Standards and Quality Report 2018-19

School Name: Neilsland Primary School

Context of the school:

Neilsland Primary is a non-denominational school located in Laighstonehall, Hamilton. Our current school building opened in October 2013 and provides an excellent modern environment in which our children can learn and achieve. Our catchment area is Laighstonehall. However, a number of our pupils are placing requests into the school from Fairhill. The catchment area is predominantly social (Local Authority) housing.

The current roll of the school is 140 pupils. We have 6 classes, 4 support staff, 2 office staff, a janitor, 3 dinner ladies,3 cleaners and a 0.6 CCC teacher. The Senior Management Team has changed considerably over the past year, with a new Head Teacher being appointed in November 2018 and a new Principal Teacher being appointed in January 2019. The teaching staff turnover is low, with a stable and committed team in place. Neilsland Primary School shares a campus with Woodlands Nursery Centre. Some areas and facilities are shared including the dining hall, gym hall, kitchen, staffroom, meeting room, staff tutorial room and visiting services room.

Our school vision is In Neilsland Primary School community we aim to provide our children with

opportunities to learn in a happy, caring and safe environment

Our values are honesty, fairness and respect and we aim to promote these through all our relationships and within our curriculum.

We have an active Parent Council who support the school in many ways, especially via fundraising. We have many parent helpers supporting classrooms and running successful clubs such as the Breakfast Club and Nature Club. We have good links with the local community and make good use of our Active Schools Co-ordinator to provide learning opportunities for children of all stages.

We are part of Calderside Learning Community and we have good links with local schools to take forward joint Learning Community initiatives.

We engage in many joint ventures with Woodlands Nursery Centre to share learning experiences for both staff and children.We work well with Woodlands Nursery and Calderside Academy to ensure smooth transitions.Currently 28.2% of our children are eligible for a free school meal. Our Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation profile highlights for that 59.7% of our pupils live in deciles 1-3, with a

further 26.6% living in decile 4.

The National Context for Education

The National Improvement Framework (NIF) for Scottish Education sets out the Scottish Government’s vision to continually improve Scottish Education and to close the attainment gap, delivering both excellence and equity. Our school, working in partnership with South Lanarkshire Council is fully committed to delivering these ambitious aims.

The key priorities of the National Improvement Framework are:

Improvement in attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged

children Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing Improvement in employability skills and sustained, positive school leaver

destinations for all young people

Key drivers of improvement have also been identified, these are:

School leadership. Teacher professionalism. Parental engagement. Assessment of children’s progress. School improvement. Performance information.

South Lanarkshire Council’s overall vision is to “improve the quality of life of everyone in South Lanarkshire Council.”

Education Resources’ key purpose is to:

“Raise achievement and attainment, inspire learners, transform learning and work in partnership to strengthen our communities”

The priorities relating to this are:

Deliver high-quality early learning and childcare to give our children the best educational start

Raise standards in literacy, numeracy and close the poverty-related attainment gap.

Improve health and wellbeing to enable children and families to flourish. Support children and young people to develop their skills for learning, life and

work. Ensure inclusion and equality are at the heart of what we do.

Our school is committed to taking these priorities forward and developing each driver through our annual School Improvement Plan (SIP.)

Assessment of children’s progress throughout the Broad General Education (to end of S3)

As one of the drivers, our school, alongside all schools in Scotland, has been required to report on Curriculum for Excellence levels for literacy and numeracy achieved by all children at the end of stages P1, P4, P7 and S3. This data is submitted to South Lanarkshire Council in June each year and collected subsequently by the Scottish Government. This data is based on teacher judgement, informed by a wide range of assessment evidence including standardised testing where appropriate. As from session 2016/17 all schools in Scotland will be required to participate in the new Scotland National Standardised Assessment (SNSA) project. This will further help inform teacher judgement of levels.

The following table shows benchmarks for children achieving Curriculum for Excellence Levels.

Level Stage covering 3 years approx. Early The pre-school years and P1, or later for some.

First To the end of P4, but earlier or later for some.

Second To the end of P7, but earlier or later for some.

Third and Fourth

S1 to S3, but earlier for some.The fourth level broadly equates to Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level 4. The fourth level experiences and outcomes are intended to provide possibilities for choice and young people’s programmes will not include all of the fourth level outcomes.

Senior phase

S4 to S6, and college or other means of study.

Some children and young people will start learning at these levels earlier and others later, depending upon individual needs and abilities. Many children not attaining National Levels will have an Additional Support Plan (ASP) and may be making good progress but against different milestones e.g. individual targets. Learning progress is not about how fast children move through the levels but about ‘how much’ and ‘how well’ children learn, having depth and breadth of experiences at each level.

Assessment of these levels is based on a wide variety of evidence and ways of measuring progress such as assessment of projects, general class work, observations and peer assessment. Where possible, children and young people are encouraged to be directly involved in the assessment process.

Schools and teachers work with others to set shared standards for assessing progress. These standards are based on National “benchmarks” for each area of the curriculum. This process is called moderation and it ensures that schools have similar expectations.

What follows is our school’s data about achievement of these levels for session 15/16 through to session 18/19 which represents a three year trend.

Review of SIP progress session 2018-2019

Priority 1: Continue to raise attainment in P4-P7 Numeracy, using attainment data, with a focus on closing the gap.

National Improvement Framework Key Priorities Improvement in attainment, particularly in

literacy and numeracy; Closing the attainment gap between the most

and least disadvantaged children; Improvement in children and young people’s

health and wellbeing; and Improvement in employability skills and

sustained positive school leaver destinations for all young people.

National Improvement Framework Key Drivers

School leadership

Teacher professionalism

Parental engagement

Assessment of children’s progress

School improvement

Performance information

HGIOS 4 QI: 1.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2

Progress and Impact: Our attainment in numeracy and mathematics is satisfactory. It has improved significantly over the

past three years and good progress is being made by pupils within the level at which they are working.

Learning, teaching and assessment reflect a balance between ongoing and periodic assessment. All pupils are now being assessed using standardised assessments in June and December. This data, along with other assessment information is used to support teacher professional judgement of attainment of learners.

Tracking and monitoring data is now analysed at regular, agreed points throughout the session, with a specific focus on the progress of identified cohorts. This has allowed us to identify and address barriers to learning and plan interventions at regular meetings and during planning feedback.

A range of assessment tools including standardised assessments provide evidence of attainment in numeracy and mathematics, which support teacher professional judgement of attainment of a level. It also allows us to ensure that children are grouped appropriately and to meet pupil needs.

