nif progress report 2018-19 · 2020. 8. 20. · 6 attendance & exclusions: average attendance...

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Education Service National Improvement Framework Report 2018-19

Towards an empowered, connected, self-improving

system to achieve excellence and equity for all.

August 2019

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EDUCATION SERVICE NATIONAL IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK REPORT 2017-18

CONTENTS

Education Service Overview - Service Mission and Expected Educational Benefits………………………..P3

Strategic Context …………………………………………………………………………………………………...P4

Clackmannanshire Profile ………………………………………………………………………………………....P6

Service Structure …………………………………………………………………………………………………...P8

Budget ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….P9

Delivery Plan and Measurement ………………………………………………………………………………..P10

National Improvement Framework 2017/18 - Progress Overview …………………………………………..P12

School Leadership ………………………………………………………………………………………………..P15

Teacher Professionalism ………………………………………………………………………………………...P18

Parental Engagement …………………………………………………………………………………………….P24

Assessment of Children’s Progress …………………………………………………………………………….P28

School Improvement ………………………….………………………………………………………………….P32

Performance Information ………………………………………………………………………………………...P34

Appendix 1 NIF Progress Report …………………………………………………..………….………………..P36

Appendix 2 Clackmannanshire Parental Involvement & Engagement Strategy………………………….P50

Appendix 3 Case Study…………………………………...……………………………………………………...P53

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Clackmannanshire’s Education Service provides a wide range of services for children, young people, families and communities. Our mission is to educate, protect, support and promote the achievements and health and wellbeing of every child, with a particular focus on our most vulnerable children, including our Looked After Children (LAC).

Clackmannanshire is one of nine Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) authorities. Much of our work is undertaken in partnership with other services, agencies, communities, children, young people and their families. Improvement is supported by collaboration across educational establishments, services, with other regional partners and in partnership with the Forth Valley and West Lothian Improvement Collaborative.

This report sets out the rationale, strategies, actions and performance measures which ensure that ongoing improvement is the norm in Clackmannanshire. It is structured around the 4 key priorities of the National Improvement Framework (NIF), with focus on delivering improvements under its 6 key drivers: School leadership, Teacher Professionalism, Parental Engagement, Assessment of Children’s Progress, School Improvement and Performance Information.

Our improvement plans are organised around these 6 key drivers with the actions - often being inter-connected. This means that success in one driver can contribute to success in the other drivers. Our plans are informed by the latest research both nationally and internationally. They also take into cognisance our local context and feedback from local consultation. The drivers apply to all (children and parents) and all teams within Education: Community Learning and Development; Educational Psychology; Sport; Estates; Early Learning and Childcare; Additional Support Needs; Scottish Attainment Challenge and Improving Outcomes (Broad General Education and Senior Phase). Our improvement is closely monitored against a comprehensive set of performance measures

This report is informed by a full range of self-evaluation evidence, including School Improvement Plans and stakeholder views, all of which is underpinned by a comprehensive Research and Evaluation Strategy. Case studies are also included in this report as evidence of our improvement.

Our priorities and activities to achieve equity and excellence align with those set in the NIF. They reflect the areas where we believe we can make the biggest difference to improving the outcomes for all our children.

Research recognises improvement in education requires a holistic, coherent, comprehensive and integrated approach, which places the learner firmly at the centre1. We will continue to respond to national policy developments and priorities; fully adhering to national and local directives including:

• Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC)

• Curriculum for Excellence

• Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017

• Corporate Parenting Strategy underpinned by the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

• Developing the Young Workforce and

• Learning Together: National action plan on parental involvement

• Guidance on presumption to provide education in a mainstream setting

In addition, we are implementing change through the Scottish Attainment Challenge and Pupil Equity Fund. Our Plan also links to the Integrated Children’s Services Plan, People Business Plan and Local Outcomes Improvement Plan that have been developed by Clackmannanshire Council and our Community Planning Partners.

EDUCATION SERVICE OVERVIEW

SERVICE MISSION & EXPECTED EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS

1 Synergies for Better Learning: An International Perspective on Evaluation and Assessment, April 2013 and

Improving Schools in Scotland: An OECD Perspective, 2015

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Clackmannanshire is Scotland's smallest local authority, but also one of the most deprived, with 26% of children living in poverty. The challenges faced by schools and their communities in achieving excellence and equity are significant and complex; however there is a strong, shared commitment to achieving the best for our children and young people, enabling them to achieve regardless of their circumstances.

Analysis from current data and evidence in Clackmannanshire highlights the impact of the additional funding provided through the Scottish Attainment Challenge and Pupil Equity Fund. This analysis evidences the value of exploring alternatives, being innovative and creative at school and authority level.

This report details how we are working to close the poverty related attainment gap and continuing to improve outcomes for children across Clackmannanshire. Our work is central to the future growth and success of Clackmannanshire and aligns with our Local Outcomes Improvement Plan.

