. Additional analysis to identify pupils who were failing to achieve the L2+ threshold by 3 or less subjects was also introduced� Photo sheets of these ‘Top 20’ pupils and the subjects they were achieving D grades in were disseminated after each data collection.

A r c h b i s h o p M c G r a t h C a t h o l i c C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - I m p r o v i n g P u p i l O u t c o m e s I n L 2 +

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These new documents allowed teachers to focus on the progress of groups and more importantly individuals� They are able to make comments and set action plans without having to worry about the analysis process�

Tracking of pupil progress was refined with the introduction of sub grades a, b and c to indicate above, on or below was also included with current attainment data to provide finer detail with tracking�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipThe local authority target of 61% Level 2+ was a key priority and progress towards exceeding this was closely monitored. A combination of actual grades achieved through early entry in core subjects with current attainment grades in non-core subjects allowed identification of pupils who were already achieving the Level 2+ threshold and those who were borderline� These borderline pupils were targeted through discrete intervention groups which provided additional contact time and allowed better mentoring to meet their needs� As standards improved and the 61% target was exceeded the pupils identified for intervention changed which necessitated a flexible nature to the interventions. Additional intervention groups were provided to pupils identified in the Level 2+ threshold and strategies to improve standards such as single sex groups showed significant results in both areas.

After each of the 11 data collections across Key Stage 4, staff meetings are held to share the analysis. Each member of staff is provided with the full data set for Year 10 and 11 which shows the progress of each pupil in all subjects. This increased openness and accountability for all departments has fostered collaboration and support between departments to drive standards equally�

Analysis points to the school achieving its highest ever result for Level 2+. Confirmed results for A*/C in core subjects of 65% in mathematics, 93% in science and 74% in English with the addition of 95% for the level 2 PSE qualification means

that pupils only have to achieve one other A*/C qualification to reach the Level 2+ threshold.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Angela KellerE-Mail angela�keller@bridgend�

gov�ukTelephone 01656 815500Website www�archbishopmg�co�uk

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B i s h o p H e d l e y C a t h o l i c H i g h S c h o o l - P a r t n e r s h i p Wo r k i n g w i t h We l s h Wa t e r

Bishop Hedley Catholic High School have been working with Welsh Water through the Business in the Community ‘Business Class’ programme� Business Class provides a systematic and proven framework for businesses to support young people facing social disadvantage, by forming long-term partnerships with the schools these young people attend. Welsh Water has been Bishop Hedley’s business partner for the past two years�

Through the Business Class programme, the school has been involved in a wide variety of events, aimed at year groups across the school.

In-school activitiesFour Welsh Water representatives assisted with a Dragons’ Den activity for Year 9 pupils. The winning group went to the grand final at Blaenau Gwent Civic Centre, where they went on to win the competition, in which over 550 Year 9 pupils had taken part. Year 9 and 10 girls attended a ‘Females in Science’ role model activity and talk at Welsh Water’s Glaslyn Laboratories in Newport. Year 8 and 9 more able and talented pupils participated in a ‘Give and Gain’ day, painting a mural�

Employability workshopsYear 10 more able and talented pupils participated in workshops about CVs, job applications and interview techniques, before Welsh Water held formal job interviews for the pupils. Year 9 were involved in a collaborative employability skills day. Year 10 pupils went to visit Welsh Water in Dinas Powys, to participate in a team building skills day.

Apprenticeship supportWelsh Water held a ‘drop in and discuss’ day with apprentices, for Year 10 and Year 11 pupils to find out more about graduate and apprenticeship schemes�

Teacher activitiesMiddle Leaders at Bishop Hedley were invited to a Middle Leaders Inspirational Day with Welsh Water in September 2014�

“As the teacher in charge of work-related education in our school, I have found my

involvement with Business in the Community a truly positive experience. It has really motivated

our pupils by giving them a much better understanding of the links between education and work. The activities our young people are

engaging in are a fantastic way of making sure that they are developing the skills and attitudes they need to be successful when they move on

from school.”

Leo Howfield, Bishop Hedley

Bishop Hedley Catholic High School

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Maureen HarrisE-Mail head@bishophedleyhigh�

merthyr�sch�ukTelephone 01685 721747Website bishophedley�co�uk

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Context and background to case studyThe school had already been doing a ‘literacy in form time’ slot which was proving popular with pupils and teachers� The aim was to measure the impact of these 15 minute sessions and improve their impact by differentiating their content using a ‘workstations’ style approach.

Nature of strategy or activityInitially literacy in form time sessions was a 15 minute slot where pupils completed literacy tasks in booklets. These were not differentiated and often teachers had no way of helping pupils as answers or support were not included� These sessions were then changed to reflect the practice of numeracy in school which used PowerPoints to facilitate form time activities. The content of the booklets was revised and cross-referenced with the LNF to ensure compliance with the skills required. The focus was on three different literacy aspects to do with reading, writing and oracy. These were then adapted for PowerPoint, including answers and games� When considering this action research the decision was made to also include digital workstations inside the PowerPoints themselves in the form of QR codes that would differentiate the tasks for pupils using a “I’m stuck” and “What’s next” approach to allow pupils to access the task at different levels. QR codes allowed pupils a level of ownership and responsibility for their own learning as they could access them using iPads or phones as and when required throughout the session�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipThe action research was carried out on one Year 8 class comprising 25 pupils� At the start of the

B i s h o p H e d l e y C a t h o l i c H i g h S c h o o l - T h e I m p a c t O f L i t e r a c y M a s t e r y S e s s i o n s O n e F S M P u p i l s U s i n g D i g i t a l Wo r k s t a t i o n s

research data for all these pupils was collected from their previous oracy, reading and writing assessments in English� Of these 27 pupils 5 were eFSM. After a term of pupils doing one literacy session per week in form time using the new PowerPoints their levels for oracy, reading and writing were compared with their baseline data. (BHHS assess for oracy, reading and writing once a half term, so no additional testing was required).

The following table shows the results before and after. The difference is calculated in sub levels (1, 2 or 3, e.g. 4-, 4, 4+).

Name eFSM O1 R1 W1 Av O2 R2 W2 AV DIF

Child 1 N 6 6 6 6 7 6 6 6+ 1

Child 2 Y 5 4 3 4 5 4 4 4+ 1

Child 3 Y 4 4 4 4 5 5 4 4+ 2

Child 4 N 4 5 5 5- 5 5 5 5 1

Child 5 N 6 6 5 6- 6 6 5 6- 0

Child 6 N 4 4 4 4 4 5 4 4+ 1

Child 7 N 4 5 4 4+ 4 4 4 5 1

Child 8 N 6 5 6 6- 6 6 7 6 2

Child 9 N 5 5 6 5+ 5 5 5 5 -1

Child 10 N 5 5 5 5 5 6 5 5+ 1

Child 11 N 4 5 4 4+ 4 5 4 4+ 0

Child 12 N 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 0

Child 13 N 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 0

Child 14 N 6 6 6 6 7 7 6 6 2

Child 15 Y 2 2 3 2+ 3 3 3 3 2

Child 16 N 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 4+ 1

Child 17 N 4 5 5 5- 5 5 5 5 1

Child 18 N 4 5 4 4+ 5 5 4 5- 1

Child 19 Y 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 4+ 1

Child 20 N 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 0

Child 21 Y 4 4 4 4 5 5 4 4+ 2

Child 22 N 4 5 4 4+ 5 5 4 5- 1

Child 23 N 5 6 5 5+ 6 5 5 5+ 0

Child 24 N 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 0

Child 25 N 5 4 5 5- 5 5 5 5 0

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This data shows that while some pupils made no measurable progress (it was only a half term’s difference between assessments), other pupils made either 1 or 2 sub levels of progress�

It is important to recognise that it is very hard to prove that these levels of progress are due wholly to the literacy in form time sessions. Each pupil will have received input from their English teachers and other teachers throughout the time recorded� It is also important to note that not all of the assessments linked explicitly to the LNF aspect focused on in the powerpoints (oracy and reading did, however the writing assessment did not). This may account for the progress made in oracy compared to writing, which suggests some impact�

In future more specific baseline testing needs to occur focused solely on the skills being measured, as in this case teachers marking work will have been thinking about a whole range of criteria, not just one LNF aspect.

eFSM pupils did seem to benefit more from this strategy. One possible reason could be, as it was anecdotally reported, that they used the QR features more than other pupils. It is also interesting to note that higher ability pupils also made greater gains, so it would seem that the differentiation of the workstations positively impact pupils at the bottom and the top. It is therefore important to focus in the future on the pupils in the middle as well�

Additionally pupils self-assessed their progress in the 3 LNF aspects using the pupil rubrics attached and pupils said they felt more comfortable ticking the yes or developing box as they understood the aspect because it had been explicitly referenced in the PowerPoints�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Maureen HarrisE-Mail head@bishophedleyhigh�

merthyr�sch�ukTelephone 01685 721747Website bishophedley�co�uk

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Context and background to case studyBodringallt Primary School serves the Ystrad Rhondda area of RCT. There are currently 86 mainstream pupils on roll (including pupils under statutory school age), with an additional 8 pupils attending the learning support unit (SEBD), making a total of 94 NOR. 50% of pupils are entitled to free school meals (47 pupils).

Bodringallt Primary School’s attendance for the 2013/2014 academic year was 91�1%� At this point the school were implementing a number of in-school initiatives including:

• Whole school attendance assembly held each Monday, whereby the class with the highest attendance would win ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ (cuddly toy). Results were presented on an attendance display board in the main foyer.

• End of year certificates were given to individual pupils with over 95% attendance for the academic year, a certificate and a book for over 97% and a certificate, book and £10 Asda voucher for 100%�

• The school participated in ‘The Lion Challenge’, run by a local family pub whereby pupils whose attendance was over 98%, would win a ‘Golden Ticket’ entitling them to a goody bag of prizes from the pub� Those pupils were also entered into a cluster draw and one pupil in Bodringallt Primary School won a Kindle for achieving over 98% attendance.

• The school participated in the Treorchy cluster Professional Learning Community (PLC), whereby attendance was discussed by all schools and a cluster approach to attendance was adopted�

The school also had a number of robust monitoring processes to track attendance

B o d r i n g a l l t P r i m a r y S c h o o l - I m p r o v i n g At t e n d a n c e

including:

• Daily monitoring by Teachers and Clerk� Telephone calls made to those pupils who fail to inform school of a reason for absence�

• Weekly monitoring by Clerk and Headteacher�

• Monthly meeting between Clerk and Headteacher – book kept of any pupils with attendance concerns. Formal process set by Local Authority followed e.g. First letters, referrals etc�

• Small certificates sent home every half term detailing attendance percentage.

Attendance and Well-being Service (AWS) intervention included:

• AWS register checks on a half termly basis�

• ‘Meet and Greet’ sessions carried out as and when needed to address punctuality�

• ‘Super Attender’ assemblies delivered twice per year�

Nature of strategy or activityThe school was set an attendance target for the 2014/2015 academic year of 92.5% – the school had to improve attendance by 1.4%.

Bodringallt Primary School

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The Attendance and Well-being Officer met with the Headteacher and School Clerk to discuss further developing the in-school initiatives. Bodringallt Primary School then added the following initiatives to improve the school’s attendance:

• During the weekly attendance assembly, those pupils with 100% attendance the previous week are entered into a prize draw to win a book (one winner per class). The school obtain their books through Scholastic book fairs and book clubs, and of the total books sold, the school receive 100% back in books, which means there is no cost to the school for this initiative.

• Parents and governors informed by the school’s text service of the class with the highest attendance. Plus the names of the weekly book winners�

• An attendance challenge week takes place every half term, whereby those pupils who achieve 100% attendance for that particular week, all receive a prize which can include, books, stationery, etc.

• Certificates are sent out each half term in the corresponding colour to reflect the level of attendance achieved that half term.

• A red, amber, green, white monitoring system developed:

» Red – pupils with <90% attendance

» Amber – pupils with 90-95% attendance

» Green – pupils with 95-99% attendance

» White – pupils with 100% attendance – this contains a 100% attendance sticker, containing the school name�

• School Council wrote a pupil-friendly attendance policy and also made a song. This was presented to the Governing Body and this year it will be developed further by including the song onto the school website�

Impact on provision, learning and teaching and/or leadershipBodringallt Primary School’s attendance target for the 2015-16 academic year was 94�6%� By maintaining the practices outlined in this case study, the school succeeded to achieve this target.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Janet ThomasE-Mail head�BodringalltPri@

rctednet�netTelephone 01443 434292

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Context and background to case studyBryn Celyn Primary School serves the Pentwyn area of Cardiff. The majority of pupils are white ethnic background and the remainder are of mixed ethnic groups� There are currently 189 pupils on roll including nursery� There are 14% of pupils with English as an additional language and no pupils speak Welsh as a first language. The school’s free school meal percentage is currently 60%� The Bryn Celyn estate is listed in the top ten percent of most deprived areas in Wales� The school has identified 32% of pupils as having additional learning needs, including one pupil with a statement of special educational needs.

The school’s vision is that our school community – staff, governors and children share a common aim which is to provide all of our children with the opportunity to grow educationally, socially, morally and physically; in every way to develop into well-balanced people well prepared to cope with life as an adult. Our mission statement is: Dream Believe Achieve–and at Bryn Celyn we believe that with high expectations and hard work the children can fulfil their dreams.

Low attendance is an issue for the school, mainly due to low parent aspirations for their children. Parental engagement is also a challenge and we have allocated a dedicated teaching assistant to family engagement to try and help improve this. We feel that attendance is one of the most important priorities integral to the school improvement process and raising standards�

Nature of strategy or activityWe have found having solid procedures consistently applied with perseverance has had a positive impact on raising our attendance figures.

B r y n C e l y n P r i m a r y S c h o o l - I m p r o v i n g At t e n d a n c e

The school follows the five step approach to attendance and works closely with the Attendance Officer and Education Welfare Officer. Home visits are undertaken by the Headteacher for persistent absenteeism� Phone calls are made each week by a senior member of staff to enter a dialogue with families of children not in school. Meetings are set up to discuss children’s progress in relation to their attendance.

We have a number of incentives that we use to improve attendance:

• Whole school attendance display showing weekly percentages for each class

• Class displays showing weekly attendance percentage

• Attendance shield presented to best attended class of the week at KS2

• Attendance puppet ‘early bird’ for Foundation Phase classes best attenders

• Individual certificates for 100% termly attendance

• Prizes for 100% yearly attendance

Bryn Celyn Primary School

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• Attendance is featured in the school newsletter

• Recently we have introduced a prize draw for parents whose children’s attendance is 100% each half term

• At parents evenings teachers give parents an attendance leaflet and talk them through their attendance percentage

Getting children involved in their own attendance has been important. Children have attendance cards which they fill out at the end of each half term� They are colour coded and can see which colour they fall into�

To raise the profile of attendance with Governors it is a regular item in the Headteacher’s report and is a separate agenda item at all Governing Body meetings. Governors have formed an attendance sub-committee, to make decisions about issuing fines. The link Governor for attendance has met with the attendance officer.

The school council has prepared a presentation for parents, it is hoped the pupils will have a greater impact regarding attendance. The parents will receive a copy of the attendance policy written by the school council�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipThe impact for our school has been that attendance has risen by 5.6% since 2009 and is currently 94.09% (Sept-April 2014-5). The school uses fixed penalty fines as a deterrent from taking children on holidays in term time.

Despite high levels of disadvantage and low baselines for children entering Bryn Celyn last year we were categorised a yellow school and our results have been steadily improving� Standards at Key Stage two last year were good and the school performed above Wales and the Local Authority for English, mathematics and science. The Foundation Phase Outcome Indicator was slightly lower last year; however more pupils achieved Outcome 6 than previous years� We believe that improving our attendance has had a direct correlation with our standards.

The profile and importance of attendance has been raised with all stakeholders� Everyone understands the crucial role that attendance has on high standards and helping children reach their full potential. We are constantly looking for new ways to challenge poor attendance. The school will maintain its focus on attendance and it will remain one of the priorities in the school improvement plan� In an area that faces the breadth of socio economic deprivation that Bryn Celyn does, one of our constant challenges will be to change perceptions and raise the importance of education in the surrounding community.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Elizabeth KeysE-Mail [email protected] 02920 400770Website bryncelynprimary�com

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Context and background to case studyEducation is mainly centred around the necessary individual needs of the learner� The views and opinions of learners are of great value to all departments and teachers/educators, whose occupation focuses around the provision for these individual learners and their future development�

Due to the importance of this we felt that it was an area that needed to be investigated further to establish a stronger/more effective grounding of ‘student voice’ data collection within a school environment� The views of student’s have been heard through various channels within our school, but subject specific data collection could be highlighted as an effective tool to move departments forward and understand the needs of the learners to inform effective future planning and development of good practice.

Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive school decided to investigate student voice within individual subjects in a positive and proactive manner; allowing students to comment and give constructive feedback using a generic template and allowing analysis across subjects showing parity and understanding� The results of the student voice would be used at the end of term to aid heads of department and heads of faculty in pinpointing strengths and areas for development in their department development plans; thus giving powerful, new and specific feedback to enable progression�

Nature of strategy or activityThe activity involved the school buying into a digital survey programme called SurveyMonkey that enabled us to survey large numbers of students with the use of iPads� Before

B r y n C e l y n n o g C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - E f f e c t i v e P u p i l Vo i c e A n d L e a d i n g F r o m T h e C e n t r e

transferring to SurveyMonkey our survey was overlooked and scrutinised by an educational psychologist to ensure that the questions were accessible, suitable and would provide powerful information.

All of Year 7 were surveyed on their thoughts on subjects across the curriculum. Despite the difference in provision across different subjects we used a common template for the survey aimed at reducing in school variation and ensuring a consistency across departments� This also provided an opportunity for SMT to easier look at results of student experiences across the school�

Having struggled to use a PC suite for classes we decided to solely use iPads and do the surveys in registration time. When all of the results were in we did a basic analysis of the answers and the SurveyMonkey website let us produce a series of clear and useful charts�

We provided all heads of department with their results on our annual review day at the beginning of July which they then took to department meetings to discuss the way forward. At this point the student voice programme was handed over to departments to continue with other year groups

English and Maths KS4 Student Voice Analysis 2014/15 Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive School

At Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive we are determined to give our students the best possible chance of achieving their potential at GCSE English and GCSE Maths by providing a raft of measures and initiatives throughout year 11. These include:

• Registration ‘face time’ sessions where pupils have 15 minutes per day with their English/Maths teacher as a form tutor.

• Full days of English or Maths in the lead up to the examination.

• Early morning examination technique sessions that take place directly before the examination.

• After school revision sessions.

• Smaller class sizes in middle ability English and Maths teaching groups.

• Saturday morning revision directly before the English examination.

The following summary report shows the results of a pupil voice survey conducted in March 2014 and January 2015 after the Maths GCSE results. A further survey was conducted after the English examination in January to analyse, in particular, the initiatives that the department had put in place immediately before the exam.

ENGLISH AND MATHS AT KS4

Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive School - Student Voice Analysis

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according to their specific areas of development. It was crucial that students received feedback on their opinions and so departments were challenged to produce “you said we did” boards�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipThe listening to learners section of department development plans are now consistent across the school with powerful evidence of what works and what is needed over the coming year�

The basic SurveyMonkey template that we created has been adjusted and used, for example, on a pastoral basis with heads of learning� It is also used at parents evenings to capture parents opinions�

The SurveyMonkey programme has been shown to staff, staff have been trained in how to create and analyse surveys, and is now a key tool throughout the school saving time and effort in pupil voice ventures�

Our students realise that their views are valued and that they can have a say on the direction and provision that the subjects they study take.

Leadership capacity has been improved amongst the three staff who developed the project and the ability to work at a truly whole school level has been of great benefit.

ISV has been decreased across subjects and perhaps most importantly an appreciation of consistency across the school has been realised at all levels of leadership�

Our crucial Level 2+ statistic has improved significantly this year due to improved surveys of our Year 11 cohort.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Debra BaldockE-Mail dbaldock@bryncelynnog�

org�ukTelephone 01443 203411Website bryncelynnog�org�uk

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Context and background of case studySince September 2014 Bryn Deri has embarked on a digital journey. The school recognised the need to develop ‘Computational-Thinking’ to enhance digital confidence and competence. Through embedding computational-thinking into lessons across the school, the school knew that this area of learning would have a positive impact on improving outcomes in literacy and numeracy, and to also narrow the gender gap�

As programming/coding software and apps are becoming freely available, Bryn Deri decided to take advantage and engage children in their learning through an exciting and challenging, innovative and creative environment.

Developing this environment and improving provision began through installing software such as Scratch and Kodu, and apps such as Cargo Bot, BeeBot and Scratch Jnr. The use of online tools such as J2code and Purple Mash was introduced, and Lego Mindstorm Robots and Raspberry Pi were also integrated into curriculum activities.

These devices and associated software have been used effectively throughout the school and embedding into ICT lessons and across the curriculum. Staff at Bryn Deri have attended training courses to enhance their computational-thinking skills allowing them to teach effectively. The children have been excited, engaged and enjoyed using the technologies in a variety of settings

Bryn Deri’s ‘Digital Leaders’ have been sharing their skills at many events. Sharing best practice has been key to enhancing the children’s skills

B r y n D e r i P r i m a r y S c h o o l - C o m p u t a t i o n a l T h i n k i n g To S u p p o r t L i t e r a c y a n d N u m e r a c y S k i l l s D e v e l o p m e n t

further. The school has hosted a TeachMeet, SIG event, Family engagement event (Codebusters) and a KidsMeet with Melin Gruffydd Welsh School. Bryn Deri received positive feedback from all events demonstrating the effectiveness of our enhanced provision for ICT and in particular computational-thinking.

Nature of strategy or activityICT and computational thinking is a clear priority on the school’s School Improvement Plan (SIP). The school is always seeking to enhance provision and effectively implement strategies to improve standards across the curriculum�

The Foundation Phase are continuing to develop their computational-thinking skills using various

apps, online software and Beebots� KS2 are developing their skills through using Kodu tutorials, Code Club resources for Scratch and programming Lego robots� KS2 are also enhancing their skills through using the Raspberry Pi to understand electronics using the GPIO pins, beginning to code in Python and use Minecraft to be creative and build worlds which include the likes of The Globe

Theatre and the Mary Rose collaboratively.

An ICT club is run to enhance computational-thinking skills further. Different devices and technologies are used at different times of the year as well as a focus on competition entries. Bryn Deri has prepared for and entered the Kodu Kup where games have been created using Kodu� The school has also been involved in coding Lego robots and have entered 2 National Lego Robot Tournaments�

Leadership of IT overall has been

key to the success of introducing

computational-thinking into lessons

18

In June 2015 Dosbarth 5 submitted a project application entitled ‘Scratching the Surface’ for the ‘National Digital Learning Awards’ (NDLA). The project involved the pupils researching, planning, developing and coding their own games using Scratch� Their target audience to play these games were the Foundation Phase, with the aim of enhancing their literacy and numeracy skills� The project was a huge success as the school was awarded the NDLA for ‘Innovative Use of Technology’ at primary level�

Bryn Deri has fully adopted the Computing Unlocked scheme of work which incorporates a programming module to enhance children’s computational-thinking skills. The scheme allows teachers to effectively develop computational-thinking skills with pupils and monitor and track progression across the school�

Impact on leadership and/or learning and teachingThe impact that computational-thinking has had on attitudes to learning, standards, teaching and leadership have been very positive throughout the school�

The children are engaged within lessons and are always excited to program their own games, use the technology to enhance their learning and to develop many skills�

Support has been provided for teachers and teaching assistants across the school to enhance their own skills prior to teaching the children� Leadership of computational-thinking within classes has had a positive impact on learning due to the willingness and enjoyment shown by the staff to learn and develop their own skills within this area of learning� Leadership of IT overall has been key to the success of introducing computational-thinking into lessons. Planning, purchasing and developing the provision for computational-thinking and up-skilling staff is pivotal in providing the correct and effective opportunities to raise standards.

