south lanarkshire council recovery standards and quality

South Lanarkshire Council: Recovery Planning

South Lanarkshire Council

Recovery Standards and Quality Report June 2021

Lanark Primary School & ELC


Standards and Quality Report Session 20/21 Our School Lanark Primary School & ELC is set in the Burgh of Lanark within the rural area of Clydesdale. It is a non-denominational school with 264 pupils and 32 learners in our Early Learning and Childcare service, providing 1140hours for 3-5 year olds. Our school rebuild was completed in November 2013 and has a varied catchment area which draws from a mix of private and council housing. The school is set in beautiful grounds with its own woodlands and gardens which are used to deliver outdoor education and play. The school has one shared play area, outdoor covered areas and each class has its own outdoor learning space. There are many extra facilities such as an outdoor stage, outdoor classroom, gardens and multi - purpose games area. At Lanark Primary School and ELC, learning is at the heart of all we do. We strive to provide rich learning experiences that build confidence and self-belief. We foster a ‘can do’ attitude which enables everyone to reach their full potential. We work in strong partnership with our parents and the wider community to ensure that we feel safe, included and valued within our school community…and beyond. We value Being Active, Good Manners, Learning, Working Hard, Teamwork, Responsibility, Respect, Trust and Honesty, and Kindness. The management team is made up of the Head Teacher, Depute Head Teacher and Principal Teacher. There are ten classes with a total of sixteen teaching staff. Our Early Learning and Childcare provision consists of a permanently appointed Early Learning Teacher (0.8 FTE), an Early Years Team Leader and five Early Years workers, three of whom are part-time. We know the importance of working in partnership across the school community and have established links with a range of agencies. Our Parent Council continue to work alongside the very active Lanimer PTA, providing support for the school as it continues to make improvements. We have strong links with Lanark Learning Community with effective planning in place for P7-S1 transition to Lanark Grammar School. We also work closely with partner ELC establishments to ensure smooth transition to P1.


Key Successes and Achievements of Session 2021/22

Clear lines of communication has meant that almost all stakeholders feel that they have been kept informed and updated of important throughout the session. This has included the safety and infrastructure guidance being followed with the most up-to-date risk assessments being shared on our website. In December 2020, a Health & Safety Audit was carried out in the school and ELC. The inspection commended the building for being in excellent condition with clear COVID-19 signage and information on display. The assessor commented that the audit reflected the highest standard with all necessary evidence in place.

Across all staff groups, there is a 100% uptake in the Lateral Flow Testing Programme.

All staff are committed to achieving the highest possible standards based on their clear understanding of the social, economic and cultural context of our children and families in the school community. This has also helped shape our Curriculum Rationale for Recovery, providing a balance of coverage in Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing, taking into account of the interrupted learning last session.

Our recovery planning has taken into consideration identified skills for life, learning and work whilst allowing staff to plan responsively to the needs of learners.

A clear Recovery Overview was created to inform parents/carers of our priorities for recovery and improvement, which was positively received by parents/carers with most commenting that the overview was helpful in informing them of our plans.

As an establishment, staff at Lanark PS & ELC have a good knowledge of families in the ELC and school and have positive interactions with them. There is a strong focus on nurturing our relationships and this has impacted positively on our learners and families throughout the session, particularly when returning after ‘Lockdown 1’ (March – June 2020).

Our HWB curriculum continued to focus on the Wellbeing Indicators with these being explored during weekly assemblies and core HWB learning and teaching. This has allowed all staff to focus on learner wellbeing, with most learners demonstrating an understanding of the wellbeing indicators and these can be used to evaluate their own wellbeing.

The importance of planning for individual needs has been recognised and successfully implemented. Action Plans continued to be shared with learners and parents/carers and the views sought at regular intervals resulting in a shared understanding of next steps in learning.

The ELC have successfully implemented the recommended ‘Learning Pods’ with our approach being recognised and shared across the authority as an example of good practice.

Staff from across Second Level worked collaboratively with our Senior Educational Psychologist to create a Social Understanding Profiling and Planning Tool which will now be used to support targeted learners to acquire social understanding and independence skills.

From March 2020, Lanark Primary School used Google Classroom (GC) as our platform for delivering online learning. This proved very successful during ‘Lockdown 1’, with almost all parents and carers agreeing that our approach to remote learning was very effective. On the full return of educational establishments in August 2020, we continued to encourage the use of Google Classroom (GC) by making it the main platform for our Homework provision. This was to allow for not only best practice in infection control, but also to ensure we had an already established provision should remote learning be required (see Remote Learning Jan-March 2021)


Learners in our ELC received information regarding activities and learning experiences through the dedicated and well established Lanark ELC email address, which was set up after feedback of our remote learning offer during ‘Lockdown 1’.

