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PLANNING FOR IMPROVEMENT
At Rockingham Beach Primary School, we use the National School Improvement Tool to enable us to reflect on where our school needs to focus improvement. The Tool brings together findings from international research into the practices of highly effective schools and school leaders. The Tool assists schools to review and reflect on their efforts to improve the quality of classroom teaching and learning. It supports school-wide conversations about aspects of current practice, areas for improvement and evidence that progress is being made.
The Tool does not describe everything that effective schools do, but focuses on those practices that are most directly related to school-wide improvements, and thus outcomes for students. In this sense, the tool can be thought of as a core element of more comprehensive school improvement programs, frameworks and initiatives. The ultimate goal of school improvement is to improve outcomes for students, including levels of achievement and wellbeing. For this reason, direct measures of student outcomes are essential to all school improvement efforts. However, ‘school improvement’ fundamentally means improving what a school does. The Tool provides evidence about a school’s day-to-day work to complement, and possibly shed light on, measures of student outcomes.
A key feature of the Tool is the set of performance levels, ‘Low’, ‘Medium’, ‘High’ and ‘Outstanding’. These levels enable schools to make judgements about where they are on their improvement journeys, to set goals and design strategies for improvement, and to monitor and demonstrate school improvement over time
Our key areas for improvement focus on the following domains:
· A culture that promotes learning
· Differentiated teaching and learning
· Effective pedagogical practices
· An expert teaching team
At the end of the year, staff engage in self-reflection on our progress towards reaching an ‘Outstanding’ rating for each of the above domains. Evidence of our rating is described and suggestions for areas to focus on in the coming year are made. These are outlined in the table below:
Domain / Rating / Evidence / Focus for improvementA culture that promotes learning / High / · Visible learning – WALT,WILF, anchor charts
· Differentiated goals & success criteria
· Focus on high standards
· Displays of student work
· 123 Magic – consistent approach
· Open classrooms – Learning Journey
· IEP meetings, parent report meeeting
· Collaborative teams, moderation
· Flexible timetables
· Professional Learning Teams
· Leadership walkthroughs & observations
· Staff morale – engagement in teams, respectful relationships, willingness to help
· Agreed guidelines – following procedures from staff handbook
· School Chaplain offers added support and encouragement, interacts and engages with students
· General community opinion during conversations
· Inviting colleagues into rooms is commonplace
· Parent emails and phone calls / · Classroom behaviour cohesiveness – from room to room
· Involve parents in Visible Learning
· Recognising individual talents
· Greater percentage of permanent staff so that culture is sustained
· More proactive in developing partnerships with parents
· Timetabling of new initiatives
· Increase regular attendance and address lateness of some students
· Positive behaviour support strategies
Domain / Rating / Evidence / Focus for improvement
Differentiated Teaching and Learning / High / · Collaborative plans
· Feedback from parents on progress files
· Assessments across the school
· Data analysis – effect size progress
· Case Management - IEPs, GEPs
· Moderation of assessment tasks during collaborative meetings
· Assessment schedule
· Common Assessment Tasks
· Brightpath used in moderation
· WALT/WILF differentiated learning – setting golas
· Self-assessment
· Flexibility of group arrangements depending on students’ needs
· Examine gaps and weaknesses from data
· Effective feedback to students / · Open classrooms for parents
· Informal parent workshops
· Cater for cultural difference – iPads, digital, oral presentation
· Building teacher capacity to differentiate across all areas of curriculum
· More diagnostic testing prior to learning to determine prior knowledge
· IEP/Extension plans needs more work across the school
· Catering for high/extension students – open-ended, problem-solving tasks, research
· Timing of Learning Journey – not so close to report meeting
Effective Pedagogical Practices / Outstanding / · Visible Learning – John Hattie, Shirley Clarke
· Leadership walkthroughs
· Regular /routine professional learning for staff including ‘fishing trips’
· Leadership modelling of effective practice
· Performance Development & Review process
· Research-based strategies eg. guided reading
· Professional reading on research-based strategies duing collaborative meetings