The children have demonstrated an improvement in communication and collaboration to effectively plan, develop and trial their work.

Their wider writing skills, grammar, sentence constructions, punctuation is always worked on and has improved due to constant self and peer assessments� Due to this constant assessment reading skills have also developed�

Computational-thinking provides many opportunities to develop reasoning, problem solving, sequencing and many other areas of numeracy. Due to the provision in Y5 last year, 71% of the children achieved a whole level of progress in mathematics, and we believe this is due to the learning activities, engagement, enjoyment and the skills developed through the opportunities provided through activities focused on computational-thinking.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Claire DaviesE-Mail [email protected] 02920 843328Website www�

brynderiprimaryschool�co�uk

19

Context and background to case studyStaff were concerned that pupils weren’t engaging with feedback, which was primarily directive. The new Literacy Co-ordinator was familiar with the practice of question based feedback, which had been shown through research to have greater impact on learning� The department felt that it was necessary for pupils to engage with the comments their teachers were giving them and to actively reflect on their targets immediately upon receiving feedback�

There was a strong feeling that feedback needed to be given greater time and that direction was needed within feedback lessons to ensure they were productive. It was also felt that learners should be more actively engaged with AfL and that the tasks they were completing should have a strong skills focus, with an emphasis on next steps to increase progression�

One of the main concerns was to develop learner ownership of progress, monitoring and target setting, so that learners knew it was at least partially their responsibility to set and achieve their targets�

The Literacy Coordinator wrote an approach for staff to trial, which, following the trial, was refined by the rest of the department�

As the system developed, there were concerns about the quality of the learners’ reflective comments; the current pro-forma allowed pupils to be brief in their responses, sometimes identifying targets but not addressing them. The

B r y n H a f r e n C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - E f f e c t i v e M a r k i n g A n d F e e d b a c k To R a i s e At t a i n m e n t O f e F S M P u p i l s

staff searched for examples from other schools which would allow the learner to not only identify their target for improvement, but one that would force them to immediately work on an area for development. The STAR system was developed and implemented within the English faculty�

The English department was trained in the range of questions which should be posed (focused on showing pupils how to get to the next step) and faculty briefings were used to share good practice and reflect on the effectiveness of the policy� All members of the department were encouraged to partake in departmental book monitoring as another source of sharing ideas for effective feedback�

Time was taken to train the pupils in how to respond to their work, and examples of pupil work were regularly shared and reflected on.

Nature of strategy or activitySTAR is an acronym which the learners write in their books following any English assessment or classwork cycle (approximately every two weeks). Pupils first respond to the questions posed by the teacher on their work (in green pen) and then use those questions to inform their identification of strengths, setting of targets for content and accuracy, and reflection on which element of their work they need to immediately develop� The pupils do a minimum of two tasks: to address both content and accuracy� Classroom ‘self-help stations’ support this independent work.

The English department has moved to using a linear, level based success criteria rubric

The English department has

noticed measurable success in the use of the feedback

and marking policy, particularly in terms

of eFSM pupils

20

for assessment pieces to aid self and peer assessment. These focus on a selection of the skills necessary for success in the task� In order to develop a consistent whole school approach, the department is now considering dovetailing these with the LNF success criteria rubrics, which are more comprehensive. A trial of the LNF rubrics has taken place in the school within English, science and MFL, with measurable success.

The work from these departments and the school’s marking and feedback PLC will help to inform the writing of a new whole school marking and feedback policy�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipThe English department has noticed measurable success in the use of the feedback and marking policy, particularly in terms of eFSM pupils. The system of questioning pupils has forced them to engage with their targets and the use of STAR ensures that pupils are working to address these targets immediately�

For example, the levels from a sample Year 8 class have increased from 23% level 6+ to 50% level 6+ when compared with a previous similar writing task. 66% of eFSM pupils achieved level 6+, compared to 33% in a previous writing task.

There is also a noticeable difference in attainment in classes between those identified prior to the school’s Estyn visit as the best markers within the department. For example, two similar ability Year 8 classes, with different markers, showed that the stronger marker’s class had 17% fewer eFSM pupils working below target (with all pupils within half a level of their target grade for the academic year), 16% more eFSM pupils on or exceeding target, and 33% of eFSM pupils exceeding their expected target level compared to 0% in the comparative set.

Furthermore, in the most recent Year 7 pupil voice, 100% of pupils commented that most/all of the time; they felt their English teachers were helping them to progress. Only two other subjects were at the same level� 91% of pupils also felt they were doing well�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Tyrone DaviesE-Mail tdavies�bhcs@valelearning�

comTelephone 01446 403500Website http://brynhafren.webeden.

co�uk/

21

Bryntirion School comprises 1040 pupils from ages 11-18. Of these pupils, 22% receive free school meals (FSM) and there are 9 looked after children. Currently, there is an attainment gap of 20%. Attendance is not as much of an issue here than in other schools, with attendance the highest in the borough�

The Headteacher defines disadvantage at the school, as not having the support at home to be able to achieve in school. Therefore, he sees closing the gap as plugging in the gaps of what support children are not receiving at home�

The school very much sees itself as a school where students can be themselves and that there is a culture of mutual respect between the staff and pupils�

Strategies used to close the gapThe school’s main strategy is to raise the aspirations of both the pupils and teachers, so that pupils are stretched to achieve higher grades� This is achieved through setting higher grade targets, making staff accountable for these targets and monitoring achievement at regular intervals� The school’s previous strategy was focussed on well-being, which although was beneficial for students, was not increasing their attainment. Although raising grades is currently the main focus, the school still sees itself as strong on pastoral care and offering a holistic education, therefore embodying the “we learn how to live” motto.

In order to bring FSM pupils up to a higher grade, the school ensures that all teachers understand who the FSM pupils are, so that they can be better supported in lessons. However, the Headteacher stressed that many families not eligible for FSM are not necessarily at more of an advantage

B r y n t i r i o n C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - C l o s i n g T h e G a p ( I p s o s M O R I )

than FSM families� There are also some students on FSM who are on A* and therefore don’t need as much support as others� Therefore the school’s aim is to target all children who are underachieving – not just those on free school meals�

Key activities to close the gapRaising attainment in literacy and numeracy is a key activity for the school. The desired outcome is to raise standards in tests in KS3 to close the gap in KS4. During KS3, small groups are taken out of lessons to work on literacy and numeracy skills. Revision sessions are also key part of the strategy to raise attainment in this area. As well as having internal revision sessions, the schools sent pupils on revision sessions at the University of Glamorgan, as well as the Central South Consortium.

The school found that some pupils did not have suitable places at home with which to do their homework. To help with this, the school library is often open after school, until 5pm, to allow students a place to work�

At KS4, students who are seen to not be achieving in literacy and numeracy, are asked to drop a GCSE subject. They are then given extra tutoring (by an external tutor who comes into school two days a week) in this time to raise their literacy and numeracy standards�

As part of the efforts to ‘plug in the gaps’ of support for children and young people at home, the school gives mathematics lessons to parents who need it, so that they are at the same level as their children. Therefore they are better equipped to help their children with homework�

The school is also focussed on developing pupils’

22

meta-cognition skills. At the time of visit, a group of Year 11 students had been on a learning performance day to improve their meta cognition skills�

In order to track the attainment of pupils, the school uses the SIMs management system� They find this very effective in tracking pupils. The school also gains data from the CAT4 results of Year 6 pupils. This means that students are appropriately supported, as soon as they join the school. As part of this data collection – the school places great emphasis on gathering the views of learners. The ‘pupil voice’ initiative was started to gain the views of students, in order to deliver an education that is aligned with what they feel they need� The school have conducted surveys and focus groups amongst the students, to gain these views�

Students in Year 11 are also assigned a mentor from the teaching staff (each mentor has 6 students). Students and mentors agree targets, which they then revisit regularly (usually once a fortnight).

As noted above, the school still has a strong focus on pastoral care and well-being. Various activities, such as art and music therapy are held for students, to work on behavioural issues such as anger management. These activities are also a chance for mixed ability students to be able to work together, therefore following the recommendation by the Sutton Trust one successful example of this, is a Rock Academy, where they put low achieving students with high achieving students and they spend a week in the holidays, with an external agency, forming a rock group. Students also attend classes which equip them for life beyond academics, such as cookery classes

The school also works to improve the students’ well-being by having two counsellors� A host of local agencies, such as CAHMS, the fire service, Young Carers, the Inclusion service, Barnardos and Women’s Aid are also worked with, in order to best support pupils and their families�

As well as working with pupils and parents, the school ensures that staff feel confident that they can stretch pupils, in order to raise attainment.

Teachers work in triads and provide co-coaching using the Iris technology, which films lessons and allows teachers to easily look back at the video, in order to assess where they could improve�

The school is also part of the leading and emerging schools practitioners project. Bryntirion, the ‘emerging’ school has been linked with a ‘leading’ school in Port Talbot� This has allowed staff members to visit Port Talbot, in order to share learning on closing the gap�

Impact of activities to dateIn recent years, the school has seen a closing in the attainment gap between FSM and non FSM pupils, which suggests that the activities and strategy the school has put in place, is working.

Areas for improvementThe school has activities covering all the Estyn recommendations for tackling poverty through education. Therefore it is not surprising that attainment levels of the school have improved. Although one of the barriers the school faces is the dependence of the Pupil Deprivation Grant, in order to deliver these activities. Therefore, longer term strategies may need to take account of the fact that funding could be more limited for these activities in the future

To note, only senior members of staff were consulted at the school. Therefore, further evidence is needed to assess whether the school’s strategy is being widely communicated within the school�

Given the emerging success and dynamism of the school, it will be interesting to see what learning activities they could hold themselves, to assist other schools in closing the gap�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Nicholas BrainE-Mail nicholas�brain@bridgend�

gov�ukTelephone 01446 403500Website bryntirioncomprehensive

school�co�uk

23

Context and background to case studyBryntirion Comprehensive School have a culture of prevention which is strengthened by a strong well-being team� The Deputy Headteacher developed a well-being model when the health and social needs were beyond the capacity of services offered to school at that time. As such the school funds their own school counsellor, Specialist Community Public Health School Nurse and Head of Pupil Personal and Social Education (PSE). Bryntirion Comprehensive School recognises the links between well-being, attendance and attainment.

Nature of strategy or activityThe school’s ethos encourages excellent communication and collaboration between the school, parents and supporting agencies, which is essential to reinforce consistent information. The Specialist Community Public Health School Nurse and Head of PSE have a Bryntirion Health and PSE Twitter feed (@healthPSE_Brynt) which tweet health and well-being related messages for parents. Positive health literacy is promoted and has high priority at Bryntirion Comprehensive School, amongst both pupils and staff. Access to free water is also provided, and it has been highlighted by the school council that the pupils wish to have access to another water fountain, which indicates its popularity�

The Education Welfare Officer regularly meets with the School Nurse regarding any parents whom are citing illness as reasons for absence, and identifying those with poor illness behaviour. The Head of Year’s and EWO meet fortnightly and discuss those with attendances below 92%. If parental meetings or home visits are taking place and where appropriate the School Nurse

B r y n t i r i o n C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - P r e v e n t i o n

is a part of these meetings and home visits. This combined approach enables parents to receive health advice, academic and attendance related messages and support� It also enables us to close the gap on those specific individuals with attendance concerns.

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadership• The National Categorisation of Schools by

the Welsh Government issued the school with a rating in the Standards Group 1, ‘A’ rating for Improvement Capacity, and Green categorisation overall in January 2016. This is an improvement from the previous year 2015, from Standards group 2, and ‘C’ for Improvement Capacity and Yellow categorisation.

• The school’s attendance in the academic year 2014-2015 was 95�5% which increased from the previous year of 94�8%�

• Since September the school nurse has had 1050 pupil visits, and only 40 of those pupils were sent home due to illness�

• 600 health and well-being related messages have been tweeted via the twitter account.



school�co�uk

24

Context and background to case studyDespite good outcomes and a strong trend of work in literacy across the curriculum, the school still recognised the need to further narrow the attainment gap for vulnerable groups. In addressing the implementation of the LNF, the Assistant Headteacher responsible saw the potential for the introduction of success criteria rubrics to help to improve both writing and oracy standards. Working with the National Support Programme Lead Partner, the school agreed to lead a development group funded by Welsh Government to create and trial a rubrics package�

The trial of the writing rubrics within this group of 8 secondary schools from across the region confirmed the strategy as effective in improving standards of writing and oracy; hence the school was accepted as a Lead School for Literacy by the Consortium in 2015/2016 to share that effective practice.

Nature of strategy or activityThe concept of using rubrics (progressive success criteria in a grid) for assessment purposes was developed in New York in the 1970s and they are widely used across North America, with documented success. Working with their NSP Lead Partner, the school saw the potential for their use as an AfL tool for the literacy framework (which was intended to help learners to understand exactly which literacy skills they are accomplished in, and which they still need to develop). The product designed by the development group led by Bryntirion, therefore, is intended to be used purely for AfL for literacy, and not to provide a ‘best fit’ judgement. The rubrics are product based, and allow schools to track extended writing or oracy AfL opportunities across the curriculum.

B r y n t i r i o n C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - U s i n g S u c c e s s C r i t e r i a R u b r i c s To C l o s e T h e At t a i n m e n t G a p F o r e F S M L e a r n e r s I n L i t e r a c y

In this way, they provide a common standard for teachers to plan to, common success criteria for learners to work to, and the next steps that need to be taken for each skill� The school led on the development of a comprehensive package of support, including generic success criteria rubrics for the six non-fiction writing types, oracy rubrics, exemplar material and supporting guidance and videos�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipWhilst the rubrics have been shown to have impacted on outcomes for the majority of pupils, the relative progress of eFSM learners has been noted. In the trial group, 38% of learners were working below their expected levels at the start of the year, while 0% were below level at the end of the school year. Teacher observation attributes this improvement to the consistency and clarity of the feedback and the process of ensuring that learners act on this feedback in a systematic way. eFSM learners are noted to appear more focused, motivated and to have seen improvements in behaviour and self-efficacy since using the rubrics for self-assessment. While other initiatives, such as the school’s ‘buddy’ scheme will undoubtedly have contributed to these improvements, pupil voice suggests that the rubrics have played a considerable role�



school�co�uk

25

The briefCapcoch Primary and Ignite UP worked together to create an innovative pilot program designed to develop a full cohort of Year 6 childrens’ independent learning to promote engagement with their local natural environment whilst also developing literacy, numeracy, social, physical and emotional skills and well-being.

The programUsing the John Muir Award, an internationally renowned and celebrated conservation and education award; a 14 week programme was agreed where 17 Year 6 children from Capcoch worked with an Ignite UP tutor� The Headteacher Mr Stephen Gardner agreed that the programme needed to be emergent and child led as to promote their independent learning�

Another unique feature of the programme was the idea proposed by Mr Gardner, that the children satisfy the ‘sharing’ element of the award by supporting them to host a parent teach session that was developed, planned and delivered by the children. A fantastic parental engagement option.

Delivering the John Muir award in this fashion is a first for any primary school in the RCT Local Education Authority.

Sessions 1 – 5 involved the children focusing on team work, using tools, discussing what they wanted to do and planning their sessions working towards the parents teach�

Sessions 6-12 involved the group utilising the

C a p c o c h P r i m a r y S c h o o l - J o h n M u i r A w a r d

school grounds and local forest to create their own ‘learning environment’ and outdoor camp�

The John Muir Award provided the perfect vehicle for the children to express themselves in a collaborative and supportive environment, something Capcoch Primary collectively has worked hard to develop as a theme within the school; often bringing specialist expertise and knowledge into the school to bolster the experiences of their children�

The children decided to create their own camp with 4 distinct areas for building shelters, making fires, wood work using hand tools, foraging natural materials and reflecting on their experience and learning�

OutcomeDiscreet outcomes such as 98% attendance, and successfully completing the parent teach were positive. The main measurements of the children’s development were observational.

The highlight of the program was the parent teach in week 12 (brought forward from week 14).

12 parents and grandparents attended the morning session and were confronted by 17 confident and knowledgeable ‘teachers’� In a series of 20 minute rotations of whittling sticks, creating shelters, lighting fires and foraging wood, parents journeyed to each group, and were given lessons in how to use their tools safely, what to do,

how to do it, using ‘show me, tell me, involve me’ methods�

Discreet outcomes such as 98% attendance,

and successfully completing the

parent teach were positive

26

The children impressed every parent with their skills and ability to communicate and deliver their micro teachs as well as sharing their knowledge about:

• The local flora and fauna;

• What types of wood are good for burning or shelter making;

• What temperature a spark burn at;

• What materials are good and bad flammables; and

• Why it is important to conserve their natural area

Tutor observations• Initial challenges to develop safety in the

outdoors and with tools;

• Focusing children on tasks for 3 hour sessions;

• Emergence of leaders from week 8;

• Greater team work and cooperation as sessions progressed;

• High participation throughout;

• High inclusion in all activities;

• Using the woods and skills learned after-school;

• High confidence in delivering parent teach; and

• Increased collective strategic thinking and ownership of parent teach�

Headteacher commentThe John Muir Award focuses on developing skills for learning, life and work and recognising the breadth of children’s achievements� It encourages an active, healthy and environmentally sustainable lifestyle and aims to support children and parents to learn beyond the classroom�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Stephen GardnerE-Mail head�CapcochPri@rctednet�

netTelephone 01443 472746

27

Context and background to case studyNationally, the gap between non-FSM and eFSM pupils achieving 5 A*-C grades including English and mathematics is just under 28%. This has been a fairly consistent figure in recent years and explains why closing this gap has become a national priority.

Although the school I teach in has a relatively low number of eFSM pupils (roughly 9% across the school) I felt the possibility of being able to help disadvantaged pupils make progress was not only a distinct possibility but a moral purpose. Clearly, an achievement gap of 28% tells us, as a whole, these pupils are not achieving their potential.

As Pedagogical Leader, it was only natural for me to enquire as to whether classroom teachers can develop their pedagogical approaches to help close the gap� The school already employs a number of very successful targeted and generic strategies to help all pupils achieve their potential, however, my focus was to be whether individual classroom teachers can have a significant impact. My theory being, if we can narrow the gap in our classrooms from day one, then those strategies employed outside of the classroom can be even more effective by building on solid foundations.

The main areas I needed to address were establishing what the causes of this performance gap actually were, assessing which areas pedagogy can have a significant impact on and then researching and establishing the best pedagogical approaches to adopt before evaluating their impact�

C a r d i f f H i g h S c h o o l - P e d a g o g i c a l A p p r o a c h e s To C l o s e T h e e F S M G a p

Nature of strategy or activityWorking with three English teachers who had expressed an interest in helping with my research, we identified 5 eFSM pupils in Year 9 as well as 4 other pupils who were of a similar socio-economic profile.

An observation sheet was used to track contribution and participation during lessons. Along with this, photos of classwork produced were taken and semi-structured interviews with the pupils as well as separate interviews with the three teachers were carried out�

Lesson observations revealed contribution to class discussion was infrequent, either through not volunteering answers or opting out� Interviews with teachers painted a fairly similar picture that underperforming pupils are less likely to participate fully in the lesson. Scrutiny of pupils’ books seemed to bear this out

with work often lacking detail of higher achieving pupils. When interviewed, the pupils themselves gave a whole range of responses to the question of, “what stops you from learning in lessons?” ranging from lack of confidence and wider subject knowledge to boredom, not understanding tasks and it simply being easier to not try rather than to try�

As a result, the next step was to look at how best to increase pupil engagement; how can we get them to think more about what we want them to learn?

Doug Lemov’s Teach Like A Champion provided me with two techniques that I felt could improve

In all observations, engagement

of those pupils increased; greater

participation in class discussion,

less ‘opting out’ of activities and as a

result more written classwork actually

completed

28

engagement (Everybody Writes, No Opt Out), along with David Didau’s The Secret of Literacy (Pause Pose Pounce Bounce). Inspired by the simplicity of these three, I put a name to a technique that I was already using, Task Target Time�

We each embedded these techniques into our everyday practice, giving enough time to become familiar with them. After 5 weeks of using these techniques, each pupil was then observed in lesson once again as well as a group interview with the three teachers� This process was repeated once again after another five weeks.

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipIn all observations, engagement of those pupils increased; greater participation in class discussion, less ‘opting out’ of activities and as a result more written classwork actually completed. In the group interview with the teachers, it was agreed that all pupils, not just targeted eFSM pupils, seemed more engaged in lessons. In particular, Everybody Writes and Task Target Times were felt to have biggest impact on increasing engagement� As one teacher put it, “just by adopting those two techniques, a lot of opportunities for disengagement are taken away�”

This seeming increase in engagement was reflected in pupil work, with pupils writing in more detail and with somewhat of a greater focus� Although a small sample, end of KS3 levels of all the pupils were at least on target, with 4 pupils making an extra sub level of progress�

Clearly this cannot be directly attributed to the four techniques but it does fit with comments the pupils made themselves in interviews, speaking of increased participation and engagement in lessons. One quote in particular stood out; “I feel like I’m thinking more in lessons and learning more�”

Such was conviction on part of the teachers that the four techniques were effective, we decided to share them across the school through INSET workshops, learning and teaching meetings and teachmeets� Through performance management

lesson observations, use of the four techniques has been taken up by a large number of teachers across departments and have now been formally recognised as part of our Closing the Gap policy�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Stephen JonesE-Mail [email protected] 02920 757741Website www.cardiffhigh.cardiff.sch.

uk

29

Context and background to case studyIn keeping with the national trend, for groups of our learners (eFSM and boys) there is an inconsistency of outcomes which is reflected in their participation in lessons.

Barriers such as a lack of engagement and poor motivation result in under performance and a decrease in aspiration. Potentially this leads to students deselecting to engage with the learning process, environment and ultimately their learning journey. Furthermore NRT results reflect students’ difficulty in engaging with challenging texts and therefore interpreting them effectively.

When considering recent research into literacy performance Gary Wilcox identifies the benefits of providing male students with experiences that they cannot experience elsewhere� Whilst Tribal research further found that ‘high demands’ on pupil involvement and engagement promoted achievement amongst boys. Given the significant percentage of eFSM students who are male both of these findings supported our instinctive view that our pedagogy needed to facilitate involvement which provided an emotional as well as cognitive experience� A technique already used in English, ‘Immersion’ we believed could impact on the learning outcomes for our students who struggled to engage with their learning�

These identified areas for development formed the basis for us using the pedagogy ‘Immersion’ across the curriculum�

C y n f f i g C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - I m m e r s i o n ( L e a r n i n g S t y l e s )

Nature of strategy or activityThe concept of ‘immersion’ places the learner at the heart of the experience� This compels the learner to engage with the topic and task cognitively, emotionally and kinaesthetically.