Three staff have now been trained in Maths Recovery. As a result, P1 are using approaches as part of whole class teaching to improve pedagogical practice. P4 teachers are now incorporating Maths Recovery to support targeted children where numeracy levels are concerning, during focused group support within the class. Through baseline assessments, tracking and monitoring, we are starting to

measure the impact on attainment. All staff report increased capability, capacity and confidence in the learning, teaching and

assessment of Numeracy. Almost all children are confident and motivated in mathematics and numeracy lessons and able to use appropriate mathematical language to good effect. They know what they are learning, can explain why it is important and can talk reflectively about their learning. ‘Let’s have a blether’ sessions allow children to spend quality time with CT, PT, HT and parents/carers, evaluating their work, identifying strengths and next steps. They also allow SMT to monitor jotters and progress over a period.

Regular, informal staff discussion among almost all members of staff regarding pupil progress and wellbeing allows almost all children to be well supported. Teachers use standards within experiences and outcomes and benchmarks to evaluate and monitor the progress of learners.

Additional teaching and support staff hours have been allocated to help improve attainment and reduce the equity gap. Additional teaching hours to support numeracy and ability grouping has been extended to all stages. The increase in direct, quality teaching time has benefited targeted and non-targeted children. Groups have been smaller and teaching has been more focused. Internal and standardised assessment results reflect very marked improvements for almost all children within the targeted group, with some children in targeted group progressing 24 months within 6 months. All targeted children are making progress within the level at which they are working.

Significant increase in targeted children achieving expected CfE levels in P1-3. As a result, poverty related attainment gap in numeracy will close by over 5% in P1-3.

Almost all children using the number box are demonstrating a greater knowledge of the number system to 100 and an improvement in their understanding of number bonds. All targeted children are making progress within the level at which they are working.We will continue to identify and target support in the next academic session using additional teaching and support hours funded from PEF.

Nurture has been extremely positive in helping us to address barriers to learning and in supporting the bigger picture in closing the attainment gap. The attendance of children involved in the nurture groups has improved (averaging an increase of 10% since October) and late comings have reduced. We maintain a record of no exclusions. The wellbeing wheel also reflects the positive impact on all children involved. All staff and parents report very positive influence of nurture within class and playground. There has been a significant reduction in behaviour related incidents for the targeted group and the amount of time spent in mainstream class has increased. Nurture is also having an impact on attainment, with the targeted group showing improvements in numeracy (through internal assessments) which will contribute to closing the gap. We will continue to measure this.

National standardised assessments have been implemented at P1, P4 and P7 as part of the National Improvement Framework. The results from SNSAs help teachers judge how well children are doing and plan next steps in their learning.

Next Steps: To share more information with parents/carers with regards to the approaches and strategies we use

to teach numeracy and mathematics. We plan to take this forward next session. Staff have identified that there is a need for comprehensive and progressive planners from early to

third level. To engage in moderation within the school to support the use of maths pathways across all stages. To engage in moderation work with staff to develop effective use of meaningful Learning Intentions

based on the Experiences and Outcomes, Success Criteria linked to the Benchmarks and Feedback with clear links to the Success Criteria.

To engage in further moderation work within the school to ensure consistency in expectations and pedagogy across all stages.

To measure the impact of Maths Recovery on attainment over the next few years. Development work is currently in progress and staff are willing and committed to taking this forward.

To extend maths buddying sessions across all stages.

Priority 2: To raise attainment in P1-7 writing, using attainment data, with a focus on closing the gap.

National Improvement Framework Key Priorities Improvement in attainment, particularly in

literacy and numeracy; Closing the attainment gap between the most

and least disadvantaged children; Improvement in children and young people’s

health and wellbeing; and Improvement in employability skills and

sustained positive school leaver destinations for all young people.

National Improvement Framework Key Drivers

School leadership

Teacher professionalism

Parental engagement

Assessment of children’s progress

School improvement

Performance information

HGIOS 4 QI: 1.1, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3.1, 3.2

Progress and Impact: Staff have now created assessment criteria/targets for Writing which are in line with the benchmarks,

to confirm achievement at Early, First and Second Level. These are used along with other assessment information gathered to confirm achievement of a level.

All staff continue to engage in moderation activities within the establishment which increased their confidence in making robust, consistent professional judgements of the achievement of a level, with a focus on Literacy.

The use of our own tracking and monitoring tool ensures that all staff are actively involved in tracking pupil progress in Writing. In addition, regular tracking meetings (3x annually) ensure that all pupils are making appropriate progress, with timely interventions being put in place, when required.

Careful analysis, in-depth professional dialogue and quality management activities, including classroom observations, work sampling and peer visits, have resulted in an improvement in our staff’s understanding of Achievement of a Level.

Additional teaching and support staff hours have been used to support writing across the stages to help improve attainment and reduce the equity gap. Additional teaching hours to support writing in the upper stages has been effective. An increase in direct, quality teaching time has benefited targeted and non-targeted children. Groups have been smaller and teaching has been more focused.

Most children using 5 minute boxes in Literacy have progressed from knowing some single sounds to knowing all single and double sounds. There has also been a significant improvement in their ability to read and spell common words and to read unseen text. The positive impact is also evident in their writing.

Daily ERIC (Everyone Reading In Class) time has led to almost all children reading for enjoyment on a daily basis. Additional families have now joined the library and numbers of children borrowing from the local library have increased.

The lunchtime library club is proving to be very popular with most children. Over two thirds of the children from stages P1-P7 attend when it is their allocated time.

We have had reading cafes over the course of the session for parents/carers to come in and read with their child/ren. This has been very positive in helping us to raise awareness of how important reading is in developing children’s skills as writers and to support a writing culture.

Nurture continues to be extremely positive in helping us to address barriers to learning and in supporting the bigger picture in closing the attainment gap. Nurture is also having an impact on attainment, with the targeted group showing improvements in literacy (through internal assessments) which will contribute to closing the gap. We will continue to measure this.

National standardised assessments have been implemented at P1, P4 and P7 as part of the National Improvement Framework, to help teachers judge how well children are doing and plan next steps in their learning.

Summative reading, spelling and writing assessments, have shown progress in the majority of children across all stages in the school.

A new writing resource, PM writing, has been identified and purchased after consultation and dialogue with other establishments for use throughout the school. This is currently being piloted at P1/2 stages and will be rolled out to all stages in August 2019. Class visits and professional dialogue with attainment family school have supported the implementation to date. This now needs to be rolled out across the school to ensure increased consistency in approach across all stages.

Feedback from the children tells us that reading challenges are popular for the majority of them and have led to a significant increase in the number of children who read for enjoyment alongside an adult family member.