· Building capacity of teacher leaders
· ICT, iPad support in class / · Continue building Visible Learning practices across the school
· Implement Visible Learning Plan to sustain outstanding level
· Work with individual teachers to improve teaching strategies
· More time for mentoring ‘side-by-side’
An Expert Teaching Team / High / · Peron North Network Focus Group Meetings
· Professional Learning Teams
· Open classrooms
· Collaborative planning
· Class rotations of curriculum areas – some year levels
· Highly skilled leadership team in current practices
· Strong direction in Business Plan and Visible Learning Plan
· Focus on pedagogy
· Coaching (Leith Hogan) for Visible Learning leaders
· Leadership roles within year level teams
· Walkthroughs, fishing trips, class observations are the norm
· Documented Professional Learning Plans that match the Business Plan
· Performance Development & review process
· Recruit against Business Plan priorities
· Documented whole school plans with expectations
· Visible Learning Leadership team / · Celebrate successes more
· Widen the leadership opportunities for staff
· Staff trust, relationships to welcome opportunities into classes
· Leadership roles outside classroom not always supported by time/money
· Build experts in areas of curriculum – training, support, funding, opportunities
· Encouraging Level 3 teachers
· Tailor time during School Development Days to focus on particular staff eg. EAs, ECE, Junior & Middle/Senior teams
· Best practice – prescribed process that everyone does OR this is focus and teacher implements with own flair/personality and love of teaching?
· More time for moderation tasks
· Continue seeking expressions of interst for leadership roles from amongst all staff
· More collaboration, less cooperation
· Time to develop skills
Success for all students
Outcomes
· Raise standards of student achievement and performance in literacy and numeracy
· Build a culture of self-evaluation and reflection across the school
· Improve student engagement and motivation for learning
· Expand and strengthen our approach to early intervention
· Whole school approach to the development of positive social and emotional well-being of all students
Strategies / Achievements· Interrogation of system and school-based data including NAPLAN and On-Entry to identify students to target for case management approach especially students At and Below Minimum Standard, students not achieving their potential, Aboriginal and EAL/D students
· Teachers to personalise learning using differentiated teaching based on individual student needs
· Build a culture that promotes learning through a school-wide focus on developing successful learning dispositions or ‘Habits of Mind’
· Teachers to share learning intentions and success criteria of lessons to foster ‘assessment-capable’ students who know ‘where they are going; how they are going; and where to next’.
· Purposeful integration of ICT across the curriculum supported by ‘Bring Your Own Apple Device’ (BYOAD) in Years 4 to 6, and availability of school iPads for Kindy to Year 3
· Provide opportunities for students to engage in activities to enrich learning and problem-solving eg. Maths Talent Quest, Have Sum Fun, Science IQ, Murder Under the Microscope, Future Problem Solving, Numero
· Maintain a database of students at risk in order to track their progress as they move through the primary years
· Kindy Orientation Program in Term 4 to assist the early identification of students’ learning needs
· Review and develop a whole school approach to values education using the ‘Friendly Schools Plus’ program
· Establish an active and authentic student leadership model
· Consistent approach to behaviour management is evident across all classes / · Improvement of Year 6 from Year 5 NAPLAN (2014 retest)
· Identified students for case management using data interrogation at school/team level and planning adjustments made
· Collaborative planning, assessments and clear direction impacted on raising the standards
· NAPLAN spreadsheets
· On track to meet targets for Writing and Numeracy in On-Entry Assessment (PP)
· Case Management Plans including IEPs, GEPs and SEN constructed with DP and School Psychologist involvement
· Documented plans for Aboriginal students
· Guided Reading has been successfully used across all classes
· First Steps underpinning literacy and numeracy shared plans
· Fortnightly focus on Habits of Mind distributed to staff raising awareness
· Evident during Learning Walk that learning intentions and success criteria are in classrooms
· Visible Learning embedded across curriculum in most classrooms
· ‘Fist to Four’ encouraged in most classrooms for stduents to rate their understanding
· Children using the language of success
· BYOAD implemented in Year 4 to 6 and iPads utilised in classrooms
· Kaye & Ryan very approachable when providing assistance