Within immersive classrooms environments depict scenes, house characters in role, and create sights, sounds and smells of a given context�

We decided to use this style of pedagogy in a subject area rich in experience but dense in text and fact, history. Immersion formed the basis of contextualisation of a given topic as well as

exploration for deeper thinking and exploration of meaning.

For example in one GCSE history lesson, students were asked to consider the theme of the Wall Street Crash through experiencing the stock exchange at the time. Students in role were directed to buy shares in order to experience first-hand the devastating effects of economic decline� Students also walked through an art gallery of images depicting the 1930s and were asked to pose questions to the characters within the images� This enabled them to deduce what life was like for people at the time whilst empathising with their

predicament� It facilitated the opportunity for students to use higher order reading skills to make sense of the challenging texts and sources needed to be studied at GCSE�

These tasks preceded reading sources about the 1930s in order to create accessibility and pupil affinity with the topic. Furthermore in using

We found that students

displayed a clearer understanding of the context of a given topic and retained facts

which previously had been perceived as complicated or

difficult

30

pupils themselves to facilitate the ‘immersive’ environment pupils were more likely to identify with the task creating further access points for pupils to engage with the learning�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadership‘Immersion’ allows both teacher and pupil to experience the learning� They can then form opinions and deduce outcomes whilst fully participating with a given theme or context. It fosters independent learning which is characterised by authenticity through the empathetic nature of the experience.

We found that students displayed a clearer understanding of the context of a given topic and retained facts which previously had been perceived as complicated or difficult.

Pupils were enthusiastic about the subject matter and more prepared to empathise and engage with the activity. In the example cited above the element of competition enabled the teacher to build in stretch which the pupils perceived as challenging yet fun. This sense of competition particularly appealed to the boys which resulted in improved outcomes for these groups of learners�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Hannah CastleE-Mail hannah�castle@bridgend�

gov�ukTelephone 01656 740294Website www.cynffigcomprehensive.

co�uk

31

Context and background to case studyOur benchmarking data at Key Stage 3 has historically illustrated that writing is our students’ weakest attainment target. Whilst this is consistent across all groups of learners (69% of students achieved level 5 as opposed to 81% 2015 nationally.) It is particularly pertinent to our male learners where the differential is characteristically notable�

Furthermore teacher assessment, book scrutiny and pupil voice all demonstrate how students experience difficulty in writing accurately.

Given the increasing focus on written accuracy in GCSEs across the curriculum as well as GCSE English language and literature, it was evident we needed to improve our students’ grammatical skill�

Consideration of De Bono’s chunking pedagogy highlighted in the Sutton Trust Toolkit encouraged us to present grammatical convention as a body of knowledge which can be mastered and the learning quickly moved on� We therefore developed a pedagogical approach which encouraged explicit teaching of grammatical convention; that is the mastery of a given skill, contextualisation of the skill, assessment of the learning and subsequent setting of a new challenge. Additionally we constructed a ‘short sharp finite’ approach to tasks which, as defined by Bradford, suited male learners.

We also fostered a sense of competition favoured by male learners whereby students progressed through a ‘belt’ system in keeping with martial arts�

C y n f f i g C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - M a s t e r y

Whilst we immediately recognised that the impact of Mastery could be more far reaching than improved English grades, we decided to use one of our three weekly English lessons to deliver the SoL� This was primarily due to the teachers’ confidence in delivering a SoL based on grammatical convention. Students were grouped according to ability and were able to progress into different classes when they had mastered the required skills�

Nature of strategy or activity‘Mastery’ developed into a programme of lessons defined by explicit teaching of a skill, individual practice of the skill in context followed by a termly test of all skills studied� Based on their test

results students were then guided towards relevant work stations which targeted and developed the skill students specifically needed.

Students were asked to plot a graph of their Mastery test results and RAG rate it depending of the percentage of correct answers� They were asked to use their metacognitive skills in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their learning� Students were then asked to re-plot their graph after therapy

sessions on the skills they needed to improve� Therefore pupils could visualise their levels of progress�

Students were grouped according to ability and subsequent skills taught to move them to the next level. The level of difficulty was defined by a ‘belt’ system in keeping with a martial arts theme which embedded in the scheme�

Book scrutiny illustrated clear improvements in writing, with students using

explicit grammatical convention to inform

sentence choice

32

Students were given coloured wrist bands to depict their level which they wore whilst undertaking ‘Mastery’� Once their set of skills had been ‘Mastered’ they were able to move level and subsequently classes, which physically represented their success�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipAfter 3 years of Mastery lessons, 81% of the 32 eFSM pupils in Year 9 met their Aspirational Level at the end of KS3� 31% exceeded this level� Over half of the 32 eFSM pupils achieved their highest English level in the writing attainment target. This development shows Mastery has helped to ‘break the link between deprivation and educational attainment’.

Teaching grammatical terms and conventions explicitly resulted in a shared understanding and language for grammar for students and staff across the curriculum�

Book scrutiny illustrated clear improvements in writing, with students using explicit grammatical convention to inform sentence choice and improve their sentence construction.

Development and awareness of writing craft has been positive with all 32 pupils making progress in Mastery tests. Pupil attitudes to writing is improving as well as self-efficacy. This is most notable in extended writing where students at all levels are writing at increasing length and detail.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Hannah CastleE-Mail hannah�castle@bridgend�gov�

ukTelephone 01656 740294Website www.cynffigcomprehensive.

co�uk

33

Context and background to case studyOur Key Stage 3 year groups were particularly boy heavy with 59% of our Year 9 learners eFSM. Barriers such as a lack of engagement and poor motivation meant boys were not participating in lessons and largely deselecting to engage with the learning process and environment�

Recent research has linked improved boys’ attainment to choice and competition. Gary Wilson in particular refers to engaging boys in dialogue about their learning and to let them know you’re ‘on their case’! To this end we decided to create a large ‘all boy’ group which was team taught. We talked specifically to them about their strengths and equally as passionately about their development needs as learners� Together we decided we needed to change the climate and culture, and recognised that they had a part to play in their learning. When boys identified being ‘bored’ and ‘not bothered’ as reasons for their non-participation in lessons we decided to make them responsible� A group of boys within the class were identified whose responsibility it was to create lessons for the class with the two teachers�

Nature of strategy or activityThe group were gathered and informed of their new privileged role as co-constructors� They were asked to attend lunchtime and afternoon planning sessions during which they would plan lessons they believed would inspire and engage our learners in the learning process� We were amazed at their commitment and inspired by their dedication and enthusiasm. Every one turned up for every session they were asked!

We adopted the slogan ‘Teaching teachers to learn and learners to teach’ and collaborated

C y n f f i g C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - C o -C o n s t r u c t i o n : Te a c h i n g Te a c h e r s To L e a r n A n d L e a r n e r s To Te a c h

on pedagogy, lesson activities and resources. Together we created a bespoke lesson plan which demarked a structure that the boys identified as workable and work-worthy! Learning objectives were referred to as ‘Missions’ and time for reflection and metacognition ‘Pit Stops’. ’Shoot out’ and ‘Extra Time’ identified opportunities to show and extend their learning building in the concept of stretch and challenge�

The group have since become a learning mentor group who now advise students on their learning as well as teachers on how to teach!

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipIn one year the number of boys who achieved Level 5 rose to 18�6 %� Boys achieving Level 6 rose by 22�3% and Level 7 by 4�1%�

Furthermore co-construction formalised access points in our learning provision for previously disengaged groups of learners� This resulted in greater participation in lessons not only for the co-construction group but all learners.

The principles of co-construction now form the basis of our lesson planning and subsequent SoL�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Hannah CastleE-Mail hannah�castle@bridgend�

gov�ukTelephone 01656 740294Website www.cynffigcomprehensive.

co�uk

34

The pupils and staff of Darran Park Primary School are celebrating after becoming the first primary school in Wales to become a Microsoft Showcase School. Microsoft Showcase Schools are schools who can show how Microsoft technology has been effectively deployed and used to help support and transform teaching and learning� Over the last four years the school has implemented major changes in the way ICT is used to drive the curriculum and engage learners�

Darran Park Primary School became a Microsoft Academy as part of Rhondda Cynon Taff Local Authority’s unique partnership with Microsoft. As part of this partnership over 150 teachers in Rhondda Cynon Taff have taken part in Microsoft training, led by teachers from the authority. During the training, teachers have developed innovative projects that place ICT and 21st Century Learning at the very core� As a result of the eLearning that takes place during the training, over 150 teachers have gained Microsoft Certified Educator status�

In Summer Term 2015, James Protheroe, Senior Leader at Darran Park Primary School and Microsoft Innovative Expert Educator, was asked by RCT Local Authority to lead Black Gold 2015: the largest scale Minecraft project in the UK. The project which involved 16 Rhondda schools, both English and Welsh medium, was centred around using 21st Century skills to learn about the rich heritage of Coal Society in South Wales� Throughout the project the schools collaborated using Office 365 and a shared site on Hwb+, the All-Wales VLE. Whilst learning about Coal Society, the pupils worked collaboratively to build the Rhondda Heritage Park (a museum dedicated to the history of Coal Society). This was led by the pupil digital leaders of Darran Park Primary School

D a r r a n P a r k P r i m a r y S c h o o l - M i c r o s o f t S h o w c a s e S c h o o l S t a t u s

who took the Minecraft server to each school as part of the Minecraft Roadshow.

Each school also contributed to a shared wiki, on the Hwb+ site, which was then used to create the animation ‘Black Gold’ with animation company Turnip Starfish.

Throughout the project the collaborative element had a significant impact on the children’s skills. As a result of using a shared Hwb+ site, pupils where able to work closely with children from sixteen different schools. This provided learners with a rich learning experience that stretched far beyond the learning environment. In addition, from using the latest emerging technology in such an innovative and engaging way pupils developed Digital Competence skills that will enable them to flourish in the 21st Century� The pupils from all schools developed a range of LNF skills – through blogging on the Hwb+ site, pupils had many opportunities to write for a varied audience and for many different purposes. This also enabled pupils to develop AfL skills, through peer assessing in a purposeful, real life situation. The collaborative aspect also had a major impact on pupil’s communication skills. Throughout the project children were learning from each other through sharing and applying their expertise. This was reflected in the way the pupils from Darran

Darran Park Primary School

35

Park Primary led the Minecraft Roadshow, visiting over 300 pupils in ten schools to coordinate the construction of the Rhondda Heritage Park using Minecraft.

The project had a big impact in terms of pupil engagement due to its innovative approach. Pupil feedback reflected that it was the most memorable and enjoyable project they had experienced in primary school largely due to the way ICT was used and the school-to-school working�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Christian CooleE-Mail head�darranparkpri@

rctednet�netTelephone 01443 730450Website www�darranparkprimary�com

36

Context and background to case studyDarran Park Primary School has 309 pupils ranging in age from Nursery to Year 6, feeding into Ferndale Community School; we also have a Complex Learning Needs unit with 7 children of foundation phase age.

Historically, we have always thought of our parents as very supportive, with large attendances for concerts, class assemblies, sports events etc. Probably, like lots of schools, family engagement wasn’t a major priority and annual performances and meetings were really as far as we went. We began looking at ways to improve home school links and the possible benefits it could have for our school and achieved our Investors in Families award in May 2013�

Realising that even though we were doing ok, we could do so much more to engage our families in their children’s learning, we appointed a full time Family Engagement Officer and developed a 3 year action plan to positively engage as many parents as possible to work in partnership with us�

Our links with parents and extended families has developed at an astounding rate, with the implementation of family after school clubs, a family and toddler group and adult learning courses creating opportunities to develop an ‘everyone’s welcome’ attitude to education. Our aim is to create, sustain and ultimately use these family links to have a positive effect on pupil’s attainment and to create better outcomes for every child at Darran Park Primary�

D a r r a n P a r k P r i m a r y S c h o o l - I m p r o v i n g Fa m i l y E n g a g e m e n t

Nature of strategy or activityOn appointment of the Family Engagement Officer’s role, parents and families were consulted via questionnaires, coffee mornings and discussions to build enthusiasm, relationships and to find out exactly what was expected of us as a school� From this point we were able to begin by offering them some of the things they wanted. Encouraging parents through the school gates with ‘something for them’ was a softer way of building relationships. We began with offering some fun family after school clubs, a book lending service and open classroom events as a way of encouraging parents to build relationships with

school staff rather than dropping their children off at the door. This soon developed into a regular family and toddler group, language and play and co-ordinated projects between home and school�

Two years on and some families have enrolled on basic skills courses that are facilitated by outside agencies but delivered at school , working at developing

their own skills as well as supporting those of the children� We have worked hard to develop a dedicated team of family engagement staff who are helping to create many opportunities for families to be able to play and learn together throughout the school week, these opportunities include family homework clubs, Men Behaving Dadly group and Ziggies� These groups run consistently throughout the school year to ensure that engagement is not only sustainable but we are also able to encourage relationships to build between families and a wider range of school staff.

Parent support and engagement

in school has had a considerable effect on the attendance

figures

37

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipFrom the start of our family engagement journey it was important that we were able to use the improvements in engagement to have an impact on ‘closing the gap’, improving attendance, fostering parent and child relationships and the attainment and aspirations of all of our children. We have 223 families attending Darran Park, of those families 91% attended their child’s teacher/parent meetings in the last school year. This in comparison with the previous year’s total of 79% has given us reason to ensure that family engagement stays firmly a priority for our school. This year 42% of families consistently attended family after school provisions that we have put into place. A step in the right direction for our first year; our target is to raise this figure to 60% for next year but need to specifically look at engaging our working parents. One child in particular has made a huge improvement in attendance over the past year with 70.4% attendance at the end of Summer Term 2014 rising to a figure of 92% at the end of Spring Term 2015� Improving engagement with this family has been a major contributing factor, originally difficult to engage, this family has gone on to complete the FAST programme, attend an adult literacy course and has helped run our weekly Ziggies group� Parent support and engagement in school has had a considerable effect on the attendance figures for this child and shows undoubtedly that engagement can have a positive impact on a whole family’s achievement and well-being�



38

Context and background to case studyOver the last three years Darran Park Primary School has been on a dramatic ICT journey. We have completely transformed our approach to ICT, moving away from a traditional ICT suite, to using emerging technology within the classroom� Led by the ICT Coordinator, every teacher embarked on extensive CPD using emerging technology to develop teaching and learning� The school invested in the deployment and infrastructure of ICT, purchasing 12 WiFi hotspots, iPads and laptops. In addition we use Switched on ICT to support the progressive teaching of ICT throughout the school�

At Darran Park Primary School, our passion for creativity and innovation is encapsulated through the way we use ICT to transform the curriculum. In 2014, the school’s ICT Coordinator was part of an RCT Local Authority (LA) project focused on school-to school working and developing digital competency. Fifteen schools worked together to develop highly engaging themes, using ICT to engage and support learning� As the project was part of RCT LA’s partnership with Microsoft IT Academy, each teacher embedded Microsoft 21st Century Learning Design within the theme and achieved Microsoft Certified Educator status. All teachers found that the project had a profound impact on their teaching and pupil engagement and outcomes. In addition, our school became an official Microsoft Academy. Due to the impact of the project, the school decided to build upon this model and develop more innovative ways of using ICT to transform the Cornerstones curriculum�

D a r r a n P a r k P r i m a r y S c h o o l - O u r I C T J o u r n e y

Nature of strategy or activityWe have used emerging technology to transform the curriculum and equip learners with the necessary skills to flourish in the 21st Century� We have created an ethos where all stakeholders realise the importance of ICT in preparing our pupils for a successful future� Digital competency is central to our approach to teaching and learning. The school is committed to ICT CPD, with seven teachers taking part in the RCT Microsoft Academy� This training replicated the earlier model and helped teachers use ICT to improve teaching and learning�

ICT has been used innovatively to engage learners through the creation of wow starters using a range of apps such as: Telegami, Aurasma, Morfo and Imovie� Teachers also regularly create websites

and Hwb+ pages to engage learners and develop standards in writing. These have been highlighted as good practice by the Central South Consortium and shared through the Literacy Leaders Network.

Pupils are encouraged to be creators, rather than consumers

of technology and given regular opportunities to develop coding skills� We are a Kodu school and our Year 6 pupils recently came third in the Welsh Kodu Kup final.

We continually look for opportunities to use Hwb+ to further develop digital competency and have promoted it throughout the cluster – leading and hosting Hwb+ training. The school has developed a Hwb+ page for pupils to collaborate on a shared project Year 5/6 project.

ICT has had a profound impact on pupil independence

and engagement

39

We have developed a pupil digital leader council to encourage pupils to take a lead in the way ICT is used throughout the school� The council are responsible for: deployment of ICT, leading pupil and teacher workshops, leading an after school. The digital leaders have visited several schools to lead Minecraft workshops and help set up digital leader councils�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipThis approach to using ICT has engaged pupils and fostered a desire for learning� Their love for being in school, to thrive on and embrace these rich learning experiences, resulted in 95.5% attendance, the highest in 10 years.

Targeted support using ICT contributed to eFSM pupils outperforming non-FSM in English and science in 2014� 2015 end of KS2 100% of FSM pupils achieved L4+ in English�

ICT has had a profound impact on pupil independence and engagement. Effective use of ICT has contributed to ensuring good and excellent teaching throughout the school�

The school achieved the NAACE ICT mark in July 2014. The Digital Leader Council and innovative use of ICT were highlighted as excellent practice.

The good practice within the school was recognised when the ICT Coordinator was seconded to RCT LA to lead a project aimed at using Minecraft to recreate the Rhondda Heritage Park - Black Gold 2015. The project included using Hwb+ to collaborate with other schools� This was also recognised by Microsoft when the ICT leader became a Microsoft Innovate Expert Educator, one of only 30 in the UK�

Next year the school will be embarking on a cross authority project, with Bridgend and Swansea, aimed at using Hwb+ to collaborate on a shared theme. The project will build upon the successful Black Gold 2015 project and further develop digital competency and school-to-school working� The school will be leading a SIG group project with the same aims. We will also be continuing to strengthen the school-to-school working through our use of Hwb networks and shared cluster Hwb+ pages



40

Ferndale Community School has been working in partnership with local garages, after identifying a local need for students to become skilled in motor vehicle maintenance, as one of the very few employment opportunities in the Rhondda Fach. They liaised with local garages to identify the qualification required for employment within the motor industry and worked with the local college to provide a progression route� The school built a garage in order to deliver IMI ‘Motor Vehicle L1/L2’ and approached local garages for support regarding work experience, delivery and resources�

A number of local garages have supported the school, including Pit Stop Motors, Ferndale and North Road Motors.

Work experience/offers of employmentFerndale students have been offered work experience by local businesses, ranging from visits, lessons within a working garage, short term and long term placements and alternative curriculum places� One young person has gone on to gain employment�

Shared and donated resourcesGarages working in partnership with the school have shared and donated resources, including motor parts, machinery, cars and motorbikes. The school has also received advice and guidance from local garages, helping young people into employment�

Extra-curricular clubsWorking closely with local garages, the school now has the capacity to offer extra-curricular clubs, including a welding club�

F e r n d a l e C o m m u n i t y S c h o o l - P a r t n e r s h i p Wo r k i n g W i t h L o c a l G a r a g e s

Community supportThe school now offers classes in the evening where the community can access motorbike maintenance advice and the tools and facilities to work on their own vehicle, thanks to training being offered by local garages.

“Without this partnership, we would not have been able to fund the vehicles and parts needed

for pupils to work on. The expense of a tyre changer alone would have prevented access to the

L2 qualification.”

Assistant Headteacher, Ferndale Community School

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Heather Nicholas E-Mail h�nicholas@ferndalecs�comTelephone 01443 755337Website https://www.ferndalecs.com

41

Context and background to case studyOur school had the lowest attendance figures in RCT and sat in Q3 when compared to similar schools. The data reflected significant improvement over 4 years (87% – 91%) but there was a cohort of students for whom existing strategies had little effect. The eFSM gap in attendance was reduced significantly but remained stubborn to shift further. Analysis of the eFSM data in terms of punctuality highlighted the issues that these children were experiencing� The gap in punctuality was 40%! The challenge faced by all teenagers to wake up early in the morning, create routines that support an organised start to the working day and establish good habits is significant. This is especially challenging for students who live in a household where unemployment is the norm and the work-life routine is missing. Family life becomes increasingly nocturnal�

Our plan was to establish strategies that would give ownership of improvement in attendance/ punctuality back to the pupil – that they owned the solutions. We worked on the principal that our students didn’t have the time to change the hearts and minds of parents� Using techniques learned during our training to become a Restorative School, we used Attendance Circles as a vehicle for students to coach each other�

Nature of strategy or activity• Pupils are developing as independent learners

and are increasingly interpersonal learners

• Their coaching skills develop quickly and their capacity to solve their own problems become impressive

F e r n d a l e C o m m u n i t y S c h o o l a n d M a e r d y P r i m a r y S c h o o l - At t e n d a n c e C i r c l e s

• Excuses are seen as just that and a solutions based culture enhanced

• Relationships are developed and opportunities for praise enhanced

• Embarrassment and shame reduces and openness to support increases

• To date (14 months on) we have not had a student where attendance has failed to improve� In fact a genuine illness within the circle is met with real concern not only for the team members well-being but for the set back that their ‘attendance recovery’ has taken.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Sue Belcher E-Mail Head�maerdypri@rctednet�

netTelephone 01443 755227Website maerdycommunity�

wikispaces�com

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Heather NicholasE-Mail h�nicholas@ferndalecs�comTelephone 01443 755337Website https://www.ferndalecs.com

42

Context and background to case studyL2+ was 21% in 2012� Both KS3 and KS4 English and mathematics were in Q4.

Headteacher and Assistant Headteacher completed a diagnostic evaluation of both departments including an analysis of the existing skills of the teaching staff and that of the pupils within the school� Once strengths had been identified, needs were quickly prioritised. Following a two-week research period where over a dozen different schools where visited (identified using performance trend data) a sharply focused improvement plan targeted each specific need.

Headteacher line managed the need to raise pupil confidence, improve exam prep/ performance, instil a sense of ambition and develop the competitive spirit of staff and students.

Assistant Headteacher focused on maximising impact of marking, making best use of skill set within departments, further developing skill set of teachers, focused intervention and vertical tutoring in order to maximise impact of interventions.