We are part of the next phase of Active Literacy roll out within SLC. P1/2 teachers have been piloting since January 2019 and significant improvements in class work and early assessments are evident.

Next Steps: To roll out PM Writing across all stages of the school. To roll out Active Literacy Literacy across all stages of the school. To extend the use of moderation both within the school and beyond to further increase teachers’

understanding of Achievement of a Level.

Priority 3: To evaluate the school against HGIOS 4 indicators 1.1, 1.3, 2.3, 3.2.

National Improvement Framework Key Priorities Improvement in attainment, particularly in

literacy and numeracy; Closing the attainment gap between the most

and least disadvantaged children; Improvement in children and young people’s

health and wellbeing; and Improvement in employability skills and

sustained positive school leaver destinations for all young people.

National Improvement Framework Key Drivers

School leadership

Teacher professionalism

Parental engagement

Assessment of children’s progress

School improvement

Performance information

HGIOS 4 QI: 1.1, 1.3, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2

Progress and Impact: All staff have a better understanding of HGIOS 4, understand the need for and the value of self-

evaluation involving wide consultation. Staff are involved in regular self evaluation activities. Staff have reflected on and evaluated priorities from this session’s SIP and have identified priorities for next session’s plan.

All staff were involved in recent VSE with focus on learning and engagement, quality of teaching and inclusion in Numeracy.

Self-evaluation is now embedded in practice through collegiate meetings, PDRs and management discussions. Staff reflect on their personal development needs, the needs of the school and the needs of our pupils.

The SMT have developed, in consultation with staff, a planned quality calendar to monitor and assess the impact of priorities.

All staff are engaged in professional learning, continuous improvement and leadership opportunities using the GTC standards, PRDs and professional update.

We continue to develop mechanisms for involving staff, pupils, partner agencies and other stakeholders in the work of the school, i.e., parents’ surveys, formal and informal discussions. The Parent Council have played a key role in this and have recently introduced question and answer sessions.

Parental involvement has continued to increase through dialogue, showcase events, curricular events, Parent Council and family learning initiatives.

Our Parent Council are now very actively involved in the school improvement agenda and are asked their opinion of proposals, events and issues and are always willing to share the parental view.

Parents have been actively involved in the SIP process this session through consultation via questionnaire.

Pupils are involved in the school improvement agenda through whole school consultation, discussion during weekly Let’s have a blether time and suggestion areas within the dining hall

We continue to engage in SLC Learning Trio programme to improve attainment in line with the Excellence and Equity agenda.

We continue to engage with Preparation for Inspection Group 2010-2012. We have good processes to record key information for each pupil/class including progress reports,

forward plan reviews, additional support needs information, pastoral care material and records and processes for any significant parental issues or concerns.

Staff have spent a considerable amount of time analysing children’s progress throughout the session and are now clearer about information on attainment within literacy, numeracy and heal and wellbeing.

Staff use SIMD, FME and ASN data to provide appropriate interventions to support learner achievement and attainment.

We have effective systems in place for monitoring and tracking attendance and a database has been developed to contain relevant information about children as they progress through the school.

Next Steps

To incorporate action points from VSE into School Improvement Plan. To use themes across HGIOS 4 indicators in self-evaluation calendar. To use HGIOS Pupil Participation to evaluate school effectiveness and to plan for school

improvement. To continue to ensure all staff engage with professional learning, continuous improvement and

leadership opportunities using the GTC standards, PRDs and professional update. To continue to engage with Preparation for Inspection Group 2010-2012. To continue increase parental involvement through dialogue, showcase events, curricular events. To review and update the annual framework for assessment.

Priority 4: To develop leadership at all levels.

National Improvement Framework Key Priorities Improvement in attainment, particularly in

literacy and numeracy; Closing the attainment gap between the most

and least disadvantaged children; Improvement in children and young people’s

health and wellbeing; and Improvement in employability skills and

sustained positive school leaver destinations for all young people.

National Improvement Framework Key Drivers

School leadership

Teacher professionalism

Parental engagement

Assessment of children’s progress

School improvement

Performance information

HGIOS 4 QI: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3.2

Progress and Impact:We have made excellent progress towards this target this session.

Leadership opportunities are identified for staff as part of the PRD process. All staff are encouraged to take on leadership roles throughout the school. Presently, all staff, including support staff, lead working groups, curricular areas or initiatives within the school including Nurture, Maths Recovery, Enterprise, Digital Learning, Eco, Give us a Break, Massage and Emotional Literacy.

All staff are consulted at all stages of improvement planning and most staff have responsibility for leading working groups.

Two experienced members of staff are developing their leadership capacity through the SCEL leadership programme and have actively sought promotion, with one of them appointed to the PT post within the school.

All teaching staff, as part of PRD process, agreed to engage with SCEL online training modules.

Experienced members of staff are encouraged to look for secondment opportunities within SLC.

Our pupils have had the opportunity to run clubs for younger pupils including multi sports, dance, gymnastics. This has allowed them to develop their own leadership capacity and engage with pupils throughout the school.

Our P6 children are trained as play leaders and run playground activities for the younger children.

Our P6 and P7 pupils are leaders of learning in Numeracy with weekly maths buddy sessions. This has helped support children and young people to take responsibility for their own learning and progress, enabling them to have greater confidence and skills in leading their own learning and that of others.

All children are members of a committee, for example Citizenship, JRSO, community links and have responsibility for leading learning in this area across the school.

All classes have led a family learning initiative this session eg, World Book Day, Macmillan

Coffee afternoon. Our Parent Council run termly Q&A sessions to support school improvement. Parents run the daily breakfast club. Our Parent Council organise fundraising events such as Christmas and Summer Fayre.

They are also developing story sacks for use in P1-3. Parents run successful clubs for the pupils including the Nature Club and BSL club. We have extended our nurture provision across the school to support the health and

wellbeing of our pupils.Next Steps:

To continue to ensure all staff are engaged with professional learning, continuous improvement and leadership opportunities using the GTC standards, PRDs and professional update.

To provide further opportunities for all staff to take on a leadership role within the school, with a focus on leading learning.

To encourage experienced members of staff to seek promotion or secondment opportunities To extend pupil leadership of learning in Numeracy by extending maths buddying to all

stages. To provide further opportunities for parents to lead learning within the school.

