STANDARDS AND QUALITY REPORT

2014-2015

Head of Education - David Leng

Headteacher – Sally Kennedy Depute Headteachers – Gail MacLean and Sarah Starrs

DUNBLANE PRIMARY SCHOOLand

NURSERY CLASS

The following are the national, local and school contexts upon which our School Improvement Plan and our Standards and Quality Report are based. Throughout this report, these priorities and aims are reflected within our achievements and our areas for improvement in the next session.

NATIONAL PRIORITIES

Achievement and Attainment -To raise standards of educational attainment for all in schools, especially in the core skills of literacy and numeracy, and to achieve better levels in national measures of achievement including examination results

Framework for Learning -To support and develop the skills of teachers, the self discipline of pupils and to enhance school environments so that they are conducive to teaching and learning

Inclusion and Equality -To promote equality and help every pupil benefit from education, with particular regard paid to pupils with disabilities and special educational needs, and to Gaelic and other lesser used languages

Values and Citizenship -To work with parents to teach pupils respect for self and one another and their interdependence with other members of their neighbourhood and society and to teach them the duties and responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic society

Learning for Life - To equip pupils with the foundation skills, attitudes and expectations necessary to prosper in a changing society and to encourage creativity and ambition

STIRLING EDUCATION SERVICE PRIORITIES

Curriculum For Excellence – Assessment GIRFEC – Getting it Right For Every Child The performance of the lowest 20% of pupils Attendance and Exclusion Early Years Framework MCMC – More Choices, More Chances

OUR SCHOOL AND NURSERY AIMS

In Dunblane Primary School and Nursery Class we aim to:

Encourage and empower children to be successful learners by providing a variety of high quality and challenging learning experiences.

Offer a motivating and relevant curriculum that will provide our children with life skills and support independence, choice and responsibility.

Promote and embed our values of Respect, Responsibility, Honesty, Care & Compassion and Fairness & Equality throughout all areas of nursery and school life.

Develop and maintain positive and effective relationships with children, parents/carers, partner agencies and establishments and the wider community.

Ensure continuous improvement and positive outcomes for all children which reflect the changing nature of the world around us.

Foster a sense of pride in Dunblane Primary School and Nursery Class, representing them positively in the local

OUR VISION

Learning today, shaping tomorrow

DUNBLANE PRIMARY SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2014-2015

What were our Improvement Priorities this session?

WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT OF OUR IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES?

IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 1 A - CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT –HEALTH AND WELLBEING To design Health & Wellbeing Curriculum framework. To provide a shared direction for the work of the school and raise the profile of all aspects of HWB throughout school life..IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 1B - CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT –HEALTH AND WELLBEING Development of Physical Education , Physical Activity and Sport ( PEPAS ) and translating the national guidance into practice. To develop clear framework for all aspects of PEPAS and accessing a range of support /providersIMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 2- LEARNING & TEACHING –OUTDOOR LEARNING

To develop an understanding of outdoor learning and use this as an effective learning and teaching tool across the curriculum.IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 3 - POLICY REVIEW AND DEVELOPMENT - HOMEWORK

In partnership with parents and children revise and develop a school homework policy.IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 4– TRAINING AND RESOURCES - TECHNOLOGIES

To audit existing resources and programs prior to developing technologies curriculum and practice in depth To share ways of utilising existing ICT packages To provide staff development opportunities in aspects of ICT

IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 5–LEARNING & TEACHING – ASSESSMENT & MODERATION, PLANNING , CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT & ORGANISATION To improve consistency of assessment and moderation practice to evidence progress and plan next steps in learning for both children and staff. To increase independence and pace of learning Share practice and develop consistency in classroom management , organisation and weekly planning

IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 6 - MEETING LEARNERS’ NEEDS - CHILDREN PLANNING To further develop the use of learning walls in involving children in planning their learning. To develop and implement the consistent use of reflective language with children. To develop effective methods of identifying and setting learning goals with children, ensuring these are visible for children and parents.

IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 7 - LEARNING COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE WORKING Embed new Learning Community Staged Intervention /GIRFEC framework ASN moderation Implementation of ABC approaches Curriculum moderation - reading

SUCCESSES AND ACHIEVEMENTS : What outcomes have we achieved? How well do we meet the needs of our school community?HGIOS - 1.1 IMPROVEMENTS IN PERFORMANCE ; 4.1 THE SCHOOL’S SUCCESS IN WORKING WITH AND ENGAGING WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY & 6.2 PARTICIPATION IN POLICY AND PLANNING

Pupil performance in literacy and numeracy continues to generally reflect national levels. Assessments indicate that most children are performing within or above the national picture of attainment in reading, writing and general maths. Mental maths is an area for continued improvement and is a priority for our next improvement planning cycle.

Very clear long term planning ensures that teachers are aware of the pace and progression in learning and are able to identify learners’ next steps to continue steady improvement in achievement and attainment.

Staff continue to involve learners in helping to shape the way their learning evolves. Big and Little questions are being used more consistently throughout the school including the nursery class and children are confident in generating these and helping to find answers in a variety of ways.

Reading moderation has begun within Dunblane primary schools learning community and there is emerging awareness of agreed progression within reading skills. This now needs to be further developed to clarify depth of learning and agree a more consistent standard across the learning community.

164 parents responded to a Survey Monkey about their children’s learning in DPS. 98% of parents strongly agreed /agreed that their child was happy in school with 91% reporting that their child has a clear understanding of what they are learning and can talk about it with confidence. 89% of parents agreed that the Sharing Learning and parent information sessions increase their understanding of what and how their child is learning. 79% felt that the school accesses a range of experiences in the community to enrich learning and 71% believe there is appropriate level of challenge in learning. 1% strongly disagreed with this statement. 87% agreed that their children learning through a range of different approaches.

Citizenship groups have been further embedded and have begun to share more visible impact within the school and beyond. eg JRSO group has worked closely with Police Scotland to address some of the safety concerns around parking and a School Travel Plan has been devised to promote safe routes to school. Several groups have contributed to securing our Eco flag with a report which required no action points. Feedback from the Eco assessment team was extremely positive and identified areas of excellent practice in terms of involving and engaging all children in the school

We continue to achieve success in many sporting activities .These include 9th overall place in Stirling Schools Cross Country and girls team came 3 rd overall in Scotland in the Scottish Schools Championships , Think Dance , Active Stirling, hockey , tennis

Learners, staff and parents were involved in auditing current homework practice and agreeing a clear homework policy which reflects school life and children’s commitments outwith school.

A DPS twitter account was established and steadily increases in follower numbers. This has been positively received as a medium for celebrating ad sharing a wide variety of activities, events and achievements and will feature on our new website early next session.

Highly effective development work in Health and Wellbeing has resulted in a comprehensive curricular pathway for each class stage and links to SHANARRI indicators .There are clear development lines for physical education throughout the school.

Staff development and support with planning and resources has increased the opportunities for outdoor learning across the school. In addition to lessons taking place outside, staff are now beginning to seek increased opportunities to use the external environment as a teaching tool. Each class has a pack of materials to support staff in planning and delivering outdoor learning experiences. This work will be built upon further next session

Through our Achievement Assemblies we continue to share and celebrate a very broad range of learner achievements including sailing , horse riding , dance , gymnastics , swimming , ball sports , arts , competition success etc. The school values continue to act as a moral compass upon which we base decisions , behaviours and achievements.

Feedback from community partners indicates all are satisfied with their partnership with the school

WORK AND LIFE OF THE SCHOOL : How good is the education we provide? How good is our management?HGIOS –2.1 LEARNERS’ EXPERIENCES ; 5.1 THE CURRICULUM ; 5.9 IMPROVEMENT THROUGH SELF-EVALUATION ;5.7 PARTNERSHIPS WITH LEARNERS AND PARENTS & 6.3 PLANNING FOR IMPROVEMENT

Consultation has taken place to gather learner , staff and parent views about what and how children learn in Dunblane PS . This information is shaping our finalised curriculum rationale so that everyone has a clear understanding and can use this rationale to underpin the life and work of the school.