Collecting data alone will not, in itself, bring about improvement. Reporting, analysis and using data for future planning is key to the success of our improvement cycle. Robust research and evaluation, which is both transparent and timely, is fundamental to improvement. Therefore we also work in partnership with Universities, including external expertise and innovative development into our improvement activity.

Educators, parents, pupils, partners and others expect quality information about the services we provide which is easily understood and comparable to data and information from multiple sources. This approach is used to inform our planning at a local level, allowing for scrutiny at all levels to ensure we are delivering on our priorities for education.

NOTE: Throughout this document, the definition of a parent includes guardian and any person who is liable to maintain or has

parental responsibilities (within the meaning of section 1(3) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995) in relation to, or has care of a

child or young person.

STRATEGIC CONTEXT

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Population: Clackmannanshire is Scotland's smallest local authority with a population of around 51,400. Children aged 0 to 15 years account for 17% of our overall population; the same as the national average1.

Deprivation: Clackmannanshire is one of the most deprived areas of Scotland with four of our datazones featuring in the 5% most deprived areas across the country (all located in Alloa)2. More than a quarter of our children (26%) live in poverty3 with almost 3 in 10 of our school pupils (29%) living in our most deprived areas (compared to the Scottish average of 22.6%)4.

Health & Wellbeing: In 2017, NHS data reveals that the rate of teenage pregnancies in two of the age groups (under 16, under 18) across Scotland is similar to the Scottish average, with the rate amongst those under 20, 35.9 per 1,000 women (compared to the Scottish average rate of 30.2). Seven (7) young women were pregnant before the age of 16 years, lower than the previous year where it was 13 young women, a rate of 2.9 per 1000 women (Scottish average 2.8 per 1000 women).

Pupil surveys were carried out in the 2017/18 academic term as part of the school review process. More than three quarters (77%) reported they “felt safe at school” with 7 in 10 pupils “enjoying learning at school”. Almost 8 in 10 pupils reported they were “enjoying life” which is a happier picture compared to the survey in 2016 where more than 4 in 10 secondary school pupils from Clackmannanshire felt unhappy.

Pupils living in the most deprived areas are more likely to have poor mental health; the 2016 survey5 identified pupils on Free School Meals (FSM) as having greater difficulties in managing their social behaviours. Mental wellbeing decreases with age6.

Substance Misuse: Data from the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) show that the proportion of 15 year olds who smoke has fallen from almost 30% in the 1980s to 7% in 2015. The 2016 survey on pupils in Clackmannanshire highlighted smoking behaviour for S2 and S4 pupils as being higher than across Scotland and especially so among girls.

Schools & Nurseries: Clackmannanshire has 18 publicly funded primary schools, 3 publicly funded secondary schools, 2 Special Schools (Secondary School Support Service & Lochies), 4 Specialist Provisions (Alloa Academy (EASN), Alva Academy (ASD), Alva PS (ASD) & Primary School Support Service ).

At September 2018, there were 6634 pupils in our schools (4067 primary school pupils, 2485 secondary school pupils & 82 pupils at special schools) with pupil projections indicating an increase to 6800 pupils (4200 primary & 2600 secondary) by the year 20207. Education also provides over 1,000 places for children in their pre-school years, in 3 nursery schools and 18 nursery classes.

In September 2018, there were 512 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) teachers (similar to the 2017 figure of 513 FTE teachers); the ‘pupil:teacher’ ratio increased slightly to 13.0 (from 12.9)8.

Looked After Children (LAC): Clackmannanshire has a higher ratio of Looked After Children (LAC) than the Scottish average, with 211 LAC recorded in Clackmannanshire in 2017/1810. This equates to 2.1% of the 0-17 population in Clackmannanshire; third highest across Scotland. Just over a third (34.1%) of LAC are looked after at home with parents.

Additional Support Needs (ASN): Across our schools, 25.1% of our primary school pupils and 31.2% of our secondary school pupils have been identified as having Additional Support Needs (ASN). In previous years, the proportion of pupils with an ASN in Clackmannanshire was higher than the Scottish average, but this year it is slightly lower than the Scottish average (25.4% & 31.7% respectively). Social, emotional & behavioural difficulty was given as the main reason for requiring additional support for all pupils; almost a quarter (23.9%) of our ASN pupils in primary school rising to 3 in 10 (30.5%) among our secondary school ASN pupils11.

Free School Meals (FSM): Most recent published data on FSM comes from the Healthy Living Survey which was carried out across Clackmannanshire in March 2017. This survey identified 57.5% of primary school pupils and 15.9% of secondary school pupils as registered for FSM. Higher than the Scottish averages of 52.7% and 14.4%, respectively12. Banchory, Coalsnaughton and Park Primary Schools all have more than two-thirds of their pupils entitled to FSM.