Interventions and progress towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap 2018-19

Intervention 1: Developing HWB through Nurture P4-7 (targeting 8 children 5 x weekly in the morning) and P7 (targeting 8 children 5 x weekly in

the afternoon). Nurture lead teacher will achieve accreditation. Nurture Lead Teacher will continue to provide CLPL for all staff. She will support all staff in

developing Nurturing Principles across the whole school beyond the Nurture classes. Class teachers will use Boxall Profiles as a baseline, and will plan interventions within their

class to target the wellbeing of specific children (both within and beyond school’s nurture class).

Informal nurture opportunities will be extended to support targeted children beyond the Nurture class.

Impact All children targeted for Nurture intervention have improved wellbeing; their barriers to learning

have reduced. 37.5% of afternoon children have now been reintegrated back into their mainstream class for

60% of the time. Remaining 62.5% are sustaining longer periods of time in their mainstream class: 50% of the morning children due to return to mainstream class by June 2019 and with 25%

ready to transition out by October ’19 and remaining 25 % due to return to class by December 2019.

Lead teacher has submitted for accreditation in Nurture and leads all other staff in developing nurturing principles across all classes and all aspects of school life

For targeted children beyond the Nurture Class, 85% have improved wellbeing, self-confidence and engagement in their learning.

Punctuality and attendance have improved for all children attending Nurture in both the morning and afternoon sessions.

There has been a significant reduction in playground related incidents for children attending nurture.

Intervention 2: Raising Attainment in Numeracy

Big Maths training planned for all staff in August 2018. Resource will be purchased for use in all classes. All staff will implement this approach in their classes.

Numeracy working party will create coherent and progressive planners to support the introduction of CLIC sessions in all classes.

All members of support staff are trained in 5 minute boxes. 1 child in P2, 3 children in P3, 5 children in P4, 1 child in P5, 1 child in P6 and 2 children from P7 receive targeted 1-1 5 minute box support, in addition to their core maths and numeracy lessons. Numeracy levels for targeted group (SIMD 1+2 plus FME) in these stages is concerning.

Additional 0.6 FTE will work daily with groups of identified children in P4-P7 in partnership with class teacher to provide specific interventions for children within targeted group who are not achieving expected Numeracy levels.

Following CPD training in Maths Recovery, a working party of 5 staff lead by school’s PT and Numeracy Co-ordinator will undertake additional hours to develop an additional support framework for children to improve pedagogical practice in Numeracy and Mathematics and to support children who are struggling in numeracy and mathematics. Numeracy resources will be purchased to assist with delivery of this. Following training 5 children in P4 and 8 children in P5 will receive daily numeracy support.

Impact Three staff have been trained in Maths Recovery. P1 using approaches as part of whole

class teaching to improve pedagogical practice. P4 teacher using approaches to support targeted children where numeracy levels are concerning, building on interventions established during focused group support within her class.

Children’s confidence in Numeracy has improved. This is reflected in class work, assessments and in regular discussions with the children.

All staff report increased capability, capacity and confidence in the learning, teaching and assessment of Numeracy.

14% increase in targeted children achieving expected CfE levels in P1-3. As a result, poverty related attainment gap in numeracy will close by at least over 5% in P1-3.

The poverty related attainment gap in numeracy has closed by at least 1% in all other stages.

Intervention 3: Literacy

All members of support staff trained in 5 minute boxes. 1 child in P2, 2 children in P3, 1 child in P4, 5 children in P5, 4 children in P6 and 2 children in P7 receive targeted 1-1 5 minute box support, in addition to their core literacy lessons as Literacy levels for targeted group (SIMD 1+2 plus FME) in these stages is concerning.

Active Literacy training planned for all staff over course of session 2018-2019. Resources will be purchased for use in all classes. All staff will implement this approach in their classes by August 2019.

Additional 0.2 FTE will work with groups of identified children in P4-P7 in partnership with class teacher to provide specific writing support for children within targeted group who are not achieving expected writing levels.

A working party of 3 staff lead by school’s PT and Literacy Co-ordinator will undertake additional hours to develop writing framework for children to improve practice in writing. Writing resources will be purchased to assist with delivery of this.

Working party will link closely with comparator school to share good practice. Key members of staff will deliver 1-1, family sessions/workshops to P1/2 parents/carers to

promote reading for enjoyment and to explain different reading strategies that are taught in school and how they can support their child at home in reading (term 4).

Home-school learning packs will be developed; these will support the parent workshops by providing parents with key materials and resources at home to support their child/children.

Impact

Increase in targeted children in P1-3 achieving expected levels in

Reading 10%Writing 15%Listening and Talking 30%

5% increase in targeted children achieving expected CfE levels in P4-7. As a result, poverty related attainment gap in literacy will close by 5% in P4-7

A shared literacy programme/approach is being used across P1-2. Early indicators reflect very positive outcomes in P1 and P2. Continued roll out will take place from P3-7 in term 4 and from August. School are now enrolled in next phase of Active Literacy rollout.

A shared literacy programme/approach for children with literacy difficulties has been established, and will be used consistently across all classes.

Staff capability, capacity and confidence in the learning, teaching and assessment of literacy has improved.

1.1 Attainment data - Attainment of Literacy Curriculum for Excellence levels 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 (teacher judgement – confirmed levels – 3 year trend).

2015/16 2016/17 2017/18*0.00

10.0020.0030.0040.0050.0060.0070.0080.0090.00

100.00

Listening & Talking

SchoolSLCNational

% A

chie

ved

2015/16 2016/17 2017/18*0.00

10.0020.0030.0040.0050.0060.0070.0080.0090.00

100.00

Reading

SchoolSLCNational

% A

chie

ved

2015/16 2016/17 2017/18*0.00

10.0020.0030.0040.0050.0060.0070.0080.0090.00

100.00

Writing

SchoolSLCNational

% A

chie

ved

1.2 Attainment data - Attainment of Numeracy Curriculum for Excellence levels 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 (teacher judgement – confirmed levels – 3 year trend).

