Falla Hill Primary School

Standards & Quality

Report

Session 2014-2015

Introduction

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.

We want to know how well we are doing this and how we can improve. We are continuously evaluating what we do and how it makes a difference to our learners. In moving forward together we have been asking ourselves-staff, pupils, parents/carers and stakeholders- key questions which are contained within this Standards and Quality Report. Our self-evaluationis in the pages that follow, along with ourkey areas for development for session 2014-15. This report is set within the context of CfE and GIRFEC and measured against the quality indicators within Child at the Centre, How good is Our School 3? andCfE National expectations: Self-evaluation resource.

The progress of the areaswe developed in our 2013-2014 School Improvement Plan(SIP) is outlined in Appendix 1.

Context of the School

Falla Hill Primary School is a non denominational school serving the community of Fauldhouse, West Lothian. The school, which was built in 1926, extended in 1975, and further rooms created in 2009, provides spacious accommodation for pupils and staff. At present the current school roll is 162, plus 20 places for children in the morning and 20 afternoon places in the nursery class. The Senior Management Team (SMT) consists of the Head Teacher and Principal Teacher. The Nursery has been led by1.0 FTE Nursery Teachers and supported by 1.0 FTE Nursery Nurses and a Pupil Support Worker. The school staff comprised, this year, of 8 classes, 9 class teachers, including 2 probationers and a support for learning teacher. In addition to this, we have a Music specialist and PE specialist. Pupils have access to brass tuition from Primary 5 onwards. This is provided by West Lothian Council’s Instrumental Service. The school also benefits from 6 pupil support workers supplying the equivalent of 5.0 FTE hours. The school and pupils benefit from a wide range of support from Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychologist, Hearing Impaired Service, Autism Outreach, Language Outreach, Literacy Services, Children and Young People’s Team (CYPT) and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services(CAMHS).In addition there is an admin assistant, cook and kitchen staff, cleaning and janitorial staff. There is a very supportive Parent Council and links with the community continue to be nurtured. Free school meals entitlement is currently 32%across the school. Over recent years we have a number of staff retire, which has impacted on continuity. However, this has enabled us to retain some of the younger teacher on temporary contracts. The school is benefiting from the expertise of very able newly qualified teachers and probationersand this is enhancing our capacity to deliver high quality teaching and learning.
How well do children and young people learn and achieve? (1.1; 2.1)
We continue to raise attainment and most pupils make very good progress from their prior levels of attainment. Most learners experience success, are confident and contribute positively to the life of the school. The priorities in our school improvement plan, have supported improvements in attainment, achievement and well-being of our learners.
Strengths
Staff support our pupils to learn and achieve by ensuring that they use flexible approaches to the curriculum and to teaching in order to meet the needs of all learners. Regular tracking and monitoring of pupil progress throughout the school allows us to provide a
progressive curriculum and identify appropriate action so that most of the children make progress
from their prior attainment.Nursery staff use assessment information effectively to meet the needs of all learners and to plan responsively, based on children’s emerging interests and needs. Talking tubs, floor books and mind maps have been introduced and developed within Nursery to further involve the children in planning and assessing their learning and to provide opportunities for personalisation and choice. We have raised attainment for most pupils in our school in the key areas of literacy and numeracy. The priorities in our school improvement plan have had a measurable impact on attainment and achievement and removing barriers from learning.Attainment in maths has improved, but evidence has shown that practice in teaching and developing mental agility across the school needs to be more consistent to ensure that children become more confident and competent in using and applying mental numeracy strategies in appropriate contexts.
Overall, our learners are demonstrating, in a variety of contexts, that they are successful, confident, responsible and effective contributors to the life of the school and the wider community. Many pupils continue to achieve in a range of activities for personal and wider achievement and these successes are widely celebrated. Pupils across all stages are given a wide range of opportunities to take part in extra-curricular events including sports festivals, after school clubs, working with the Forest Ranger to develop outdoor learning experiences and residential experiences. They consequently show increased confidence and self esteem.
Overall, learning experiences arestimulating and challenging and most of our pupils are increasingly more motivated and eager to learn. In most cases,pupils are regularly given opportunities to learn in a variety of ways to meet their individual learning needs. Teachers have a deeper understanding of pupil learning and are developing the use of quality feedback which is personalised for each learner. Through self and peer assessment, most pupils are developing their capacity to take ownership and responsibility for their learning and are becoming increasinglymore aware of their progress and what they need to do to improve. Through regular consultation, our pupils know that their views are sought and valued. All children contribute to the life of the school through regular pupil voice groups.These views are taken into account in decisions relevant to the school environment and their learning. During consultation, pupils tell us that they feel safe, nurtured and included. Our positive culture and ethos enable pupils to increasingly give and receive respect. Pupils in Nursery are actively involved in their own learning and development through effective use of floorbooks, mind maps and talking tubs for consultation. Pupils are more motivated to learn and experiences planned build on existing knowledge and skills.
Areas for Development
Continue to develop the quality of learning and teaching in maths andnumeracy so that:
  • Children will be able to apply problem solving strategies more effectively
  • Children will have the confidence to take risks, ask questions and explore alternative solutions without fear of being wrong
  • Children will be able to interpret and analyse information, simplify and solve problems, assess risk and make informed decisions
Develop the quality of learning and teaching in Science by:
  • Reviewing the Science programme, policy, practice and resources to ensure progression form Nursery to Primary
  • Raising staff confidence in delivering Science outcomes
Begin to engage with 1 + 2 Languages throughout the school by
  • Start building capacity for the teaching of two languages in addition to English, through sharing expertise and engaging with new resources
  • Introducing songs and basic vocabulary to pre school children in terms 3 and 4

