School Development Plan - West End High School · 2016-09-23 · School Development Plan 2014 -15 2 The School Development Plan enables the school’s vision to be shared and understood

School Development Plan

2014 -15

School Development Plan 2014 -15

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The School Development Plan enables the school’s vision to be shared and understood by the whole school community.

Our aim is to work and learn together as a community in order to improve and be the best that we can be. The School

Development Plan should give everyone an understanding of where the school is going and what actions will be taken to

ensure we get there. We set clear timescales for implementation and determine how to effectively use both human and

material resources to support specific goals. It also helps us plan and prioritise our budget and guides how we plan and

organise staff training. The School Development Plan is designed to give a sharp, clear focus to those aspects of our work

which we believe are most in need of improvement.

Everyone has the chance to contribute ideas on how our school can improve. Staff and Governors meet every term to

review how successful our improvements have been and agree priorities for the coming year. We ask parents, staff and

children to share their ideas through questionnaires and the school council. We want everyone to support us and help us

improve and this can only happen if we are all involved.

Once we have agreed the priorities, the Leadership Team identifies targets for improvement by writing the School

Development Plan. This is then shared with everyone.

There are four Key Priorities for the plan. We wish to achieve each target as fully as possible. Therefore, these Key

Priorities will drive our training, resources, teaching and learning, monitoring, evaluation and review over the next year.

Professional development INSET days are an important part of this process. In addition to this, all staff are keen to keep up

to date with new initiatives. Therefore, individual teachers and support staff have undertaken training throughout the

year in order to further their own professional development and to strengthen the subject expertise of the staff.


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Our Vision

At West End Academy we want the children to “learn together and grow together”. We are committed to improving the

quality of the educational provision for all our children which will enable them to reach their full potential and attain the

levels of knowledge, understanding and skills that society demands for their future lives. High-quality education at West

End Academy will be achieved by:

• positive, caring and clearly focused leadership from the senior leadership team;

• the whole staff team working together to do its best for our children’s confidence;

• the whole staff team having high expectations of our children’s social, behavioural and academic performance;

• well planned, exciting and challenging teaching that develops lively, enquiring and open minds in our children;

• creating stimulating and attractive learning environments in which our children can take a pride;

• fostering a calm, secure and purposeful working atmosphere that nurtures a positive esteem and self-image in all our

children;

• promoting respect for other people and their property; and

• working in partnership with parents, governors and the local community to enrich opportunities for our children.


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We will continually strive to achieve the school’s aims through the formal curriculum and through all the other

experiences offered to our children. High-quality education will raise the children’s standards of attainment, enabling

them to:

• develop their use of English and Maths which provide the foundation for all their other learning;

• learn social skills that encourage agreeable interactions between their peers as well as adults;

• treat everyone in an equal manner, irrespective of gender, race, class or disability in line with the school’s “Golden

Rules”;

• develop personal and moral values that are respectful of others, leading to their appreciation and toleration of other

religions and other ways of life; and

• learn in a safe and secure environment, in keeping with Health and Safety Regulations that are in the interests of all who

work in the school.


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School Context

West End Academy is a slightly smaller than average primary school with currently 198 children on roll. The school serves

an area of social and economic deprivation. Acorn data ranks the school’s level of deprivation as 101 out of 117 Wakefield

schools (where 1st rank indicates least deprivation) – 82% of families are classed as “hard pressed” or “moderate means”.

The percentage of pupils entitled to free school meals (44%) is well above national and local averages. Almost all children

are from a White British background. The school converted to Academy status in October 2013 and it works in

partnership with Wakefield City Academy Trust (WCAT).

Significant Changes since September 2013

The most significant change has been the conversion to an Academy. There is a new Chair of Governors and the school

shares its governing body members with another primary school that is also working in partnership with WCAT. There

have also been changes in the teaching and support staff and the members of the leadership team (SLT).

At the end of the last academic year, the Headteacher left the school. Our Deputy Headteacher has been seconded to

Senior Director of Primary Improvement at WCAT. Our Assistant Headteacher left to take up a Headteacher post within

the Trust. Our long serving Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) leader retired and another teacher left to take up a post in

another school.