1.3 Poverty-related attainment gap data

2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-20180.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

90.00

100.00

52.94 51.61

73.68

57.89 58.33

72.22

Closing the Gap Attainment Over Time: Numeracy

SIMD 1 and 2 plus FMESIMD 3-10 not on FME

Academic Year

Perc

enta

ge %

ach

ieve

d Cf

E le

vels,

P1,

P4 a

nd P

7

2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-20180.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

90.00

100.00

45.71

58.0663.16

68.42 69.44 72.22

Closing the Gap Attainment Over Time: Reading

SIMD 1 and 2 plus FMESIMD 3-10 not on FME

Academic Year

Perc

enta

ge %

Ach

ieve

d Cf

E le

vels,

P1,

P4

and

P7

2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-20180.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

90.00

100.00

42.8651.61

57.89

47.37

63.89 66.67

Closing the Gap Attainment Over Time: Writing

SIMD 1 and 2 plus FMESIMD 3-10 not on FME

Academic Year

Perc

enta

ge %

Ach

ieve

d Cf

E Le

vels,

P1,

P4

and

P7

2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-20180.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

90.00

100.00

48.57

70.97 73.68

89.4783.33

77.78

Closing the Gap Attainment Over Time: Listening and Talking

SIMD 1 and 2 plus FMESIMD 3-10 not on FME

Academic Year

Perc

enta

ge %

Ach

ieve

d Cf

E le

vels,

P1,

P4

and

P7

Analysis of “Closing the Gap” data:

The graphs show our whole school poverty-related attainment gap over time. This information is a collation of the % of children who are achieving expected CfE levels at stages P1, P4 and P7 according to teacher professional judgement. We have made the biggest progress within Listening and Talking – the gap has closed by 36.8 percentage points in 3 years. In Numeracy, in session 17/18 there was no gap, with SIMD1-2 and FME 1.4 percentage points ahead. There has been limited progress in reading and writing; as a result reading and writing will be a focus for this year’s funding. A whole-school approach to reading, spelling and phonics will be implemented in August 2019 through the introduction of Active Literacy. A new

writing scheme has been purchased and a framework developed. This will be rolled out across all stages in August 2019. As a school, we recently (June 2019) have analysed performance information at each stage and at school level. Our analysis shows that within individual stages, the biggest gaps are in P 2 (58%), P4 (55%) and P6 (24%) for Numeracy. For Reading the biggest gaps appear to be in P4 (50%), P6 (38%) and P7 (45%) . For writing the most significant gaps are across P4 (83%), P5 (30%) and P6 (33%).These stages will be the focus for this year’s equity fund.

Achieving Excellence: Overall Progress towards National Improvement Framework PrioritiesSession 2018-19Use all available evidence (including data)

Reading Writing Listening and TalkingP1 P4 P7 P1 P4 P7 P1 P4 P7

2015/16 71.4 19.0 78.9 71.4 19.0 52.6 71.4 30.0 78.92016/17 55.6 66.7 67.7 55.6 38.9 71.0 77.8 27.8 77.42017/18 100.0 30.0 68.8 100.0 10.0 75.0 100.0 30.0 100.02018/19 82.6 53.33 50.00 73.9 33.33 40.9 82.6 73.3 54.5

Literacy: Progress satisfactory good very good excellent

x

Strengths In Session 2018-2019, our data and other evidence shows consistently high attainment in

Reading, Writing and Talking and Listening at P1. This is due to effective tracking and monitoring, timely interventions, where required and increased teacher confidence in confirming achievement of a level through engagement in moderation activities.

This session all aspects of Literacy at Primary 4 stage have improved from 2017-2018., There are significant strengths in Talking and Listening with most pupils at pupils the

majority of stages. In terms of children in receipt of Free School Meals and those living in SIMD deciles 1 and 2,

we still have work to do to ensure that the attainment gap closes.

Next steps Attainment shows a decrease in attainment in Reading, Writing and Listening and Talking at

P1 and P7. We will, therefore, target increased interventions with this cohort of children in 2019/20

We will implement a more consistent Literacy programme through introduction of Active Literacy to all stages.

We will implement PM writing across all stages. We will provide continued opportunities for moderation within the school to increase

confidence in teacher professional judgement. Data shows a decrease in attainment in Writing in P1, and P5, P6 and P7. Summative

assessments based on the Scottish Criterion Scale and benchmarked writing targets show that the majority of children have actually improved over the course of 2018-2019. Nevertheless, we will target interventions to support the development of writing for specific groups of children next session.

In terms of children in receipt of Free School Meals and those living in SIMD deciles 1 and 2, we still have work to do to ensure that the attainment gap closes.

Numeracy:

Progress satisfactory good very good excellentx

Strengths Our attainment in numeracy and mathematics is satisfactory. It had improved over the past

three years. Our attainment across stages P1, P4 and P7 has dipped. There is a significant number of children in P4 (53%) and P7 (50%) with ASN. Good progress is being made by pupils within the level at which they are working

Maths Recovery pedagogy and approaches are incorporated as part of whole class teaching in P1 and in P2, P3 and P4 to support targeted children where numeracy levels are concerning.

Internal and standardised assessment results reflect very marked improvements for almost all children within the targeted group, with some children in targeted group progressing 24 months within 6 months.

All targeted children are making progress within the level at which they are working. 14% increase in targeted children achieving expected CfE levels in P1-3. Almost all children using the number box are demonstrating a greater knowledge of the

number system to 100 and an improvement in their understanding of number bonds. All targeted children are making progress within the level at which they are working.

National standardised assessments have been implemented at P1, P4 and P7 as part of the National Improvement Framework, to help teachers judge how well children are doing and plan next steps in their learning.

Next steps Attainment data shows a decrease at P1 and P4 and so Numeracy will continue to be a key

priority for improvement for us in 2019/20. In terms of children in receipt of Free School Meals and those living in SIMD deciles 1 and 2,

we still have work to do to ensure that the attainment gap closes. We will use Numeracy & Mathematics pathways across the school to ensure progression

between stages. We will engage in moderation work with staff to develop effective use of meaningful Learning

Intentions based on the Experiences and Outcomes, Success Criteria linked to the Benchmarks and Feedback with clear links to the Success Criteria.

We will measure the impact of Maths Recovery on attainment.

Health and WellbeingProgress satisfactory good very good excellent

x

Strengths

NumeracyP1 P4 P7

2015/16 71.4 30.0 68.42016/17 55.6 27.8 71.02017/18 100.0 45.0 75.02018/19 82.6 33.33 63.6

As a school we take a very nurturing approach to developing children’s well-being and have worked in partnership with Psychological Services, Specialist Support and CAMHS to take this forward.

We have a well established a nurture room and run daily sessions throughout morning and afternoon. We have been able to extend our provision this session. This has had a positive impact on health and wellbeing, attendance, punctuality, behaviour and attainment.

Almost all children report that they feel happy and safe at school and that their teachers care about their individual needs.

Almost all parents report that their child is safe, supported, enjoys being at school and are treated fairly and with respect.

We also have in house buddying systems in place whereby both children and adults buddy with pupils.

We run Emotional Literacy and Give Us a Break groups, make regular use of the sensory room and have Massage in Schools within some of our classes.

Our Health and Wellbeing Curriculum provides progressive opportunities for children to learn about their physical and emotional health needs. We involve partners in this process wherever possible.