Nature of strategy or activityExamples of work undertaken:

Rotational teaching has been introduced in order to sharpen SoW, refine the skill set within the department, share best practice, ensure consistency in marking and expose children to varied teaching styles. Pupils in Year 7-9 are taught one topic for 4 weeks and then rotate classes to be taught the next topic by another teacher. The rotation continues until all topics have been covered� Teachers feel encouraged and supported to take more risks and best practice is shared across the department as resources and

F e r n d a l e C o m m u n i t y S c h o o l - R a i s i n g S t a n d a r d s I n E n g l i s h A n d m a t h e m a t i c s

techniques are perfected (topics are reassigned annually). Pupils experience the different teaching styles within the departments, which can now be encouraged and celebrated rather than standardised into an ‘average’ package�

A classroom was painted in whiteboard paint and furniture removed in order to encourage risk taking in the students and to lessen the impact of their ‘fear of failure’� Pupils use marker pens to write on the walls and have become accustomed to learning through mistakes and through peer support/ coaching�

One classroom has been arranged as a permanent exam venue – with all of the accompanying rules and décor (clock, box for phones, numbered desks etc). The departments use this to teach exam technique�

Another room has had all furniture removed except for 30 chairs arranged in a circle� This room is used to develop oracy and confidence. Pupils take it in turn to speak and to listen�

Further examples include:

• Single sex classes

• Inter class competition

Ferndale Community School

43

Y10/11 form groups arranged by English/ mathematics teams according to need (revised every half term) – English and mathematics teachers make up the KS4 Form Tutor team�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadership• L2+, L2 English and L2 mathematics are all now

in Q1

• L2+ has improved from 21% to 55%

• L2 Mathemathics – from 24% to 64%

• L2 English – from 40% to 75%

Dual observations made by the SLT alongside HoDs from other high achieving departments across the Consortium observed teaching in mathematics and English to be excellent across the board. This can be attributed in part to the fact that teachers are encouraged to be ‘themselves’ and to take risks in their teaching� Differences are celebrated and pupils are beginning to embrace change rather than fear it�

Pupil surveys reflect a much higher level of confidence and aspiration and a competitive element permeates the core subjects (staff and pupils). The number of pupils opting to follow English or mathematics at post 16 has doubled.

HoDs are reflective and confident to trial initiatives. They each take an active role in the other’s department review and each subject observes the other teach�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Heather NicholasE-Mail h�nicholas@ferndalecs�comTelephone 01443 755337Website https://www.ferndalecs.

com

44

Context and background to case studyCluster Headteachers were conscious that traditional transition days were no longer fit for purpose (had changed very little in 10 years and did little to address key elements of the Donaldson Report). They were not effective in supporting social integration, did little to build on the restorative approaches developed in each school and did not build meaningful relationships prior to joining Y7.

Gain time was also a CPD/ school improvement planning opportunity reserved for KS4 and 5 teachers only – something we wished to share with cluster colleagues�

Together we planned for a Transition Fortnight. Pupils in Y6 joined Ferndale Community school for two weeks and experienced a wide range of curriculum enhancement and enrichment activities. VP data allowed us to target focus groups and access funding from Communities First�

Opportunity was also taken to involve key staff from across the cluster e.g. YEPs teams, careers advisors, PCSO. The fortnight focused on developing literacy and numeracy skills – particularly oracy.

Nature of strategy or activityDuring the week prior to ‘Transition fortnight’, teachers from KS3 observed best practice in KS2 and planned lessons accordingly� During the fortnight itself Y6 teachers used the Gain Time now available to meet as a cluster for 4 days in order to form literacy, numeracy, science and Welsh PLCs and write meaningful improvement plans�

F e r n d a l e C o m m u n i t y S c h o o l - Tr a n s i t i o n F o r t n i g h t

The fortnight itself allowed us to slowly integrate the different schools into mixed form groups. Activities such as each school learning a different verse to a song that they wrote the words to (and performed as a whole for the parents at the end of the week) and each school adding to a work of art that was collated into a whole by the end of the week helped us to foster a team ethos. Problem solving activities allowed key staff to observe individual pupils in relation to the pen portraits, data and vulnerability profiles provided by KS2 colleagues� Outdoor pursuits (Dare Valley Park) supported the development of oracy and restorative approaches in a subtle but exciting way. Pupils were taught the routines of the specialist rooms/ facilities – they all cooked, swam, carried out experiments, used machinery and the library. Numeracy days developed specific skills which were further enhanced throughout the week�

Daily dialogue with the Y6 staff supported immediate intervention were required and parents were involved throughout� Pupils ‘graduated’ at the end of the fortnight fully prepared to hit the ground running in September where the process will conclude with a residential


45

trip to Llangranog (free of charge). Our aim is to develop the project to provide further opportunities for Gain Time in the primary schools and to involve peer mediators/ coaches within the model�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadership• A greater equality in access to Gain Time

across the Key Stages�

• Use of Gain Time for joint planning.

• An opportunity to work with KS2 pupils – at a time when they have completed all assessments and tests. Improved motivation and engagement in learning – right up to the end of term�

• Flexibility for primary schools to continue with their scheduled ‘leavers’ celebrations.

• Opportunities to integrate pupils from outside the cluster early�

• Opportunity to integrate pupils with Complex needs early with LSAs fully involved across the Key stages. Best practice was shared.

• Pupil feedback – very positive.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Heather NicholasE-Mail h�nicholas@ferndalecs�comTelephone 01443 755337Website https://www.ferndalecs.com/

46

School context and key issuesFerndale is the smallest comprehensive secondary school in Rhondda Cynon Taff (RCT) with 670 pupils� The school is situated in a valley with high levels of unemployment, following the closure of three mines in the area� Some 38% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, the highest in RCT. The number of LAC children varies greatly but currently it’s around 11%�

The Headteacher defines disadvantage as both material – some pupils are unable to do their homework in the evening because there is no electricity at home – and aspirational. Many parents of the school believe that education can make no difference at all. Pupils also lack confidence that someone smarter and from a richer family will get the job they need. Therefore, as one teacher commented they hold an attitude of “what’s the point?” Many e-FSM pupils also have special educational needs.

Attendance is an issue at the school� There’s a 2% FSM attendance gap (which is down from 8%, 3 years ago). However there is a much larger punctuality gap of 40% in terms of morning arrivals at school. Attendance is worse amongst girls because many girls stay at home to look after their family.

Strategies used to close the gapThe school focuses on the following areas, in order to help close the gap:

• Raising attainment by setting high targets for pupils. Part of this is regular examination of pupils so that they become comfortable with exams�

F e r n d a l e C o m m u n i t y S c h o o l - C l o s i n g T h e G a p ( I p s o s M O R I )

• Closing the attainment gap through giving pupils the experiences of middle class children�

• Raising attendance. This is achieved by working with children, rather than parents. The school has identified that it would have generally more impact working with pupils rather than parents, as the time lag through working with parents, to then with children, would be too great�

• Ensuring staff well-being and raising staff aspirations for the pupils.

All staff are aware of the strategy and that Ferndale wants to be one of the best schools at closing the gap. All staff meetings every morning helps with this. As one teacher said:

“everyone knows the direction we’re heading.”

Key activities to dateOne of tactics used to raise attainment at the school is to set challenging targets to stretch the pupils. As part of this, a culture of competition is fostered in the school� A house system was implemented, so that they “compete for everything” as the

Head explained. This includes actively encourage pupils to take part in sporting competitions, even if this means taking them out of lessons� The pupils are also regularly examined so that they are used to exams� Previously the school found that students would be fearful of exams and would often not turn up to exams because they didn’t want to fail�

The school’s level 2 and level 2

plus literacy and numeracy scores are “surpassing targets”

according to the school

47

Raising literacy and numeracy are key areas of focus for the school in raising attainment. As well as bought initiatives such as Read, Write, Inc, the school has found that small group interventions have worked well. In particular the Restorative Action in Schools (RAIS) has been put to good effect in the effort to raise literacy levels. The restorative approach involves students articulating their thoughts on a subject whilst sitting in a circle. From this, classrooms are increasingly being set up so that they are circular in nature� For the literacy initiative pupils were identified through the analysis of attainment data, as being in need of a literacy intervention. A 20 minute slot was then identified during registration, where these pupils could work in small groups and discuss the books they were reading� This centred on two questions, from the RAIS approach: “What do you think happened” and “How do you think the character felt?” Moreover these questioned helped the students develop their emotional literacy levels. Observations from the staff was that many students find discussing their feelings difficult. Therefore the school thought that a way to do this was to first ask students to talk about characters in a book, which it is hoped will increase their ability to discuss their own feelings� Although no statistics were given, teachers reported that feedback from other staff members and pupils has been positive from this initiative.

Lesson environments are also tailored towards the pupils. For instance, class mathematics teachers are rotated every three weeks to ensure that those children who might not get along with one teacher, has the opportunity to be able to work with another who they may work with more easily�

The school has an onsite youth centre, with two full time youth workers. Activities are held including DJ lessons and basketball� The school is also very community focused� As well as being part of Community First (which is how the youth workers are funded), the school has placed itself in the heart of the community. For instance, they have recently established an on site nursery which the school hopes will engage parents in school life from when their child is a young age�

Innovation is within the school’s culture and action research is embedded is everything they do. As the Headteacher commented “staff are very reflective” and there seemed to be a real sense amongst all staff consulted of an enthusiasm to learn how to improve their teaching� They have looked to the Sutton Trust Toolkit to gain ideas for interventions, such as using personalised feedback and mixed ability sets� Emphasis is also put on developing meta cognition skills amongst pupils. However, some aspects of the toolkit they have proven less applicable for their school� For instance they believe that uniform does work� As the Headteacher commented: “when it’s non-school uniform day, the kids don’t turn up, because they don’t have clothes�” They also very much value learning support assistants because they are highly trained to work with children with specific needs in school.

The school uses data to great effect. Data is regularly monitored and analysed and the school is keen to develop its methods of data collection. The Deputy Headteacher for instance is currently on a research methodology course�

Closing the attainment gap is also a big focus for the school. By this, they predominantly mean giving young people the chances in life that other children in the country are afforded are thereby “levelling the playing field” as the Headteacher articulated. As part of this strategy and following a visit to a school in Tower Hamlets, London, the school now adopts an ‘experience model’� This says that each child should have the same experiences as children from middle class


48

backgrounds, such as going to the seaside and visiting museums. Therefore they intend that each child that leaves Ferndale should have a list of these experiences under their belt�

The school take attendance very seriously. There is an Attendance Officer, who works closely with youth engagement officers, to raise the attendance and punctuality rates. They have different strategies in place for pupils with differing levels of attendance. Some of these strategies include letters homes to parents, working with youth engagement officers and circle time approaches. In the circle time, the young people will discuss why they might have been absent or late and then what they can do to remedy this� Feedback from the youth worker who works with pupils on circle time, says that attendance amongst this group worked with has “gone up massively”� They have also brought the culture of competition into the attendance strategy. Pupils knows their attendance rates and classes compete on whose attendance is better. They do not give rewards for individuals as they feel that attendance should not be overly rewarded as it should be something that pupils do anyway� The school does not work directly with parents to improve attendance as they feel that this strategy would be too slow in changing the habits of their young people� Therefore the focus is with working with the young people themselves to improve their behaviour�

Because of the backgrounds of many children and the difficulties they face and therefore the impact this has on the teaching staff, who often deal with these issues ensuring staff well-being is essential for the school. In order to foster this well-being, the school has a number of strategies� They minimise paperwork and have systems in place to make life easier for teachers� The behaviour management is routine for instance. Therefore every teacher and child knows the repercussions when poor behaviour is demonstrated�

Raising aspirations amongst students, is also a key part of the school’s strategy� They have recently started the Successful Lives programme which aims to raise aspirations and develop resilience within school children� The high grade targets also help with this�

Impact of activities to dateMany of the initiatives that were discussed during the time of visit, had only just started. However, anecdotal evidence from teachers suggests that these initiatives are working. For instance, as noted above, circle time has improved attendance greatly amongst certain students� The school’s level 2 and level 2+ literacy and numeracy scores are “surpassing targets” according to the school and they have been the most improved school in the area for the last two years�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Heather NicholasE-Mail h�nicholas@ferndalecs�comTelephone 01443 755337Website https://www.ferndalecs.com/

49

Context and background to case studyThe analysis of end of KS3 outcomes for history in 2015 confirmed the view that there was a trend for boys, particularly e-fsm, to underachieve against target levels and in comparison with their peers� This was also evident in the outcomes for Year 8. Additionally the WNT outcomes showed a significant area of weakness in reading scores for Year 8 boys.

Discussion between the history department and the team responsible for developing literacy and numeracy skills resulted in the creation of an all-boys group for discrete literacy and numeracy lessons delivered by a history specialist (1/week).

The content of the lessons was based on topics arising from history so that the pupils would be able to apply their learning, to give a purposeful content and develop the pupils’ general knowledge - an important element in ‘closing the gap’� The topics were selected following in-depth consultation with the pupils in the group. Their involvement in selecting the topics was significant in enhancing their engagement and modifying their behaviour for learning�

Nature of strategy or activityFollowing evaluation of the pilot, the curriculum plan for the delivery of literacy and numeracy has been amended and for 2016-17 will be allied with history for Years 7 and 8. This has included close working with the history department to ensure that literacy and numeracy lessons (2

F i t z a l a n H i g h S c h o o l - H i s t o r y B o y s

per week) support the literacy and numeracy demands of the subject. It is intended that the history lessons will be double staffed with the literacy and numeracy teachers to ensure that pupils demonstrate their skills consistently and are encouraged to view them as transferable�

In addition to the alliance in Years 7 and 8, in Year 9 all discrete literacy and numeracy lessons are to be delivered by the history department� These groups will work on the same basis as the pilot� They will be single gendered with pupils making significant contributions to the topics and to the approaches used� Preliminary work with pupils has identified warfare to be, once again, a popular topic with the boys while

girls are keen to learn more about the role of women through history�

One additional point is that pupils really valued the trip they went on towards the end of the year� It is hoped that a similar opportunity will be made available to pupils nearer the start of their studies to increase motivation and foster a group identity.

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipImpact on provision has been good, with staff and pupil evaluations showing that pupils are increasingly engaged and motivated and are beginning to transfer their skills appropriately�

Assessments against the LNF show that nearly all pupils have made significant progress and are now more closely aligned with the age related expectation of the LNF, particularly in reading

Impact on provision has been good,

with staff and pupil evaluations showing

that pupils are increasingly engaged

and motivated

50

strategies, comprehension and response and analysis. WNT outcomes show that a majority of pupils made progress (improved SS scores).

History TA levels have also improved�

Lesson observations show that the quality of teaching and learning was at least good in the observed lessons�

Staff involved have been able to develop their leadership skills and confidence in developing the project and the related SOW.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Cath Bradshaw E-Mail [email protected] 02920 232850Website fitzalan.cardiff.sch.uk

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School context and key issuesHerbert Thompson is a large primary school which runs from Reception to Year 6 and includes a nursery on site� The school is situated in a disadvantaged area: a high proportion of pupils are eFSM (56%) in comparison with both the local area and Wales, and 10% of children are on the child protection register. Some 26% of children come from minority ethnic groups, which exceeds the Welsh average by some margin, although rates of English as an additional language are no higher than Wales as a whole� The Headteacher stressed that the school’s challenging circumstances brought a number of advantages, including access to additional funding and support, and attracting more committed and high quality teachers.

Strategies used to close the gapThe school’s motto –

‘Find your talents and let them grow, be the person you’d like to

know’

– encapsulates the strategy: the school encourages staff, parents and pupils to have high aspirations for pupils and it has a strong focus on promoting well-being and relationships across the school community�

The strategy is underpinned by approaches to working with:

• School staff, with the intention that staff have high levels of well-being, have a positive mindset about children’s potential/subscribe to the school’s vision, and that structures and systems allow staff to develop excellent teaching and leadership skills;

H e r b e r t T h o m p s o n P r i m a r y S c h o o l - C l o s i n g T h e G a p ( I p s o s M O R I )

• Parents, with the intention of building relationships, developing parents’ skills so they can effectively support their children’s learning, and involving parents in school life;

• Pupils, with the aim of promoting well-being and good behaviour, and providing emotional and social support, so they can achieve their full potential.

Key activities to close the gapThe school has a clear vision about the approaches and systems it uses to help all children fulfil their potential, and this vision permeates the school staff; members of staff consistently highlighted common features in their approach that were effective in tackling the attainment gap. At the same time, staff emphasised that it was the combination of a set of interdependent activities,

rather than any single initiative, that was so effective.

Key elements of the approach include systems to track behaviour and attainment, with clear lines of responsibility at every level� Meetings twice a year between teachers, LSAs, and the SLT member responsible for inclusion allow the school to act quickly on progress data so that the curriculum is tailored regularly

to pupils’ needs� Behaviour management data is monitored on an ongoing basis: pupils are set individual targets for improvements when behaviour issues occur that are monitored by class teachers and the SLT. However, behaviour management is not just punitive: restorative approaches and professional counsellors offer support for pupils and families to improve well-being�

Staff are highly motivated and

committed to the school as a result of

the investment in their well-being and

development

52

Staff’s personal career objectives, including the objectives for LSAs, are tied into the schools’ overarching strategies for closing the gap�

The school invests in the well-being and career development of its staff, including its LSAs. Staff breakfast together every morning in ‘circle time’ sessions facilitated by a professional counsellor� An annual staff survey monitors well-being and the findings inform the school’s strategy to improve staff well-being each year. The Headteacher emphasises the resilience needed by staff working in challenging circumstances.

The school invests in training its staff. Initiatives include twice-yearly ‘coaching triplet’ lesson observations, which aim to develop both teaching and leadership skills, and internal leadership courses� The school invests in training LSAs so they can specialise in particular areas. A few members of staff highlighted the effective deployment and up-skilling of LSAs as a particularly effective part of the school’s strategy� LSAs have clear responsibilities in relation to closing the gap, such as monitoring the effectiveness of the interventions they run and suggesting ways of improving their impact. LSAs are highly motivated as a result�

The school reaches out to the local community and parents in a variety of ways� Two family engagement offers and a counsellor provide support for families in need. Initiatives to encourage parents into schools operate on an ongoing basis: for example, an on-site Café is run by local parents� Courses to improve parents’ skills are run on a regular basis, including accredited courses and practical skills training. Open doors policies in early years help to encourage parents into school, and allow teachers to role model positive communication and behaviour management strategies� Family learning sessions are run by LSAs and coach parents on effective techniques for reading with their children� A wide range of other enrichment activities operate to provide families and children with experiences and opportunities to spend time together.

Pupils are happy and appreciate the counselling services available� They know there are places they can go where information ‘will go no further’

and they can discuss problems openly� They are enthusiastic about the range of activities they can access through extended school activities, and extracurricular activities at school.

The impact of activities to dateThe school’s close monitoring of behaviour and attainment data, as well as intervention-level outcomes, means they can effectively monitor their impact� Data analysis has been used to improve some interventions: for example, data from the school’s behaviour management system showed that a high number of behaviour incidents occurred immediately after lunch, and that running literacy and numeracy interventions at other times of the day enhanced their effectiveness. LSAs will in future be responsible for monitoring the impact of the interventions they run and identifying ways to enhance them.

Staff are highly motivated and committed to the school as a result of the investment in their well-being and development�

The Headteacher reports that parents’ aspirations for their children are shifting over time, with more applying for higher performing schools in the area rather than the nearest choice� The Headteacher also reports that the attainment gap is closing.

Areas for improvementTeachers appreciated the opportunities for internal lesson observations and feedback, and welcomed being a hub of advice for other schools in the area. However, more experienced teachers would welcome the opportunity to observe practices in other schools.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Bethan HockingE-Mail [email protected] 02920 564342Website www�

herbertthompsonprimary.co�uk

53

SummaryThe purpose of this action research project is to evaluate the impact of the explicit teaching of emotional literacy at Year 6: Has it worked? How do we know? What happens next?

ContextLlanharan Primary School is a small community school with free school meals (FSM) currently standing at 25�49%� The FSM percentage can vary considerably within an academic year and is a direct result of the transient nature of families within the community� In our school we have identified two cohorts with higher than school average FSM, Nursery class with 47.37% and Year 6 with 36.36%. Our KS2 action research was based on training, practice and developments that took place within our Nursery class.

Over recent years, we have noted that early foundation phase pupils are increasingly unable to access learning experiences; each new cohort has presented a more extreme challenge with our current Nursery class having a high percentage of pupils with communication and behavioural needs. Although practitioners identified that pupils were emotionally underdeveloped, were unable to regulate their emotions and action, we were unable to pinpoint the exact areas that were delayed� As a result we could not accurately develop plans to meet the individual learner’s needs, improve well-being and a readiness to learn. To meet this need, we introduced and trained staff to deliver the ‘Thrive Approach’.

Through the Thrive assessment process, identification of pupil needs and the development of individual plans, pupils in early foundation phase, have made excellent progress. Initial

L l a n h a r a n P r i m a r y S c h o o l - E m o t i o n a l L i t e r a c y I n Ye a r 6

assessments indicated that only 13�3% of pupils were functioning at their appropriate level of development with 86.7% of pupils functioning significantly lower. Following the introduction of individual action plans and regular group intervention sessions, standards improved to 6�25% below expected level and 81�25% in line with expected level� This has also had a measurable impact on behaviour, pupils’ academic ability and aptitude to learn.

Following the success at early foundation phase, we were interested in the potential impact on pupil well-being and end of Key Stage 2 attainment that the ‘Thrive Approach’ could have on our second highest cohort of FSM pupils in Year 6.

Through the ‘Thrive Approach’ we aimed to build pupils’ cognitive, relational and physiological regulation systems so that they would potentially be able to see cause and effect and make real choices, with some understanding of consequences� We aimed to raise pupils’ self esteem, engagement in learning and potentially their academic success�

ImplementationTen pupils were identified. Five of these pupils were in receipt of free school meals (eFSM) and five non-free school meal pupils (nFSM) with like home and academic backgrounds were also chosen as a control group� It was of interest to note that all the pupils involved were confident users of technology and a vast majority communicated with peers, outside the school environment, through the use of mobile phones, social networking and online gaming�

Prior to the initial ‘Thrive Assessment’, pupils’ attendance for that term, attainment, feelings

54

throughout the school day and emotions during the first group meeting were recorded. In partnership with the ‘Thrive-Online’ assessment, a diagnostic tool to measure a child’s emotional and social development needs, a baseline for each pupil was created�

The ‘Thrive-Online’ assessment tool identified that the chosen pupils were at a ‘Skill and Structure’ stage of development and that they required skills in ‘knowing the right way’ and ‘understanding the need for rules’. A group action plan was developed to aid pupils in the development of strategies to negotiate changes to rules and expectations and contribute to the democratic process. Suggested activities included outdoor education, the exploration of ‘what ifs’ in a range of situations that invite ethical or moral decision making, naming of feelings, the exploration of possibilities, consequences, options and opinions�

The ten pupils engaged with a series of outdoor environmental experiences, planned for our extensive school site and also the local woodland� Experiences included orienteering and gardening sessions, where pupils developed a practical understanding of the importance to follow instructions and ‘rules’. The sessions, run by the Thrive accredited Additional Learning Needs Co-ordinator, occurred during the school day, but timings were carefully planned to ensure that a single curriculum area would not be inadvertently affected.

Digital literacy and the use of film were used to explore and discuss how personal decisions can affect others. The work undertaken within the Thrive sessions also had an impact in after school Film Club, where a number of focus group pupils began to share insights into character motivations with peers. Often the analysis of character choices led directly into P4C sessions the following day where the opportunity to open up discussion of right and wrong was taken� The long term and medium term planning of Thrive sessions proved

to be a challenge, if not impossible, as discussions and reactions to the media presented would have a direct impact on the following days planning� Adaptable staff and planning were a definite requirement for the implementation of the project.

For a number of children included within the Thrive project, verbalising their feelings proved to be a challenge and initially music and art were used as a vehicle to communicate emotions. Pupils were required to complete a journal of their feelings throughout the project. Initially these journals comprised of diagrams and illustrations, but as awareness and vocabulary developed pupils journals became increasingly analytical and an awareness of their emotions became evident.