Outdoor learning opportunities are planned throughout the year. A cohesive approach to self evaluation using scaling with children has provided benchmark data to measure future improvements on focused areas. Progression pathways in Social Subjects , RME , Sciences , and Expressive Arts have ensured improved pace and clear progression in learning and

support the transition process for Session 2015-16.Teachers are very clear of the minimum expectation of what a child should attain and achieve in terms of knowledge and skills at each stage and have confidently discussed progress at impact meetings each term with senior managers, linking progress to a variety of types of evidence.

Dunblane PS was one of 6 local schools who participated in the pilot 1+2 Languages programme introducing French to P1 children . Almost all teaching staff engaged in comprehensive staff development for Bain Francais to enable them to begin to teach French. This has greatly increased staff confidence in delivering a second language .

A clear programme of quality assurance is implemented: termly class visits , impact meetings , learner conversations and work sampling take place with a different curricular focus each term. Teachers and Early Childhood Educators now also reflect on the class visit and engage in dialogue with senior managers to increase involvement in the process as a professional reflection tool. This helps staff and managers identify an accurate picture of practice and impact.

Each class teacher has liaised with a member of senior management team to develop an action plan for their children, building on assessment information and classroom performance. This information will now be recorded in individual assessment profiles from session 2015-16

Nursery staff have been fully involved in whole school improvement RACI groups, further strengthening the links between nursery and school and utilising expertise.

Many staff have undertaken professional development via twilight training sessions including additional support needs , DHT and PT network events , hearing impairment and Active Stirling training .

A clear and concise Homework Policy has been developed and will be implemented in Session 2015-16 A parent information event took place to share our curriculum pathways. A whole school overview of our curriculum was shared with parents then

class teachers demonstrated how that translates into classroom practice. Although the attendance level was somewhat disappointing , feedback was extremely positive. Staff also created a range of informative displays to demonstrate to parents what learning within and across curricular areas looks like.

Very positive feedback is received from parents through the staged Intervention process. Get Set Go support by Support for Learning Assistants is positively impacting on learners.

Children have taken part in competitions such as Rotary Quiz , Athletics , Chess ,tennis and badminton. Ten new ipads have been purchased with support from Parent Council to enhance learning and teaching. Principal teachers have had an opportunity to consolidate their focus areas this year and have seen increased impact of their remits in Health and

Wellbeing , Citizenship and partnership working. Session 2015-16 will provided further opportunity to ensure these practices are deeply embedded throughout the nursery and school.

Moderation work has continued within our learning community with a focus on reading. Dunblane PS has joined Phase 1 of the Local Authority School Improvement Partnership approach to working collaboratively to improve outcomes for

children. We are involved in a school partnership trio with Strathdevon and Sunnyside Primary schools and have engaged in work around sharing our curriculum development .This partnership approach is being recognised nationally as good practice and will be further built upon next session .

Through extensive reflection and information gathering regarding views on literacy and numeracy , individual learners have influenced the SIP targets which reflect the Literacy Review report findings 2015.

VISION AND LEADERSHIP How good is our leadership?HGIOS - 2.2 THE SCHOOL’S SUCCESS IN INVOLVING PARENTS, CARERS AND FAMILIES ; 3.1 ENGAGEMENT OF STAFF IN THE LIFE AND WORK OF THE SCHOOL ; 7.3 STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND REVIEW ; 8.1 PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE COMMUNITY, EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS, AGENCIES AND EMPLOYERS & 9 .3 DEVELOPING PEOPLE AND PARTNERSHIPS

The RACI model of improvement has been very effectively implemented this session and has ensured all staff have had an active role in progressing our improvement priorities this year. Staff have been able to access opportunities to lead RACI development groups and have worked in small teams to generate their own RACI action plans and to share progress with all staff at collegiate meetings.

Staff who have assumed these professional leadership roles have increased understanding of the theory and practice of the improvement process. All staff have undertaken Professional Review and Development with participation being recorded in Seemis system. Teaching staff have participated in

the new PRD process linked to revised GTCS Standards for Registration . Teachers are now using My GTCs online to support Continuous Professional Learning and recording for Professional Update.

Teachers have been introduced to the Raising Attainment for All (RAFA) model of improvement and are at the early stages of awareness of improvement science approaches.