Pupils have a strong pupil voice and use it to represent the school as House Captains, and or on differing groups for example, JRSO, Eco, Citizenship and Community Links.

Almost all children have attended one or more extra curricular club. We have offered a wide range of extra curricular activities this session for children at all

stages including chess, cooking, fun fitness, football, yoga, nature, library, Judo and Jigsaw. Some of these clubs have included parents/carers.

Next Steps We plan to improve our tracking of experiences within HWB for children. We are going to review and update our policy on Promoting Positive Relationships and

behaviour. Parents will be involved in this. We will continue to offer a wide range of extra curricular clubs. We plan to review and update our school vision and values. Pupils, parents and staff will be

involved in this.

Employability Skills/Positive Destinationssatisfactory

good very good excellent

x

Strengths We have recently been awarded our fifth green flag. We have good links with the community and have a Community Links pupil group which

facilitates opportunities for involvement in initiatives. We have expanded our pupil leadership roles and all pupils are now engaged in leadership

and collaborative opportunities. Pupils have been more actively involved in self evaluation activities to inform future

improvements.

Next steps We plan to extend Pupil Voice through the Use of How Good is Our School for pupils. We will continue pupil leadership groups. We will extend opportunities for parents/carers and members of the wider community to be

actively involved in children’s learning experiences.

We will organise a World of Work event during Session 2019-2020 with a focus on numeracy skills.

Overall quality of our learners’ achievements Highlights of session 2018-19

We have had a very busy and productive session in 2018-2019 as we worked together to provide our children with a wide range of learning experiences and extra curricular activities. Children at all stages have continued to receive a broad, balanced and well-planned curriculum in line with Curriculum for Excellence which is enhanced by high quality learning and teaching. We recognise the continuing need for an increased focus on Literacy and Numeracy to improve attainment and this will continue be a high priority for us next session. Further information can be found in our School Improvement Plan for 2019-2020.

Literacy and NumeracyWe have purchased a new writing scheme, PM writing, which has been piloted in the infant stages. It will be rolled out to all stages from August 2019. We have also started to introduce Active Literacy in P1 and P2. Staff from all stages are now trained in Active Literacy and it will be used across throughout the school from August 2019. We are also seeing an improvement in the attainment of learners at all stages through individual support from additional teaching hours in Literacy and Numeracy.

‘I like daily 10 as I like to mark my own work. I also like dividing.’ (P2 pupil)

‘I like maths because I love learning new things every week.’ (P7 pupil)

‘I like maths as well because I got the chance to learn about algebra after I had seen another group learning about it. We always get the chance to learn something new.  I like going to another class for maths because it gives you the opportunity to work with other people.’ (P5 pupil)

5 minute boxes in Number and Literacy are used daily with targeted children in P2-P5. This has resulted in significant improvements in attainment for all children within the targeted group. Three members of staff have been trained in Maths Recovery. P1 are using Maths Recovery approaches as part of whole class teaching to improve pedagogical practice. P4 teachers are using approaches to support targeted children where numeracy levels are concerning, building on interventions established during focused group support within the class.ERIC (Everyone Reading In Class) time has led to almost all children reading for enjoyment on a daily basis. Additional families have now joined the library and numbers of children borrowing from the local library have increased. The lunchtime library club is proving to be very popular with most children. Over two thirds of the children from stages P1-P7 attend when it is their allocated time. We have had

reading cafes over the course of the session for parents/carers to come in and read with their child/ren. Recently we had a book swap afternoon for children and adults. Children and adults brought in pre-loved books and donated them to our very popular book swap. The day was rounded off everyone reading for enjoyment together. This has been very positive in helping us to raise awareness of how important it is to read for enjoyment.

‘I love reading as we have to answer questions about what we have read’. (P2

pupil)

‘I like reading and I look for common words and then write them down.’ (P2 pupil)

Some members of the parent council are working with staff to create story sacks which will be used in the infant stages next session.

‘I enjoy all aspects of literacy, especially writing imaginative stories that can be about anything as there’s no right or wrong answer in your own story’. (P7 pupil)

‘I enjoy writing because we learn so many different styles of writing and it allows you to open your imagination. I really liked taking part in the young writers competition and was proud when my writing got accepted to be published- I knew my writing must be getting better.  When we learn to write letters we get shown the correct way to set our work out so it means when we are older we will know how to do it properly.’ (P5 pupil)

Health and wellbeingWe have a very successful netball team who have represented the school at various games and made it through to the finals of the Hamilton primaries netball tournament, coming fourth overall in the whole competition.

‘I love netball because it gives me another sport to enjoy other than football. I never knew I would enjoy it so much and become so interested in it. I really like the tournaments as it gives me the opportunity to see how much we have improved in our training. I hope I get into netball again next year.’ (P5 pupil)

We have extended our nurture provision this session to support the health and wellbeing of a number of pupils. This continues to have a very positive impact for targeted pupils on time spent in class, attendance, punctuality and behaviour in both the class and the playground. Support staff, teaching staff and partners have successfully implemented Give Us a Break, Emotional Literacy, Massage in Schools and Therapet sessions for targeted individuals and groups of children.

‘The best thing about Neilsland is you get a warm welcome.’ (P7 pupil)

‘Nurture makes me want to come to school.’ (P6 pupil)

We have also introduced a monthly Monday club for children with ASD to provide a safe environment for them to socialise in, to help them learn and practise social skills, make friends and increase their confidence and self esteem. Our therapet dog, Digby, has continued to visit the school once a week as part of the Reading with Dogs initiative. As well as supporting our pupils with their reading he supports the emotional wellbeing of our pupils and has really helped some overcome their fear of dogs!

Parental EngagementWe value the importance of Family Learning and have offered a range of activities this session. Each class has led a family learning initiative over the course of the year including a Macmillan Coffee afternoon, Cancer research obstacle course and World Book Day as part of the First Minister’s Reading Challenge. The pupils all made masks of their favourite character from a book.

There were some really creative ideas. The children took part in a range of reading activities throughout the day. Parents/carers were recently involved in our whole school health day. They were invited to take part in a series of healthy activities with their child/ren. This was well attended and parents were extremely positive about their involvement. We have ran some extra curricular adult/child clubs in cooking and yoga. These have been well attended.

We cook delicious meals and you can go home and cook the same meal for your family. It’s really good fun.” (P7 pupil)

We also have a very successful nature club run by one of our parents. All of our pupils are involved. We hope to continue this next session.