Physical Education (PE): All schools across Clackmannanshire (both primary & secondary) continue to meet the Scottish Government PE target of 2 hours per week (the Scottish average for primary schools and secondary schools was 99.4% and 93.9%, respectively)13.

CLACKMANNANSHIRE PROFILE

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Attendance & Exclusions: Average attendance across both our primary & secondary schools in Clackmannanshire in 2017/18 was 92.8% (June 2019); attendance across our primary schools was 94.1% (a slight fall on 2017/18 – 94.2%) and 90.7% across our secondary schools (a slight increase on 2017/18 – 90.7%). The average attendance for pupils from SIMD deciles 1 & 2 was 90.8% the same as the previous year. For pupils in receipt of free school meals it was 88.6%, slightly lower than the previous year and both attendance figures lower than the overall average.

Overall attendance for our LAC was 91.6%, lower than the overall attendance with children who are being looked after at home having a lower attendance rate (85%) than children being looked after away from home (94.5%).

At the end of 2017/18 there were 8 exclusion incidents across Clackmannanshire Schools involving 8 pupils: 3 across our primary schools and 5 across our secondary schools. No pupils attending our School Support Service (both primary & secondary) were excluded in 2018/19. This continues the falling trend being reported across our schools.

Due to the low number of pupils excluded in 2018/19, no causal trend has been identified. The only common factor was each pupil excluded had some level of Additional Support Need reported including ‘Social, emotional and behavioural difficulites14.

Attainment: The overall pass rate in SQA results for 2018/19 improved within the S4 cohort (4th Year) reflecting the wider achievement of results from National 2’s to Highers. Both Alloa Academy and Alva Academy reported an increase this year compared to last, with a couple of pupils achieving a Higher level qualification(s) at this earlier stage. Across the S5 cohort (5th Year) there is no improvement in the overall pass rate however Alva Academy reports a slight increase in the percentage of pupils achieving National 5 compared to last year. Across the S6 cohort (6th Year) there is improvement in the overall pass rate including an increase in the percentage of pupils achieving Advanced Highers.

Despite no overall improvement in the percentage of pupils achieving Highers in 5th Year, there is an increase in the pass rate of Highers in 6th Year across all three secondary schools.

Almost a thousand pupils were awarded qualifications from National 2 to Advanced Higher in 2018/19 with over 1500 National 5 qualifications awarded across the authority; 30% achieving an ‘A’ pass. More Highers (839) awarded with a grade A-C with a range of subjects to provide young people with the skills and knowledge to pursue their chosen pathway. More than a quarter Advanced Highers awarded with a grade A-C, than in 2017/18.

Of our LAC achievers, 20 were presented for 81 SQA awards in 2019; ranging from National 3 to Advanced Higher qualifications. In total, 18 of these young people were awarded 59 qualifications – equalling a pass rate (A-C) of 72.8%. This equalled 72.8% of looked after young people achieving 1 or more qualification at SCQF level 3, and 80% achieving 1 or more qualification at SCQF level 4. Many of the awards in S4 were at National 3 and National 415.


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Curriculum for Excellence: [Unpublished 2019 data] At the end of each academic year, pupils from P1, P4, P7, & S3 are assessed in four curricular areas: Literacy Reading, Literacy Writing, Literacy Listening & Talking and Numeracy.

Pupils in P1 are expected to achieve ‘Early Level’ in all four areas before moving to P2. In 2019, 85% of our P1 pupils achieved Early Level in Reading; 84% achieved this level in Writing, 92% achieved this level in Listening & Talking, and 88% achieved this level in Numeracy. This represented improvements in all four curricular areas compared to 2018.

For P4 pupils, they are expected to achieve ‘First Level’ before moving into P5. In 2018, 76% achieved this level in Reading, 85% achieved this level in Listening & Talking, and 75% achieved this level in Numeracy. These figures were all 1 percentage point lower than in 2018. However, 72% achieved this level in Writing which was similar to 2018.

In P7, pupils are expected to achieve ‘Second Level’ before moving onto Secondary School. In 2019, pupils improved in Numeracy and Listening & Talking where 69% and 82% achieved this level respectively. In Reading and Writing, 75% and 67% of pupils achieved this level respectively, lower than in 2018.

In S3 pupils are expected to achieve ‘Third Level or Above’ (also assessed for ‘Fourth Level’) in all four curricular areas. Across Clackmannanshire 87% of pupils achieved Third Level or Above’ in Reading (the same as last year); 84% in Writing (slight fall on last year where is was 83%), 88% in Listening & Talking (same as last year) and 77% in Numeracy (a fall on last year of 3 percentage points).