A new system for reporting to parents/carers was implemented, with all teaching staff receiving training including the use of attainment levels, ratings and measures. All staff engaged in moderation activities with stage partners in order to gain a shared understanding of identified pathways between attainment levels. This ensued a consistent approach to assessment with Literacy and Numeracy.

Throughout the session, all staff have undertaken a range of professional learning. This has included a focus on the use of ICT to enhance learning and teaching, with two members of staff undertaking the Google Educator Level 1 & 2 programme. This year, a member of staff also took part in the Improving Our Classrooms programme to engage in high-quality professional learning, which places classroom practitioners at the heart of school improvement.

Throughout the session, our attendance rate has remained higher that the South Lanarkshire Council average. As of the end of March 2021, our attendance rate was 96.4%, 3% higher than SLC’s.

Challenges of Session 2021/22

Covid-19

Continuing to mitigate risks, following best infection control practices and gathering robust information should it be required for ‘Track and Trace’ purposes is time consuming.

Staggered intervals, lunches and drop-off/collection times have placed a burden on staffing and supervision levels. Zoning of the playground as well as ELC learning pods and class grouping has meant that learners have not always been able to work and play with their friends.

Social distancing for adults has meant that not all staff can see each other which could have an impact on relationships.

Learners

All learners have had a range of experience during ‘Lockdown 1’ and the period of Remote Learning, meaning staff have needed to be flexible and provide a personalised approach for learners whilst emphasising the ongoing importance of their wellbeing, placing this at the heat of planned experiences.

A few learners have returned to school/ELC requiring increased support for their emotional wellbeing. This has required staff to know learners well in order to plan any necessary interventions and support. Tracking of this has proved challenging, particularly during the period of Remote Learning.


Staffing

Throughout the session, we have had to managed staff absence as well as the increased need for the Senior Management Team and School Support Assistants to be ‘outside’ for extended periods of time. This has an impact on the support that can be offered during learning time.

Partnerships

Due to COVID-19 NHS guided infection control measures, there has been a very limited number of partners in the school. This has included parents/carers and at some points specialised support and other relevant agencies. This has had a particular impact on the ELC where the daily, face-to-face contact between playroom staff and parents/carers has been very limited, meaning that the normal levels of communication have not been possible. This has been improved with the use of monthly Wellbeing Check-In calls and the use of Home-link Folders. In the school, the use of Google Classroom and an Online Home-School Dairy has allowed for communication to continue.

Remote Learning Jan-March 2021

The following details Lanark Primary School and ELC’s overview of our approaches to remote, online learning to ensure continuity:

Following consultation, school learners (P1-P7) experienced:

• Daily- 1x Literacy, 1x Numeracy and 1x other Curricular Area provided online for learners • For Literacy this took the form of 2x reading, 1x spelling, 1x grammar and punctuation and 1x writing over the course of the week • For Maths and Numeracy this consisted of 2x Numeracy tasks, 2x Maths tasks and 1x standalone such as mental or problem

solving over the course of the week • For Cross Curricular this took the form of 2x Health and Wellbeing tasks and 3x Topic tasks (e.g. Social Studies or RME) over

the course of the week • Teachers were online daily from 10am-11am and 1pm-2pm to answer any questions on the GC Stream

• The GC Stream was available for children and parents/carers to communicate with teachers and each other

• A daily ‘check-in’ provided an opportunity for engagement and wellbeing to be monitored

• A daily ‘check-out’ allowed learners the opportunity to self-assess their learning which was monitored by the class teacher

• A range of ‘live’ learning experiences were provided daily as well as a weekly Google Meet for each class to engage in. This

allowed for regular, high-quality, interactive learning


Following feedback, ELC learners experienced:

• A weekly focus based around a common theme, which provided learning experiences for learners and their families to work on together at home

• Through email, a 'Traditional Tale' overview, containing learning experiences based around a story/nursery rhyme was shared each week

• Parents/carers were encouraged to come up with their own ideas and involve young learners- being ‘responsive’ • Additional resources were shared as appropriate and throughout the period of remote learning • Communication with parents/carers, including sharing learning, was done through the dedicated email address • A daily ‘check-in’ provided an opportunity for wellbeing to be monitored

Engagement:

We tracked and monitored learner engagement with remote, online learning (and followed up with learners who were not engaging). In some circumstances, this meant providing extra support (via phone calls, online guidance demonstrations, videos and regular check-ins), making a digital offer (device or network) or offering the opportunity for learners to engage with their learning ‘in person’.