The school had previously used weekly ‘Pet as Therapy’ sessions to raise attendance and in developing literacy skills with under-performing Key Stage 2 pupils� The ‘Reading Dog’ was a highly popular initiative and had proven success in raising attendance; the Thrive Approach now gave sessions a clear focus and purpose� In partnership with developing literacy skills, time was given to discuss moral stories and dilemmas�

The five FSM and five pupils that formed the control group attended a 1-hour Thrive session per day for a total of six weeks�

Following the six-week programme the pupils’ attendance, attainment, self-esteem was measured through the same process as the baseline. Also, a further Thrive assessment was undertaken using ‘Thrive-Online’� We were then able to chart any emotional and academic progress and also compare any difference between that of the eFSM and nFSM pupils�

ResultsThe progress made by eFSM pupils engaged within the Thrive project proved to be positive within all

The identification of a pupils’ cognitive,

relational and physiological stage

of development and the introduction structured Thrive

sessions has certainly had an

impact on our eFSM pupils learning

55

aspects measured� Although the control group of nFSM pupils made some progress the impact was not as evident�

During the six-week project, the attendance of eFSM pupils increased by an average of 2�06% with the highest increase being +4�15%� This compared favourably with a slight decrease of -0�86% for the nFSM pupils� This data supported the change in the attitude towards school for the pupil with +4.15% increase in attendance. He stated that he often ‘got angry in school’ but ‘didn’t know how to tell his teacher’ and thought that ‘no one wanted to listen’� In a pupil’s voice interview following the action research, he stated that he now feels that the school staff, including ALNCo, class teacher and headteacher, will listen to him� He has approached the headteacher with concerns�

Emotion Scale results highlighted that three of the five eFSM pupils were identified has having considerably high levels of anxiety in school and two of the pupils also experienced some anxiety� These levels were greatly reduced by the conclusion of the project. The same three pupils were identified as having a significantly low mood in school and all five pupils noted a positive change in their mood following the action research. Of the four pupils identified as having feelings of grief on the onset of the project, two did not have feelings of grief at the projects conclusion, one improved and one remained the same�

The ongoing challenge for Llanharan Primary School has been to close the performance gap between eFSM and nFSM pupils. Although, in recent years, the gap has been gradually closing, significant progress has been made this year in both English and mathematics. In KS2 mathematics, 100% of eFSM pupils achieved L5+ compared to 57�14% of nFSM pupils� In English eFSM pupils outperformed nFSM pupils at L5+ with 75% of pupils achieving Level 5+ compared to 57�14% of nFSM pupils� When we analysed the English targets set at the beginning of Year 6 for the eFSM and nFSM pupils involved within the action research a more interesting pattern emerged. Within the group of five eFSM pupils

a collective total of 2 sub levels of additional progress was made compared with no additional progress made by the control group of nFSM pupils in oracy. Within reading, a collective total of +6 sub levels of additional progress were made by eFSM pupils compared to +2 sub levels of additional progress made by the nFSM control group. Within writing a collective +7 sub levels of additional progress was made by eFSM pupils compared with +2 sub levels of progress made by nFSM pupils�

The identification of a pupils’ cognitive, relational and physiological stage of development and the introduction structured Thrive sessions has certainly had an impact on our eFSM pupils learning�

Next stepsMoving forward, all pupils will be assessed using ‘Thrive Online’ and intervention groups will be formed for identified or vulnerable pupils. Our research has also highlighted the need for all pupils to discuss, verbalise and make real connections with peers. Due to the changing world that we live in, many pupils are entering a social void; they are making social media or digital connections but are not engaging in rich personal real time relationships. Making the time for pupils to connect and collaborate through a cooperative learning approach will be a priority for our school�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Bethan PriceE-Mail head�LlanharanPri@

rctednet�netTelephone 01443 237831Website llanharanps�wikispaces�com/

56

Context and background to case studyTeaching at the school had been judged as good or excellent by the Headteacher and verified through system leader monitoring and a Local Authority review� A focus of the SDP 2013/14 was to raise the percentage of excellent teaching� There was limited guidance available on what ‘it’ was that made teaching excellent. After a lot of research the school established 2 effective Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in each Key Stage to look at effective questioning. We followed the Welsh Government (WG) model of PLCs available on the Learning Wales website� This proved successful, building a coaching and mentoring culture through joint observations and sharing good practice. The results of this PLC, in the form of an ‘Impact Statement’ are included on the Learning Wales website as an example of excellent practice.

In the summer term of 2014 the Headteacher attended an INSET day on the ‘Teaching and Learning Continua’ produced by Gareth Coombes� This model of looking at teaching has a number of different elements, its guidance on implementation and support for performance management was exactly what we had been looking for�

Nature of strategy or activityWe planned to look at a different element of Continua every half term and drew up a long term plan. We changed our staff meeting structure to include a greater focus on teaching and learning. We timetabled ‘Teaching and Learning’ meetings fortnightly, alternating with traditional

L l a n h a r i P r i m a r y S c h o o l - E x c e l l e n t P r a c t i c e I n Te a c h i n g A n d L e a r n i n g

staff meetings. A medium term plan was drawn up for each unit, starting with the setting of success criteria, moving onto sharing practice and concluding with an element of monitoring or evaluation.

At the beginning of the autumn term all staff completed a self-assessment of where they were on the Teaching and Learning Continua. These formed the initial discussions of performance management meetings. From these discussions, targets were agreed and formed one performance management objective for each member of staff.

In each initial teaching and learning meeting, WILLWIGs /WILLWIEs are set� All staff add post-it notes to ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ sheets and through professional dialogue our success criteria is agreed� The school council is asked to contribute ideas which feed into these meetings. All staff are encouraged to bring good practice examples to interim meetings. Each Continua unit is monitored in a different way – planning, lesson observations, data etc. Each Continua unit includes an element of Learning to Learn (L2L).

At the end of each element a summary report is completed collating all the evidence. Staffs’ personal Continua records are updated.

A presentation on this work has been delivered to the governing body�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipTeaching has improved with 32% now judged as excellent�

Staff appreciate the chance to

focus forensically on one small area of their practice, braking down a

daunting task into manageable chunks

57

Using Continua, as a starting point for performance management discussions, has created a much more personal, specific improvement system. Staff improvement targets are individual and they have the Continua guidance to help them achieve their own goal�

Concentrating on teaching and learning every fortnight has refocused us as a school on what is our ‘core purpose’� Through professional dialogue we have been able to build on the coaching and sharing good practice that was started in our PLC work the previous year� There is now a culture of sharing and supporting excellent practice.

Staff appreciate the chance to focus forensically on one small area of their practice, braking down a daunting task into manageable chunks.

Our model for focusing on teaching and learning has regular opportunities for pupil involvement. Each half term a L2L questionnaire is devised for learners in each class� Our School Council’s work directly links to our Teaching and learning plan for the term� The School Council have a structure to follow and demonstrate direct impact on school improvement�

The school has substantial evidence of its focus on teaching and learning� Evidence is collated in a set of standard forms� Following monitoring and L2L, the Headteacher collates the evidence in the form of a summary� This is shared and has led to a change of policy� e�g� following the units on differentiation and learning environment both policies were updated to include specific references to agreed WILLWIGs and WILLWIEs�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Emma CoatesE-Mail head�llanharipri@rctednet�

netTelephone 01443 237832Website www�llanhariprimary�com/

58

Context and background to case studyThis case study illustrates a model by which outcomes in art and design in the primary phase are enhanced with the extensive integration of thinking skills. The project started with a chance conversation between the newly appointed art subject leader and a member of the SMT with an interest in developing thinking skills� A common sense of purpose was soon identified, with both recognising the opportunities to be gained by collaborating. Since then the art and design scheme of work has been totally rewritten with thinking skills tasks providing scaffolding for each skills based art lesson� Working from the Welsh Government’s ‘How to develop thinking and assessment for learning in the classroom’ thinking skills activities were chosen for their potential to engage pupils more deeply with the art skills to be taught. Once identified, the thinking skills activities were adapted, becoming art tasks within a ‘four part’ lesson structure� Having redesigned the art scheme of work it was agreed that the specialist teacher would deliver art as part of the school’s PPA arrangements. Soon after, the school began to integrate the Literacy and Numeracy Framework, and far from burdening the newly written scheme, the inclusion of LNF was a natural progression for what was already happening in the art room�

The thinking skills art curriculum continues to evolve and is now in its fourth year and being delivered to pupils across the primary phase by both the art specialist and class teachers�

Nature of strategy or activityArt lessons are taught by element (line, tone, colour, shape, pattern, texture and form) aligned to skills progression over three afternoons of

L l a n i s h e n Fa c h P r i m a r y S c h o o l - A r t A n d T h i n k i n g S k i l l s

work� As each three week block progresses pupils build on the previous week’s activities with opportunities to understand in the first two weeks, investigate in all three weeks and make in the final week.

Art lessons start with a modified thinking skills activity, which is devised to engage learners and equip them for ‘success’ later in the lesson� This is then followed by a taught phase in which the application of the skill being worked upon is modelled by the teacher� Then the pupils start their second art task which sees them making investigations which culminate with a third activity where pupils have an opportunity to bring together and independently apply the creative skills gained� In each case the thinking skills activity plays an integral part in the acquisition of the art skill being taught�

With the introduction of the Literacy and Numeracy Framework the thinking skills aspect of the lessons evolved to include an LNF aspect; in most cases this was a simple ‘tweak’ as the thinking skills tasks were generally literacy or numeracy based�

Llanishen Fach Primary School

59

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipThe thinking skills activities are devised to extend learners’ engagement with the art skill being taught by bringing about a deeper understanding through active, process based, learning. In addition, the inclusion of thinking skills at the start of each lesson provides learners with a level of experiences which leads to setting higher levels of success criteria against which they evaluate their learning�

Examples:

Year 3 – Line

Yhinking Skills – Paired task, ‘Odd One Out’

Pupils look at reproductions of Welsh artists’ drawings and try to identify the ‘odd one out’ by noting similarities that distinguish drawings as being by one artist.

Art Task

Pupils make choices about developing drawings with thought given to line weight and complexity as observed in the work of Welsh artists.

Year 4 – Colour

Thinking Skills – Paired task, ‘Caterpillar’

Working with colour swatches taken from Tudor paintings, pupils take turns to try to mix an equivalent. Before embarking on the next attempt discussion takes place and a plan agreed�

Art Task

Pupils look at colour used in Tudor portraiture and explore colour mixing and modification through the use of paint and additional dry media.

Year 5 – Pattern

Thinking Skills – Group task, ‘Sequencing’

Learners take turns to position tiles, depicting coloured shapes, to devise a repeat pattern, justifying their reasoning.

Art Task

Pupils make decisions regarding the scale and orientation of the repeat elements within their pattern and also decide on which media to use based on previous experimentation.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Sarah CoombesE-Mail [email protected] 02920 627886Website www�llanishenfach�co�uk

60

Context and background to case studyOver the last 5 years we have experienced a significant change in our school catchment. This is due in part to the closure of Llanederyn High School and implementation of the Cardiff School Reorganisation Plan. This has resulted in a steady rise in eFSM pupils as well as a sharp increase in the number of pupils entering high school with poor literacy and numeracy scores� Our aim was to extend our partnership working in the local and wider community to develop opportunities for pupils and raise ambition and aspiration.

As a result, we entered into a formal partnership with Principality; the largest building society in Wales� They have a local branch near to the school and their head office is located nearby in Cardiff City Centre. After an extensive audit process we centred our partnership working on three main areas:

• To provide literacy support at Key Stage 3 as well as mentoring and role models for pupils;

• To identify and provide intervention for potential NEETs; and

• To support the work of the school in raising the aspiration and ambition of pupils entitled to free school meals�

Nature of strategy or activityThe partnership resulted in several strands of support within the school:

Literacy support – Principality staff providing literacy support for our Year 8 pupils

The Principality recruited 10 members of staff who were trained as literacy coaches by the Cardiff Reading Power team. The Principality committed

L l a n h i s h e n H i g h S c h o o l - P r i n c i p a l i t y S t a f f P r o v i d i n g L i t e r a c y S u p p o r t F o r Ye a r 8 P u p i l s

to releasing these staff on a weekly basis to act as reading mentors for 30 minutes a week� Many of the staff were ex-pupils of Llanishen High School, lived locally or worked in the Llanishen Principality Branch� These factors contributed to the success of the pilot�

The school identified 10 pupils from Year 8 who were below functional literacy and would benefit from having a mentor� The school produced a short pen portrait on each pupil� The Principality did likewise with their staff and suitable pairings were identified. The parents of the pupils selected were informed in writing. The initial pilot scheme was very successful and the scheme continued with new cohorts of pupils coming into Year 8.

As part of the support provided, Principality arranged for Beyond the Border and a professional storyteller to visit the school; which involved the pupils listening to stories and getting to find out about storytelling career possibilities as well.

Principality+ Scheme

The Principality+ Scheme is a programme of 3 distinct modules that have been designed and are delivered by Principality Building Society staff in conjunction with school staff. The aim is to provide identified Year 11 pupils with the necessary skills and confidence to succeed in applying for and securing future education and employment.

Twelve of our Year 11 pupils were selected to take part in the scheme throughout the spring of 2015. The pupils were identified by the Year Team Leader and the criteria included any pupil we identified as potentially ‘not in education or training’ from the summer of 2015�

Each of the three modules is a 3 hour morning session and covers the following areas:

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• How to prepare yourself for, and present yourself at interview;

• How to succeed in a job interview. This included a mock job interview and mentoring/coaching� Pupils were shown examples of really bad interviews too;

• CV writing with examples for pupils to critique;

• Financial education; exploring pay slips and understanding potential deductions from salaries, putting together a budget and learning about the consequences of debt;

• There are tasks for the pupils to complete in-between the modules which the school supports;

• An award ceremony takes place for those pupils who successfully complete the scheme, and they receive a certificate as well as their completed pack of materials for CV writing and interview preparation. More importantly, however, they will receive a unique opportunity that will stand them in good stead for the next stage of their life and learning; and

• The pupils got a visit from the Principality Chief Executive Graeme Yorston and Finance Director Steve Hughes – who shared their own career stories with pupils and answered questions.

After the success of the programme this year, we will be running it again for the current Year 11s and will bring the scheme forward into the autumn term�

Development of financial awareness (and other support)

In order to develop financial and business awareness, Principality staff work with our Key Stage 4 Welsh Baccalaureate (WBQ) team on the enterprise element of the Year 10 challenge. They take the role of ‘Dragons’ in the Dragons Den in an exercise that boosts the pupils entrepreneurial skills (and ambitions), along with encouraging more general communication and teamwork skills.

Principality are also working with the WJEC on a number of potential challenges for the new

WBQ specification; one of which is their ‘50 to raise 150’ which could provide £50 to a group of WBQ pupils in order for them to raise £150 for the charity MIND Cymru (which is the Principality Charity of the Year for 2015).

We have now secured a further three year partnership with the Principality Building Society (2015-18). The way they have helped us will now be expanded to other schools in which Principality have relationships. Again subject to confirmation this support will follow the Business in the Community (BITC) Business Class approach – which as of September 2015 will be operated by Careers Wales� Business Class aims to build the relationships between businesses and schools and provide targeted support as identified by each school community�

Principality will attend our Senior Leadership Team meetings once each half term to identify further areas for support� They have also sponsored our boys rugby team, providing new kits and a very special commemorative kit for the Welsh Schools Final 2015 – which the team won for a second consecutive year. The girls’ hockey team is in the process of getting a new kit.

In September, 50 pupils will be taking part in a team building challenge at the Celtic Manor Resort, which is another element of support provided by the Principality� Also looking ahead the Principality are currently exploring a number of potential financial education workshops, which would be delivered to schools across Wales in partnership with the Personal Finance Education Group (PFEG).

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadership

Outcomes of the Employability+ Programme:

• 12 pupils from Year 11 completed the Employability+ programme in Spring 2015

• 3 pupils (25%) achieved the Level 2 threshold including English and mathematics (including 1 FSM pupil)

• 3 pupils (25%) achieved the Level 2 threshold

• 5 pupils (42%) achieved the Level 1 threshold

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(including 2 FSM pupils)

• 1 pupil did not achieve the Level 1 threshold

Impact on Principality

Principality provide support as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility Programme – which involves local sponsorship activity, staff volunteering, charity engagement and a wide range of corporate sponsorships like the Eisteddfod and Only Boys Aloud� The engagement with the school (along with others across Wales) is part of their ‘proud to be at the heart of our communities’ value.

Principality completed a BITC responsible business health check assessment in December 2014 and according to the review they were 9% above the responsible business average score for financial services organisations. The Principality brand is big on community; according to the 2014 brand health check findings, when asked which organisations do you think of for involvement in the local community, 55% identified Principality compared to 38% for nearest competitor (according to current Principality customers) with 19% and 9% respectively (for non-Principality customers).

Principality was recognised in the BITC Cymru Awards 2015 as Welsh Government’s Responsible Large Business of the Year. The strong relationship with the Llanishen High School community was a big contributing factor to this success.

Business benefits of volunteering

Research by the CIPD has identified numerous business benefits of staff volunteering, including increased community awareness through meeting and working with a range of different community members, development of coaching and mentoring skills, and improved team working and communication skills. Feedback from Principality is that their staff have experienced these benefits by working with the school�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Sarah ParryE-Mail [email protected] 02920 680800Website www�llanishenhighschool�

co�uk

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School context and key issuesMaesteg Secondary School provides an education for 1200 pupils aged 11- 18� Some 27% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (e-FSM) and 17 are looked after (LAC). Currently there is a 20% attainment gap between eFSM and non-FSM children. The relatively high proportion of eFSM and LAC pupils means the school receives significant funding via the Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG) of £245,000 which the school Headteacher views as essential to their work tackling the attainment gap:

“without the PDG we wouldn’t be able to half the amount we do.”

Staff define disadvantage as a lack of educational support at home and low expectations of pupils, from both parents and themselves� Teachers feel a particular barrier for children is parents’ views that education is done in school, not at home.

Strategies used to close the gapClosing the gap is at the heart of the school’s strategy. They hope to achieve this through:

• Working with pupils to raise aspirations and develop their meta cognition skills. This is embedded in their mission statement: “to raise self-esteem and develop ‘Learning to Learn’ skills in order to become life-long learners�”

• Working with staff to help them stretch FSM pupils, to help them achieve the above goals.

• Working with parents so that they engage with school life and have the confidence to assist with their child’s learning at home�

• Working with local primary schools to help embed some of the strategies employed by

M a e s t e g C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - C l o s i n g T h e G a p ( I p s o s M O R I )

the school into children’s learning at an earlier stage. They work in particular on literacy strategies�

• Interrogating data to assess pupil need and develop interventions. As well as regularly monitoring pupils’ progress to improve interventions, the use of secondary research is also integral to how the school tackles closing the gap�

Key activities to close the gapThe school exudes a culture of innovation and staff are passionate about closing the gap. There is a real culture of action research, with staff members actively looking at the literature to seek new ideas to react to the school’s needs� Every new initiative is then piloted to see if it should be rolled out to the rest of the school. For instance, following work with a pedagogical company and visits to a school in Somerset, iPads were given to all Year 7 pupils. They are currently in the pilot stage and at the end of the year will see if the initiative has worked or not.

This culture of research runs through the levels of the school. One senior member of staff said that he ‘trawls’ Twitter to find appropriate evidence. Indeed, this is how he came across the Iris Connect technology used to film lessons, in order to help train staff. A Teaching Assistant too commented that she will Google research to try and find different methods of explaining something to a pupil�

One of the approaches that the school has taken on board, is the Growth Mindset work of Carol Dweck� This is the idea that you can improve people’s ideas of what they can achieve� Therefore, it is raising their expectations of what they can achieve� To translate this idea to

64

the classroom, in order to have an impact, they looked to marginal gains theory and the idea that little things can come together to make a big difference. The school has laid out 5 ideas that teachers can implement in their classrooms, to help underachieving pupils� For instance one is to mark underachieving pupils’ books first, when the teacher has more energy� As well as informing their own school activities with this approach, the school speaks to external audiences about this work� This year they held a conference on the topic�

Parental engagement is a key part of the school’s strategy to raise attainment. Education classes are given to parents to help them engage with school life, as well as give them the confidence to help their children with school work� Several parents have gained GCSEs through these lessons�

A family Engagement Officer also works with those families who are facing the most difficulties. Part of the advantage of her role is that she provides a link from the families to the school, which allows teachers to understand what their pupils are going home to� Some teachers have started to shadow the Engagement Officer whilst she makes family visits, which allows you to “walk in a child’s shoes for a while�” It therefore means that teachers can tailor their teaching and behaviour management accordingly�

The Engagement Officer’s role is also to improve attendance. Every Friday she co-ordinates a group of staff members to make contact with all unauthorised and authorised absentees� For those who are unauthorised, they will visit the family homes to see where a child is and take them into school if necessary�

The Officer also links parents to other services. Often, she is the one they can trust and therefore she acts as a good intermediary between the parent and another service. Furthermore, she can also introduce parents to teachers, to help engage them with school life�

Beyond parental engagement, the school organises activities to promote family learning

and to provide enriching family experiences� For example, it runs a reading café where parents and children come to school for breakfast and to read together. Recent family excursions have included a trip to an ice hockey match in Cardiff and surfing. Pupils write up their experience of trips, therefore also working on their literacy skills� Children and parents have reacted positively to these initiatives. One student described how his literacy skills had improved and how the knowledge that he was improving made him “very happy�”

Specific interventions have been implemented specifically for LAC and FSM pupils. When interventions are for all pupils, LAC and FSM pupils are tracked to assess progress within these programmes. Interventions for students include a focus on literacy and numeracy development� The school’s literacy and numeracy framework has clear initiatives to raise attainment in literacy and numeracy across all years� This includes the introduction of three extra lessons of numeracy for Key Stage 3 pupils, which is taught by both specialist and non-specialist members of staff. This is so that numeracy can be approached differently by non-specialists� It also ensures consistency in the numeracy approach, across the school. Non specialist teachers in these areas have been equipped with the tools (such as video tutorials)

to be able to assist pupils�

Technology is also put to good use� The school’s popular Facebook page posts information about numeracy tests and sets daily mathematics challenges for pupils and parents. All Year 7s this year have been given iPads, as part of a pilot� These are used to access apps such as mathematics Watch or Socrative, which allow pupils to work through exercises, as well

as revise topics� As well as being an accessible medium for young people, the digitisation allows teachers to easily gather data from the app, to measure student’s progress. This can be immediate so teachers can see who is getting more questions wrong at a particular point, so a teacher could go over to that pupil and assist them with their work� The use of apps also

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the literacy programme has

improved accuracy – particularly in

punctuation

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ensures that a consistent approach to literacy or numeracy is used in the school. Furthermore, the iPad ensures that pupils have a computer at home – something which not all pupils already have.