Positive Destinations: In 2018, there were 469 school leavers with 93% leaving school into a positive destination. This was higher than in 2017 where 87% of school leavers left into a positive destination, but slightly lower than the Scottish national average (94%).

In 2018/19 the authority's Par�cipa�on Measure improved to 90.1%. Despite being lower than the Sco*sh figure our figure is

an improvement on the previous year whereas na�onally, there has been a slight fall.

More school leavers entered Further Education than last year with almost 3 in 10 (28%) leaving school to attend Further Education. This was also higher than the Scottish average (27%). More school leavers also entered Higher Education than last year at 30%, although this remains lower then both our Virtual Comparator at 36% and the Scottish average at 41%.

Pupils from Clackmannanshire are less likely to stay on at school compared to the Scottish average, with 85% of pupils staying on to S5 and 67% staying on to S6 in 201816.

Employment: Adults are less likely to be in work in Clackmannanshire with new experimental data produced by the Scottish Government on Scotland’s Labour Market detailing Clackmannanshire as having a higher claimant rate than the Scottish national average with 1399 claimants living in the area as of May

REFERENCES: 1 Mid 2018 Population Estimates – National Records of Scotland (NRS) 2 SIMD2016, Scottish Government 3 Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University, 2014 4 Pupil Census 2018, Scottish Government 5 ScotCen – Health & Wellbeing among children and young people in Clackmannanshire, 2016 6 ScotCen – Health & Wellbeing among children and young people in Clackmannanshire, 2016 7 Pupil Projections 2014, Scottish Government 8 Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland, No8-2017, Scottish Government 9 School Reviews 2017/18 10 Children’s Social Work Statistics 2017-18, Scottish Government 11 Pupil Census 2018, Scottish Government 12 School Meals Data Set 2018, Scottish Government 13 Healthy Living Survey 2018, Scottish Government 14 Provisional figures for 2018/19 exclusion data, extracted from SEEMiS on 01/07/19 15 SQA data, 2018/19 16 Summary Statistics for attainment, leaver destinations and healthy living, No 8: 2018 Edition – Attainment and Leaver Destina-tions, Scottish Government 17 Scotland’s Labour Market – Tables & Charts – July 2019, Scottish Government


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Clackmannanshire’s Education Service is made up of Community Learning and Development, Educational Psychology, Sport, Estates, Early Learning and Childcare, Additional Support Needs, Scottish Attainment Challenge and Improving Outcomes (Broad General Education and Senior Phase) Teams.

School education is provided for more than 6,700 pupils in 18 publicly funded primary schools, 3 publicly funded secondary schools, 2 special schools (Secondary School Support Service & Lochies), 4 specialist provisions (Alloa Academy (EASN), Alva Academy (ASD), Alva PS (ASD) & Primary School Support Service), and 3 stand alone nurseries.

The service also provides over 1,000 places for children in their pre-school years, in 3 nursery schools and 18 nursery classes. It co-operates with local private sector providers to ensure a comprehensive, high quality early education service across the whole council area.

The service works as a family and has 541 FTE staff (at time of report). Schools and Early Learning establishments work in clusters: Hillfoots Cluster, Alloa Cluster and Lornshill Cluster.

Our education estate is in good condition, with 96% of our establishments being graded A or B for condition, and 80% for suitability. A two year capital programme is in place to remedy any suitability issues and maintain our establishments in an A or B condition and, where possible, redevelop the estate to enable 21st century learning environments to be created. We are working towards our targets set out in the Council's Carbon Management Plan to ensure a sustainable and efficient estate.

Council will be deciding on our Education Management Plan as part of the Corporate Assessment Plan going forward.

Our secondary estate consists of three secondary schools which were opened in 2009 and are operated through a PFI scheme initiated in 2007. In August 2019, a new state-of-the-art Tullibody South Campus was opened which includes the new Tulach Nursery and a joint campus for pupils from St Bernadette’s RC and Abercromby Primary Schools.

SERVICE STRUCTURE

IO Team

Improving Out-

comes Manager

IO Team Leader

IO Team Leader

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Education Service

BUDGET 2019/20

Revenue Budget £,000

Service Management 683

Early Years 4,733

Primary Education 15,203

Secondary Education 14,110

ASN Education 6,803

Educational Psychology 331

School Crossing Patrols 44

Sports Development 137

Education CLD 382

Total Education Service

Revenue Budget 2019/20

42,427

External Funding £,000

SAC 1,576

PEF 1,629

LAC 114

Total Education Service

External Funding 2019/20

5,817

Early Learning and Childcare

Expansion

2,497

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OUR VISION, OBSESSIONS, PRIORITY OUTCOMES, ACTIONS & INDICATORS

Our vision for children in Clackmannanshire is that they leave education skilled and well prepared for life, work and future learning, with a bright, positive future ahead of them. As part of this vision we will work to minimise the effects of child poverty and raise attainment for all children.