Overall, almost all learners in the school (96%) and ELC (90%) engaged with the learning offer. 14% of the school roll benefitted from the use of Chromebooks at home to support remote learning.

Ensuring Quality & Consistency:

As with any learning taking place within our classrooms and playroom, the quality and consistency of our online offer was monitored. The Senior Management Team were members of every classroom and “sampled” lessons and activities. There was a clear, consistent approach to what was offered and this was worked on collaboratively between all teaching and ELC staff.

Regular discussions regarding planning took place, with the opportunity for shared planning and moderation built in to our quality assurance calendar.

In order to ensure best practice, ongoing professional learning for staff was sought out and offered as appropriate. This came from a range of sources including a national offer, our learning partners, SLC training, our ICT Coordinator and/or staff expertise.

Challenges & Opportunities:

The main challenges for the Remote Learning period were how to maintain engagement for learners, how to ensure a work-life balance for staff (including monitoring screen time) and planning opportunities that would ensure Continuity of Learning and the best possible progress for all. As


always, the staff of Lanark PS & ELC took these challenges and created a range of opportunities from them, including developing their ICT knowledge and expertise to reduce workload where possible, use verbal feedback to support the learner journey and plan a range of exciting experiences to ensure engagement where possible.

Planning for and Evaluating improvement

As children and young people returned to our buildings in August 2020 following the first National lockdown, we prioritised three key areas for development: Health and Wellbeing, Equity and ensuring Continuity of Learning for children/young people. These priorities formed the basis for our School Improvement Plan.

What follows is a copy of this plan and a review of our successes in delivering on what we set out to achieve. As part of this review, we have identified new priorities, and these will form the basis of our new School Improvement Plan for Session 2021/22.


Improvement Priority 1 - Promote the positive health and wellbeing of children & young people, parents/carers and staff

How will we know we’ve been

successful?

Quality Indicator

3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion

Wellbeing

Fulfilment of Statutory Duties Inclusion and Equality

Recovery Priority

These have been generated as a series of prompts/suggestions to assist schools with the recovery planning process. They are based around current research and information around recovery and National Guidelines.

Key Recovery Tasks

(School specific)

This section is for school-specific planning. What needs to be done in your specific context? Who will be involved and when? Set SMART targets.

Desired Outcomes and

Impact This section should give a brief indication of what success would look like and how it will be measured.

Theme: Whole School Wellbeing Rationale: School ethos is a determinant in promoting social and emotional wellbeing and mental health for everyone within the school community. A sense of Belongingness and Connectedness is always a powerful support for children, young people, and adults, especially as a buffer to adversity. This is mediated through Quality Relationships, and a range of Attachment Informed Practices. Staff will have had a range of experiences during this period and will need a flexible and personalised

Schools need to:

Assess current position in terms of whole school wellbeing. Use authority guidance/toolkit or other audit tools.

Plan a whole -school co-ordinated approach to identifying need and for planning appropriate, measured, responsive interventions to identified issues on an ongoing basis. This should explicitly refer to the post COVID needs and context and also acknowledge that some children will have gained skills as well as have needs.

Plan how best to promote an attachment -informed ethos and environment that nurtures

Key Recovery Tasks (school specific) August- October 2020

General observation and assessment of HWB of all stakeholders in the school and ELC by engaging with children and staff, taking account of their views and experiences, particularly in terms of ‘lockdown’.

SMT- TLs and Teaching Staff SSA TL- SSAs ELC TL- EY Practitioners Teachers - Pupils EY Practitioners- Early learners Teaching and EY Staff- Parents/Carers

Desired Outcomes and Impact

All stakeholders will feel that their HWB is supported (information gathered through assessments/ surveys/ observations/ Wellbeing Indicators Self-Assessment/ Boxall Profiles)


approach that emphasises the ongoing importance of self-care. It will be important to work out where children and young people are in terms of their wellbeing through observation, conversation, and further assessment with planned interventions for some. Establishments, at all stages of this pandemic, have a critical role in remaining connected with families and supporting learning and wellbeing. Schools should engage directly with parents and in a compassionate, personalised way to foster confidence.

reconnection, transitions and belonging within their unique context, based on the SLC attachment strategy.

Focus upon a practical roll-out of SLC Attachment strategy including ensuring staff are appropriately trained.

Provide opportunities for Staff Development which allow staff to focus on individual and collective wellbeing needs of their children and young people, especially their most vulnerable.

Identify partners from beyond the school that may be needed to help with the recovery process e.g. psychological services, third sector agencies.

Work with parents and carers to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of attachment and of a recovery curriculum. Engage with stakeholders in the wider school community.

