Agenda item

(Copy reports attached.)

3.0     BROOMLANDS PRIMARY SCHOOL

          In Attendance: - Mr A Lindsay (Headteacher), Pam Guthrie and Jennifer Redpath (Parent Council Representatives), Gillian McKenzie (Quality Improvement Officer) and Councillor Mountford.

   The Chairman welcomed the representatives from Broomlands Primary School.

3.1        HMIe report

There had been circulated copies of a report on His Majesty’s Inspector of Education (HMIE) Reports for Broomlands Primary School and Nursery Class and the Improvement Plan developed by the Headteacher to address the key recommendations.  The report explained that Broomlands Primary School was inspected using a ‘full’ inspection model, which means that 4 key quality indicators were inspected in both the Early Learning and Childcare setting and the Primary School over a 5 day period.  The HMIE Report evaluated the Early Learning and Childcare provision as very good and the Primary provision as good, across all quality indicators. The evaluation gradings range given by HMIE on school inspections can range from unsatisfactory to excellent.  A grading of very good indicated there were major strengths in this aspect of the school’s work. Gradings of good indicated there were important strengths with areas for improvement in this aspect of the school’s work. 

3.2     The inspection team had found the following strengths in the school’s work - a)  

Articulate, enthusiastic and confident children who clearly demonstrate their school and nursery values each day. They play and learn together well and are supportive of each other; b) The effective leadership of the headteacher and senior leaders in establishing a team of staff who work very well together and support one another to improve. School and nursery staff engage in professional learning and reflection, and this was supporting school improvement and helping children achieve and attain; c) Senior leaders and all staff create a nurturing, inclusive ethos where children feel safe and cared for. This has a positive impact on the wellbeing of all children across the nursery and school; d) Staff make very effective use of digital technologies which are fully integrated across school life. This is enhancing children’s learning experiences and skills and e) In the nursery, practitioners make highly effective use of outdoor spaces to promote and support children’s thinking, curiosity and enquiry across the curriculum.

3.3     The following areas for improvement had been identified and discussed with the Headteacher and representative from Scottish Borders Council a) Senior leaders should continue to develop clear measures to evaluate their success in improving outcomes for children b) As planned, school staff should continue to develop opportunities for children to lead their own learning and apply their skills in real-life and meaningful contexts c) In the school, staff should review how they plan, implement and evaluate the support offered to children who need additional help with their learning. This should involve identifying specific targets that help demonstrate more clearly children’s progress and successes and d) Senior leaders and teachers should continue to develop their use of information about children’s progress in learning to plan further improvements in attainment.

3.4     Mr Lindsay explained that the model for school improvement had changed following advice from HMIE, with working parties established, using the rapid improvement cycle to approach the 4 key areas identified for improvement.  The tracking systems in reading, writing, oracy and numeracy had been simplified.  Working parties were focusing on how to plan and develop focused targets for children with additional need, and the universal target setting. Consideration was being given to how children were better included in planning and reviewing their own progress, in order that they are better able to reflect on their learning and consider their own next steps.  From January 2024, working party time would be used to focus on how to provide opportunities for children to lead their own learning and would involve a high degree of creativity in terms of the contexts in which learning takes place, using as many real-life experiences and settings as possible, to allow learning to make more sense to children, and help them transfer skills across contexts.   Agreed use of standardized data and ongoing assessment would give a clearer picture of progress and specific areas to be developed. This linked to the stretch aims and children identified as being able to make the next level with targeted support and appropriate interventions.

3.5     In terms of progress made, a system was being developed to better track progress over time, ensuring that collectively every child could be closely tracked to ensure continuous progress was being made. This work dovetailed with the revised consultation processes, with a clearer focus on supporting those children who most needed it and a more relentless focus on ongoing attainment of all.  Staff had already reviewed and adapted tracking in numeracy, removing jargon and ensuring it was written in child-friendly language, so that children can better engage with it. A personalized plan overview had been developed for individual children, capturing a clear picture of the whole child, including factors that may be impacting their attainment and including personalised targets and identified strategies and approaches that would support that child to make accelerated progress. Next steps were to engage parents in this process, trialing in two classes to see how digital technologies could be used, with Showbie as a key tool in this.  Learning Walks were planned in the next term, with a focus on how children were leading learning, used as an audit tool to build on existing good practice later in the year.  The timing for standardized assessment had been changed in line with SBC policy, to ensure that there was time to make better use of the diagnostic elements.

3.6     Pam Guthrie and Jennifer Redpath, representatives from the Broomlands parent Council e High School, explained that the school was improving all the time. There was good communication between school and home, with the school sharing the broad range of learning activities open to the children and regularly updated about improvements in the school. The curriculum overviews, give parents a clear idea of the learning going on in classes, allowing parents to support their child and follow-up learning.  They believed Showbie had the potential to be even more helpful in sharing learning and helping parents work with their children. Children were positive about aspects of school such as music and the school provided a wide range of extra-curricular sports and arts activities. The Parent Council were confident that the children were learning in a wonderful environment at Broomlands, where the staff were caring and nurturing.  Technology was integrated into the school and an increasing range of opportunities for responsibility, through a wide range of pupil groups was provided, allowing the children to work collaboratively, supporting one another through small group work and working in a range of different learning styles.  The importance of giving children clear targets, regardless of their level of need was recognized and it was highlighted that the school were very good at identifying additional need, and they work well with lots of partners to help and support children and families.   The children have amazing ideas and the school provided opportunities for children to be creative, bring skills from outside school and encouraged to bring achievements from outside of school – this gives them recognition and was celebrated through the social media of the school. 

3.7     Gillian McKenzie, Quality Improvement Officer congratulated the school on their positive inspection and highlighted that the Nursery use of their outside space was recognised as best practise.

DECISION

AGREED: -

(a)        The School Improvement Plan for Broomlands Primary School which addressed areas for improvement as outlined in the HMIE Inspection Report (March 2023).

(b)       The Quality Improvement Team’s plan for support and showcasing of the work of   Broomlands Primary School following a strong inspection.