Our Parent Council has played a very active role in the school this session. They have organised successful fundraising events such as the Christmas and Summer Fayres and have supported the school improvement agenda through regular consultation and the introduction of Q&A sessions for parents. They have also supported the nursery to P1 transition process through their involvement in the induction days.

School EventsWe are extremely proud of our children’s talents and achievements and are keen that their parents are able to share in this success, too. Over the course of the session, all classes have showcased their learning through entertaining class assemblies. Our P1, P2 and P3 children were also involved in a fantastic production of our annual Nativity and our P4-7 children in their Night at the Movies showcase. We have had a number of extra curricular clubs this session including chess, fun fitness, multisports, football, basketball, Taekwondo, Judo, BSL, nature, netball and library. Active Schools and our senior pupils have supported us in running some of these clubs. All clubs have been well attended.

Our P4/5 pupils have been involved in the YMI throughout the session.All classes have had the opportunity to go on educational excursions to support their learning in class. Trips have included Sky Academy, Dynamic Earth, Motherwell Heritage Centre, Kelvingrove Museum and People’s Palace. Staff at these places have commented on how polite and well-mannered the children were. We have also had Glasgow Science Centre in school to run a series of workshops across all stages.

Pupil LeadershipWe offer children from different stages the opportunity to exercise pupil leadership and to have a voice in what is happening in the school. We continue to have our termly vertical learning afternoons. This session the focus has been on pupil leadership across a range of initiatives including, JRSO, Community Links, Citizenship and Eco. Many of our P4-7 pupils have led lunchtime clubs (dance, games and gymnastics) for their peers and for younger children. They have been well attended. Our P6 pupils have been trained as play leaders and run games and activities for the P1-3 children at lunchtime and after school. Some of our P5-7 pupils are maths buddies to their peers. This has proved to be very successful and we will extend this to all stages next session. We have a very active Eco Committee. They run a healthy tuck shop on a

daily basis and organise a variety of Eco promoting events and initiatives throughout the session including Earth Hour, Walk to School, road safety, litter reduction, community cleanup and ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recyle’. We have recently been awarded our fifth green flag for Eco work.

‘We love ECO because it encourages people to save the environment. We have been working hard to recycle things like crisp packets and when we work hard we get a special treat like strawberries and skooshy cream- yum yum! I think we have done a good job of encouraging lots of people to join ECO. We are going to organise a zero waste packed lunch challenge for next year and are looking forward to that.’ (P4 pupils)

We are keen to promote responsible citizenship and the benefits of working as part of a team. As a school, our harvest donations were given to Hamilton District Food Bank as well as over 100 selection boxes at Christmas. Our P2 children raised money for Macmillan Cancer Support, our P5/6 children raised money for Cancer Research and our P3/4 children raised money for the Autism Resource Coordination Hub (ARCH). Representatives from these organisations met our children at assembly and helped them to understand how their donations would be used.

All classes have engaged in enterprising activities as part of their interdisciplinary learning and some have been successful in making money to support their own choice of class treat.

School SuccessThis session our learners’ achievements have been celebrated regularly both in the local press and in SLC’s Education Newsletter. Our netballers were fourth in the Hamilton Primaries Netball Festival, some of the writing from our P4/5 pupils has been published and and we had a prize winner in the Scottish Mathematical Challenge organised by Strathclyde University, being awarded a silver certificate. Some children have had the opportunity to participate in sporting activities out of school, including weekly swimming lessons for our P4 children, Rugby Festivals for P5/6 children, and the P6/7 trialthlon event by Active Schools.

Comment on strategies that have been successful in engaging with children and young people, staff, parents and the wider community and the impact of these.

We continue to develop our consultation processes in Neilsland. Every class presents a Showcase of Learning or Assembly for parent/carers during the session. These are always well attended and provide an opportunity for parents to find out more about the learning taking place in their child’s class.

Our P1 transition programme is well received by our parents and resulted in highly positive feedback from parents ensuring we are providing them with the information and activities they and their children need at the right time.

Over the course of the year, P7 staff from across the Learning Community have worked closely colleagues from Calderside Academy to agree on what sort of information will be transferred from primary to secondary. This has helped to increase consistency between schools which will, hopefully, allow for a smoother transition for all children concerned.

In order to gather the views of parents/carers and help inform the School Improvement Plan, feedback was gathered at our open afternoon in September 2018 and Parent Consultations in

October 2018 and June 2019. Parent Council meetings take place regularly and they have recently introduced Q&A sessions to encourage increased parental involvement. Staff are encouraged to and continue to embrace leadership opportunities in Neilsland. All staff take on additional responsibilities and these have a positive impact on pupils’ learning experiences. All staff are fully engaged in school improvement planning and contribute their views, ensuring shared ownership of our priorities. Our pupils have been more actively involved in school improvement and have developed a better understanding of how their views can influence school improvement and change. We will continue to improve our consultation processes with pupils next year through the use of How Good is Our School for pupils. Our newsletters are full and informative providing parents/carers with information about the variety of learning experiences and events taking place in Neilsland.

Our new school website is well used by most parents/carers, especially new parents, on a regular basis. We regularly use Twitter and this along with our website enables us to communicate our latest news, information, events and achievements with parents/carers and the wider community.

Our school chaplain contributes well to our RME programme and assemblies and we have developed very strong links with our Active Schools Co-ordinator who has helped to organise a wide range of extra-curricular clubs for children of all stages, as well as helping to train our P6 Positive Play Leaders. We will build on these consultation processes next year with a particular focus on ensuring partners and other community stakeholders are fully engaged in contributing to school improvement.

Quality Indicator

How are we doing? How do we know?School Self-Evaluation

1.1 Self-Evaluation for Self-Improvement

We take a collaborative approach to self-evaluation. As a school, we have successfully updated our tracking and monitoring system to make it easier for us to track the progress of learners. We have become much better at interrogating data and, as a result, have been able to identify cohorts of children who should be targeted for increased support. As a result of this, and of improved assessment and monitoring processes, we are better able to demonstrate and measure learners’ successes and achievements. We consult regularly with children as part of our Quality Management calendar and respond to their views as part of continuous change and improvement.

As a staff, we regularly engage in professional dialogue and evaluate our practice relating to the Challenge Questions associated with the different QIs. This has helped to give us a better understanding of where we are currently at as a school, as well as helped us to identify what we need to do next in order to improve.

Parent consultation – PEF spending,

School HGIOS evaluation,

Evaluation of children’s learning,

Improvement planning. Let’s have a blether. Questionnaires. Tracking and monitoring

spreadsheet Professional dialogues Pupil Focus Groups PEF planning Quality Management

calendar Suggestion Box Minutes of committee

meetings Peer visits VSE process

Good

All staff have been engaging in peer visits for moderation in numeracy and literacy. This has been very effective.

