Improvement Plan
Part One: Strategic Overview
Session 2015/16
School/Nursery: Kirkshaws Primary School and Nursery Class
Date submitted 19.6.15
to the Authority:
Aspirational Vision & Values
(Developed by and shared with staff, learners, parents/carers and those with whom the school/centre works in partnership)
Kirkshaws Primary School and Nursery Class aspires to becoming a learning organisation striving for continuous improvement, well known for the excellent quality of our learning and teaching and the care, welfare and support that we provide to help our pupils’ achieve their best.
In carrying out all aspects of our work we will:
- create a welcoming and happy environment where all achievement is celebrated
- listen to and consider all points of view
- equip children with the skills for life and for the future through the provision of stimulating opportunities and experiences
- conduct our business with integrity, impartiality, fairness, tolerance and mutual respect
- provide a safe, supportive and inclusive community where we value everyone
- seek to progress through positive partnerships by working closely with our children, parents and the wider community
- create a challenging, engaging and responsive environment
- actively encourage and promote health and wellbeing
Rationale
In arriving at our improvement priorities, we took account of North Lanarkshire’s LLS Service Plan, audit of last year’s Improvement Plan, and engagement with staff, parents/carers and learners. We also took account of current National expectations in respect of Curriculum for Excellence, as outlined in Education Scotland’s Inspection Advice Note (2013-14).
Over this session we will take forward each of these aspects in the following ways:
We will continue to take forward interdisciplinary learning across all curricular areas by providing a positive and creative learning environment that enhances and deepens learning and engages children’s thinking in practical situations. We will continue to focus on improving children’s learning experiences using active literacy and maths strategies across the school to raise attainment and achievement. We will continue to monitor and track learning to increase our capacity for improvement in both school and nursery.We will continue with the development of our science programme.
Curriculum for Excellence
Since achieving our Gold Award for Health Promotion and our fourth Eco Flag Award, we will continue to maintain the good work carried out by staff, pupils and parentsby providing the whole school community with positive experiences that promote and protect their health. We will audit our current practice in relation to food and health to ensure that it meets the requirements of thenewly published ‘Setting the Table’ document”.
Health Promotion
We will continue to review resources across the school to ensure that all of our children have equal opportunities in learning. We will promote a culture of positive relationships to ensure a caring and inclusive school community. We will continue with our holistic approach that is aimed at achieving success for all learners. We will continue to develop our liaison with Mavisbank special needs school.
Promotion of Equalities
We will continue to work in partnership with parents to seek their views in order to evaluate and improve our services. We will continue to plan and deliver workshops to parents on curricular developments.
Parental Involvement
Children will continue to be involved in decision making within the school through our Pupil Council, Health/Eco Committee and within their role as Junior Road Safety Officers. Children will also continue to be given opportunities to reflect on and self-evaluate their work and take responsibility for tracking their own progress through their portfolios. Children will continue to be encouraged to share their wider achievements within the whole school community and beyond.
Pupil Involvement
Staff will continue to be involved in further developing school evaluation. We will promote the continued professional development of all staff by encouraging them to be more reflective practitioners, be involved in and lead Working Parties to take forward improvement priorities all of which will help to increaseleadership capacity and promote a culture of distributed leadership across the school and nursery.
Staff Involvement
Improvement Priorities: Expressed as outcomes for learners (A maximum of five. These may span up to three years. If appropriate, please indicate year 1, 2 or 3)
Improvement Priority 1:
Year 3
We will develop more creative learning strategies from Early Years - P7, to enable our children to have access to a wide range of experiences and engage in pupil choice and decision making in a variety of environments including outdoors and through the use of ICT.
Improvement Priority 2:
Year 3
We will continue to develop our programme of study for science, with a focus on improving training for staff and developing higher order thinking skills and inquiry methods for pupils and continue to monitor and evaluate the programme’s effectiveness using assessment strategies.
Improvement Priority 3:
Year 3
Through our programme for health and well-being, we will promote positive healthy attitudes and behaviours to help children develop the knowledge and understanding skills, capabilities and attitudes needed for good mental, social, emotional and physical well-being.
We will continue to develop our Sexual Health and Relationship Programme.
Improvement Priority 4:
Year 3
We will continue to use a range of self-evaluation methods to ensure all stakeholders have the opportunity to be involved in the life of the school and nursery, inform decisions and contribute to future developments.