Our theory of change and improvement in Clackmannanshire is based on working as a family, collaborating at cluster and local level and with partners, and by always putting children first, at the centre of everything we do.

We have a relentless focus on improving outcomes and of studying and evaluating what difference our actions are making to children’s lives. We have a robust reporting methodology, used by all educational establishments and teams at the centre. This ensures that there is a clear rationale for each action with defined outcomes and a measurement plan for evidencing impact.

DELIVERY PLAN AND MEASUREMENT

4 Priorities What we will do to achieve these Priorities

Improvement in attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy

Support children to be ready for learning

Increase opportunities for teachers to collaborate and increase their professional capacity

Empower and support school leaders

Increase innovative and nurturing approaches to improve behaviour, attendance and achievement

Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children

Ensure barriers to learning are identified and addressed

Help families and children who most need it

Increase partnership working and support for most vulnerable/at risk children

Improve planning and interventions for those with specific additional support needs

Improvement in children's and young people’s health and wellbeing

Provide access to wellbeing support and advice in schools for those at risk and who most need it

Provide easy access to sport and leisure activities, addressing any barriers to participation related to poverty or family circumstances

Promote sexual health

Minimise the misuse of drugs, alcohol & tobacco

Improvement in employability skills and sustained, positive school leaver destinations for all young people

Increase numbers in employment, education or training

Improve partnership working with employers, families and communities

Reduce youth offending behaviour

Increase young people’s participation, voice and influence

% Children achieving Early Years milestones

% Children achieving expected levels of CfE*

% Young people achieving at SCQF Levels in

English and Maths*

No of Awards achieved by young people by end of

Senior Phase

Attendance figures*

Exclusions figures

Positive Destinations*

Inspection / Validated Self Evaluation ratings for Early

Years establishments, Schools and Services

No of children taking part in sport/physical activity out of

school

No of Children & Young People (C&YP) volunteering at

school and in the community

Teenage pregnancy levels

Rates of weekly drinking (aged 15 years)

% of C&YP who report “enjoying being in school today”

% of C&YP who agree with the statement “I enjoy my

life”

C&YP with conduct causing serious concern (Children’s

Reporter)

15 Key obsessions indicators (tracked by SIMD 1 & 2 and overall)

*Awaiting confirmation of survey questions.

“Obsessions” indicators in bold will be tracked more rigorously with Looked After Children information included where relevant

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The four key priorities:

1. Improving attainment, particularly literacy and numeracy

2. Closing the attainment gap

3. Improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people

4. Improving employability skills and post-school destinations

The six drivers:

• School Leadership

• Teacher Professionalism

• Parental Engagement

• Assessment of Children’s Progress

• School Improvement

• Performance Information

REPORTING

In line with the Statutory Guidance, Standards in Scotland’s Schools Act 2000, we take a “strategy-

based” approach to reporting on this plan, drawing on evidence from each of the six drivers and report-

ing progress against ...

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National Improvement Framework 2018/19 - Progress Overview

Executive Summary - Assessment of Children’s Progress See Appendix 1 for further data

Attainment and Closing the Gap

In 2017/18 Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) data reported improvement in all three literacy organisers (reading, writing and listening & talking) and numeracy with a significant increase in the percentage of pupils achieving their expected CfE level, based on teacher professional judgements, at First level (P4). (Unpublished) data from this year (2018/19) highlights continued improvement at Early level across both literacy and numeracy with achievement levels being higher than the Scottish average reported in 2017/18. Despite the achievement at Early Level, at First level, there is no improvement in 2018/19 with achievement rates remaining similar to the previous year. However, the achievement gap among pupils living in our most and least deprived areas (SIMD Quintile 1 vs Quintile 5) narrowed at First level, with the gap in both literacy and numeracy being smaller than the Scottish average in 2017/18. At Second level there are reported improvements in the achievement of numeracy levels but not in literacy, with the achievement rates remaining lower than the Scottish average for the previous year. At Senior level, CfE data reports a slight fall in the achievement of ‘Third Level or Above’ in both literacy and numeracy across our S3 cohort in all three of our secondary schools.

Analysis at SIMD level (quintiles) for the achievement of Literacy as ‘Third Level or Above’ indicates that young people living within SIMD Q2,3 & 4 are achieving the same or higher than the stretch aims predicted by Scottish Government for 2019/20 but the gap between SIMD Q1 and 5 remains higher. The achievement of Numeracy remains lower than the National average.