A numeracy competition, written by Big mathematics, takes place in tutorial lessons. Rewards are given to the most improved student and most improved class�

After-school clubs are also a key part of engaging students, as well as helping to give them a well-rounded education. Clubs include art and music, as well as a girls’ hair and beauty club, where more senior pupils teach their younger peers, thereby promoting female leadership and increased self esteem. The latter was introduced to address the poor behaviour and low self esteem of girls. As part of the same initiative, the school is looking to work with mothers to increase their self esteem, as the school believes this is where the girls’ low self esteem comes from� The group has increased the girl’s confidence. One teacher gave an example of one pupil, with previously low confidence, who recently gave a talk at a conference in front of the Welsh Government – something she would not have done before�

To ensure that the right pupils are receiving appropriate interventions, the school has a management information system to track pupils’ progress� Test results are recorded� The school also surveys pupils and parents themselves as well as use the Pupil Attitudes to School and Self (PASS) results�

Staff training is also fundamental to the school’s strategy. Lessons are filmed using Iris technology and teachers, working in triads, analyse the footage and then set themselves targets to improve how they teach, focusing in particular on how they are challenging FSM pupils in lessons� The triads also focus on an aspect of the Sutton Trust Toolkit (such as feedback or metcognition) and discuss how they can use learning from here, to improve their lessons. After piloting the actions they discuss in their triads, they then rerecord their lessons to see if these actions have had an impact�

The impact of activities to date

Many of the interventions at the time of the visit had not been running for an extended period of time and therefore impact data had not been collected. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that the literacy programme has improved accuracy – particularly in punctuation. The headteacher also reported that more generally, the 20% attainment gap is closing.There was lots of anecdotal evidence to show that interventions are having an impact, for instance, the increased confidence of the pupils discussed earlier or pupil we met was very positive about how the literacy interventions he was taking part in has improved his confidence, as well as his attainment.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Helen JonesE-Mail Headteacher�maesteg@

bridgend�gov�ukTelephone 01656 815950Website https://www.maestegcs.

bridgend�sch�uk

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Context and background to case studyMarlborough Primary school serves the Penylan/Roath community in Cardiff. There are currently 537 pupils on roll with 64 part-time pupils in the nursery. The majority of pupils are taught in 2-form entry classes, with the exception of Reception which is three-form entry.

The school has a vibrant ethnic minority population. Currently 32.2% of pupils hail from ethnic minorities. 119 (23.2%) of pupils speak a home language. 27 different home languages are spoken. 9.7% of pupils are entitled to Free School Meals�

The school has a Special Resource Base, which accommodates up to 20 children with severe to complex learning needs on behalf of Cardiff Local Authority�

Following the school’s amalgamation in 2011 improving the school’s overall levels of attendance formed part of the, ‘Marlborough Challenge’. This was in response to the 2010/2011 reported attendance figure of 93.7%.

Nature of strategy or activityTo improve the school’s overall attendance the following proactive measures were put into place:

• Through the school’s monthly newsletter attendance/punctuality features as a reoccurring section. This ensures that attendance has a high profile within the school community�

• Class teachers are informed through the weekly bulletin of their class’ attendance percentage�

• Weekly celebration activities take place for the class who have the best overall attendance.

M a r l b o r o u g h P r i m a r y S c h o o l - I m p r o v i n g At t e n d a n c e

• On every classroom door the individual class attendance figure is displayed.

• We use the Callio system to inform parents through termly letters of their pupil’s attendance levels.

• Pupils who achieve 100 % attendance throughout a term are rewarded through a celebration assembly and are given a free ice-skating pass to attend the local ice rink with their family�

• The Deputy Headteacher alongside the administrative staff monitor attendance on a weekly basis. Where pupils’ attendance falls below 95% we make contact with parents to discuss the reasons and offer support where appropriate�

• On a fortnightly basis the school’s deputy headteacher and administrative team meet with the School’s Attendance Officer (SAO) to discuss pupil and intervention is provided.

Marlborough Primary School

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• The attendance policy and newly implemented Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) system was shared with parents/carers through a presentation afternoon which was co-facilitated with the school’s Education Welfare Officer (EWO). The PowerPoint was placed on the school’s website for parents who could not attend.

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipOver the past five years the school has maintained an attendance rate at 95% or above.

Attendance – Percentage (%) of half day sessions

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14 2014-15 2015-2016

93�7 95�0 95�3 96�0 96�3 95�9

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Jonathan LewisE-Mail [email protected].

ukTelephone 02920 492564Website marlboroughprimary�com/

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Context and background to case studyMarlborough Primary School serves the Penylan/Roath community in Cardiff. There are currently 537 pupils on roll with 64 part-time pupils in the nursery. The majority of pupils are taught in 2-form entry classes, with the exception of Reception which is three-form entry.

The school has a vibrant ethnic minority population. Currently 32.2% of pupils hail from ethnic minorities. 119 (23.2%) of pupils speak a home language. 27 different home languages are spoken. 9.7% of pupils are entitled to Free School Meals�

The school has a Special Resource Base, which accommodates up to 20 children with severe to complex learning needs on behalf of Cardiff LA.

Following the school’s amalgamation in 2011 reducing the in-school variation in the quality of teaching was a main focus� Whilst progress had been made prior to the Estyn inspection in January 2013, teaching was judged as adequate.

Working closely with Gareth Coombes we piloted the Teaching for Learning Continua. As a Senior Leadership Team we received bespoke training. We asked staff to complete a self-assessment against the full Continua. This was used as a starting point to decide which strands of the Continua would be the initial focus for the remainder of 2013 and into the 2013-2014 academic year�

Nature of strategy or activityThe twilight inset diary was aligned to have a stronger focus on teaching and learning� This included best practice clinics and observing videos of lessons with staff collaboratively analysing the good features of the teaching and learning�

M a r l b o r o u g h P r i m a r y S c h o o l - U s i n g C o n t i n u a To I m p r o v e Te a c h i n g

Each half-term there was a specific focus on a strand of teaching and learning from the Continua followed by a twenty minute session observation. Early impact was clearly evident and the school was removed from LA monitoring. However, as senior leaders we strongly felt that this was the beginning of the journey and the school needed to consolidate and build upon the improvements made. The school’s vision is, ‘Aiming for Excellence’, and we were not complacent with teaching being merely good�

We are now into our third year of using the Continua and as a school we are refining and evolving the process�

• Currently, following the launch of the focus there is a greater emphasis on developing and nurturing teaching�

• The annual meeting calendar has been fully re-aligned so that SLT, phase, inset and TA meetings all have a shared focus on improving teaching and learning�

• Initially, we monitored mainly through a session observation. This has now been refined to include; a greater focus on listening to learners, one-to-one professional dialogue where teachers present a portfolio evidencing on how they have developed the specific focus and the impact on learners and lesson study (staff working in teaching triads with the a specific focus on aspects of children’s learning).

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipThe impact on teaching has been significant. We carefully track and monitor progress each half term�

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All teachers at Marlborough aspire to being excellent and are proactively engaged in continuous professional development of their teaching skills. Our aspiration is encapsulated in the quote by Dylan Wiliam, “Every teacher needs to improve, not because they are not good enough, but because they can be even better.”

Impact on leadershipThe Senior Leaders conducted joint lesson/ session observations and gave joint feedback initially to ensure consistency in judgements and quality of feedback. Joint lesson observations and feedback were also undertaken with our Challenge Adviser, Mark Austin. This was integral to building capacity and distributed leadership within the Senior Leadership Team� The impact of which is a highly effective SLT who have an in-depth understanding of standards within their teams and across the school�

Improving teaching is a priority in each school improvement plan. The majority of phase meetings, twilight insets and inset days are focused on professional dialogue and development of teaching� The impact is a reflective school culture where all teachers take ownership of their personal development�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Jonathan LewisE-Mail [email protected].

ukTelephone 02920 492564Website marlboroughprimary�com/

70

Context and background to case studyWriting was identified as a key area for development�

To address this the following aspects were needed:

• High teacher expectations;

• An understanding from all teachers of what is being taught well in writing;

• A clear understanding from all teachers of what needs to improve in the teaching of writing;

• Consistency in the teaching of writing across the school; and

• Regular writing opportunities for all children�

The wall paper activity was introduced to enable all teachers to see writing from across the school, and from this, to identify the strengths and areas for development�

The wall paper contains writing from every year group, for a below average, average and above average child. The writing is laid out in year group and ability order so that continuity and progression across the school can clearly be seen�

Post it notes are used to record strengths in writing, in each of the different year groups. From this, teachers understand what they are doing well in their teaching and can share good practice.

Post it notes are then used to record areas for improvement in each of the different year groups. Teachers are then able to identify improvements that are needed across the school� Following this identification, teachers then work in their year

M e a d o w l a n e P r i m a r y S c h o o l - Wa l l p a p e r A c t i v i t y

group teams to plan how they will address these areas�

The wall paper activity is repeated each term. By laying the current wall paper next to the previous one, it is clear to see the progress that has been made over a term�

Nature of strategy or activityLeadership has been developed across the school through the wall paper activity.

Initially the wall paper activity was led and modelled by the headteacher� By the third cycle, the subject leaders were taking the lead and responsibility for identifying key priority areas for development�

Year group leaders have become accountable in ensuring action plans are in place, actions are carried out effectively and impact is evaluated�

Through the activities, all teachers take an active role in planning for whole school improvement�

The wall paper activity has also been carried out in mathematics where excellent progress has been made. Due to the positive impact on writing and mathematics, the plan is to use the process for science too, in 2016.

There are other ways in which we plan to use the wallpaper activity in the future to support school development:

• Focus on the effectiveness of marking and feedback

• Levelling children’s work to ensure consistency in assessments

Through the activities, all teachers take

an active role in planning for whole

school improvement

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Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadership• 64% good or better teaching moved to 84%

• 59% Level 4 writing at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2014 to 79% in 2015

• 0% Level 5 writing at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2014 to 21% in 2005

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Chloe LangsonE-Mail [email protected].

ukTelephone 01222 360340Website www�meadowlaneprm�co�uk

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School context and key issuesMount Stuart is a primary school of circa 400 pupils which runs from Reception to Year 6 and includes a nursery on site� The school is situated in a disadvantaged area: they have a three year average of 30% of children eligible for free school meals. However, their main focus is on the very high proportion of children from ethnic minority backgrounds (95%). Some 75% of pupils speak English as an additional language and there are around 21 languages spoken at the school� The main communities are Somali (38%) and Arabic speaking (30%) and within this are the Yemeni community� Currently 30% of pupils are on school action plans or on the SEN register. Among children with EAL a large number of pupils have early acquisition challenges.

The headteacher explained that his attitude to closing the gap was not driven by simply pushing resources towards those children who are eligible for free school meals, and that he believed that within his school other forms of disadvantage were as significant as or more significant than eFSM status� This was driven by data showing that historically children on free school meals at this school had outperformed the rest of the pupil population. The headteacher links this to other forms of disadvantage found at the school� In particular he points to the high proportion of children with English as an additional language. He additionally suggests that there are a large number of pupils living on the borders of poverty who would not benefit if this was the policy.

a e This was driven by the fact that historically children on free school meals had outperformed other students at the school, and a belief that there were

M o u n t S t u a r t P r i m a r y S c h o o l - C l o s i n g T h e G a p ( I p s o s M O R I )

Strategies used to close the gapThe school’s core purpose– ‘Learning and Living Together’ – encapsulates the strategy: the school is focussed on creating a sense of community, as well as excellence in education. They take a whole school approach to interventions not specifically aiming to ‘close the gap’�

The strategy is underpinned by approaches to working on:

• Community relations, with the aim of engaging parents to become more involved in their children’s learning and improved interaction between parents and the school;

• Aspirations, with the intention of improving children’s life experiences, raising standards and increasing pupils’ confidence in their learning;

• Literacy, with the aim of supporting wider learning, ensuring that children are equipped with appropriate knowledge in their literacy with fewer children coming through with gaps in their knowledge, and reducing attainment gap�

Key activities to close the gapThe school has a clear understanding of how it wants to face the challenges its pupils face in achieving their potential. Members of staff highlight similar features when discussing the core challenges the schools faces and the methods they are using to tackle them�

One of the key elements of the approach is the focussing of curriculum interventions onto one single intensive phonics intervention. This is the Read Write Inc course which takes place at the start of every day� It involves phonics being taught

73

in setted groups which allows for differentiated learning, and importantly for every child to be able to succeed in their learning. It offers a more rigorous approach to teaching phonics and aims to ensure that children do not go through the school with gaps in their knowledge unaddressed� They believe one large scale intervention will be more successful than the “slightly fractured” set of phonics interventions used in the past. Every six weeks the children are tested and if there is sufficient improvement they move up a group. External consultants also monitor the progress of the intervention and give training to staff on delivering the program�

The school invests in training its staff in other ways as well. Initiatives include ‘coaching triplet’ lesson observations, which aim to develop both teaching and leadership skills� This is enabled by the funding provided by the Pupil Deprivation Grant, which has enabled the school to increase the teaching capacity to cover these lessons� The school also runs twilight sessions which entails teachers coming together to look at each other’s books� They look for the quality of differentiation in marking, opportunities for pupils to apply their literacy and numeracy skills, and the quality of marking. The school is particularly focussed on improving the feedback that children receive as evidence shows this has one of the largest impacts on closing the attainment gap.

The school aims to increase aspirations amongst children and to look after their emotional state. The school runs an enterprise week once a year where groups of children are given a budget to create a project which they then have to sell� They source and make the product and then present to the deputy headteacher and headteacher� They have also forged relationships with a local solicitors firm who visit the school to provide a reading and mentoring scheme� They provided a number of school trips in the local area which they feel were important as many children within the school may not have the same breadth of experiences outside

of school as other children from different areas. The school also ran the Pupil Attitudes to School and Self (PASS) Survey which aims to identify attitudes to attendance and pupils’ perceptions of themselves so support can be put in place� Specifically, pupils may subsequently be asked to join ‘nurture groups’ run by the SENCO and teachers can use PASS to inform their interactions with students in lessons�

Aspirations are also part of the reasons the school has focussed on improving relationships within the community and predominantly with the parents of children who attend the school. Staff mentioned that previously there has been very low attendance at parents’ evenings and open days, and that they felt that parents haven’t been fully able to support their children with their school work� To that end the school launched curriculum mornings where the school opens all of the classrooms for parents to visit whatever the age of their child� The school asked children to write personalised letters of invitation for their

parents� The response was very positive and is seen as a turning point in the school’s relationships with parents� Parents have also been invited to form groups to write policies on security, behaviour and bullying for the school�

The school has started a nursery which it hopes will enable parents to form a closer bond to the school� Parents are encouraged to learn with their children in this environment, with the school

promoting play between parents and children. The school also employs bilingual assistants from the local community who act as a conduit between the community and the school� It is hoped that these assistants will additionally act as positive role models for the children�

The impact of activities to dateThe school monitors the percentage of pupils in each setted phonics class from Read Write Inc� The data shows a consistent trend of pupils

Staff report higher attendances at

parent evenings and open mornings

as success for the parental engagement

activities

74

moving up groups over the school year, which may indicate the impact that Read Write Inc is having on their phonics ability. For instance in Reception year 100% of pupils started off in Set A (the lowest group) and by the end of the Spring Half Term just 43% remained in this group� Of further interest is the data showing that for Year 4s 28% started in either Set B or Set C, and by the end of the Spring half term all of these pupils had moved into Set D or above. This indicates that Read Write Inc is working for even those pupils with long term phonic difficulties.

Staff report higher attendances at parent evenings and open mornings as success for the parental engagement activities. The results of the PASS survey cannot yet be judged as it is in its first year of implementation.

However, staff are also still focussed on areas that are more difficult to quantify such as a pupils immediate well-being and other areas that aren’t always completely measurable�

Areas for improvement

The use of action research to inform decisions was well understood by the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher, with the Sutton Trust toolkit name-checked as well as the University of Exeter and accessing via the Welsh Government. However, this was not prevalent through all staff members spoken to.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Lyn BerrimanE-Mail [email protected] 02920 481188Website www�mountstuartprimary�

co�uk

75

Context and background to case studyPalmerston Primary School is a mainstream school in the Vale of Glamorgan that is also a base for children with physical impairments�

The school is a county mixed day school catering for children from 3-11 years� It was founded in 1898 and was situated in Cadoc Crescent until March 1989, when it moved onto its present site� It is housed in a purpose built premises which include an administration block, kitchen, hall, nursery, reception area, paired and single teaching areas for infants and juniors.

The school provides for a growing number of physically disabled pupils who are fully integrated into all aspects of school life� There is a therapy room for children where all forms of therapy takes place�

The school was looking to develop greater engagement with parents, leading to greater progress for targeted vulnerable pupils�

Nature of strategy or activityIn September 2014 the school identified a need to improve parental engagement and help support families in a more proactive way. The school had previously had an open door policy for parents, classes had weekly home tasks and the school held meetings to discuss pupil progress once per term. However, not all parents were engaged in these processes and a core of parents had either little or no contact with the school at all. The school began a process of identifying those pupils who were considered vulnerable in their learning, including those with disengaged parents�

P a l m e r s t o n P r i m a r y S c h o o l - E n g a g i n g E f f e c t i v e l y W i t h T h e C o m m u n i t y To R a i s e S t a n d a r d s

Three classes were chosen as part of a rolling programme and pupils were identified in meetings between the deputy and class teacher�

In the Autumn term a staff inset was given by the Deputy Headteacher to revisit the school vision and identify associated values. Staff worked in groups to prioritise statements associated with aspirations, achievement and access for all. The

staff of the chosen pupils were trained in coaching techniques and were asked to use this technique in future meetings.

Parents of the chosen pupils were then invited to attend an extended meeting with the class teacher. During the hour meeting parents were encouraged to identify targets for their children and agree on ways they could support them at home in conjunction with the

class teacher� Updates were regular and informal dialogue took place via email or telephone�

A further hourly meeting was arranged 6 weeks later and targets revisited and reviewed� This will continue over a 2 year period and more pupils will join the programme in September 2015.

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipNearly all staff identified a vast improvement in relationships between the targeted parents and school� There was improved dialogue and increased contact between teachers and parents� By allowing more time for meetings and using coaching techniques, staff fed back that parents who previously had negative experiences about their own school experience and education in general, were much more open and responsive.

Nearly all staff identified a vast

improvement in relationships

between the targeted parents and

school

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The barriers between school and home were bridged in a positive way. This enabled pupils to extend and consolidate their learning at home, where previously this had not happened�

As well as academic targets (e.g. home reading, mathematics, spellings and handwriting), behavioural targets were also devised for home to support parents� Star charts were discussed between pupil, teacher and parent if the parent needed support in this area� This was all in addition to weekly home tasks set across the whole school�

Pupils who were targeted were identified as borderline learners, who needed extra support to make expected progress and attainment.

For example, in Year 2, ten pupils were targeted.

In the end of phase teacher assessments

• 90% of the targeted pupils achieved O5 in literacy�

• 90% of the targeted pupils achieved O5 in mathematics.

This exceeded the targets that were set for them in Year 1.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Mark MiddlesmissE-Mail mmiddlemiss@

valeofglamorgan�gov�ukTelephone 01446 747393Website www�palmerstonprimary�

com/

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The school is a county mixed day school catering for children from 3-11 years� It was founded in 1898 and was situated in Cadoc Crescent until March 1989, when it moved onto its present site. It is housed in a purpose built premises which include an administration block, kitchen, hall, nursery, reception area, paired and single teaching areas for infants and juniors.

The school provides for a growing number of physically disabled pupils who are fully integrated into all aspects of school life�

Through self-evaluation, the school had identified that they needed to improve the quality of play and behaviour at playtimes. The school had been trying for some years to improve play times (which were not helped by the design of the playground: a ‘mass concrete space’). Conventional sports equipment, playground marking initiatives and the facilitation by LSAs of traditional playground games had all been tried unsuccessfully� The Deputy Headteacher heard about the Scrapstore PlayPod scheme, through the school play development agency Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL). The school engaged with OPAL which helped them to identify how they could improve play throughout the school� The school then planned phases for the development of the playground that would role out over the following years�

Nature of strategy or activityPhase one of the development of play was for the school to have a Scrap Store PlayPod� The school

P a l m e r s t o n P r i m a r y S c h o o l - I m p r o v e W h o l e - S c h o o l P l a y O p p o r t u n i t i e s A n d P u p i l B e h a v i o u r T h r o u g h T h e U s e O f A ‘ P l a y P o d ’

was able to set up the pod through funding from Dow Corning and the pod arrived in December 2014� The Scrap Store PlayPod is an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ of low-cost, varied and abundant scrap materials for creative play – safe surplus resources collected from business and industry�

Children use the scrap material in many different ways� Den building is very popular amongst children of all ages. Other activities include: making and using hammocks (suspended from fencing); dressing up (popular with children of all ages, not just younger ones); making cars; balancing on plastic chair backs; being dragged in cargo boxes by fellow pupils (this often positively engages disabled children); making and using tyre swings suspended from a permanent metal shelter; and imaginative play with old office and computer equipment�

The school has plans for further playground design changes, including a mud kitchen, wheeled play area, construction of an accessible sand pit from

Palmerston Primary School

78

an existing play pirate ship, and introducing a more undulating landscape.

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipThe children’s behaviour has completely changed as a result of the scheme. Before, many children were overwhelmed by play time, but now there are very high levels of engagement and activity. Disabled children have played more with other, non-disabled children, and are more independent.

Staff evaluation surveys show clear evidence of reduced break time behaviour problems. After introducing the scheme, the time spent dealing with playtime incidents fell from 3 hrs 55 min per week to 50 minutes per week� Within the senior management team the figures fell from 1 hr 45 minutes per week to 20 minutes per week� The pupil curriculum time wasted after play time incidents fell from 50 minutes per week to 10 minutes per week�

A well-being survey showed a significant drop in the numbers of children who were not enjoying playtime. Before the introduction of the Scrapstore PlayPod, 30% of children were not happy with playtime; afterwards this figure fell to 2%�

The attitude and approach of midday supervisors and LSAs has also changed� They now intervene far less often, and when they do, they take a more non-directive approach that supports the children to make their own decisions and take responsibility for their safety�

There has been improved inclusion of disabled children during play times, helping integrate them better into the school community.

Also children of all ages are now playing together which supports children’s social learning� Contact Details

Headteacher Mark MiddlesmissE-Mail mmiddlemiss@


com/

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The school is a county mixed day school catering for children from 3-11 years� It was founded in 1898 and was situated in Cadoc Crescent until March 1989, when it moved onto its present site. It is a housed in purpose built premises which include an administration block, kitchen, hall, nursery, reception area, paired and single teaching areas for infants and juniors.

The school provides for a growing number of physically disabled pupils who are fully integrated into all aspects of school life� There is a therapy room for children where all forms of therapy takes place�

The school was looking to develop consistency and clear progression across the school in literacy� There was a need to raise standards in pupil performance in both Key Stages�

Nature of strategy or activityIn 2012 the school took on the Read Write Inc (RWI). programme. This was a literacy programme which developed pupils’ skills in phonics, oracy, reading skills and writing.

Following whole staff training, teachers delivered highly structured lessons which enabled pupils to steadily learn new sounds, review their learning, read texts to develop their fluency, expression and comprehension skills� Pupils were supported in writing for a purpose, with an emphasis on ambitious vocabulary.