Some teachers have volunteered to trial a teacher Trio approach to CLPL based on the School Improvement Partnership model. Each Trio has identified a focus area to begin with.

Staff also lead a range of clubs : Greek , running club , Think Dance , Chess, badminton , reading café, hockey and cheerleading and the school is represented in local competitive events in many of these activities. Links with parent organisations and volunteers have supported the range of extra curricular opportunities within the school .

A group of trained parents has sustained and further extended Bikeability sessions for P5 and P6 children. Sharing Learning sessions have been extremely well received by parents and have further developed learner confidence in demonstrating their skills and

learning in a variety of ways eg through performance , displays , activity workshops etc. Pupils have learned through the expressive arts and shared their learning through stage performances of Crikey Moses, Prickly Hay and The

Bumblesnouts Each member of the nursery team has a leadership role within nursery, leading on an aspect of nursery improvement. Nursery have further developed links and partnerships with the local community, with children’s learning being made visible in different locations within

the community. Parents also run a highly successful and well attended badminton club which has developed pupil skills each year. Older pupils lead clubs and activity sessions for younger children within the school. These include dance , cheerleading , paired reading and playground

games. Extensive partnership working has enhanced a highly successful Health Fortnight with collaboration from health professionals , fitness coaches and

beauty therapy students. Parent volunteers joined a health and well being assembly where children’s achievements and the contribution of coaches and leaders was celebrated.

Our supportive Parent Council and Parent Fundraising Group continue to enrich the life of the school and to work with staff and children to achieve our priorities. They have provided an Interactive Whiteboard to enhance learner experiences for our nursery class. Following consultation changes were made to the school uniform supplier and to the company commissioned to undertake the annual school photographs.

Parents form a ground force squad several times a year to help improve the external environment of the school . Increased access to local services and amenities is supported by regular parent volunteers to accompany children to a range of local places of interest

including Baxters Loan, Ochlochy Pond , Dunblane Library , Dunblane Museum and local churches , making learning relevant to our context and bringing it to life for our children.

Dunblane Hydro has provided excellent support for P7 Burns Supper in terms of advice, training and tableware. The local Marks and Spencer has provided valuable support to the Fairtrade citizenship group for Fairtrade Fortnight . Children , parents and outside agencies ,have successfully collaborated to support identified good causes, raising impressive amounts of donations. Depute Headteacher successfully completed Scottish Qualification for Headship Depute Headteacher developed skills in Design for Learning

WHAT NEXT?We plan to develop :

Mental maths Spelling and extended writing Technologies Children’s understanding of Health and Wellbeing indicators : SHANARRI Moderation of mental maths within the learning community

All parents and learners were consulted on our achievements over the year and were invited to suggest areas for development : PARENTS said: CHILDREN said:

DUNBLANE PRIMARY SCHOOL and NURSERY CLASS IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2015-16

SPECIFIC TARGETS

The following are our priorities for session 2015-16

IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 1 - LEARNING & TEACHING /MEETING LEARNERS’ NEEDS : MENTAL MATHS

To improve learner performance in the four number processes in mental maths in regular mental assessments by April 2016IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 2 - LEARNING & TEACHING /MEETING LEARNERS’ NEEDS : SPELLING

To improve learner accuracy and consistency in spelling in progress through Nessy Island target word sets by June 2016

IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 3 - LEARNING & TEACHING /MEETING LEARNERS’ NEEDS : WRITING To improve the quality and quantity of learners ‘ extended writing with each child producing an individually published book

IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 4– TRAINING AND RESOURCES / CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT : TECHNOLOGIES To improve the use of information and communication technologies to enhance learning and teaching

NURSERY IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 1 : LEARNER’S EXPERIENCES – LITERACY AND LANGUAGE

Maximise positive language and literacy opportunities in order to improve learning experiences for childrenNURSERY IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY 2 : LEARNER EXPERIENCE

To improve learner experience through a shared understanding of high quality provision and how our own learning and commitment contributes to this. LEARNING COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE WORKING :

To collaborate effectively within our Learning Community to improve mental maths , tracking and monitoring practice and SHANARRI indicators

We hope you found this report both informative and worthwhile. We thank you for your support this session and look forward to your continued and extended support next year.