Have overt plans in place to support the wellbeing needs of staff which acknowledge that there will be many different circumstances and concerns. Ensure communication channels are clear and consider how staff may both support and help each other. Ensure there are clear processes in place which support all personnel functions, and

All staff to undertake professional learning related to Attachment Informed Practices (SLC provided)

Ongoing throughout the session

School and ELC to access HWB Recovery Toolkit to identify any supports needed from partner agencies.

All staff will be informed of the importance of quality relationships and attachment informed practices in order to support other staff and learners.


which allow staff to be included and consulted.

Theme: HWB CURRICULUM Rationale: The approach to the curriculum, learning and teaching is a key part of ensuring recovery. Effective delivery of a “recovery curriculum” is underpinned by recognition that all Behaviour is Communication. Reconnection with learning focusses upon key themes of; supporting engagement and motivation, readiness to learn, connection to prior learning and metacognitive approaches. Involving children and young people in decisions is part of a rights-based approach and acknowledged as best practice. It is strongly associated with good outcomes, including recovery from adversity.

Schools need to:

Contextualise the ’Reconnection & Recovery’ guidance to develop a recovery curriculum within a unique context.

Ensure Effective planning and monitoring is in place to support the learning and teaching process in the promotion of resilience and the support of mental, emotional, social, and physical wellbeing

Enable opportunities for children and young people’s voices to influence decisions and ensure the curriculum is responsive to needs.

Key Recovery Tasks (school specific): August 2020

SMT to create a Recovery Curriculum that reflects key themes of supporting engagement and motivation, readiness to learn, connection to prior learning and metacognitive approaches.

September 2020

Teaching and ELC staff to collegiately devise planning and monitoring to support learning and teaching.

October onwards 2020

Teaching and ELC staff to adapt the HWB curriculum as appropriate to the needs of learners.


Effective systems and processes will be in place to monitor and track children’s wellbeing. Staff will use information effectively to identify and address the individual wellbeing support needs of children.

SMT, teachers/EY practitioners and children will meet regularly to ensure appropriate interventions are in place.

Teachers and EY practitioners will review the range of interventions that are put in place. These will be supported by effective partnership working where possible, to effectively meet the wellbeing needs of children


Improvement Priority 1 - Health and Wellbeing

Progress Report June 2021

What did we actually achieve?

How do we know? What do we need to do next?

The school has a very welcoming, nurturing ethos where all staff are committed to ensuring the wellbeing of all learners. All school staff took part in SLC’s Attachment Strategy Training (Part 1 and Part 2) where they increased their understanding of behaviour as a form of communication, and recognised the thoughts and feelings that may lie beneath this behaviour. They learned to use attachment-informed approaches when responding to distressed children and young people and encouraged self-reflection within the context of their own wellbeing and attachment relationships. Effective systems and processes are in place to monitor and track children’s wellbeing. Staff use information gathered effectively to identify and address the individual wellbeing support needs of children. However, through observations, professional dialogue and working with learners, there is a recognition of an increased number of those requiring support with their emotional wellbeing. Teachers and EY practitioners identified where specific interventions would be beneficial for learners, in discussion with SMT. This allowed for effective partnership working with the school and ELC Specialist Support Teacher, Psychological Services, Speech & Lanaguage Therapy, The School Nurse, Counselling Services and the EY Support Worker.

Discussions between staff reflect the positive ethos in the school and ELC. Through observations of interactions between staff and learners, there was a clear use of approaches associated with attachment informed practices, including the recognition of behaviour as a form of communication and responding to others with compassion. Pupil Progress Meetings, observations, ASN monitoring, learner convestaions and consultations with parents/carers show an increase in the need for emotional support. Identified learners were supported through use of 1:1 interventions such as Talk & Draw, Speech & Langauge targetted support and Counselling.

Support emotional wellbeing by talking about emotions, building the use of appropriate language and developing emotional competence and resilience. Continue to work effectively with partners in order to support the individual needs of identified learners.


Improvement Priority 2 - Planning for Equity

How will we know we’ve been successful?

Quality Indicator

2.4 Personalised Support

Universal Support

Targeted Support

Removal of barriers to learning 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion

Wellbeing

Fulfilment of Statutory Duties

Inclusion and Equality 3.2 Raising Attainment and Achievement

Attainment in Literacy and Numeracy

Attainment over time

Overall quality of learners’ achievements

Equity for all learners

Recovery Priority

These have been generated as a series of prompts/suggestions to assist schools with the recovery planning process. They are based around current research and information around recovery and National Guidelines.

Key Recovery Tasks (School

specific)


Desired Outcomes and

Impact This section should give a brief indication of what success would look like and how it will be measured.