The school has made the following appointments. The Senior Director of Primary Academies at WCAT became the new

Headteacher. The Associate Director of Primary Academies at WCAT became the new Deputy Headteacher. The school

appointed a Trust Leader of Education (TLE) in line with the new leadership structure. Two NQTs, one HLTA and one

teaching assistant have also been appointed.


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Achievements of the school – (September 2013 to July 2014)

• The school underwent a successful conversion to an Academy and resulted in the school having quality support from

WCAT.

• The school benefited greatly from the teaching support that WCAT could offer. This resulted in an improvement of the

standard of teaching and learning that the children were receiving in the classroom.

• This improvement was also reflected in the school’s data. For the first time in three years, the children made good or

outstanding progress through Key Stage 2. This progress was in line with national data for Reading and ahead of national

data for Writing and Maths.

• At the end of Foundation Stage, the children’s attainment was broadly in line with national averages and represented

good progress from their starting points.

• This was also the case at the end of Key Stage 1, where children were now ahead of their peers nationally in English,

Maths and Science.

• Teachers were able to benefit from working in the Trust with three members of staff earning promotions to other

schools within WCAT.


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Strengths of the school – September 2014

• Even though there has been a great amount of staff upheaval, the remaining staff are still very positive about the future

of the Academy.

• The committed staff have maintained a strong bond and work hard together to improve the children’s learning. We

make sure that the children come first.

• The school is friendly and caring. Everyone is working together.

• There is always an aura of calmness when you walk around school.

• It appears that all staff members are recognised and respected within their individual roles.

• The children are happy at school. They are aware of our vision of learning and growing together.

• The pupils are respectful of others.

• Most of the children behave well at school.

• The staff are already on board with the new Headteacher’s vision and have signed up to the belief that we can give the

children the best start in life and that we are their “one chance”.

•The school’s time in Special Measures has meant that the staff have a strong desire to improve and evaluate the way

they work. The staff share in the ownership and responsibilities of the monitoring and evaluation process. This means

that everyone is involved and the staff feel like they contribute and they can make a difference.


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• The children are very keen to do well. They want to succeed and responded well to the improvement in teaching that

they have had recently.

• Children have the opportunity to take part in a range of after-school activities and these are well attended.

• The displays in the corridors are always of a high standard.

• There is a good relationship between all members of school and the local community.

• The new leadership team have already shown that they will continuously push to develop our practice to improve the

children’s learning.

• The new leadership team are extremely focused to offer quality first teaching which in turn guides others. The

expectations and standards of teachers from the leadership team are already very high, and there is always an expectation

of working hard together in order to reach a desired goal.

• The new leadership team have already noticed that the staff are willing to go the extra mile to make a difference to the

lives of our children. We all ensure that children are provided with an exciting, engaging curriculum that is relevant but

also equips them with key skills for life. We foster the ‘can do’ attitude, excite children about education and really

encourage them to think about their future and be the best that they can be. We are already becoming a strong team of

staff.


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Areas for development – July 2014

• The children need to be engaged and excited by a broad and balanced curriculum that stimulates their young minds and

prepares them for the modern world. One child said, “I want the work in ICT to be harder,” while another child said, “I

want to do more experiments in Science.” More resources will need to be bought to achieve this.

• The behaviour policy has been inconsistently adhered to and this has led to some children regularly misbehaving in

school.

• The teachers must be clear on how their marking can immediately impact on the progress a child makes in the lesson.

There must be clear guide guidelines given on how children respond to marking in and after the lesson. Teachers must

work hard to check on the progress of the children during the lesson.

• All staff must do things the same. There have been too many different ways of teaching written methods in Maths over

the last two years and this needs to be put right with immediate effect.

• The teaching of phonics needs to be reviewed in Foundation Stage and Year 1.

• We need to review the way we teach reading through Key Stage 1 and 2. We must implement action plans for reading

for the whole school that give our children extra support when reading.

• All children must have access to books in the classroom and be encouraged to read for a purpose at this point. This

could be through the use of themed questions.

• All children must have access to the books in the library. The library needs to be reorganised. This will encourage the

children to read for pleasure outside of school.


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• Children in Upper Key Stage 2 must have access to more books and harder books. One child said “I have read the same

book three times this year.”