Longer term improvement priorities over three years – can be indicative only:
Improving Health and Wellbeing for all.
Raising attainment and achievement in all aspects of learning.
Improvement Priority 1:(Expressed as an outcome for learners)
We will develop more creative learning strategies from Early Years - P7 to enable our children to have access to a wide range of experiences and engage in pupil choice and decision making in a variety of environments including outdoors and through the use of ICT. / Person(s) Responsible: Head Teacher, Depute Head Teacher, Principal Teachers, Teachers, Support Staff and Pupils.
Outcome(s) focused on Learning and Achievement.
We will continue to improve children's attainment in numeracy and literacy by further developing assessment, tracking and monitoring strategies to ensure that progression and continuity are consistent and measurable.
Children will continue to have increased opportunities to lead their own learning through active participation, challenge and choice.
Children will develop their ability to think laterally, increase their self-confidence, self-reliance and ambition and become successful learners through the development of increased creativity within the classroom including MLPS.
Children will be provided with well-planned joined up learning across the curriculum using an IDL approach. / Measures of Success
Which measures of success will we use? (Data, observation, views)
What will be our success criteria? (Please use evaluative language)
Ongoing monitoring and tracking of progress.
Staged benchmark assessments, both formative and summative.
Dialogue and feedback from stakeholders.
Analysing the quality and variety of portfolios showing evidence of assessment.
Assess extent and effectiveness of pupil engagement in their learning through focussed observations.
Evidence of enterprising learning and teaching showing critical thinking, skilled questioning, learner ownership, experiential learning, co-operative activities and reflection on learning.
Evidence of quality outdoor learning.
Plan, implement and review practices highlighted through previous audit.
Observation of teaching practice across all stages both managers and peers.
Oral and written feedback on observations.
Formal and informal communication between staff including agenda and minutes of meetings and working parties.
Tracking and monitoring of individual progress to show that all learners are moving forward with their learning in numeracy and maths.
Children maintaining and taking responsibility for their own e-portfolios or learning profiles.
Children will have the opportunity to use French on a daily basis.
Planning incorporates a range of teaching and learning styles.
Opportunities for hands-on experimentation, problem-solving, discussion
collaborative working and encouraging pupils to think outside the box..
Improvement Priority 2:
(Expressed as an outcome for learners)
We will continue to develop our programme of study for science, with a focus on improving training for staff and developing higher order thinking skills and inquiry methods for pupils and we will continue to monitor and evaluate the programme’s effectiveness using assessment strategies. / Person(s) Responsible: Head Teacher, Depute Head Teacher, Science Coordinator and all teaching and early years staff.
Outcome(s) focused on Learning and Achievementt
What do we want to achieve?
Children will develop their interest in and understanding of the living, material and physical world.
Children will develop a secure understanding of important scientific concepts through practical techniques and investigations.
Children will receive higher quality teaching and learning through being encouraged to ask more questions, make connections across subject areas, explore a range of ideas and reflect and make predictions on their investigations and experiments. / Measures of Success
Which measures of success will we use? (Data, observation, views)
What will be our success criteria? (Please use evaluative language)
Formal training on delivery and resourcing science lessons provided by SSERC (Scottish Schools’ Education Research Centre) to all staff through CPD.
Classroom observations will highlight evidence of good practice, active learning, improvement in knowledge and understanding, performance, pupil motivation and engagement.
Teachers’ plans will show a balance between discrete and interdisciplinary approaches in the delivery of science lessons.
Raised staff confidence and motivation levels through trialling new ideas and engaging in professional dialogue that moves learning forward.
Pupils will be able to apply new skills through an interdisciplinary approach to learning and also extend this through a planned science week.
Assesment of pupil progress will be evidenced through what pupils Say, Write, Make and Do. Profiles of evidence of quality learning will be maintained.
Regular science cluster working will enable best practice to be shared and ensure consistency of assessment and moderation in science across the cluster.
Improvement Priority 3:
(Expressed as an outcome for learners)
Through our programme for health and well-being, we will promote positive healthy attitudes and behaviours to help children develop the knowledge and understanding, skills, capabilities and attitudes needed for good mental, social, emotional and physical well-being. We will continue to develop our Sexual Health and Relationship Programme. / Person(s) Responsible: Head Teacher, Depute Head Teacher, Principal Teachers and all school and nursery staff.