Theme: Re-identifying the poverty-related attainment gap. Rationale: To plan effectively to address the “gap” there needs to be a clear understanding of what the current “gap” is. Learners will have had a varied experience during their home learning period, and won’t necessarily be at the same point in their learning when they left school in March. Some learners will be further ahead; some at the same point;

Schools need to:

Consider the experiences learners have had during the school closure period, drawing on for example: - Engagement data - Home-school communication - Home-learning submissions - Engagement at hubs

Use a range of quantitative and qualitative measures to undertake a new “gap” analysis for all pupils, which takes account of:

Key Recovery Tasks (school specific): August- October 2020

Teaching and EY staff to use a range of quantitative and qualitative measures to undertake a new “gap” analysis for all pupils, which takes account of: - Learners’ wellbeing (Boxall

profile, observations, wellbeing indicators)


The school and ELC will have effective strategies in place to remove potential barriers to learning and ensure that learners achieve and attain as highly as possible.


with others showing limited progress if any. Schools therefore, need to reconsider their “gap” and re-assess to establish where the current gaps and barriers to learning are for their learners. This provides a clear foundation for improvement and planning.

- Learners’ wellbeing (e.g. Boxall profile, observations, wellbeing indicators)

- Attainment (e.g. standardised assessments, class work, use of benchmarks, in-school assessments)

- Engagement (e.g. Leuven scale, observational data)

- Participation (home-learning participation data)

Purple text gives examples of how schools may tackle this; this isn’t exhaustive but provides a starter for ten. Take a balanced and staged approach to assessment; remember learners are recovering and beginning to re-engage with their learning, and that their wellbeing comes first. Remember that some children may well have gained skills/experiences as well as lost them. Undertake a rigorous analysis of the pre and

post lockdown data with all relevant staff to establish the school’s new “gap” position. This will enable identification of groups/learners/stages requiring targeted additional support.

- Attainment ( standardised assessments, class work, use of benchmarks, in-school assessments)

- Engagement (Leuven scale and observational data)

- Participation (home-learning participation data)

- November 2020 SMT to create a new ‘gap’ position statement that identifies target groups and amend PPM document to reflect HWB, Literacy and Numeracy analysis

Target groups will be effectively identified and support put in place to reduce or remove barriers to learning.

PPMs will reflect HWB as well as Literacy and Numeracy. These will be used effectively to track and monitor strategies implemented and support given, in order to ensure improvement.

Theme: Planning to close the poverty-related attainment gap and reduce learners’ barriers to learning. Rationale: As learners return to school, SAC/PEF plans need to be flexible and adaptable to meet the current needs of learners as blended learning is implemented. Whilst there will be parts of the equity plans that are still relevant and can delivered, there will also be parts that are no longer relevant and therefore need to be altered and adapted following the

Schools need to:

Consult with all stakeholders (learners, parents, staff, partners) when making decisions around the PEF/SAC funding during the recovery phase.

Explore evidence based approaches through EEF, National Improvement Hub, SLC HWB recovery support document, etc. to inform thinking.

Engage in professional dialogue with staff to establish the best approaches to close the

Key Recovery Tasks (school specific): August 2020

SMT to collect data regarding access to ICT for home learning

August - February 2020

Consult with all stakeholders (learners, parents, staff, partners) when making decisions around the PEF funding during the recovery phase

The poverty related attainment gap, which we expect to have widened following the COVID-19 pandemic, will begin to reduce again.

Our most disadvantaged learners will feel supported in school and at home to progress with their learning.


re-identifying of the gap, and the need to take account of the new blended learning taking place. Note, any changes, to SAC/PEF plans must still adhere to the guiding principles in which this funding was intended.

poverty-related attainment gap. Ensure agreed approaches provide additionality.

Review staff training needs.

Review current partnership working.

Consider how you will measure and evidence impact; plan this into home and school approaches.

Consider how blended learning will affect our most disadvantaged learners: what support can be delivered while learning at home and in-school? You may find the EEF covid-19 resources helpful when considering this.

Identify any professional learning or partnership working opportunities which will meet the needs of learners (either full time or blended learning).

August 2020 – June 2021

Teaching staff and EY practitioners will ensure that Outdoor Learning is a key feature of planned learning.

Appropriate professional learning will be supported to provide teaching and EY staff with the necessary skills and knowledge to meet children’s needs.

All children benefit from regular, meaningful woodland experiences.

Staff will use the outdoors successfully to support targeted children with their emotional wellbeing.