At Senior Phase (S4-S6) the overall pass rate improved within our S4 cohort reflecting the wider achievement of results from National 2’s to Highers. Two of our secondary schools reported an increase in 2018/19 compared to the previous year, with a couple of pupils achieving a Higher level qualification at S4. Across the S5 cohort there is no improvement in the overall pass rate however we did have one of our secondary schools reporting a slight increase in the percentage of pupils achieving National 5 compared to the previous year. Across the S6 cohort there is improvement in the overall pass rate including an increase in the percentage of pupils achieving Advanced Highers. Despite no overall improvement in the percentage of pupils achieving Highers in 5th Year, there is an increase in the pass rate of Highers in 6th Year across all three secondary schools.

Health and Wellbeing

The service has adopted the ‘Neuro-Sequential Model in Education (NME) involving a more nurturing and inclusive approach to children’s behaviour. At senior level, ‘Hubs’ have been created for children to access if they are finding school difficult. At primary school level, improvements have been made in playgrounds as an approach to improve children’s behaviour and readiness for learning. As a result of this approach the authority has continued to see a significant reduction in the number of exclusions across our schools, with a further reduction in exclusion incidents in 2018/19 compared to previous years.

In 2017/18, the percentage of children with a concern in any domain measured, as assessed at the 27-30 month review, fell across the authority to equal the Scottish average (equates to over a third less children). The biggest concern identified across the authority relates to speech, although in 2017/18 it was lower than the average across Scotland. The percentage of children with a concern in any domain in our most deprived area) fell to 26.2%, a fall of 3.4 percentage points (pp) compared to the previous year. The gap between children in our most deprived area and our least deprived area also fell by a quarter to 12.6pp. Despite the fall, the gap remains significantly more than the gap across Scotland. Children’s readiness for learning through supportive play and the creation of nurturing spaces is expected to raise attainment, especially at Early and First Level.

• Improvement in attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy

• Closing the attainment gap

• Improvement in health and well being of children and young people

• Improvement in employability skills and post-school destinations

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Nursery children continue to be assessed and monitored through ‘E’ Learning Logs using a Red/Amber/Green measurement in a number of subject areas including Health & Wellbeing. Work continues in linking the evidence of progress with CfE levels at Nursery level into the Authority Pupil Tracker.

Overall, attendance in 2018/19 remained consistent with previous years. Attendance of pupils from our most deprived areas has only been monitored in the last couple of years and there has been a slight improvement on their attendance rate compared to the previous year. The authority suffered from a significant outbreak of Norovirus towards the end of term which affected the overall attendance rate. Before this outbreak most schools were reporting improvement in their overall attendance rate.

Whilst at primary school, the attendance for male pupils is lower than female pupils. At secondary school this gap grows with male pupils continuing to attend more than female pupils. In both cases however, both the attendance rates are lower in secondary school than they are in primary school. Attendance for LAC pupils differ depending on whether they are looked after at home or away. Pupils being looked after at home have a lower attendance rate than pupils looked after, away from home. Overall their attendance is lower than the overall attendance rate.

Partnership working with Forth Valley (FV) College has improved the opportunities for our young people to achieve a variety of other qualifications that are not necessarily available at our schools. In 2018/19, 80 young people attended FV college studying a number of courses including Early Learning & Childcare, Construction Crafts, Engineering, Police Skills, Computing, & Make up artistry. Included in this years results are 26 young people who are studying for their Foundation Apprenticeships and have successfully completed Year 1.

An increasing number of our young people are completing accredited national awards for volunteering such as SALTIRE, John Muir, Dynamic Youth and Duke of Edinburgh. Clackmannanshire has become the first local authority to have all our secondary schools directly licensed to work in partnership with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

Clackmannanshire had the highest rate of teenage pregnancies across Scotland; however recent data indicates that this is no longer the case with the rate reducing slightly (although it remains higher than the Scottish average). The number of referrals to the Children’s Reporter is falling year on year with a fifth less children being referred in 2018/19 compared to the previous year. This fall is significantly more than the overall decrease across Scotland which was 3%.

Employability Skills and Destinations

The Year of the Young People increased the voice of the young people across the authority. As a result of the success of Lornshill Academy’s Parliament, the other secondary schools introduced a parliament in session 2018/19. Young people report they are growing in confidence, developing skills and experience which will place them in a better position to secure a more positive destination. Extra support to young carers is being provided through our Young Carers Champions, a strategy developed in partnership with Education and Social Work.

An increasing number of our young people are completing accredited national awards for volunteering such as SALTIRE, John Muir, Dynamic Youth and Duke of Edinburgh. Clackmannanshire has become the first local authority to have all our secondary schools directly licensed to work in partnership with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

All three secondary schools are taking forward ‘Developing the Young Workforce’ (DYW) and working with the DyW Regional Group to improve employability skills and positive destinations for young people. The (initial) positive destination figure for Clackmannanshire’s 2017/18 leaver cohort is 93.0%; an increase of compared to the previous year and the highest percentage increase across Scotland. More than a quarter of our school leavers in 2018/19 were from our most deprived areas with the percentage of them entering an initial positive destination increasing in 2017/18. More than three quarters of our LAC school leavers entered an initial positive destination in 2017/18, lower than the overall figure.