Outcome(s) focused on Learning and Achievement
What do we want to achieve?
Children will gain skills and knowledge to be able to achieve the highest standards of physical and mental health and be supported to make healthy, safe choices.
Children will gain the skills and knowledge they need to make healthier food choices and will be offered healthy, balanced and nutritious food allowing them to try new foods and develop healthy eating habits from a young age.
Children will receive support and guidance in their learning which will help to boost their skills, confidence and self-esteem to enable them to flourish in life, learning and work. Through this pupils will be given the opportunity to achieve both in the classroom and beyond giving them a sense of satisfaction and building motivation and resilience.
All children will be given an opportunity to engage in an active sports programme that promotes active, healthier and fitter lifestyles to enable them to become “Better Movers and Thinkers.” / Measures of Success
Which measures of success will we use? (Data, observation, views)
What will be our success criteria? (Please use evaluative language)
Further training on “The Healthier Scotland Cooking Bus” will enhance
Teachers’ practical cooking skills. The continuation of the after school’s cooking club
and planned workshop for parents will reinforce and cascade learning across the
school and in the home. The school’s food and health programme
(prepare, cook and taste) enables children to participate in practical, enjoyable food
activities to build their knowledge and learning about good food choices and diets. The
school will plan to meet the requirements of the newly published document “Setting the
Table”, by assessing the effectiveness of current practice and identifying areas for further
development. Use of Sexual Health and Realtionship Pack including parental workshops.
The use of “go for green” and “golden pathways” promote positive behaviour and
relationships. Regular whole school assemblies provide opportunities for children to
lead and share their learning with others which helps to develop their self-confidence
and self-esteem. Children also take responsibility for recording their successes and
achievements both in and out of school in their profiles and e-portfolios making them
feel proud and valued. Pupil participation through the Pupil Council, Eco/Health
Committee gives them the opportunity to make decisions, be responsible for
contributing to the life of the school and develop leadership skills.
Through an active sports programme, children engage in more active activities to
improve fitness levels. The “Active Family” initiative within the nursery class will
continue which enables parents, carers and pupils to enjoy physical games together.
Our after-school clubs will continue to provide a range of sporting activities to support
and promote active, healthy lifestyles. The annual “Walk to School” project delivered
by our JRSO (Junior Road Safety Officers) helps to reinforce positive attitudes to being
more active. The training undertaken by staff on “Better Movers and Thinkers” will support
staff in planning and delivering quality PE sessions to children.
Improvement Priority 4:
(Expressed as an outcome for learners)
We will continue to use a range of self-evaluation methods to ensure all stakeholders have the opportunity to be involved in the life of the school and nursery, inform decisions and contribute to future developments. / Person(s) Responsible: All staff, children, parents and the wider school community.
Outcome(s) focused on Learning and Achievement
What do we want to achieve?
Children, parents and the wider community will continue to have opportunities to be involved in the life of the school and nursery class.
Children, staff and parents will continue to have more opportunities to share their views and participate in the improvement process.
We will continue to develop children's opportunities to discuss their own learning, targets, success and what they need to do next.
We will continue with our programme of peer/manager observations to monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching and learning / Measures of Success
Which measures of success will we use? (Data, observation, views)
What will be our success criteria? (Please use evaluative language)
Stakeholders’ feedback on success of planned themed weeks including science, maths and health/eco.
Continued use of homework diaries and home learning tasks across the school. Use of glow blogs, children's profiles, and e-portfolios.
Children’s evaluative comments on their own work and their peers. Children working independently. Children involved in high quality interaction between staff and peers.
In the nursery class, continue joint target setting with parents. Parent contribution to interactive learning wall “you asked, we did.”
Senior management evaluation of teacher forward plans provides evidence of pace, purpose, differentiation and assessment in learning as well as consistency of approach across the school.
The continuation of peer/manager classroon observations assesses the quality of teaching and learning including preparation and planning, teaching approaches and level of pupil engagement. Peer/manager observation feedback as a means of encouraging collective learning, improving practice and raising standards.
Minutes of stage and whole school meetings with teaching staff to reflect on and plan for school improvements.