• We need to review the monitoring of our SEND children in line with new legislation. Teachers must have a clearer idea

of how the intervention that a child is receiving impacts on their progress. We need to focus more on groups of children.

• The attendance of our children fell by 1% last year. As a school, we must ensure that children are rewarded for coming

every day and strict sanctions are in place for absence.

• We must consolidate on last year’s progress data by ensuring children make outstanding progress in Reading, Writing

and Maths. Reading needs to be watched carefully as it wasn’t in line with the other subjects last year.

• We must look at how teachers collect evidence in EYFS and make sure that information recorded is more reliable.

• We must make sure there is an accurate baseline done at the start of both year groups in the EYFS in Reading, Writing

and Maths. This will allow for a better tracking of the progress that these children make in these year groups.

• We must review the way we assess our children in the Foundation Subjects across the whole of school. We will attempt

to assess them more in line with national expectations rather than Levels. When developed, this could later be applied to

Reading, Writing and Maths.

• We need to make sure staff get all the necessary training and support they need in order to become a good or

outstanding teacher. The development of the Trust Leader of Education role within school will help us to do this. The

school must “grow their own” in order to leave a lasting legacy of improvement.

• To further encourage parents to support their children’s learning outside of school.


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Key Priority Action/Event Measureable Impact Timescale Budget Lead

Reading, Writing and Maths Maintain and further improve the progress children make in Reading, Writing and Maths. All children to make good progress with some making outstanding progress. More children to make more than expected progress in Reading.

1) Implement whole-school tracking grids which focus on levels of progress. 2) Review teaching of phonics in EYFS and Y1 in line with Letters and Sounds document. 3) Implement reading characters to help teach different strands of reading. 4) Ensure each class has a reading area which supports work done in the lessons. 5) Ensure all children use the library to encourage a greater enjoyment of reading and ensure children read a range of books.

1) Through conversations with children, they will confirm they enjoy reading more. 2) Reading records will show they will read widely and often. 3) Formal observations in reading will show good or outstanding teaching. 4) Children in Year 1 will meet or exceed national expectations in Phonics Screening. 5) The percentage of children making 3 levels of progress through KS2 will increase in Reading and be above national average.

Autumn 1 Summer 2

CPD CJ, RC (FS& KS1) DJ (KS2)

SEND Review children currently on the SEND register to ensure accuracy of data. Improve the performance of SEND pupils so that their progress is at least in line with national expectations.

1) Clearly identify which children need to be on the register through the use of support teams. 2) Use the various support teams to develop a provision map for every child on the register. 3) Implement whole-school tracking grids that clearly show SEND children. The grids should also show the targets that SEND children need to reach by the end of the academic year. 4) Ensure the impact of work done is evidenced and next steps are clearly marked.

1) All children and parents can talk about the provision map it and can use the map to discuss its impact and next steps. 2) Formal lesson observations will show that SEND children are making good or outstanding progress. 3) Data will show that the progress of SEND children is in line with national. 4) Attainment at KS1 and KS2 to be in line with national figures for SEND children.

Autumn 1 Summer 2

SEN funding

CJ SB

Narrowing the gap Make sure that more boys reach the higher level at the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Only 8% of boys were Level 5 in Reading, Writing and Maths in 2014. Close the attainment gap between boys and girls. Ensure the progress of all groups of children, including Pupil Premium, is at least in line with national expectations.

1) Implement whole-school tracking grids to clearly show different groups of children. The grids should also show the targets that these groups need to make by the end of the year. 2) Buy more reading materials, especially for children in Years 5 and 6 to support, in particular, the boys of a higher ability. 3) Introduce a more engaging curriculum that better challenges our boys but which also links to their use of basic skills, especially writing. 4) Pupil Premium children will receive further enrichment through cooking and gardening and work will link to the development of basic skills.

1) Through conversations with boys they will be able to say they’re more stimulated and challenged by the new curriculum. They can talk about the new books too. 2) Formal observations of lessons will show that boys are challenged much more. 3) 27% of boys will reach a Level 5 in all core subjects compared with 20% nationally. Gender gap in Reading is 0.4 (national 0.9) and Writing 0.6 (national 1.8) 4) Year on year data will show all groups closing the gap and in line with national figures.