How well is the school helping children and young people to develop and learn? (5.1; 5.3)
Overall the quality of curriculum is good and we meet the needs of our learners very well. Teachers strive to provide well-paced learning approached, which meet a variety of needs. They work collaboratively to provide a positive learning environment and range of experiences that promote active learning and provide challenge.
Strengths
Through collaborative planning and through regular and purposeful planning and attainment meetings, teachers are better equipped the meet the needs of all learners. Many children experience a broad range of activities which are active, collaborative and challenging.We continue tomake very good progress in helping our pupils to learn by developing coherent and collaborative approaches to teaching and learning.Our curriculum supports personal achievement across all curricular areas and provides opportunities for interdisciplinary and contextualised learning. We regularly review and refresh our curriculum to meet the needs of all pupils. We are developing programmes to effectively balance the progressive development of knowledge and skills as well as the attributes and capabilities of the four capacities. Staff implement early intervention strategies with children who have additional learning needs. Pupil Support Workers effectively support and contribute towards meeting learning needs. We are working towards providing a range of routes to allow pupils to progress at different rates and in different ways. We have been developing our use of profiling throughout the school, through the use of Didbook in Primary 7 and introducing ‘snapshot’ profiles in P1-6. In some areas this is having a positive impact on pupils’ capacity for self reflection and this will be further developed next session. We have continued to develop the quality of transition at all stages to improve continuity and progression in learning. Our arrangements for vulnerable children at transition are very good. We take positive and proactive steps to ensure barriers to learning are promptly identified and addressed effectively.The Nursery pupils continue to benefit from a well planned programme of shared activities and experiences with Primary 1 to support continuity of progression and effective transition into school. Across the school, enhanced transition procedures are in place for identified pupils according to individual needs, thus supporting smooth transition and continuity in progress.
Throughout the school and nursery, we effectively identify, review and evaluate individual learning needs, according to ability. We do this through regular high quality dialogue and collaboration, encompassing learning, assessment and attainment. This involves learners, staff, support for learning, parents/carers and support agencies, where appropriate. Learners’ needs are met through a variety of approaches including: learning and teaching strategies which are matched to the needs of all learners; deployment of support staff and engaging the expertise and resources of partner agencies including the voluntary sector. Through these processes, teachers are increasingly more able to provide appropriate challenge for all ensuring progress is maximised. Individual Education Programmes (IEPs) contain appropriate learning targets for our pupils. We involve parents, learners, staff and appropriate agencies in reviewing this process. The children are motivated and focused within the Nursery environment on their choices for learning. A variety of methods are being used to further involve children in planning and assessing their learning and to provide opportunities for personalisation and choice
Areas for Development
  • To meet the needs of all pupils including the more able to improve pace and challenge in learning particularly in maths and science
  • Raise staff confidence in delivering Scienceoutcomes
  • Continue to develop effective assessment and moderation processes to ensure clear progression in learning and attainment.
  • Further develop the use of profiling across the nursery and school to support pupils in developing an increased awareness of themselves as learners.
  • Further develop responsive planning within the Nursery