This programme supported pupils from Reception to Year 2, although initial assessments showed

P a l m e r s t o n P r i m a r y S c h o o l - I m p r o v i n g S t a n d a r d s O f L i t e r a c y A c r o s s t h e S c h o o l

many gaps in pupil’s phonic knowledge and a majority of older pupils were placed into an appropriate level in this programme too�

Pupils were placed into small groups and regular monitoring and assessment every 6 weeks by the reading leader ensured that groups were fluid and progression through this programme was ensured�

In 2013/14 all staff were trained in the next stage of literacy for older pupils and took on board the ‘Literacy and Language’ programme which is designed for Y2 -Y6. Once pupils completed all levels in RWI they continued their literacy journey through whole class lessons in year groups� We aim to develop reading skills, oracy and writing through partner work supporting each other in a stimulating and purposeful environment.

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipThe quality and consistency of the teaching of literacy has greatly improved during the last 3 years. Feedback from lesson observations has shown improvements in pace and purpose, opportunities for pupil involvement and quality of vocabulary used�

Palmerston Primary School

80

Standards of writing in pupil’s books have greatly improved in the last 3 years� Pupils are more ambitious in the vocabulary choices, extended writing is planned well and shows peer assessment helping set targets for improvement�

Marking is now consistent and evidence shows pupils are given specific next steps and act upon advice given�

Pupil performance has steadily improved over the last 3 years�

FP- 2013-2014

96% of children achieved an outcome 5+ in literacy� This is 13% rise from last year’s data which was 83%� The school moved from bench mark 4 to bench mark 1 in literacy, language and communication.

There was also an increase in outcome 6+ this year moving the school from benchmark 3 into benchmark 2�

On average, children make one outcome of progress a year in reading during the Foundation Phase�

KS2 2013-2014

86% of children achieved L4+ in literacy� This is a 5% rise from the previous year, placing us into benchmark 3 (benchmark 2 when disaggregating the high number of statemented children in the year group).

The number of Level 5s has also increased by almost 10% moving us from benchmark 3 into bench mark 2�

We also had one child achieving a Level 6�

Predictions for KS2 this year are that 95% of children will achieve L4+ with 38% achieving L5� This potentially places the school into bench mark 1 for level 4+ and benchmark 2 for level 5+, securing further improvement in standards in literacy�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Mark MiddlesmissE-Mail mmiddlemiss@


com/

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Pencoed Primary School is one of two mainstream schools in the village of Pencoed�

The last Estyn report was produced in 2011 and the following information was included in the report�

“There are 505 pupils on roll including 33 who attend one of the four resource bases for those with a range of learning difficulties. These include visual impairment, moderate learning difficulties and developmental delay. Two pupils have statements of SEN, one of whom has the national curriculum (NC) disapplied.

Overall attendance rates have been adequate at around 92% and in line with the national average. Rates improved in 2008-09 but dropped back the following year due to serious health and medical issues surrounding specific pupils. Attendance last term rose to 93%. Unauthorised absence is low at 1%. There have been no fixed-term or permanent exclusions over the last academic year. A few learners come late to school but the new practice of parents signing in late-comers is improving the situation.”

Since this time the school has been working extremely hard to improve attendance and have employed a Family Engagement Officer. Her main role has been to run programmes for parents and children within the school setting to encourage learning and to break down barriers between home and school�

Attendance is managed on a day to day basis by the admin team who send texts to parents/carers who have not reported their child’s absence� Should this not be successful, a telephone call home is made by the admin team�

P e n c o e d P r i m a r y S c h o o l - I m p r o v i n g At t e n d a n c e

The EWO meets with the admin team every three weeks and receives referrals on those pupils whose attendance is below 92%. The Headteacher/Deputy Headteacher meets with the EWO every half term to look data� The EWO also meets with the Family Engagement Officer where necessary to discuss pupils between 92-95% and discuss early help referrals if appropriate�

Overall attendance is one of the Deputy Headteacher’s responsibilities and attendance initiatives such as best class attendance wins a cup to display in their class for the following week and all pupils who have 100% attendance at the end of the school year wins a prize. These initiatives are mainly focussed on KS2 pupils�

Pencoed Primary School - “Attendance Dave”

82

In order to develop this, the school have made the decision to involve the Family Engagement Officer in looking at ways to encourage good attendance within the Foundation Phase and KS2. After meeting with the EWO and discussing ideas, the school has implemented a number of new incentives to try and target all pupils throughout the school�

During September 2015 all pupils were made aware of the new incentives and all staff have taken an active role in promoting them.

The new incentives were discussed with the recently developed parent forum where it was discovered that although the children were aware of the initiatives, parents were not, so the Family Engagement Officer produced a leaflet that is available on notice boards around school and will be given to all new parents�

Free Fruit Tuck has proven very successful in Reception – Yr 2 and children love to receive their ticket to redeem their fruit. Children from the junior department are chosen to take the fruit basket into the class�

Attendance Dave is a firm favourite in Yr 1 and 2. One pupil with 100% attendance for the week is chosen to take Dave home and encouraged to draw/take pictures of Dave’s activities during the weekend� These are displayed in a book�

Fast track lunch tickets work well with KS2 as they get to go to the front of the queue and get their lunches first, giving them a longer play time after lunch�

The Cosy Café has proven to be the highlight of the month as every child in KS2 who has achieved 100% attendance for the month are invited into the hall and served with cakes and refreshments (made by the children in the Learning Resource Base and the cookery group).

The children wear their 100% badges with pride and this also encourages other children to achieve this the following term�

The newest initiative is the all time favourite Reading Dog. This idea was taken from an RCT school. A senior member of staff brought his pet dog into school and the children in the Foundation Phase and KS2 who achieved 100% attendance

for a month, had the opportunity to go into the reading corner and read to the dog� A risk assessment was completed and all parents/carers were informed� They had the opportunity to opt out should they so wish�

On speaking to the Headteacher from the RCT school it was discovered that they use volunteers from ‘Pets as Therapy’� The volunteer dogs have undergone training and are insured to work with children� The owners accompany the dogs into school and sit with the children to read� The school has contacted Pets as Therapy and have arranged for ‘Teisen’ the dog to visit for the first time after half term.

Attendance will continue to be tracked to measure the impact on this�

During the Autumn Term the EWS targeted the Pencoed cluster by carrying out an attendance patrol every Monday up until half term and every Friday after half term. The criteria was that any child absent from school below 92%, regardless of whether parents/carers had reported the absence were visited at home to raise awareness of the importance of regular attendance.

The EWS received nine referrals in total throughout the whole initiative.

Below is a table showing attendance for the past four years (autumn terms).

This shows a significant increase in attendance throughout the school in 2015 and is the highest it has ever been�

Autumn Term 2012 2013 2014 2015

KS 1 92�1% 93�5% 93�8% 94�9%

KS 2 93�8% 95�5% 95�3% 96%

Whole school 92�9% 94�5% 94�7% 95�7%

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Contact DetailsHeadteacher Suzanne SarjeantE-Mail head�pencoedprimary@

bridgend�gov�ukTelephone 01656 815730Website www�pencoedprimary�co�uk

The table below shows attendance as a school not including Nursery children.

Sep 12 – July 13

Sep 13 – July 14

Sep 14 – July 15

Sep 15 – Jan 16

Whole school 92�9% 94�7% 94�7% 95�3%

It has been recognized that the initiatives above can be time consuming and needs planning. The success is down to a whole school approach with every member of staff showing enthusiasm and commitment to ensure that every incentive takes place�

84

Context and background to case studyDue to the national priorities of closing the gap for eFSM and non-FSM pupils and the publicised success of our school in this area, it was decided that we would focus on empowering learners via development of their academic language� This in turn would support the pupils in accessing texts and more challenging activities. It was felt that there was a presumption that pupils understood academic vocabulary� By developing learner awareness of the definition of the word and then applying in the correct context (i.e. ‘owning’ it), it would enhance their understanding when reading texts, support their engagement in the STAR reader programme and furthermore have an impact on their extended writing in literacy rich subjects.

Nature of strategy or activityDuring the Spring term, the Words Give Us Power project was launched with two form groups. It is worth noting that within our school, form groups are organised as a Key Stage vertical grouping therefore both groups consisted of Years 7-9 pupils. Furthermore, the form tutor groups were selected based on the data that demonstrated that eFSM pupils were placed within the form groups�

Both teachers involved in the project ensured that the project was ‘launched’ with learners. Pupils were told that they were involved in an exciting new literacy project and the form groups had been especially selected�

Pupils were given clear guidance on expectations – what they needed to do and how they will be monitored and tracked�

P e n c o e d C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - Wo r d s G i v e U s P o w e r !

• Time was spent with learners discussing the difference between academic words and subject specific words. Due to the vertical nature of the groups, older learners appeared to have grasped this concept more quickly than Year 7, for example.

• To engage pupils in this first stage of the project, pupils were encouraged to either select an academic word independently or rely on a lucky dip� It is envisaged that as the initiative develops, pupils should be have more autonomy whilst reading or when listening in lessons to assess opportunities to identify, apply and ‘own’ the word�

• Pupils were asked to record their academic word in their planner and to feedback by a specified date. This process has continued with staff-pupil dialogue proving to be imperative to the success of the initiative.

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipDue to the late stage in the academic year that we were approached to launch the project, there was not sufficient time to gain quantitative data to demonstrate measurable improvements in standards�

However, pupil feedback was mostly positive with many pupils eager to tell us how and where they had ‘owned’ the word. As the project is rolled out next year, we have strategies which will support the tracking and evidencing of pupil progression:

• Whole school awareness – teaching staff to clearly identify when academic words are used to support learners� The History department is focusing on this for the new academic year�

85

• Establish formalised reward system e�g� links with house system to facilitate pupil engagement� Pupil voice would also enhance this – what rewards would pupils value?

• Formalise collection of evidence – all teaching staff to testify/witness ‘owning’ the word prior to pupil feeding back to form tutor�

• Longevity of initiative – quantitative analysis of written outcomes would be beneficial e�g� a baseline assessment of learners at the start of the academic year with a mid point assessment of writing and an end of project assessment of progression� The Spring Term was impacted by an assessment fortnight and a two week collapsed timetable for the whole school Learning Core programme�

• Literacy/language champions in form groups to support the form tutor in motivating, encouraging and engaging all learners�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher David GeorgeE-Mail David�george@bridgend�gov�

ukTelephone 01656 867100Website www�pencoedcs�bridgend�

sch�uk

86

School context and key issuesPencoed is a secondary school of circa 900 pupils� The school is situated in a semi-rural area with a lot of access to local amenities. There are very few EAL pupils (only two on roll at time of visit) and there is a 15% rate of pupils on free school meals� In previous years attendance has been an issue at around 90%� In 2010 it was put into the ‘follow up’ category by Estyn and given a band five, and the school was ranked 217th out of 222 schools in Wales. In response, the school conducted a full review and subsequently implemented a wide range of changes� The main focus has been instilling a greater culture of accountability amongst staff and incorporating the use of data throughout the school� The school also has a Multiple Learning Difficulty Base within the school for pupils in Years 7-10.

The approach to closing the attainment gap is to focus on individual children who are failing to meet expectations rather than focussing funding entirely on children eligible for free school meals. However, they do expect this approach to disproportionally aid FSM-eligible pupils.

Strategies used to close the gapThe school’s primary strategy for improving their school performance since 2010, and closing the attainment gap has been to improve the accountability processes within the school, and to put in place a comprehensive data analysis system�

Beyond accountability and data there are also a number of other focusses:

• Attendance and aspirations, with the aim of improving the life experiences of children and raising their standards;

P e n c o e d C o m p r e h e n s i v e S c h o o l - C l o s i n g t h e G a p ( I p s o s M O R I )

• Socio-emotional support, to improve pupils’ experiences at school, identify appropriate interventions and aid teachers in understanding any difficulties that pupils are having;

• Parental engagement, with the intention of improving the support that children receive at home and parental support of school policies;

• Literacy and numeracy interventions, with the aim of supporting wider learning, ensuring that children are equipped with appropriate knowledge in their literacy, with fewer children coming through with gaps in their knowledge, and reducing attainment gap.

Key activities to close the gapAll members of staff spoken to are aware of the prevailing attitude towards data that the school has implemented since the Estyn inspection of 2010� They credit this for the improvement in attainment of those eligible for free school meals. The overall strategy involved is for multiple levels of staff to be aware of, and responsible for, individual pupils� These levels of accountability attempt to ensure all pupils are known individually through data, as well as on a personal level and therefore cannot be left behind. Middle leaders in particular have been expected to do more with data, and are expected to know more about what is going on in their departments than they had previously. For instance, the Heads of House role used to be a pastoral role, but there is now an expectation that they will analyse data for standards reviews (termly senior leader meeting to discuss specific groups of children).

The school also makes good use of benchmarking data, and has support from external bodies in this, in particular the Fischer Family trust. Their

87

estimates are used by teachers to inform the setting of ambitious and aspirational targets for students�

This has also been facilitated through termly meetings of senior leadership to discuss pupil data and performance and to look at specific groups. These meetings are used to form the basis of the ‘challenge’ mentality that the school have instigated amongst staff. The improvement in accountability structures, performance management and focussed use of data is sued to challenge both teachers to improve results, and for pupils to take better control of their learning. This is done through meetings between teachers and pupils where their performance is discussed and firm targets set and monitored. The school have asked for greater input from the governing body on this as well, with governors encouraged to visit the school as often as possible and have a greater understanding of the data that is generated� Governors were also invited to form a strategic working group to meet termly to consider strategic planning and evaluation processes.

Literacy and numeracy interventions are also involved in closing the attainment gap. The school uses the Star Reader program which involves 20 minutes of reading every day. Star is a competitive programme, with prizes won for number of words read and quizzes on books� The progress that children make via this intervention is tracked by the librarian: non-FSM and e-FSM pupils are compared, and further interventions can be implemented if children are falling behind�

The BKSB program is a numeracy and literacy program which first identifies gaps in children’s knowledge� If there are gaps children are given a diagnostic and interventions are put in place to meet these needs. Interventions are carried out in small setted groups and pupils explained they liked the fact that they could have things explained to them, and were less nervous about asking for help than in normal classes� Pupils move up BKSB groups and will eventually graduate off the programme. Pupils said they enjoyed the

success of moving up groups, although some were concerned at the prospect of losing the additional support the program gave them. Specific mathematics tutoring is also in place to help those struggling and this is mainly aimed at FSM pupils�

The school has also put in place interventions aimed at improving attendance, including hiring a Pupil Participation Officer. This role supports across a number of functions, including taking children who are struggling out of classes for one-to-one support, running out of school clubs, organising mock interviews, CV writing training and emotional support. It is hoped that this role will ensure children enjoy school more, improve academic results and help with socio-emotional development, and thus improve attendance. Attendance officers have been employed to track attendance, and family engagement officers work on specific cases to improve attendance. It is these

individuals’ specific knowledge of family situations that is hoped will improve attendance.

This awareness of family situations is something the school is trying to instil from before children even enter the school� The most at-risk children and their parents are encouraged to visit the school while in Year 6, through the

‘Helping Hands’ programme they run� The family engagement officer has also run reading mornings in primary schools for parents and their children� The school has aimed to improve communication with parents, sending praise letters for children as well as text messages to communicate successes� The school also has a partnership with a local Further Education College who run sessions to support mathematics GCSE for parents so that they can support their children at home�

The school is also trialling the Successful Lives program which is coaching designed to encourage children to take more responsibility for their learning. It is hoped it will improve resilience, goal-setting behaviours, and instil the importance of effort. This is backed up by yearly ‘Stop Weeks’ which are weeks off curriculum focussed on socio-emotional skills, interview practise and CV development�

Data provided by the school shows that

the school has been successful in closing the attainment gap

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The impact of activities to dateData provided by the school shows that the school has been successful in closing the attainment gap; in 2008 there was close to a 35 percentage point difference between pupils achieving the level two threshold (a volume of qualifications equivalent to the volume of 5 GCSEs at Grade A* – C) between the school total and FSM pupils� In 2014 this had closed to a ten percentage point change� This is impressive in that the level FSM pupils are at is five percentage points higher than the 2008 whole school figure (50% vs. 45%). This indicates that the interventions and changes made since 2008 have affected the FSM pupils disproportionally to the whole school population.

Areas for improvement The use of action research does not permeate through staff, with many preferring their own experience and visiting other schools.

Contact DetailsHeadteacher David GeorgeE-Mail David�george@bridgend�

gov�ukTelephone 01656 867100Website www�pencoedcs�bridgend�

sch�uk

89

Pontypridd High School’s construction department began life as an after-school construction club, launched with the hope of offering a knowledge and skills base that would appeal to future employers, in order to address the construction industry’s skill gap. Since its creation, the department has been supported by a number of local businesses, in a variety of ways.

“Coming to the end of my studies, the construction department was given notices of companies looking for school leavers who wanted an apprentice in Quanity Surveying. As part of my apprenticeship, I was employed by one of the UK’s largest construction companies, Carillion Construction. I am now studying Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management at degree level, while being employed full-time as a trainee Quantity Surveyor.”

- Former PHS student

“ISG has been delighted to play a part in providing practical support and helping develop a number of the course modules for the construction curriculum. There is a real skills gap in the construction industry at present, and we all have a role to play in promoting this highly creative and dynamic sector as a serious choice for aspirational young people seeking a fulfilling and rewarding career. The enthusiasm from students and staff is really exciting to see and we look forward to further strengthening our partnership with Pontypridd High School.”

- Jon James, Western Regional Director, ISG PLC

P o n t y p r i d d H i g h S c h o o l - C o n s t r u c t i o n D e p a r t m e n t P a r t n e r s h i p Wo r k i n g

Equipment provisionLocal suppliers, Greenham Trading and Screwfix provided tools and equipment for the initial construction club, and ISG PLC have supported the department by providing materials, and are the department’s main sponsor�

Site visitsBusinesses have invited PHS students for site visits, including Kier Group’s site at the Pontypridd Lido regeneration project, Morgan Sindall’s site at Llwyncrwn Primary School, Bam Construction’s site at Cardiff University brain imaging centre.

Work experience/offers of employmentLocal businesses have offered PHS students work experience, including Persimmon Homes, Carillion Construction, Morgan Sindall. Students have also been offered jobs by local businesses, including quantity surveying apprenticeships with Carillion and project management at Persimmon Homes.

Pontypridd High School

90

SponsorshipISG Construction has sponsored a project providing a memorial garden at St Catherine’s Church, Pontypridd. Kier Group and Screwfix have provided tools, cash prizes and trophies for a construction competition. Ty-Mawr Lime have worked closely with the school to develop a new Heritage course�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Huw CrippsE-Mail crippsh@

pontypriddhighschool�co�ukTelephone 01443 486133Website www�pontypriddhighschool�

co�uk

91

Context and background to case studyEstyn inspected the school in December 2014 and identified Welsh as an area for improvement.

Specific areas of concern were:

• Standards in Welsh second language and pupils’ bilingual skills were underdeveloped;

• Planning for the development of Welsh skills across the curriculum was at an early stage of development;

• Most pupils did not make enough progress in using Welsh in their work in other subjects and in less formal situations at school;

• A majority of pupils’ reading and writing skills in Welsh were at an early stage of development;

• Planning for reading and writing was not effective; and

• The school did not have clear policies and procedures in place to promote Welsh outside lessons�

In addition, our Welsh in Education Officer assessment of standards of oracy in March 2015 was Good/Unsatisfactory/Adequate for Years 2/4/6, confirming the Estyn judgement that skills were underdeveloped�

Nature of strategy or activityPrior to Estyn’s visit, we had already made two big changes to Welsh at Radnor – the introduction of the Consortium’s (CSC) Welsh scheme of work and the implementation of the Helpwr Heddiw (HH) strategy. Both have been refined and we have introduced a number of other strategies to address all aspects of the recommendation.

R a d n o r P r i m a r y S c h o o l - I m p r o v i n g S t a n d a r d s O f We l s h S e c o n d L a n g u a g e I n A P r i m a r y S c h o o l

Helpwr Heddiw – daily 10 minute oracy sessions held in all classes throughout the school� They are pupil-led and they practice and refine language patterns in the CSC Welsh Continuum document. Observations of HH sessions have been carried out by the deputy headteacher, who fed back to pupils. Follow-up observations were carried out to measure the impact of the initial feedback. After some informal pupil initiated peer observations of HH sessions took place, it was decided to make these more formal and these will take place across the school for the first time in March 2016.

Scheme of Work – followed by all classes. Approximately two of the suggested writing activities are highlighted per unit as required tasks to ensure that writing across the school is progressive and covers a wide range of genre�

Radnor Primary School

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Criw Cymraeg – one pupil from each class, meets every 1-2 weeks. Role includes Learning Walks to monitor the Welsh dimension, keeping records of Helpwr Heddiw sessions and implementing the Tocyn Iaith system�

Tocyn Iaith – awarded by Criw Cymraeg to pupils who are heard using Welsh independently around the school� Can be exchanged for prizes�

Certificates – awarded and presented at weekly awards assembly. Recipients chosen by the Helpwr Heddiw�

Welsh Reading–From Y2 onwards, independent Welsh reading is a part of the daily group guided reading carousel� Twice a term these sessions are teacher-led and allow for assessment of reading skills�

Darllen Difyr–The Consortium-led Welsh reading initiative, is to be introduced across the school from Summer 2016�

Welsh across the Curriculum–Following INSET from the Welsh in Education Officer, there is an expectation that pupils will use simple Welsh words and phrases in their speaking and writing across the curriculum�

Impact on leadership and/or teaching and learning:Oracy assessments have been carried out at regular intervals by the WEO� As the Helpwr Heddiw scheme has become more embedded, the results of the assessments have improved:

Month Y2 Y4 Y6

March ’15 Good Unsatisfactory / Adequate Adequate

July ’15 Good/Excellent Good Good

Nov ’15 Excellent Excellent Excellent

Staff and class surveys show a widely held perception that there have been significant improvements in the amount of Welsh being spoken in and out of class and improvements in the amount of Welsh reading going on in class�

Audits of writing in Years 2, 4 and 6 have shown that writing skills are progressive and at least age-

appropriate and that a wide range of genres are being covered�

The next steps will be to monitor reading and to ensure that practice in provision and teaching of reading skills is consistent across the school�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Ann JamesE-Mail [email protected] 02920 387506Website www�radnorprimaryschool�

co�uk

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This is a strategy that we picked up from schools in Cincinnati, USA. It is a visual pupil tracking system where members of the middle leadership team have responsibility for tracking pupils from a different year group to their own. Photos of each pupil are displayed in the war room and colour coded: red= pupil will not make FPI or CSI, yellow= pupil will make FPI or CSI with intervention of family engagement, green = pupil will make FPI or CSI, blue = pupil should make FPI or CSI+1.

Results have been amazing from 80% FPI to 96%. CSI from 94% to 100%� Strategy seen by challenge adviser and a number of headteachers�

R o a t h P a r k P r i m a r y S c h o o l - T h e Wa r R o o m !

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Colin SkinnerE-Mail [email protected] 02920 499549Website www�

roathparkprimaryschool�co�uk

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Context and Background:Romilly School is a large three form intake primary school circa 630 full-time pupils and 130 part-time nursery places, covering the west end of Barry. There are 90 children in each year group spread across 3 mixed ability classes� The school currently has approximately 10% of the children eligible for free school meals and 7% of children on the SEN register�

Since the introduction on National Testing, teachers have noted a correlation between low-test scores combined with a lack of perseverance, the children that are performing well in these tests are the children who will persevere at tasks and are not scared to make mistakes. As a school, we implemented daily think book reasoning tasks for the children to try independently before teacher intervention, lots of the children struggled because after one attempt they gave up. With this in mind, I have started to look at the self-esteem, perseverance and attitude towards failure of our children eligible for free school meals� For this case study, I decided to focus in and look at the children eligible for free school meals across Year 3, this equated to 10 children.

