Driving Equity and Excellence

Driving Equity and Excellence

Improvement Planning

Session 2017-18

School/Establishment: Pentland School

Date submitted: 29th June 2017

Rationale for the Improvement Plan

Please consider the following challenge questions when developing your rationale for the new School Improvement Plan.

• What action are we currently taking to ensure excellence and equity for all learners?
• Which attainment gaps exist in our school?
• What action do we need to take to close these gaps?
• What data will we use to monitor progress?
• What action are we currently taking which will address the four priorities in the NIF?
• How good are our children’s outcomes in these areas?
• What further targeted interventions do we need to plan next year to improve outcomes for key groups of learners?
• How well are we improving across the 6 key drivers in the NIF?

• School Leadership
• Teacher Professionalism
• Assessment of Children’s Progress
• Parental Engagement
• School Improvement
• Performance Information

• How good are we now? What do we need to improve further?
• Which approaches to change will we use to ensure progress and impact with our key priorities?

In arriving at improvement priorities, schools should take account of North Lanarkshire’s Aspire priorities, anaudit of the previous year’s improvement plan, and engagement with staff, parents/carers and learner. Current national priorities as outlined in the NIF, should also be considered:

• 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.

In Pentland we have a shared vision. We aim to improve our children’s emotional health and wellbeing to allow them to move on as learners and achieve educationally. We aim use the curriculum therapeutically to raise self-esteem. We teach all aspects of Curriculum for Excellence enhanced by the explicit teaching of social skills, peace, rights based education, global citizenship and conflict resolution. We regularly adapt the way we think, teach and assess in order to do this effectively.

School Vision and Values

Audit and Consultation

In arriving at our improvement priorities, the school has taken account of North Lanarkshire’s Aspire priorities, an audit of the previous year’s improvement plan and engagement with parents/carers and learners. Current national priorities, are outlined in the NIF, have also been considered (see below):

• 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

Parents and carers are regularly invited into the school to see the learning and teaching given to the children as well as, the social and emotional progress their child is making. They are encouraged to comment on all aspects of their children’s educational journey and are kept updated through monthly newsletters, weekly behaviour charts and termly pupil profile targets of all aspects of their child’s progress both academically and socially. Parents are keen to engage staff in dialogue concerning their individual child’s attainment and achievement and most are pleased with the progress that their child is making. We are restricted by distance and cost in the amount of parental involvement that we would welcome.

Details of engagement with parents/carers

Details of engagement with learners

Learners are asked what they want for the school via the pupil council, whole school and class lessons and throughout the year when lessons on being a Rights Respecting School are delivered. Circle time also plays an important role in ascertaining the views of pupils.

Children play a lead role in developing our school grounds, aspects of outdoor learning and pursuits as well as setting their own personal targets for achievement throughout the school year.

2017-18 Improvement Plan

Improvement Priority 1:

Children’s attainment and achievement will improve through the development of our Literacy programme with a focus on comprehension strategies.

Improvement Priority 2:

Children’s attainment and achievement will improve from the further development of Mental Agility strategies, further embedding last year’s Improvement Priority with a focus on the processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Improvement Priority 3:

Children will benefit from a staff audit of Health and Wellbeing to ensure we continue toimprove our approaches to Health and Wellbeing. In a nurturing setting, pupils will have a tailored play therapy/art therapy and quality 1:1 sessions to improve attainment.

Improvement Priority 4:

Employment of an Art therapist and a Play therapist to enhance the nurturing of our pupils who have all experienced trauma to some degree. This will help the pupils build resilience, enhance their self-esteem and their confidence.

Pupils will receive one to one input throughout the school year which will lead to improvements in their Mental Health. Regular feedback from the therapists to the school staff will also ensure that there is clear understanding of how best to assist the pupil to fully access the curriculum, as well as to help them find ways of managing their emotions more successfully. Staff will revisit using our curriculum therapeutically.

Pupil Equity Fund interventions and intendedimpact