How well is the school improving the quality of its work? (5.9)
As a whole school community, we continue to demonstrate strong commitment to self evaluation for school improvement and this area of our work is good overall, with some aspects being very good. We recognise the importance of gathering the views of all stakeholders, responding to them and involving them in our ongoing improvements.
Strengths
We have continued to improve our capacity toevaluate current practice and measure the impact of new initiatives which have been introduced. As reflective practitioners, we work together to evaluate learning and teaching and make necessary improvements. This is achieved through professional dialogue and collaboration which provides information to inform planning and improvement in progression in learning. Effective systems are in place to monitor and evaluate the quality of our work, including gathering and responding to the views of staff, parents and pupils, both in school and nursery. Many Nursery Parents/Carers have responded positively to improved communication systems and feel that their views are valued and acted upon. We consult with stakeholders in self evaluation and are committed to using their feedback to support effective improvement. We continue to monitor and evaluate the quality of liaison with partner agencies, to seek their views and to ensure we are meeting the needs of all children and to focus on overcoming barriers to learning and development.When identifying priorities for improvement as a school, we continue toencourage leadership at all levels with a vision for continuous improvement. Our quality assurance procedures enable us to focus on continuing improvements in learning, teaching and the achievement of all pupils.
Procedures for professional review and development encourage staff to take ownership of professional learning using the GTCS professional standards as a starting point for personal reflection and self evaluation. Teachers are now engaging with the new GTCS standards for Career Long Professional Learning to ensure that they are continually improving their practice. Nursery and support staff, take responsibility for their own learning through effective review processes, by identifying and agreeing targets and taking responsibility for planning how to achieve these. This ensures that they continually improving their practice and are able to effectively support school developments as well as personal learning. Staff across the school and nursery are becoming increasingly aware of the impact of professional learning on our work and on the experiences of learners.
We use Learning Rounds, Critical Friend and Validated Self Evaluation (VSE) approaches to identify important strengths and areas for improvementat individual, team and whole school level and in agreed development areas. Most teachers are productivelydeveloping the use of observation feedback for self reflection, to improve practice and to support collegiate development. In almost all cases, teachers welcome opportunities to work collaboratively to develop a shared understanding of standards and expectations through planning opportunities, moderation and sharing good practice. This continues to have a positive impact on the quality of teaching and learning throughout the school.
Areas for Development
  • Continue to develop systems and processes to gather a wide range of advice and evidence which enable rigorous, systematic and transparent self evaluation.
  • Further develop collaborative working for shared understanding and more consistently apply and improve standards and expectations including through moderation, sharing best practice and benchmarking with other establishments.
  • Build on effective practice already established in partnership working to focus on eliminating barriers to achievement and progress for all.
  • Ensure that the impact of professional learning continues to inform good practice throughout the school and nursery.
  • Involve Nursery Nurses in Learning Rounds / Critical Friend approach to increase opportunities for self reflection and evaluation