School Development

Each year the school creates a school development plan that is about how we plan to improve the school during the year.  It focuses on a few key priorities.  This is not to say the school is not working on other things too, but the priorities are the focus of training and monitoring.  The priorities in our School Development Plan are based on the following key evaluative work:

  • Our analysis of summative assessment data regarding the children’s attainment and progress
  • Ongoing monitoring by SLT and subject leaders
  • Discussions with staff and governors, including our annual review twilight session in June
  • External views and recommendations from things such our SILC visits with the Crofty Education Trust
  • Parent views from questionnaires
  • Children’s views from pupil conferencing

As well as creating a school development plan document and related action plans, we create a poster to capture what we are focusing on.  The poster attempts to capture what we are exploring and doing.  It acts as a prompt and starting point for discussion with staff about the priorities and it also acts as a visual reminder.  We like to share it with parents too, to give them an idea of our areas of focus for development.

More Details about Our Current Priorities:

Priority 1

The curriculum-What we teach

Ensure every pupil benefits from an ambitious, sequenced and progressive curriculum with clearly defined outcomes.

  • The new ‘Grow and Make a Positive Difference Curriculum’ has a compelling rationale that illustrates how the curriculum fits together and incorporates the drivers and staff and children can articulate what our school is all about
  • The new curriculum intent for each subject has been developed to accommodate the new class structure, the progression within and across year groups is sound, and all subject leaders can articulate the rationale, including how their subject promotes and achieves the drivers, with a focus on art and music
  • The curriculum intent for reading and writing has been updated to fit with the new class structure, strengthen the broader curriculum and adjusted to reflect best practice considering the English Education Review: ‘Telling the Story’
  • Mastering Number is being used across the school to improve fluency and automaticity, including times tables and all children are exposed to challenging mathematical tasks that promote deep thinking
  • Learning outdoors in EYFS is as strong and as impactful as learning inside and outdoor learning across the whole school helps children to be curious, creative and courageous
  • Analysis of the barriers faced by disadvantaged pupils, alongside use of evidence-based approaches leads to well considered plans to accelerate progress for disadvantaged pupils.
  • The needs of disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND are considered and planned for to secure ambitious outcomes.
  • The curriculum offer includes enrichments that support the development of children’s cultural capital

Priority Two

Pedagogy-How we teach it

Implementation of the curriculum represents high quality teaching for all, including pupils who are disadvantaged and have special educational needs and disabilities, resulting in outcomes at least in line with the national average.

  • Teaching (implementation) of the curriculum in each subject ensures that pupils understand key concepts, and that they can transfer key knowledge to long-term memory and apply it fluently.
  • Pupils’ writing across the curriculum represents high expectations and high standards. Outcomes at the end of the year are at least in line with national averages for expected and GDS.
  • Formative and summative assessment is used effectively to check pupil’s understanding of the curriculum, to correct misunderstandings and inform teaching.
  • Where gaps are identified in pupils learning, provision enables them to catch up quickly, particularly in phonics, number facts and times tables.
  • Provision for pupils with SEND is suitably ambitious, adapted to meet individual needs and ensures they are well prepared for the next steps in their education.
  • Implementation of the school disadvantaged strategy closes the gaps in attainment for those identified as disadvantaged (there is no attainment gap between disadvantaged and non disadvantaged pupils).
  • GLD at EYFS, End of Yr 1 phonics, KS1 and KS2 attainment continues to be above National averages for reading, writing and maths and an increased number of children are working at the GDS.

Priority Three

Attendance, Behaviour and Personal Development-Make sure the children benefit from the teaching

Ensure the approach to attendance, behaviour and personal development improves attendance, supports high engagement and a sense of belonging, and helps everyone to be kind, honest, empathetic, inclusive and grateful

  • Improve attendance across the school and in particular those with SEND and those considered most disadvantaged to 97%
  • Reduce persistent absenteeism to below 5%
  • Behaviour is excellent and children and staff display the 5 values: kindness, empathy, inclusion, honesty and gratitude
  •  Everyone feels that they belong and all children are engaged in school life-lessons and beyond

Priority Four

Leadership and Professional Development

Getting better at teaching

Ensure leadership enables staff to be curious, creative and courageous so that they can develop and make a bigger difference to all the children’s lives and outcomes

  • Leaders identify and actively promote development opportunities for all staff, linked to continuous performance management and use coaching to ensure all staff are continually improving as individuals and this results in improved children’s outcomes
  • Use of whole school focuses for staff development that lead to big shifts of learning across the school
  • Staff are curious about the children and their needs, ways to develop their own practice as well as grow their subject knowledge
  • Staff are courageous-they explore and try new things, they learn from mistakes, they step up and lead others
  • Leaders provide a curriculum that is clear about minimum high expectations that gives the time and flexibility for staff to be creative
  • Subject leaders monitor to ensure the implementation of the new curriculum has been a success and have used the Crofty curriculum principle audits to support self-evaluation and inform action planning.