Theme: Tracking and monitoring impact of equity approaches. Rationale: To ensure maximum impact for learners, there needs to be rigorous, regular tracking and monitoring of equity approaches. This enables schools to understand what works well, and to build on this, but also ensures approaches can be changed, stopped or adapted quickly when there is little/no impact.

Schools need to:

Identify key measures, which will evidence impact for your approaches. Consider: when; how; by whom; bureaucracy.

Engage in dialogue with staff, pupils and parents to discuss progress and analyse the evidence obtained from your key measures. Use these to inform planning; alter plans promptly and accordingly if little/no impact evidenced.

Consider points in planning section to find alternative approaches.

August 2020 – June 2021

All interventions will be

tracked and monitored and adapted/ changed as necessary.

PPMs will take place regularly between SMT and teaching/EY Staff, taking parent/carer and learner views into account

Interventions will effectively

support learner progress and wellbeing.

Theme: Cost of the School Day Rationale: The coronavirus will have affected families in different ways. Those who experienced poverty prior to the epidemic were already pushed into unacceptable hardship, and may have

Schools need to:

Revisit Child Poverty Action Group Website Read CPAG article on impacts of school

closures.

Key Recovery Tasks (school specific): August to June 2020 Use CPAG website and related articles to support any adaptations/changes to the

Our Cost of the School Day will reflect the school/ELC and needs of our community.

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/

https://cpag.org.uk/cost-of-the-school-day?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI79SKvszE6QIVyrTtCh1m-gmlEAAYASAAEgImRPD_BwE

https://cpag.org.uk/file/4912/download?token=ytkETSll


been pushed deeper into poverty due to the effects of the coronavirus. There will also be a number of families who are now experiencing poverty who weren’t before. As a result, cost of the school day has never been more important. We need to poverty-proof our approaches, particularly as we move towards a blended learning approach to ensure no learner misses out due to financial constraints.

Revisit your CoSD Position Statement. Consider how you can best eliminate charges for families.

Consider how you will equip learners with the tools required to undertake home-learning.

Consider how our actions can inadvertently alienate families in poverty.

Use knowledge/intelligence and sensitively engage with families as appropriate to understand any financial impacts.

Consider how you can sensitively support families by signposting them to financial supports or by supporting them as a school community.

Consider staff training needs – ensure all staff are consistent in their approach to poverty.

Consider what changes will need to be made to the school calendar in light of changes to family income.

school/ELC’s Position Statement regarding Cost of The School Day


Improvement Priority 2 - Equity




Staff are aware of the context and the differing backgrounds and experiences of our learners and their families. They have used this knowledge to put effective strategies in place to remove potential barriers to learning and ensure that learners achieve and attain as highly as possible. A few identified learners currently in P2, P3 and P6 are not always readily engaged in their learning. Although there was a recognition that the poverty-related attainment gap would increase due to periods of remote learning, the staff quickly recognised the need to focus on planning interventions to raise poor readers’ reading skills in order to develop reading attitudes and enhance reading motivation. Staff have begun to work collaboratively with stage partners to develop ways to engage learners to read for pleasure. This was then extended to using engaging texts including poetry to motivate learners and we are beginning to see the impact this has had with a few of our targetted learners who are now on track to attain in Reading (17%). Staff provide appropriate support to ensure there is inclusion and equity for all. The attainment and achievement gap is carefully analysed to ensure support is allocated or targeted where required, and ensure that vulnerable children do not miss out. 1-1 support reduced between August and December due guidance around infection control but this is now been re-established to support targetted learners. There has been a significant increase in learners benefiting from regular, meaningful woodland experinces and staff have used the outdoors successfully to support targetted learners with their emotional wellbeing. Our most disadvantaged learners have been supported in school and at home in a number of planned ways, including allocation of ICT devices, supply of good quality clothing and footwear and the provision of snacks.

Data and other intelligence shows the most disadvantaged pupils are identified and provided with opportunities to reduce or remove barriers to attainment and achievement. Observations show that a few learners are not engaged and require support from staff. A range of effective strategies are in place to ensure equity for our most vulnerable learners to be successful. This includes Cost of the School Day which is featured in the monthly newsletter. Parents/Carers of targetted learners have been involved in identifying possible supports through the Participatory Budgeting (PEF). An increased number of planned, high quality experiences outdoors have been observed and learner conversations have taken place. Request from parents/carers for these support resources have increased throughout the session.

Support identified learners to readily engage in their learning, regulating their behaviour with the support of staff. Continue to develop learners’ attitudes to reading and confidence in their reading skills. Plan appropriate 1-1 interventions in order to reduce or remove the attainment and achievement gap. Maintain the frequency of outdoor learning opportunities learners’ knowledge and skills within communication and teamwork. Continue to provide appropriate support and signpost access to partner agencies.


