PEEL PRIMARY X000d SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN X000d__X000d__X000d__X000d 2012-2013 X000d__X000d

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St Mary’s Primary School

and Polbeth Nursery

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

2015-2016

The West Lothian Context

West Lothian Council is committed to delivering the best possible outcomes for children and young people so that they have the best start in life and are ready to succeed by following the principles of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC).

Within Curriculum for Excellence, every child and young person is entitled to experience a curriculum which is coherent from 3-18. Those planning the curriculum have a responsibility to work in partnership with others to enable children and young people to move smoothly between key transition points, building on prior learning and achievement in a manner appropriate to the learning needs of the individual. This should ensure that young people are well placed to move into positive destinations and adult life.

The Corporate Plan sets the strategic direction and our priorities for West Lothian Council. There are eight priorities that we, and our community, believe can make a lasting and sustainable impact on the local area and improve the lives of residents in West Lothian.

Priority 1: Delivering positive outcomes and early interventions for early years

Priority 2: Improving the employment position in West Lothian

Priority 3: Improving attainment and positive destinations for school children

Priority 4: Improving the quality of life for older people

Priority 5: Minimising poverty, the cycle of deprivation and promoting equality

Priority 6: Reducing crime and improving community safety

Priority 7: Delivering positive outcomes on health

Priority 8: Protecting the built and natural environment

The Corporate Plan informs Education Services Management Plan to ensure our work impacts positively on services for children and young people. Education Services focuses particularly on priorities 1, 2 and 3.

Education Services Management Plan

Education Services works towards achieving the key strategic aims of the council, in partnership with schools. In particular, Education Services aims to improve opportunities for children and young people by:

• Raising standards of attainment and achievement
• Improving employability and positive destinations for all school leavers
• Improving the learning environment
• Promoting equality of access to education
• Developing values and citizenship
• Promoting learning for life and encouraging a creative, enterprising and ambitious outlook.

Working with a range of partners, the key purpose of our work is to continuously raise attainment and achievement for all children and young people in West Lothian, ensuring that our young people succeed in securing a positive and sustained destination after school.

Factors Influencing the Improvement Plan

School factors

• Newly Appointed Headteacher
• New Autism Resource
• Changes to Management Team – 2 new temporary Principal Teachers
• Changes to school building – upgrades to classrooms and teaching spaces
• Developments to playground and outdoor areas – car park
• Changes within Nursery – Teacher on secondment
• VSE carried out in April 2015 – areas for improvement identified

Local authority factors

• Single Outcome agreement
• Corporate Plan
• Integrated Children’s Services Plan (Life Stages)
• Education Services Management Plan
• Moving Forward in Learning
• Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Guidance
• Raising attainment, including for those at risk of missing out
• Increased entitlement to early years provision

National factors

• Single Outcome agreement
• Getting it Right for Every child (GIRFEC)
• Curriculum for Excellence
• National Qualifications
• Child Protection Issues / Guidance
• National Legislation: Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014
• GTCS revised standards and professional update

Vision Statement

(We plan to review and refresh Our School Values, Vision and Aims during 2015-16)

St Mary’s Primary School – Mission Statement

In St Mary’s Primary we aim to ensure that:

• There is a welcoming atmosphere and a positive ethos throughout the school, and all children are educated in a safe, secure environment.

• The whole child is developed in accordance with ‘A Charter for Catholic Schools in Scotland’.

• We value the learning and achievement of all children and that high aspirations and ambitions are promoted.

• All staff work in partnership with parents and the school community as we strive to enable our children to become valued members of our multi-cultural society.

• Within our inclusive school, every child is given the confidence, attributes and capabilities to enable them to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.

School Aims

St Mary’s Primary School has clearly defined aims which complement the five National Priorities for Education, identified by the Scottish Executive in the Standards in Scottish Schools Act 2000 and the four competencies expressed in A Curriculum for Excellence.

Our school aims to care for each child and strives to create an environment in which every child feels safe, happy, confident and valued as an individual. It also aims to co-operate with home and the larger community to provide a balanced educational programme with emphasis on the acquisition of basic skills. It is expected that when pupils leave St Mary’s, they will continue the long process of preparation for responsible citizenship.

Through our approaches to Health and Wellbeing, we aim to provide our children with relevant information, examples and experiences which will fit them to live in the changing world and environment in the most positive and healthy way possible.

Through our religious and moral training, St Mary’s Primary School aims to develop in the children a sense of responsibility to themselves, their community and their environment.

We aim to develop natural skills and significantly raise levels of attainment and achievement, where each pupil learns to appreciate their talents and are prepared to use them in future life, be they intellectual, physical or artistic.

Strategic Curriculum Plan (Three Years)

• Have collegiate CPD sessions raised awareness of OTWL and helped staff to familiarise themselves with the tool?
• Does OTWL help teachers plan, track and monitor pupil progress and attainment in inter-disciplinary learning?
• Are pupils more aware of their learning journey and how they can influence their learning experiences?
• Does OTWL help teachers plan, track and monitor pupil progress and attainment in all areas of learning?
• Have we avoided planning, tracking and recording being overly bureaucratic?
• Does the use of OTWL lead to raised attainment and achievement for all?
• Has information gathered by teachers resulted in relevant and timely interventions to support and challenge learning of individual pupils?

• Minutes of CPD sessions and staff feedback
• Planning and attainment meeting feedback
• Professional dialogue
• Pupil teacher discussion and QA observations
• Planning and attainment meeting dialogue
• Assessment data through SEEMIS and tracking sheets
• SMT monitoring

• How has the school and cluster self-evaluation framework impacted on improvements in self-evaluation? How do we know?
• Have staff promoted a culture of continuous reflection, evaluation and improvement?
• Is our monitoring programme robust in school and across the cluster?
• Has revised professional update process highlighted staff professional responsibilities and improved professional practice and CPD?
• Has school and cluster moderation impacted positively on our improvement agenda?
• Have pupils and staff improved their skills in evaluating learning?
• Are pupils able to discuss their learning, strengths, next steps and areas for improvement?
• How do all stakeholders know about the impact of their feedback on our improvements?
• Has collegiate working created a climate of a school and cluster learning community?
• What was the impact of staff training and development?
• Are we in a strong position for further improvements in session 2016-17?
• What is working and how do we know?

• Cluster self-evaluation framework is in place is being implemented
• Quality assurance and monitoring programme in place and
• implemented
• Records of staff meetings, professional dialogue and learning conversations
• Learning conversations show improvement in pupil and staff knowledge and confidence
• Pupils more aware of their progress and next steps
• Stakeholders can identify improvements made
• Feedback from parents and partner agencies indicates effective joined up working and collaboration
• Regular feedback from staff, including PSWs with regards to improvements in performance
• Our school and cluster has the capacity for further improvement

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