We have taken positive steps to include parents, children and other partners in improvement planning and school self-evaluation

1.3Leadership of Change

All staff are committed to implementing change and all staff now take on additional leadership roles. All support staff are also committed to leading change and take on additional leadership roles such as 5 minute boxes, nurture, Therapet, Emotional Literacy and Give Us A Break. We plan change carefully and ensure that developments are based on sound educational thinking and research. We continually monitor and evaluate the impact of changes on outcomes for learners and the work of our school. As a school, we will revise our vision and values in consultation with all stakeholders. We will develop a clearer understanding of the social, economic and cultural context in which our children and families live and and take this into account when planning our own curriculum rationale and curriculum map

Nurture, Eco, Literacy/Numeracy/Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinators

PRD Reading and Spelling age

assessments 5 Minute Box

assessments Pupil Committees Leadership Wall School Improvement Plan Quality Management

Calendar Forward Plans Achievement Wall School Improvement Plan

display PRD meetings CAT calendar Newsletters

Good

2.3Learning, teaching

The ethos and culture of our school reflects a commitment to children’s

Pupil/Parent school evaluation

Forward Plans

Good

and assessment rights and positive relationships. The ethos and culture of the school reflects our commitment to providing a safe and happy learning environment for all. Almost all pupils report they are valued and respected and that their opinions are acted on. Almost all children are enthusiastic and motivated to learn within a very attractive, bright, stimulating and nurturing learning environment. Learning trio moderation in Numeracy and Literacy has facilitated teacher self-evaluation of learning, teaching and assessment. All teachers work hard to ensure active and engaging learning experiences for their pupils. Digital technologies are used effectively in almost all classes to enrich and support learning.A more consistent approach to teaching of numeracy in the upper stages has resulted in very marked improvements for the majority of children.We observe learners closely to inform appropriate and well timed interventions and future learning.

Quality management Calendar

Tracking and monitoring data

Let’s have a blether… Learning trio feedback Classroom observations Information from class

observations, jotter monitoring and pupils discussions

Teacher predictions MALT Maths

Assessments Quest Assessments Reading and Spelling age

assessments 5 Minute Box

assessments POLAAR SNSA results Maths Recovery

assessments Achievement Wall Newsletters School committees Displays Assemblies Pupil Focus Groups Pupil Reports Visitors’ Book Visitor evaluations School website/Twitter Club registers

3.1Ensuring wellbeing, equity and inclusion

The caring, supportive, nurturing and inclusive ethos of the school is a strength of our school. Relationships across the school are very positive and are founded on a

Staff Buddying Nurture evaluations Boxall profiles ASN folders Attendance information Internal behaviour

database Wellbeing information

Very Good

strong sense of community and an inclusive ethos. Almost all children feel well supported to do their best. Almost all staff and children know and understand the wellbeing indicators. Staff have a very clear understanding of GIRFEC and we actively promote wellbeing. We take an inclusive approach at all times and we have effective strategies in place to support our pupils with additional support needs to maximise their potential. Pupils, parents and partners are fully involved in the planning process and in evaluating progress.

We have extended our nurture provision this session to support emotional health and wellbeing. Nurture has been extremely positive in helping us to address barriers to learning and in supporting the bigger picture in closing the attainment gap. The attendance of children involved in the nurture groups has improved and late comings have reduced. All staff report the very positive influence of nurture within the class and playground. There has been a significant reduction in behaviour related incidents. Nurture is also having an impact

Tracking and monitoring Child Protection files Pastoral notes Forward Plans Assemblies School website/Twitter Newsletters Policies and procedures Pupil Groups Minutes of meetings Pupil questionnaires Parent questionnaires PEF discussions Nurture Group

Planning/Evaluations Extra curricular activities Family learning initiatives

on attainment, with the targeted group showing improvements in both numeracy and literacy.

All learners are included, engaged and involved in the life of the school. We are aware of children who may be affected by social deprivation and poverty and have developed some strategies which have been effective in improving the attainment and achievement for this group.

3.2 Raising attainment and achievement

Increasing confidence in teacher judgements together with benchmarking and an appropriate range of assessments are leading to improvements in attainment. We are developing the use of evidence from tracking meetings, professional dialogue and assessments to measure progress. Children affected by poverty are generally disproportionately behind their peers in terms of attainment, although this gap is starting to decrease in some stages. We will continue to work hard to address this through the interventions that we have planned using our Pupil Equity Funding. We will also continue to develop our tracking system to ensure that it is easier for us to see children’s progress over time. We now effectively

MALT Maths Assessments

Quest Assessments Reading and Spelling age

assessments 5 Minute Box

assessments POLAAR SNSA result Maths Recovery

assessment Information from class

observations, jotter monitoring and pupils discussions

Teacher predictions Tracking and monitoring

data Forward Plans Newsletters ASPs Moderation activities Active Schools data Extra curricular activities Pupil Groups PEF discussions ASN records CAT Calendar

Good

track children’s achievements in and out of school and have become better at targeting identified individuals and groups through our wide range of lunchtime and after-school clubs. Our learners exercise responsibility and contribute to the life of the school, the wider community and as global citizens. We have systems in place to promote equity of success and achievement for all our learners. There are pockets of strong practice in most stages of the school in literacy and numeracy which are reflected in attainment data. We have used a greater range of standardised and informal assessments this year to provide clearer indicators of progress.

Overall evaluation of establishment’s capacity for continuous improvement

The Senior Management Team has changed considerably over the past year, with a new Head Teacher being appointed in November 2018 and a new Principal Teacher being appointed in January 2019.As a school, we are committed to continuous improvement in all areas. We are very focussed on the needs of learners who require additional support, particularly in numeracy and literacy. We need to continue to target children who are living in poverty and ensure that gaps are both planned for and addressed. All staff are trained in the use of 5 minute boxes and three members of staff are now trained in Maths Recovery. This will continue to help us to address and close gaps and to target children with support needs who are living in poverty.Nurture and health and wellbeing are very high priorities for us as a school and we recognise the need for continuing nurture provision and informal opportunities for social and emotional support. The majority of our PEF funding has been allocated to providing extra staffing to support individuals and groups in order to close the gap. Attainment and achievement for targeted cohorts of children has increased. Additional teaching and support staff hours will continue in session 2019-2020. Our SMT and staff are committed to providing the best possible education and the drive to support continuous improvement for all of our learners.

Signed: Pamela Kelly (Head Teacher)

Date: 27.6.19