Improvement Priority 3 - Continuity of Learning

How will we know we’ve been successful?

Quality Indicator 2.2 Curriculum

Rationale and design

Development of the curriculum

Learning pathways

Skills for learning, life and work 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessment assessment

Learning and engagement

Quality of teaching

Effective use of assessment

Planning, tracking and monitoring 3.2 Raising Attainment and Achievement

Attainment in Literacy and Numeracy

Attainment over time

Overall quality of learners’ achievements

Equity for all learners

Recovery Priority

These have been generated as a series of prompts/suggestions to assist schools with the recovery planning process. They are based around current research and information around recovery and National Guidelines, including the SLC Recovery Guidance documentation. Links are included where appropriate. Please note - there are 2 Head Teacher consultative groups currently working with senior officers to produce Local Authority suggested recovery phase ‘curriculum models’ for both the Primary and Secondary sectors. As soon as the recommended models have been assessed for operational practicalities (including services such as cleaning, transport, catering etc) they will be emailed to all Head Teachers.

Key Recovery Tasks (School

specific)


Desired Outcomes and Impact This section should give a brief indication of what success would like and how it will be measured.

Theme: Learning In School Rationale: The implementation of physical distancing will impact upon the capacity for in-school learning within a specific setting. For the first phase of re-opening,

Schools need to:

Consider your current position in terms of staffing and pupil numbers. Use Local Authority and National Risk Assessment

Key Recovery Tasks (school specific):

The school and ELC classrooms and playroom have not been configured to support


We can support 100 % of school/ELC learners attending full time in


schools should assess the maximum number of pupils they can safely accommodate at any one time while maintaining a quality learning environment, Remaining in-school provision should be distributed across all year groups to ensure that every pupil benefits from in-school learning wherever possible It would be naive of any Headteacher to think that the child will pick up the Curriculum at exactly the same point at which they left it on the day their school closed. Too much has happened. Listen to what the children are saying. Look at what the children are experiencing. None of this follows the usual pattern of a school year with all of the annual cycle of events. It feels like a period of true social disorder. Compassionate Leadership is crucial at this time.” The Recovery Curriculum, Think Piece Schools should consider the needs of children and young people after a prolonged period of remote learning and absence from school. It will be important to promote reconnection and recovery within the curriculum.

advice and recovery planning guidance to plan an in school curricular provision.

Plan a whole school approach to how you will best utilise your learning spaces, taking account of social distancing and the types of learning episodes this will allow you to deliver.

Consider if communal and social areas could be repurposed to provide additional learning space. https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-re-opening-schools-guide/

Assess which curricular areas you are able deliver and resource in school, both in terms of physical spaces and staff capacity.

Consider how you will build opportunities for staff to work collegiately to moderate and assess within this structure.

Consider planning for longer blocks of learning over a longer-term timetable where possible (i.e. for secondary – 3hrs of a face to face learning of a subject once every 2 weeks)

Review your school’s learning, teaching and assessment processes. Your assessment guidelines will need to take account of the different learning experiences pupils will have had during school closures, there should be

the numbers needed to ensure 50% of our learners can attend (school) and 100% of learners (ELC- Learning Pod Model)

If there is a full return in August 2020 for our school learners- we can accommodate these numbers quickly by putting into place our full time provision plans.

August 2020

SMT to create a Recovery Curriculum that reflects key themes of supporting engagement and motivation, readiness to

August, with contingency planning in place for blended learning and 50% of school learners attending.

The Recovery Curriculum will meet the needs of our learners.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-re-opening-schools-guide/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-re-opening-schools-guide/


Decisions need to be made about what assessments will be used to re-assess the regulation, wellbeing and learning needs for each child. Very careful consideration should be given to the use of summative tests as a route to baseline pupils. This will be a time to make even more use of outdoor learning opportunities. In accessing a range of outdoor experiences, learners can build upon and develop skills that attribute to their holistic health and wellbeing. It is clear from all of the recent research that core teaching delivered in person by teachers in schools is most impactful. However where this teaching time is reduced the technology should be viewed as a way to enhance and consolidate the core teaching vs replacing it. Whilst the adults begin preparation and decision making, consider how we empower learners during this preparatory period. Ensure as leaders you gather views learners in their recovery, along with parents/carers .

a clear focus on health and wellbeing and the use of high-quality formative assessment.

Consider how you will continually assess learner progress and engagement to ensure appropriate support is being provide.

Consider what CLPL you will need to offer staff to allow them to deliver the recovery curriculum in school and how this will be facilitated.