· Numero is now widely used with students; After school science, art, writing and maths clubs
· Excursions used to support learning and engagement
· Reviewed and updated SAER database
· Clear expectations for SAER
· Kindy Orientation Program is beneficial
· Early identification referrals – though waiting lists are long
· Maintained chaplain program
· Friendly Schools Plus is implemented across classes
· 123 Magic approach is consistent
· Maintained student leadership group
· More opportunities for student leadership through Waste Wise
Focus for 2016
· Reconsider targets for NAPLAN achievement
· Reading in Pre-Primary
· Focus on writing in Years 3 to 5
· Where to next in Visible Learning after learning intentions and success criteria are established
· More support to better implement ‘Habits of Mind’ consistently at the student level
· Develop qualities of effective learners – link to ‘aspire and achieve together’ motto
· Learning Walks each semester, before progress folders are due
· Enrichment/Extension and problem-solving for talented students – critical thinking and higher-order thinking
· More authentic, engaging activities in learning programs
· Making ‘whole/real world’ connections in integrated planning
· Student Leadership model extended
· Special shirts for student leaders
· Specialist teachers need to use 123 Magic for consistency
· More positive behaviour support
· Merge plans – Protective Behaviours, Values
· Wifi needs constant attention to ensure access – accessibility for classes mid-session especially juniors is tricky (iPads, laptops)
· Explore funding options for 3 year old kindy – teacher running it
· Focus on children’s feelings of safety and security
· Professional learning in Friendly Schools Plus – focus on values and resilience
· Focus on having time to establish foundations ie. social skills, etiquette, manners in Term 1 – build classroom community
High Quality Teaching & Leadership
Outcomes
· Structure a whole school approach to implementing the Australian Curriculum through developing explicit documented Curriculum Delivery Plans
· Staff demonstrate high expectations of student performance, achievement and behaviour
· Develop expert knowledge of evidence-based teaching strategies
· Build a culture of continuous professional improvement including classroom-based learning, mentoring and coaching
· Expand distributed leadership opportunities across the school
Strategies / Achievements· Develop Curriculum Delivery Documented Plans for teaching the Australian Curriculum content to inform collaborative planning in year level teams
· Utilise John Hattie’s “Visible Learning” research findings to inform and improve teachers’ practice
· Develop a school-wide Professional Learning Plan to target identified system and school priorities
· Implement Professional Learning Teams using a triad approach to promote self-reflection for professional growth
· Leadership team to conduct Classroom Walkthroughs & Observations to provide quality feedback to teachers
· Support staff in developing effective behaviour management through observation and feedback using “Classroom Management Strategies” protocols
· Draw on teachers within the Peron North network to support sharing expertise across schools
· Develop teacher leaders across the school including Literacy and Numeracy Specialist Teachers, Curriculum Leaders, Year Level Team Leaders, Visible Learning Leaders, and Mentors / · Planning each term in year level teams for English and Maths
· Data informs planning
· Use of Google Docs to simplify collaborative planning process
· Sharing of SCSA updates during year level team meetings
· Curriculum Overviews in Health, Science and HASS
· Learning Intentions and Success Criteria shared with students; anchor charts are developing
· ‘Fist to Four’ strategy used by students to rate their understanding
· Teachers create anchor charts with students to support their learning
· Professional Learning Plans created for each term – SDD, staff meetings, collaborative DOTT, extra optional – reflects priorities in Business Plan
· Provided additional 40 minutes of DOTT to support PL
· Leadership roles within each year level team
· Professional learning targeted to needs
· Coaching and meetings for Visible Learning leaders
· Learning teams functioning successfully
Focus for 2016
· Develop and expand Visible Learning practices – goal setting, feedback, effective learner qualities, teacher mindframes
· HASS and Health need more attention for a consistent delivery
· Further explore effective feedback
· Staff to give specific intentions when sending children to office re: behaviour ie. consequences by admin
· Continue to build capacity of leaders and learning teams
· Increase classroom observations, walkthroughs, fishing trips and coaching and modelling for teachers to be more consistent for all staff
· CMS professional learning for staff that have not undertaken it previously