“raising standards, transforming lives”. overview our school in context our project overcoming...
TRANSCRIPT
OverviewOur school in context
Our project
Overcoming challenges
Impact:
Outcomes for our students
Outcomes for our school community
Our School in ContextBellshill Academy serves the Bellshill and Mossend areas of North Lanarkshire.
Our wider community has a proud industrial heritage and our school is positioned at the heart of this community on the Main Street of Bellshill.
Almost 40% of our young people live in the most deprived 20% of datazones across Scotland.
Challenges:
falling roll; low attainment; low aspirations; poor image – social and economic deprivation.
Our Vision To ‘raise standards and transform lives’
Key successes:Through partnership working, we have significantly raised the profile of our school in the community.Across the school community, our young people are more confident, self assured and aspirational. They are proud of their school.Our staff are committed to school improvement and are supported by rigorous self-evaluation and improvement planning processes.
Our Project •Established a Pathfinder Team•Developed our Aim:To increase attainment in S5 to 1(or better) at level 6 to 70% of target group by August 2014.We decided to focus on this particular group as:
Currently this is the only measure that Bellshill Academy falls below its comparator schools.
Bellshill Academy is below the North Lanarkshire average in this measure.
Raising attainment is a priority in our School Improvement Plan.
•Developed our Driver Diagram
To increase attainment in S5 to 1 (or better)
at level 6to 70% of target group
by August 2014
Parental Involvement & Engagement
Standardised process to monitor
pupil progress
Support material for parental involvement in supporting pupil study
Building relationships and increased communication and liaison between parents and school staff
Shared pupil/teacher/parent responsibilityfor planning and achieving weekly targets
Progress template to enable planning and progress reporting
Promotion of supported studyopportunities with parents and pupils.Mentoring planning for 1:1 pupil support.Increasing awareness of attendance statistics among teachers, pupils, parents.Continuous monitoring and sharing data-school attendance and study attendance.
High levels ofattendance at school
& increased engagement in supported study
Staff Involvement & Engagement
All teaching teams are informed and fullyAware of initial testing work
Displaying data and stories of activity for Discussion and awareness
Increase teacher involvement as testingSpreads to more pupils
Develop and test a study guide aimed at assisting parentsParental workshopInitial information sharing about new process for pupil supportRegular contact with parents and 2 way feedback on pupil progress
Develop and test approaches to implement monitoring/reportingTest approaches to:Identify and agree priority study topicsPlan weekly mentoringIdentify supported study opportunitiesContinuous review of weekly activity
Test approaches to increase pupil engagement in school activities:Identify and agree supported study plan on weekly progress template.Mentoring review including individual attendance at and insupported study sessions.
Information sharing at staff meetingTest as standing agenda item
Quality Improvement board displayedIn staff area to share projectplan, run charts, survey results etc.
Planning – Driver Diagram Theory about activity Theories about what drives leadership for QI for leadership for QI
Aim Primary Drivers Secondary Drivers Change ideas
Test GroupDecember 2013
No of Pupils 1
No of Parents 1
No of Teachers 3
January 2014
No of Pupils 5
No of Parents 5
No of Teachers 6
February 2014
No of Pupils 10
No of Parents 10
No of Teachers 10
Documents used in testing• Pupil Progress Report• PDSA Sheets• Pupil and Teacher Evaluations • Study Skills Pack for Parents
Pupil Progress ReportParents Comment Parents Signature Pupil Comment
Mentoring
Supported Study When/Where Attended (Teacher
Signature)
Supported Study When/Where Attended (Teacher
Signature)
Art (All pupils welcome)
Monday—Thursday
Geography (Higher pupils)
Tuesday
Biology (All pupils)
Monday
Geography (Intermediate pupils)
Wednesday
Business Management (Int 2 & Higher pupils)
Tuesday Homework Supported Study (Any subject for somewhere quiet)
Wednesday. Room 38
Chemistry (Higher/Int 2)
Tuesdays Mathematics (All S3—S6 pupils welcome National 5, Intermediate 2, Higher & Advanced Higher)
Wednesdays
Design & Manufacture (All pupils welcome)
See Mr Campbell
Modern Studies (S5&6 Higher pupils)
Tuesday.
Graphic Communications (All pupils welcome)
See Mr Campbell
Music (S5/6 Singers)
Monday,
French (All pupils welcome)
Thursday
Music (S5/6 Practical/Listening/Inventing)
Tuesday.
English (Higher Pupils)
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Information Systems (Higher/Int 2)
Tuesday
Day Mentors Signature
Time
Name: _____________ Week Beginning: _____________ Subject _____________
Target for This Week Achieved Teacher Comment
Subject _____________
Target for This Week Achieved Teacher Comment
Subject _____________
Target for This Week Achieved Teacher Comment
Subject _____________
Target for This Week Achieved Teacher Comment
Subject _____________
Target for This Week Achieved Teacher Comment
Progress Report
PDSA Samples AIMDescribe your first (or next) test of change: What are we trying to accomplish? Cycle number
By whom? When? Where?
Cycle number 1Consult with staff that teach pupils involved in the first two cycles.
B McBrideL Heffernan
December 2013
Conference Room
P
PLANList the tasks needed to set up this test of change. How will we do it?
By whom? When? Where?
Organise meeting Distribute materials Clearly describe the aim
and targets of the program
B McBrideL HeffernanAll Staff
December 2013
Conference Room
Predict what will happen when the test is carried out. What do you think will happen?•Staff will provide feedback on the Progress Report.
Measures to determine if prediction succeeds.•Positive feedback obtained via the Staff evaluation sheet.