Subject leaders/specialists should consider which areas of the curriculum are best suited to home/online learning and which areas require face to face learner/teacher interaction. In school curriculum should focus on the communication of complicated or new concepts, problem solving activities which might require specialist support and practical or investigative work.

Identify how you will convey all information to learners and to parents/carers and strategies to engage with them further on supporting learning in school.

Consider how to take account of parental views and pupil voice when developing the learning in your school.

learn, connection to prior learning and metacognitive approaches.

The Recovery Curriculum will focus on Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing with an overarching theme to support the development of skills for life, learning and work.

Other Areas of the Curriculum will be planned for as appropriate (blended learning or full time).

September 2020 Parents/carers will be consulted regarding the school/ELC Recovery Curriculum.

The focus on Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing will help teachers/EY practitioners take account of the different learning experience of pupils and early learners during ‘lockdown’.

Learners will further develop their skills for life, learning and work.

Parents will feel informed about the school/ELC’s Recovery Curriculum.

Theme: Learning At Home Rationale:

Schools need to:

If a blended approach to learning is required, the school has put into place the following measures:

The school’s approach to in-home learning will provide an effective, easy to follow model


A blended model of in-school and in-home learning is reliant on consistent, easy to use in-home learning materials which are intended to support and complement, but not replicate, in-school learning. This includes consideration of the specific needs of learners with additional support needs and other families most in need of support. While recognising that in-home learning takes many forms (including support from families) and is by no means all IT based, an approach to digital learning should be implemented to mitigate negative impacts on equity. This will specifically focus on providing digital access for pupils who do not have this at present. Schools should consider how they track ongoing engagement in remote blended learning and support families where it is clear this is an area of significant difficulty.

Consider how you will facilitate home learning given the staffing you have available both within your establishment and across the locality. What will this look like at various stages across the school.

Can staff who are shielding work on developing and leading on online learning opportunities?

Take account of the existing resources you have access to and how these can be used to support learning at home.

Consider what CLPL you will need to offer staff to allow them to deliver the recovery curriculum at home and how this will be facilitated.

Review and plan how you will deliver and set work at home and how feedback will be given to learners.

Establish a baseline on the number of pupils and staff who have home access to ICT.

Consider how to take account of pupil voice in their learning at home.

Identify how you will convey all information to learners and to parents/carers and strategies to engage with them further on supporting learning at home.

Consider how you will measure and track engagement with home learning

COVID Response Questionnaire to gather views of parents/carers

Google Classroom Questionnaire to gather views of pupils

Google Classroom for each stage

Dedicated ELC Email Home Learning Packs Provision of writing

materials (jotters, pens, pencils etc.) by identifying community collection point for resources

Dedicated ICT website – parental support

ICT support email for parents/carers

Dedicated ICT website – professional learning for teachers

Monitoring of engagement in online learning has taken place by teachers to allow SMT to ‘target’ those learners at risk of missing out by providing ICT equipment where necessary

ICT device/internet access included in parental questionnaire

Up-to-date and regular communication through ELC email, School App, School Website and Twitter

that supports and complements in-school learning for all learners.


Improvement Priority 3 - Continuity of Learning




An effective Remote Learning Statement is in place, detailing how the school/ELC will support the continuity of learning during any possible periods of remote learning. Tracking of attendance data shows a rate of 96.4% (3% higher than SLC’s average). The Curriculum Rationale for Recovery provided a good start for staff to plan learning activities that allowed them to get to know the children as learners and take into account their experiences during periods of remote learning. It allowed for an agreed focus on Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing alongside the targetting of Skills for Life Learning and Work. Staff have planned using learning pathways which provide support for all children to build on their prior learning with targeted interventions for children who need any additional support. ELC staff use SLC’s Together We Can And We Will materials to inform planning and support the assessment of children’s progress. As the session progressed, staff were able to use observations and assessment information to plan progressive next steps in learning. There is a recognition of a need to improve attainment in Writing, some areas of Numeracy and a continuation of supporting Reading for Pleasure.

Positive feedback from parents/carers, staff and pupils regaring the Remote Learning experience. Registration Data Forward Planning Observations and Assessment Information Learning experiences are planned for, taking account of design principles of CfE. Learners’ needs are met through appropriate alternative pathways and supports where necessary. High expectations and a focus on raising attainment remains a priority for all staff, with a need to further increase attainement levels.

Update and adapt as necessary to reflect any changes in approach. Continue to ensure good levels of attendance by tracking and monitoring levels, targeting any learners’ attendance that falls below 90%. Improve attainment in Writing, some areas of Numeracy and have a continued focus on supporting Reading for Pleasure.

south lanarkshire council recovery standards and quality

Documents