For the very 1st time, all 5 pupils leaving the EASN special provision unit at Alloa Academy in the summer of 2019, are going off to a positive destination. This is down to the hard work of staff and the pupils themselves. The aim is to maintain this level next session.

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Use and impact of Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) 2018/19 as part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC)

Schools in Clackmannanshire were allocated £1.528 million in Pupil Equity Funding in 2017/18.

Schools work together in clusters to consider the most effective use of this additional money to close the poverty-related attainment gap. Schools have devised plans, taking local context and need into account. From this evidence there was a need identified for the majority of schools to provide additionality around the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

Over the last year, primary schools have continued to develop their work in nurture, using the additional funding to create nurturing spaces, working with colleagues from SALT & Occupational Health; recruiting support workers to work with their children and families; and training staff in nurturing principles. Anecdotal evidence is indicating an increase in the health and wellbeing of our pupils and a link to the fall in exclusion incidents. Attendance has also remained consistent with improvement reported across a number of schools prior to the significant outbreak of Norovirus towards the end of 2018/19.

At the end of the first year of (PEF) funding there are indications that a majority of the targeted interventions are beginning to have an impact on closing the poverty-related attainment gap. Evidence of impact is provided within some of the case studies included in this report.

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Improvement activity by driver - School Leadership

School leadership plays a vital part in achieving equity and

excellence in education across Clackmannanshire.

Leadership programmes ensure educators make a real

difference to improving attainment outcomes for children

and young people, leading to greater achievement and

attainment.

We want to see a culture of strong leadership at all levels

and in a range of contexts, where educators are

empowered to lead in schools, nurseries, teams at centre

and across a wide range of educational settings.

Educators lead learning for, and with, all learners. They

also collaborate and support the professional development

of colleagues and other partners. We work in partnership

with national agencies and universities to deliver high

quality training and leadership development. Leaders also ensure the best use of resources to ensure the

greatest impact on closing the attainment gap.

Young people are encouraged to lead their own learning and pupil voice is important in schools and in the

local community where they are encouraged to become responsible citizens and effective contributors.

Our key actions in 2018/19 were -

• Establish an Additional Support for Learning community of practitioners to support the implementa-tion of improvement action plans

• Develop and implement a communication strategy to improve communication and engagement with partners

• Identify and support school staff in their role as Young Carers Champions and set up Young Carers Groups in schools following models of good practice

• Implement Clackmannanshire Youth Voice with a range of meaningful engagement opportunities with children and young people where representation is strengthened

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ASL (Additional Support for Learning) Community of Practitioners Establish an Additional Support for Learning community of practitioners to support the implementation of improvement action plans

The establishment of termly ASN network meetings provides the opportunity to share knowledge, expertise and good practice, ensuring all practitioners are informed. This network has improved the previous lack of information sharing as well as providing a forum for sharing information from ADES and ASLO. During 2018/19, Specialist SLT (Support for Learning Teachers) and relevant Principal Teachers (PT) were invited to three network

meetings with more than half attending the very first meeting.

The ASN meetings are designed to policy updates and share a greater understanding of other services supporting ASN. By taking place in different school settings attendees are able to see how other learning environments are meeting the needs of children and young

people. Due to an improvement in local knowledge, a lower number of calls are now being received at the centre.

Survey Monkey provided a platform to measure staff opinions and preferences on how to improve the meetings with feedback indicating monthly meetings for next year. Areas identified for professional development included Legislation, SEBN and PDA.

By establishing an effective ASN network across the authority, areas identified for improving attainment and health & wellbeing are now receiving more enhanced support.

The team is building in confidence with a greater understanding of the skills and strengths of their colleagues.

More strategic

planning around

ASN.

Young Carers Champions Following the implementation of the Carers Act, school staff are identified and supported in their role as Young Carers Champions; Young Carers Groups are set up in schools following models of good practice

As there was no obvious or consistent support for Young Carers in schools across Clackmannanshire the ‘Young Carers’, the “Young Carers Champions” project was implemented. In 2017 Education Services was invited onto the working group for implementing the Carers Act across the authority. This culminated in the development of Clackmannanshire Council’s Carers Strategy in June 2018.

As a result, in each secondary school, ’Young Carer Groups’ have been introduced led by a Young Carer’s Champion, (Principal Teacher (PT)), and a Wellbeing Worker funded by Wellbeing Scotland. Each Group meets weekly and operates on a peer support model, aimed at pupils who identify themselves as Young Carers. With the support of The Carers Centre (Clackmannanshire & Falkirk) a ‘Young Carers Statement’ has been written.