After a plethora of background reading and researching, across a variety of methods, beliefs and principles, one in particular stood out, the theory that “Teaching a Growth Mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education and sports” Carol Dweck, 2006, Mindsetonline.com [Online].

I made the decision that Growth Mindset would be the tool I was going to use to facilitate the improvement of perseverance, self-ability, confidence and embracing failure as a learning tool. As a baseline for this project, they completed a child friendly mindset quiz, this showed that all

R o m i l l y P r i m a r y S c h o o l - G r o w t h M i n d s e t M e n t o r i n g To I m p r o v e L i t e r a c y a n d N u m e r a c y i n Ye a r 3 e F S M

the children except one scored between 4 and 12, 0 being a complete fixed mindset and 39 being a complete growth mindset. One child scored 39, showing a complete growth mindset� The children took part in interviews, sharing their opinions on ‘cleverness’ and giving up. These interviews just confirmed the children’s quiz results, in the fact that they recognise intelligence as being fixed and made comments such as ‘you are either born clever or you’re not’�

The children’s current INCERTS levels and SELFIE data (looking at their well-being and self-esteem) were recorded. When looking at SELFIE data, the majority of these children are highlighted as having issues with their well-being and negative perceptions of themselves.

Nature of strategyAfter a visit to Maesteg Comprehensive School to discuss how they are using Growth Mindset, I decided that creating a small group-mentoring programme suitable for primary children would be my way forward� I developed the following six step programme:

1. Begin with awareness: Making sure the children understand their own mindset, analysing their quiz results and learning about the anatomy of the brain�

2. The Power of Yet: Looking at perseverance, completing problem solving activities and great focus on the word yet, Using Class Dojo’s Big Ideas and praising effort.

3. Feedback: Teaching the children how to address feedback from teachers, parents and peers. Activities that look at constructive criticism and how to improve their work based on feedback given�

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4. Positive Role Models: Looking at positive role models in the community e.g. doctors, solicitors, teachers and Famous Role Models from sport, music etc.

5. Mistakes are OK! Embracing mistakes and choosing our favourite mistake�

6. Self-talk: Using your inner voice to build confidence and how negative talk can have an effect on your mood and self-esteem.

I decided that these sessions would take place twice a week for 15 minutes over a period of 6 weeks, through the medium of video clips, booklets, drawing and practical problem solving tasks. As a collective, staff in Year 3, have scrutinised and adapted the language we use when giving oral and written feedback to children in order to identify next steps in their learning, with a particular focus on rewarding effort as opposed to ability�

Impact of implementationImproving children’s literacy and numeracy levels through the use of Growth Mindset is not going to be a quick fix. It is going to take a considerable amount of work and perseverance on behalf of the staff and teachers in the school. In Year 3, the children eligible for free school meals are already showing positive signs of improvement. They have enjoyed these small group sessions immensely, they would often ask to stay for longer periods or carry on with tasks during playtimes. There has been a noticeable improvement in their attitudes towards learning and their perseverance when it comes to reasoning� Those 9 children are now scoring between 20-30 on the mindset quiz, which is a remarkable improvement� Two of those children who were previously predicted Level 4s, have now been predicted level 5s at the end of Key Stage 2 based on their improved INCERTS levels, attitude and positive outlook.

From these findings, we are now trying similar strategies with the more able and talented children and seeing positive results; very quickly these children are showing signs of improved self-esteem and their attitude when it comes to making mistakes� Also as a result of the impact

this case study has had on our pupils, the school has made plans to include Growth Mindset strategies in the School Development Plan for the year 2016-17 as a way of instilling growth Mindsets in all pupils at Romilly Primary School.

- Kelly Walters (Year 3 Class Teacher)

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Kelvin LawE-Mail RomillyPS@valeofglamorgan.

gov�ukTelephone 01446 736934Website www�romillyprimaryschool�

co�uk

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Context and background to case studyWindsor Clive Primary School is situated in South-West Cardiff. As an inner-city school it serves a large, socially and economically disadvantaged area� Currently there are 462 pupils on roll� With a common focus on the issue of continual school improvement, the purpose of this case study was to encourage the development of a whole-school coaching programme� The coaching programme started with practitioners within the Foundation Phase sharing reflective practice on pupil engagement in phonic sessions and moved to a collaboration with two other schools within it’s School Improvement Group (SIG) namely Nottage Primary School and St Fagans Church in Wales Primary school

Coaching is based on a philosophy of learning, as opposed to teaching, that unlocks “a person’s potential to maximise their own performance” (Whitmore, 2002, p.8) and has the potential to:

• Develop a common language regarding teaching and learning;

• Share tacit knowledge from staff;

• Share good practice;

• Bring staff together to benefit from problem-based learning;

• Nurture others to coach; and

• Accelerate pupil progress

A key feature of coaching in the SIG group was the development of a ‘learning chain’ or triad which in this case linked to the up skilling of staff linked to a specific focus on the outdoor environment. The coaching triad analysed the problem within a framework of:

• Learning through evidence-based professional dialogue;

W i n d s o r C l i v e P r i m a r y S c h o o l - C o a c h i n g

• Staff ownership of their own development; and

• Promoting reflection

Coaching partnerships in this case study are reciprocal relationships with another person where issues can be discussed, goals set and solutions found. These relationships were based upon core prerequisites for effective coaching:

• establishing trust between coach and coachee

• maintaining confidentiality

Nature of strategy or activityA ‘GROW’ coaching model was applied which aligns with the principle that the coach manages the coaching process whilst the coachee leads the content. It was important that all the staff involved in the process had a clear understanding of the process so following a meeting between the three Foundation Phase leaders a strategy and timetable was agreed upon. It was decided that all staff in the three schools should receive twilight inset training on coaching in order to agree the process that would be undertaken; this helped to develop accountability and collective leadership.

The coaching process comprised:

• Each triad would work over three weeks, once in each school� In each session a teacher would take the role of either coachee observer or coach� The coachee would always be the teacher in the school where the coaching was taking place

• Focus: The outdoor environment. Identifying a precise focus within the outside environment was key

• Approach: Following the hour activity/lesson the coach could select from a bank of

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questions to pose to the coachee, to guide reflective thinking and help the coachee develop their self direction.

• Observation/Feedback: The coachee found this professional dialogue both non threatening and supportive and was able to reflect upon their practice and set challenging and appropriate targets for themselves

• Direction: Together, they both identified a strategy for improvement and ways forward�

Questioning during the planning phase aimed to establish the coachee’s current awareness and included:

• What do you want to achieve?

• How might you go about that?

• What resources do you have?

• What did you think about?

• How could you use?

Post session, the coach initiated coaching involving open-ended questioning:

• How far did you feel you achieved your aim?

• What would you change?

The observer reflected on the whole coach-coachee process but did not intervene at any point� In essence, the coach’s aim is to guide the coachee to a new level of personal understanding without ever providing direct answers or solutions.

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipWith potential impact at both an individual and collective level, both coaches and coachees need to develop sensitive listening skills, share knowledge and evolve the quality of the questioning. It is also vital to recognise that a long term vision is needed as results may not be immediate�

Key findings included:

• Training in the coaching process is vital to build teachers capacity and confidence. Following the first SIG coaching session teachers engaged in dialogue with their colleagues and discussed their observations. Practice and environments were changed and genuine excitement about this collaborative working partnership grew amongst staff.

• To work really effectively, coaching should be embedded in the school culture� A culture is something that is learned and shared�

Following the sessions, staff understood the benefit of ‘school to school’ improvement and welcomed the sessions, whilst also asking for another cycle of coaching as they now saw it as is a non-threatening reflective tool.

The impact of core coaching skills of observation, questioning and reflection. There was a detectable

impact on their classroom practice. This highlights the value in learning from observation. Coached teachers felt more confident to apply questioning strategies that promoted pupil interaction with their peers.

In Windsor Clive, staff support coaching as a way to implement change� Teaching Assistants coaching trio’s looking at quality observation of children’s engagement and learning is starting in the summer term

and is welcomed by all� The target is to achieve aspirational targets through evidence-based collaborative learning strategies that initiate context-specific change. It is not seen as merely an addition to the workload, in the sense that it can contribute to the continued upskilling of the staff, improve motivation, maintain challenge and further learning. It enhances decision making, management skills, problem solving strategies and cohesive team working, that underpins the development of collective leadership. This ultimately occurs through a triad that constitutes a reflective practitioner group.

Most importantly, coaching undoubtedly has the potential to improve pupil outcomes.

Following the sessions, staff

understood the benefit of

‘school to school’ improvement and

welcomed the sessions

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This case study highlighted a number of challenges and the success in overcoming these was the key to the success of the project:

• Developing context-specific professional development linked to coaching�

• Reducing staff natural fear of observation; specifically, by other schools.

• Separating coaching needs from performance management to ensure a non-threatening process�

• Capacity and time; ensuring sufficient time is available for coaching triads to meet. However, this was not an issue in this case study due to the high quality support provided by all three Headteachers�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Vicky MeadowsE-Mail [email protected] 02920 591297Website www�windsorcliveprm�co�uk

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Context and background to case studyWe had already focused on literacy (Geirio Gwych) and numeracy (Rhifau Rhagorol) and we were eager to look at our pupils’ well-being� Having heard about the excellent provision at All Saints RC (Barry) which is within our SIG (22), we decided as a school to adopt the NBAR scheme. We received whole staff training on the scheme in September 2014� From the very beginning we saw NBAR as a way to identify vulnerable pupils that were not previously identified by us. NBAR questionnaires were implemented from Years 1 to 6, and after receiving the results in the form of a sociogram (class results) and a graph (individual), we begun to target children in need of specific interventions.

Nature of strategy or activityAfter identifying vulnerable children through analysis of the sociograms and questionnaires, we decided to use ELSA staff to implement sessions that were carefully planned to meet pupils’ needs� Activities included friendship groups, developing self-worth, individual sessions and pair work. The intervention was implemented for one academic year before reassessing pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 on the NBAR scheme once again during the summer� The scheme had a clear impact on most pupils, and this was apparent in results from sociograms and individual graph� We are now in the process of implementing NBAR for a second academic year (2015-2016).

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipThe information we collect from the NBAR well-being scheme is an essential part of our

YG G L l y n y F o r w y n ( W i t h S I G 2 2 ) - N B A R We l l - B e i n g I n t e r v e n t i o n

assessments at the school. NBAR is a way to consider the well-being needs of individual pupils where they do not stand out in identified groups, such as FSM�

Well-being at YGG Llyn y Forwyn continues to be a focus with the successful introduction of Lego Therapy� We are very grateful to Clare and the staff at All Saints in Barry for their guidance and support on our well-being journey as part of SIG 22�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Petra DaviesE-Mail pennaeth�yggllynyforwyn@

rctednet�netTelephone 01443 730278Website www�rctednet�net/

yggllynyforwyn/

YGG Llyn y Forwyn

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Context and background to case studyYsgol Gwaelod y Garth School has historically had strong links with the local community, with members of the community for example volunteering with the Eco Club and listening to pupils reading. However, we were eager to develop further the link between the community and the school, looking particularly at introducing and improving life-long skills� The village has a successful Women’s Institute (WI) and discussions began on how the school could benefit from their expertise and knowledge. After much planning, which included organising a suitable space, resources and DBS forms for the volunteers, Year 5 pupils were identified to undertake this project. We had a cohort of 21 eager pupils, 7 of which were boys and 2 of these had a statement of education.

Gwaelod y Garth W�I� volunteered every Friday afternoon, to teach Year 5 pupils life-long skills such as sewing, knitting and cooking. The W.I. gained a lottery grant to fund sewing machines and resources for the pupils’ use and they even organised a trip to the local Asda bakery after teaching the pupils basic baking skills�

This collaboration between the school and the community developed further when the same pupils collaborated with local residents on ‘The Lan Project’, to remember the 16 men and boys who lost their lives in Lan Mine, which occurred in Gwaelod y Garth Village, a site next to the school, in 1875. This project resulted in the publication of their poetry in a book called ‘The Lan Project’.

Nature of strategy or activityYear 5 pupils began the history project by visiting the site, collecting evidence using iPads, cameras

Ys g o l G w a e l o d y G a r t h - I m p r o v e T h e L i n k B e t w e e n T h e S c h o o l A n d T h e L o c a l C o m m u n i t y

and taking notes� Volunteers from the local community met the pupils at the site to share the history and explain what developments have occurred at the mine in recent times. Pupils questioned the volunteers using higher order questioning skills. The history element was strengthened further with the pupils being ‘history detectives’ back in the class, using ICT skills to track evidence�

Each pupil wrote a letter to a local historian, explaining what they had discovered and asking for further details about the disaster� They were thrilled when their letters were answered individually�

When all evidence was gathered and pupils had a sound insight of the disaster and its impact on the miners and the local community, each pupil wrote a poem�

These were collated and published into a book ‘The Lan Project’.

Members of the local community as well as the local Councillor presented each pupil with a book of their work�

The project will be developed further this year as there will be a memorial service at the

Ysgol Gwaelod y Garth

101

Lan. The pupils will take part in the service, singing the words of the miners as they worked� Through this project we believe that we have built a collaborative learning community that is sustainable with the main purpose being to develop literacy and independent learners�

Impact on provision, teaching and learning and/or leadershipBy being part of both of these projects with the local community, pupils have not only been introduced to new skills but they have shown patience, perseverance and respect to the volunteers that gave up their time weekly. By giving pupils the opportunities to discuss, question and reflect a local issue with members of the local community, we have seen a positive impact on their confidence. They were focused, motivated and their self-esteem as learners improved� Boys in particular were eager to engage in real life literacy contexts and practices.

By researching into the Lan disaster and presenting their work in the book, they felt that they played and integral part of the village’s history. This in turn had a positive impact on the teaching� Pupils saw a purpose and relevance to the literacy tasks, with the questioning skills becoming deeper� As there was a visual purpose to the written work, pupils thrived to ensure that their standard of work was high�

The Lan Project was an English project, as most of the locals that worked with the pupils were English speaking. Tracking pupils’ standards, we analysed that the standard of English oracy, reading and writing had improved. Pupils’ ability to research in English and explain their learning in Welsh also improved� 80�9% of pupils are on track to achieve Level 5 at the end KS2, with all pupils achieving a high progress of 2 sub-levels�

Contact DetailsHeadteacher Jan JonesE-Mail ysgolgwaelodygarth@cardiff.

gov�ukTelephone 02920 810489Website www�ysgolgwaelodygarth

school�com/

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Estyn www.estyn.gov.wales/best-practice“We recognise our unique position to showcase some of the excellent practice that we identify across all of the education and training sectors that we inspect.

We regularly publish case studies of ‘sector-leading’ practice identified during our inspections. These case studies are written by schools and other providers and explain how they have excelled in a specific area of education or training.

Our thematic reports also contain good examples of how different providers have successfully tackled various challenges within education.”

Estyn Website 2016

A d d i t i o n a l S o u r c e s O f C a s e S t u d i e s F r o m C e n t r a l S o u t h Wa l e s S c h o o l s

Examples of recent case studies from schools in Central South Wales include:

• Birchgrove Primary School - Focusing On Improvement

• Brackla Primary School - Making Families Partners in Learning

• St Mary’s Catholic Primary School - Building Pupils’ Learning Power

• Treorchy Comprehensive School - Accelerating Pupil Learning

• Cyfarthfa Park Primary School - Managing A Merger Of Two Schools So High Standards Of Learning Are Maintained

• Kitchener Primary School - Increasing Attendance Through Better Communications With Parents

• Penygraig Junior School - Developing Pupils’ Decision Making Skills

• Mary Immaculate RC High School - Using Targeted Support To Increase Attendance And Improve Behaviour

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School Improvement Groups (SIGs)www.cscjes.org.ukSIGs were established in Central South Wales to support the sharing of good practice via the Central South Wales Challenge�

Please refer to the Consortium’s case study website for SIG case studies�

The Central South Wales Challenge strategy is based on six collaborative principles commonly found in successful school systems:

• Schools are communities where collaborative enquiry is used to improve practice.

• Groupings of schools engage in joint practice development�

• Where necessary, more intensive partnerships are formed to support schools facing difficulties.

• Families and Community organisations support the work of schools and reinforce community aspiration.

• Coordination of the system is provided by school leaders themselves�

• Local authorities work together to act as the ‘conscience’ of the system�

Examples of SIG case studies from Central South Wales include:

• SIG 33 – Develop positive behaviour management using expertise of Court School, Cardiff

• SIG 31 – Secure understanding of what constitutes good and excellent teaching in practice using the excellence in teaching framework

• SIG 29 – Improve provision for MAT pupils in numeracy

• SIG 28 – Raise standards of teaching and learning in mathematics

• SIG 26 – Improve standards in reading through improved pedagogy

• SIG 25 – Improve provision of, and standards in, numerical reasoning and mathematics.

• SIG 21 – Improve numeracy tracking

• SIG 20 – To improve standards of teaching and learning�

• SIG 18 – Move standards of teaching and learning from good to excellent

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Governors Waleswww.governorswales.org.uk/casestudiesPlease refer to the Governors Wales website for a series of fictional case studies that have been developed to provoke and stimulate discussion.

Other useful material can be found in the FAQs section (http://www.governorswales.org.uk/faqs) which includes questions on:

• Appointment of headteachers

• Chairs

• Clerks

• Committees

• Complaints procedures

• Discplinary procedures

• Documentation

• Election / appointment of governors

• Governors

• Inspections

• Meetings

• Minutes

• Monitoring role

• Training

Governors Wales also provide a helpline for governor queries (0845 6020100 / [email protected]).

Examples of recent fictional case studies include:

• Election of Chair

• Appointment of community governors

• Papers for meetings

• Suspension of governors

• Publication of minutes

• Complaint about a governor / confidentiality

• DBS (CRB) checks for governors

• Disqualification of governors

• Disqualification of governors - bankruptcy

• Election of vice-chair

• Using a school as a polling station

• Appointment of headteacher

• School amalgamation - temporary governing bodies

• Quorum for meetings

• Adopting a local authority policy

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Learning Waleswww.learning.gov.walesLearning Wales is a website provided by Welsh Government which contains all the latest education policy, guidance, research and much more�

Examples of case studies from schools in Central South Wales include:

• Developing and sharing practice: Rhydypenau Primary School and Birchgrove Primary School

• Developing and sharing practice: St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School and Pontrhydyfen Primary School

• Developing and sharing practice: Ysgol Mynydd Bychan and Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Pen-y-Groes

• Teaching practice, methods and self-evaluation: Cardiff High School and Willows High School

• Teaching practice, methods and self-evaluation: Herbert Thompson Primary School and Bryn Hafod Primary School

Best practice videos

• Best practice video case study – Michaelston Community College

• Best practice video case study – Willows High School

• Best practice video case study – Rumney Primary School and Welsh National Opera

• Best practice video case study – Ysgol Treganna – Using ICT to enhance parental engagement

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Reducing The Impact Of Poverty On Educational Achievement – Policy Observatory Reporthttp://learning.gov.wales/resources/browse-all/reducing-the-impact-of-poverty-on-educational-achievement“This report features 12 case studies based on various schools and settings who are successfully overcoming some of the barriers facing disadvantaged learners.

It is aimed at:

• Schools;

• Regional education consortia; and

• The Welsh Government.

The schools and settings were selected by the Policy Observatory Project to draw out common themes in their approaches.

The report was produced by the Wales Centre of Equity in Education and funded by the Welsh Government.”

- Wales Centre for Equity in Education 2016

Central South Wales Schools in the report include:

• Ely Caerau Federation Schools

• Pencoed Comprehensive School

• Ysgol Hen Felin

• Mount Stuart Primary School

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Business In The Communityhttp://www.bitc.org.uk/wales/what-we-offer/business-classThe charity Business in the Community (BITC) Cymru has won a Welsh Government contract to roll out its UK-wide Business Class programme across Wales in a phased approach� The programme in Wales is currently funded by Welsh Government and delivered under licence by Careers Wales� A number of schools across Central South Wales are already involved in the first phase. The programme is structured to broker and facilitate a relationship between businesses and schools; the school and business then jointly agree areas for development based on mutuality of benefit. Activity can range from holding mock interview days, running ‘dragon’s den’-type activities to business training for school leaders.

Please refer to the BITC Cymru website for examples of case studies from schools in Central South Wales�

Examples of case studies covering Central South Wales include:

• Welsh Water celebrates seven years of Right to Read: For seven years, volunteers from Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water Customer Services have been reading with pupils from Oakfield Primary School in Cardiff.

• Legal & General - Business Class Partnership with Pen y Dre High School: Legal & General’s needs-led, strategic partnership with Pen y Dre School in Merthyr Tydfil is revolutionising pupils’ experience of the world of work, giving them contact with professionals whilst also providing development and volunteering opportunities for the company.

• GE Aviation Wales - Apprenticeship Scheme: 400 hours of apprentice time has been spent providing numeracy workshops in 97 local schools, reaching 10,000 pupils.

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Lead Creative Schools –Arts Council of Waleshttp://creativelearning.arts.walesThe Lead Creative Schools Scheme aims to promote new ways of working in schools, providing the opportunity to develop an innovative and bespoke programme of learning designed to improve the quality of teaching and learning�

It’s about the school and the particular learning challenges that it is facing. A Lead Creative School will have access to creative people, skills and resources to support them and to address these challenges�

Examples of recent case studies from across Wales include:

• Connah’s Quay High School

• Twyn Primary School

• Ysgol Gymraeg Pwll Coch

• Trinity Fields Special School

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Wales Audit Officewww.audit.wales/good-practice/case-studiesThe Good Practice Exchange Case Studies Library includes a number of case studies from the education sector, along with other key areas including financial management, public sector staff and governance.

Examples of education case studies include:

• Encouraging Looked After Children and Young People to go into Higher Education - Bridgend County Borough Council

• Families First Pioneer - Fframwaith (including Rhondda Cynon Taff and Merthyr Tydfil)

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Good Practice Waleswww.goodpractice.walesGood Practice Wales is a single access online portal to Welsh Public Services good practice and knowledge�

Improving services is the goal of every public sector organisation as a result the collating, sharing and learning of good practice has become a priority for many organisations. While organisations share good practice internally often it is difficult to access examples of good practice from other organisations - this is a missed opportunity when there is so much that we can all learn from each other�

The Good Practice Wales Portal aims to be the single point of access to a wide range of examples of good practice available across Welsh public services�

Examples of education case studies include:

• RCT Council - Developing Community Focused Schools

• Bridgend Council - Recycling Themed Christmas Card Schools Competition

• Cardiff Council - Working Seamlessly Across Organisations

• Vale of Glamorgan Council - Professional Learning Enhances the Quality of Education and Improves Outcomes

• Working Together - Cardiff and Vale Children’s Speech, Language and Communication Service

• RCT Council - Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage Through the Community

• RCT Homes in Partnership with Sport RCT, Go4IT, Grew and RCT Primary Schools - Ziggies

• The Place2Be - Cardiff Primary Schools

effective practice in central south wales schools … · 2016 . 2 disclaimer the central south...

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