Autumn 1 Summer 2

Pupil Premium funding

CJ RC (FS& KS1) DJ (KS2)


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Children’s progress Further develop high-quality teaching and learning to continue to raise attainment and accelerate progress. Teachers ensure high-quality questioning allows children to overcome misconceptions and improves learning.

1) The Headteacher will formally observe lessons and feedback in line with the new form. 2) Other members of the SLT, including the TLE, to support other teachers through observing lessons and a cycle of training. 3) Training will be documented on a support log, linked to the teacher standards, with next steps and monitoring clearly outlined. 4) Specific training sessions will show how questioning can accelerate learning.

1) Lesson observations will show that teaching over time is sometimes judged to be outstanding and always consistently good. 2) Progress data for each year group will show that the children’s progress is good or outstanding. 3) Conversations with pupils will show that the vast majority are learning more. 4) All teachers meet the teacher standards in line with their career stage expectations.

Autumn 1 Summer 2

CPD CJ

New curriculum To develop a new curriculum which is broad and balanced that allows children to develop a range of skills and improve attainment. To ensure Reading, Writing and Mathematics are consistently taught through other subjects.

1) SLT to design a new curriculum following discussions with children and subject co-ordinators in line with statutory requirements. 2) Staff meetings will be held to support the implementation of the new curriculum. 3) Training will allow subject co-ordinators to review the standards achieved in a curriculum area and compare the standards to last year. 4) A staff meeting will show how basic skills can be linked to other subject areas.

1) Discussions with children will show that they are more engaged by the curriculum as they are now learning a range of skills and being challenged much more. 2) Planning, work in books and on display will show that the basic skills being taught are effective in a range of subjects. 3) Subject leaders data will show that more children are reaching the expected standard for their year group.

Autumn 1 Summer 2

CPD All staff

Marking for Progress To ensure children’s work is consistently marked. Also ensure that the children have the opportunity to respond to marking during the lesson and further improve after it. The teacher’s high-quality feedback will enable children to make accelerated progress.

1) An INSET day will introduce a new marking and feedback policy to all teachers. 2) The SLT will regularly monitor that this new policy has been consistently used throughout school. 3) Further training will be given by the TLE to support teachers to move learning forward. 4) Outstanding practise by HLTAs and TAs will be shared with other members of staff to raise standards of marking.

1) Children can talk about how verbal or written feedback has made them improve. 2) Lesson observations will show that teachers can check progress successfully and their feedback moves learning on. 3) The work that children do in books will show that all adults in the classroom are using the marking policy correctly. The books will also show that children understand how to improve their work.

Autumn 1 Summer 2

Academy CJ


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Positive Behaviour Policy Introduce a new behaviour policy that ensures positive behaviour is rewarded much more than previously. Ensure sanctions are clear and consistent across school to reduce low level disruption in lessons.

1) Discussions with children will ascertain what is currently working and what needs to change. 2) An INSET day will introduce the new policy. The policy will clearly set out the rewards the children will get for behaving well and the sanctions they will have for poor behaviour. 3) All pupils informed of the new system and parents will be told at the “Welcome Meeting.” 4) Review the impact through regular discussions with children, staff and parents.

1) More children will stay on “Green” and qualify for the “Always Green” event. 2) The number of children having “time out” due to bad behaviour will be greatly reduced. 3) Observations of lessons will show that the low level of disruption is minimal. 4) Parent / pupil surveys will demonstrate that behaviour is at least good. 5) The policy will be used consistently.

Autumn 1 Summer 2

Academy CJ, LF

Whole School Attendance Make sure the attendance of the whole school improves. It dropped 1% last year to 94.8%. The target this year is 96%. To ensure persistence absence is reduced. It rose last year to 6.9%. The target this year is 3.5%.

1) Rewrite the Attendance and Punctuality policy and send the policy home to parents. 2) Create a new whole-school attendance display and reward classes each week. 3) Introduce a reward for children with 100% attendance each half term. 4) Learning Mentor to spend more time tracking persistent absence, including home visits with the Educational Welfare Officer. 5) Learning Mentor to improve the monitoring of specific groups of children and to track the attendance of these children from nursery.