D
DODescribe what happened when you ran the testInitial feedback from staff was very positive. All were clear on what the aims of the sheet are and agree that if used correctly and consistently will have a positive impact on attainment within the targeted group
S
STUDYDescribe the measured results and how they compared to the predictionInitial feedback matches what the group predicted. Clearer feedback will be obtained through the use of the Staff Evaluation sheets.
A
ACTDescribe what modifications to the plan will be made for the next cycleAll school staff to be informed at the first available opportunity as pupils have been using the sheet for all their classes and not just the higher classes it was intended for.
AIMDescribe your first (or next) test of change: What are we trying to accomplish? Cycle number
By whom? When? Where?
Cycle number 2Pupils attend a launch meeting to convey the purpose of the Progress Report and the aim of the Pathfinders group.
B McBride 20th January
Room 58
P
PLANList the tasks needed to set up this test of change. How will we do it?
By whom? When? Where?
Discuss the aims of the Progress Report.
Issue the Progress Report Discuss how the Progress Report
will be used Ensure that pupils are comfortable
in giving honest feedback on the Progress Report.
B McBrideInitial 5 Pupils
13th January
Room 58
Predict what will happen when the test is carried out. What do you think will happen?Reports completedQuestions and suggestions raised by staff and pupils
Measures to determine if prediction succeeds.Reports completed by PupilsPositive feedback given by pupils and staff
D
DODescribe what happened when you ran the testPositive feedback obtained from the pupils involvedSuggestions given on how the report could be improvedPositive feedback obtained from parentsQuestions raised by staff that were not involved in the consultation meeting before Christmas.
SSTUDYDescribe the measured results and how they compared to the predictionThe results obtained were positive and in line with the predictions made. Positive feedback given and suggestions made by pupils.
A
ACTDescribe what modifications to the plan will be made for the next cycleIntroduction of times for supported studyIntroduction of ‘Pupil Comments’ boxIncreasing the number of possible subjects to five to allow all subjects and all levels to be involved.Reduction in the number of parental signature boxes.
Tests carried out•The Pupil Progress Report was tested initially with 1 pupil. The project was scaled up to 5 pupils and then to 10 pupils.
•Pupils engaged fully in the process and provided extremely informative and positive feedback.
•Parents tested the Progress Report.
•10 Teachers tested the Pupil Progress Report, which was aimed at standardising the process teachers use to monitor pupil progress.
•The Pupil Progress Report was tested and amended throughout the 2 cycles following feedback from pupils, parents and teachers.
•Parents tested the Study Skills booklet. The response from the parents was exceptionally positive.
How did we know change was an Improvement?•The number of Highers our pupils achieved. (SQA Exam Results)
•The number of Highers pupils were on track for in comparison to the predicted number of Highers based on individual UPS. (Pupil Tracking)•S5 Attendance rate. (Attendance Figures)•The percentage of students involved who complete a progress report each week. (Percentage Compliance Data)•Attendance rate at supported study sessions. (Supported Study Registers)•Percentage of students in the population receiving 1:1 mentoring sessions as planned. (Mentoring Registers)•Survey of personal pupil progress. (Pupil Evaluations)•Survey of parental satisfaction related to information sharing and engagement. (Parent Evaluations)•Survey of teachers related to experience of using the Progress Report. (Teacher Evaluations)•Number of teaching staff actively involved in mentoring/establishing progress reporting systems with students and parents. (Teacher Evaluations/Progress Reports)
Our Learning and Our DataS5
Comparison of Predicted No of Highers vs On Track No of Highers (based on UPS)
0
1
2
3
4
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
UPS
No
of
Hig
her
s
Prediction Based on UPS On Track Oct 2013 On Track Dec 2013 On Track March 2014
Our Challenges
•Resources – especially staff cover•Time•Staff and Student commitment/participation•Parent commitment
When parents and schools work together, our young people do better.
Impact
Anticipated outcomes for our students
• To improve overall % of 1+ Higher awards
• 5 students were in the original group
• There were 26 pupils in our wider target 1+ Higher group
• Our target was to increase attainment in S5 to 1 (or better) at level 6 to 70% of the target group by August 2014
•4 out of 5 of the original group achieved 1 Higher
•More than 70% of our wider target group of 26 achieved 1 Higher
•Best ever whole school performance at 1 Higher
Significant improvement in S4 results with students using mentoring approach based on improvement science methodology.
“The Pathfinder lets me and my parents know how I am doing in school and what they can do to help me if I need it. It has also helped me focus in class. This will help improve my grades and allow me to achieve my dream of becoming a Paramedic.”
(Katie Jamieson)
“I feel much more involved helping my daughter with her school work. We have worked on mind mapping together and organised her study area at home. Now I can really help and support her through her exams.” David Jamieson (Parent)
Impact – whole school community• This session the project, based on student mentoring, has been rolled out to involve a larger number of pupils and teachers. All of S4-6 are involved (300 students, included in SIP)•Parents have attend Study Skills workshops led by our Home School Partnership Officer. (Included in School Calendar)•Parent Council have established a Parent Working Group and on line Parent Forum to support parents of students in S4 - 6. • Our Tutor Time programme, Lifeskills, has incorporated the Pupil Progress sheet, based on pupil self evaluation. This is currently being piloted with S4.•The Improvement Science methodology is currently being used in another whole school project aimed at improving learning experiences in the classroom. (Included in SIP)
Moving Forward – Next Steps• Our aims this session:
• 60% of the S5 cohort capable of achieving 3+ Highers will achieve this target by August 2015.
• 26% of the S4 cohort achieve 5+ National 5 awards by August 2015.
• Pupil Monitoring and Tracking.• Study group mentoring programme.• Data Analysis.• Testing• Partnership working – Parental engagement/improved
communication.
Working together to ‘raise standards and transform lives’
Bellshill Academy Raising Attainment in S5