1) Class rewards will show a rise in attendance week on week compared to the last academic year. 2) The number of children who attend every day will increase due to prizes. 3) Whole school attendance will be 96% for the academic year. 4) Persistent absence will be 3.5%. 5) We will be more aware of families with poor attendance from an earlier stage. 6) Support will be given to enable children to make up for lost learning opportunities.

Autumn 1 Summer 2

Academy LF, JD

Investors in Pupils Award Ensure all assessment criteria are met in order to achieve Investors in Pupils status. Ensure all pupils are safe and feel safe in school.

1) Investors in Pupils Action Plan to be completed to focus on next steps. 2) All teachers to complete their handover file with up-to-date pupil information, including safeguarding “cause for concern” sheets. 3) Learning Mentor to keep up to date with safeguard training and new initiatives. 4) The Learning Mentor will work with external agencies to help our most vulnerable children. 5) All children to attend workshops to help them to understand the different forms of bullying.

1) Investors in Pupils status will be awarded to the Academy. 2) Parent and pupil surveys will demonstrate that children are safe and feel safe in school. 3) Vulnerable children and groups of children will achieve at least in line with national expectations. 4) A bullying register will be maintained and will show low instances of all forms of bullying across the Academy. Cyber bullying will be tracked and will be low.

Autumn 1 Spring 1 (IIP) Summer 2

Academy LF


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Training Others Ensure leaders have a relentless focus on improving teaching and learning in the Academy. Develop the role of the TLE. Support other schools in the Trust.

1) All teachers are supported by a member of the SLT which is documented on support logs. 2) NQTs are given weekly support sessions by their mentor or the TLE in order to help and accelerate their development. 3) Observing the outstanding practice of the TLE improves other teachers. The TLE may also “team teach” to support others. 4) The Academy will support other schools and teachers within WCAT. It will host events that showcase “best practice”. This will allow teachers in other schools within WCAT to learn from our outstanding practice.

1) The children’s progress data will show the impact of training. 2 All teachers will perform in line with their career stage expectations. 3) NQTs will quickly become good teachers and they will make rapid progress from their starting point. 4) The TLE will become invaluable to training others and the school will look to appoint more staff to the role. 5) Other schools will recognise our support and in turn send more people to visit the Academy.

Autumn 1 Summer 2

Academy CJ, RC, DJ

Wider Curriculum Develop the role of the specialist teacher to enhance learning across the curriculum. Ensure more children have the opportunity to take part in sporting and musical activities.

1) A specialist teacher of Art and French to teach all the children from Year 2 to Year 6. 2) Sports Leader role developed to encourage more children to take part in sport at lunchtime and after school. 3) More clubs set up for children to use their new skills so they can take part in tournaments and form partnerships with other schools. 4) Extra music sessions set up with the emphasis on developing the aspirations of our Pupil Premium children.

1) The children will become more engaged in Art and French. 2) Standards in these subjects, against year-on-year expectations, will be raised. 3) More children will take part in sporting activities at lunch time. 4) More children will come to clubs and take part in tournaments after school. 5) More of our Pupil Premium children will decide to carry on learning an instrument in Year 5, instead of previously stopping.

Autumn 1 Summer 2

SLA PP funding Sports funding

CJ

Engaging Our Parents We must make sure that we engage with all parents for the benefit of the children at the Academy.

1) Parents will be given more opportunity to come into school with events such as “Meet the Teacher”. 2) INSPIRE mornings will have a specific focus on improving a child’s learning at home. 3) New expectations for homework will be applied throughout school and homework diaries re-introduced to inform parents more. 4) There will be more opportunities for parents to come into school to help our children.

1) There will be a much greater response from parents to after-school events, such as parents’ evening. 2) More parents will come to the INSPIRE workshops. 3) More parents will sign their child’s homework diary in KS2 and support their child to learn more at home. 4) More parents will voluntarily come to the Academy to work with our children.

Autumn 1 Summer 2

Academy CJ


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This year, the school has separate plans for SEND, the Early Years Foundation Stage and Investors in Pupils. These plans

will also be closely monitored through their measurable impacts. Throughout the year, the members of staff responsible

for these areas will report to Governors and discuss the impact their actions have had on the children at the Academy.

Documents

School Development Plan - West End High School · 2016-09-23 · School Development Plan 2014 -15 2 The School Development Plan enables the school’s vision to be shared and understood