Social Work Children’s Services, have commissioned The Carers Centre to develop a Young Person’s Strategy and Referral Pathway. Education is part of the Implementation Steering Group. It is expected that through this project the support and wellbeing of young carers will continue to improve.

Schools are now more aware of who their Young Carers are and are able to track them more effectively through local tracking and monitoring meetings; ensuring they receive the additional support they need in order to continue to improve their overall attainment and health & wellbeing.

Improved support for

Young Carers

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Partners’ Communication Strategy A communication strategy is developed and implemented, particularly in relation to partners, to improve communication and engagement

Education continues to work with partners to plan and deliver services to our schools, staff, children, young people, parents and families. During 2018/19 a ‘Mobilisation Team’ met to outline the types of partnership working teams and individuals are currently engaged in as an initial step in the project to develop a strategy. From this a Task Brief was drafted outlining the goals of the intended project and an early draft of a Partnership Strategy has been written. This Strategy will be further developed over the next year in collaboration with our teams and partners.

A recently completed Partnership Directory now makes it easier to contact partners to invite them to relevant events as well as sending them copies of newsletters to keep them up to date. During 2019/20 focus will be placed on developing a Partnership Forum Group where it is anticipated there will be opportunities for more effective engagement in information sharing as well as working collaboratively with partners.

Aim: to enlist support from parents

to close the poverty related

attainment gap and improve

employability

Clackmannanshire Youth Voice Implement Clackmannanshire Youth Voice – with a range of meaningful engagement opportunities with children and young people where representation is strengthened

A three yearly survey carried out with secondary school pupils was completed

in 2018 with a 48% response rate.

Over the reporting period (2018/19) our young people developed the ‘Standards for Children and Young Peoples Engagement and Participation’ which was duly endorsed and adopted by Clackmannanshire Council.

During the same period a focus group of young people developed the first Youth Assembly - the Power House - with 54 young people attending.

A number of key actions was agreed to be taken forward by young people and our partners over the next reporting period:

• Mental Health Awareness Campaign

• Improve lunches at school

• Clacks Youth Voice including Volunteer Ambassadors in each School

• Junior Award for Active Citizenship

• Life skills programmes for everyone

• Develop community based activities including sports and outdoor activities.

Our Youth Council participated in Clackmannanshire Council’s Budget Consultation, engaging with other young people in focus groups and promoting youth involvement through an online survey. The Youth Council developed and launched their Manifesto and are currently developing the ‘Clax 100 Youth Voices’ which was launched within local schools and community during the summer term.

The election for members of the Scottish Youth Parliament took place in March with two members successfully elected with a total of 1380 votes cast. Following on from the developments in 2018/19 it is anticipated that we will see an increase in young people’s voice in our schools and wider community, with young people reporting their voices are being listened to and opinions acted upon.

How are we doing?

Survey Results

70% of respondents stated that the school listens to their opinions

51% agree that they act on their opinion

59% agree that the pupil council/parliament are effec�ve

29% young people would like to par�cipate in online surveys

18% would like to see Clacks Youth 100 developed

13% would like to see Focus Groups introduced to develop services

12% would like to see an annual Youth Assembly

Impact: An increase in the percentage of young people who feel that their school listens to their views and opinions, acts on their opinions and say that their school pupil parliament is effective.

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Improvement activity by driver - Teacher Professionalism

Teacher professionalism is a key driver in achieving improvement in attainment and achievement. In

Clackmannanshire we extend this driver to include all staff

working in education - all staff are educators.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS)

professional standards for teachers also includes

standards for career long professional learning (CLPL) and

leadership and management. Once registered, throughout

their career, teachers will continue to develop their

expertise and experience through CLPL and professional

practice.

Early Years Practitioners are registered with the Scottish

Social Services Council (SSSC) and are expected to

maintain this registration and adhere to the SSSC Code of

Conduct.

Educational Psychologists also participate in a range of development and training opportunities and

maintain their registration with Health Care and Professionals Council (HCPC).

Educators working in Community Learning and Development (CLD) also have a set of standards for their

professional practice.

We have a high quality education workforce in Clackmannanshire, where all educators have a

commitment to shared educational values and professional standards. Educators take ownership of their

own professional learning and recognise its importance, impacting on children’s progress and

achievement, closing the attainment gap and ensuring sustained, positive school leaver destinations.


• Train and support staff in all Early Learning and Childcare establishments to use e-learning jour-nals effectively

• Deliver LIFT (Language Is Fun Together) training to six Early Learning and Childcare settings

• Recruit additional graduates for Early Learning and Childcare establishments which have the most children in SIMD 1 and 2

• Provide training for mainstream colleagues from ASN settings to ensure awareness and inclusive practice

• Implement Pedagogy and Equity (Tapestry) programme to deliver consistent approach to improv-ing learning and teaching

• Develop multi agency training on GIRFEC-based One Integrated Assessment Chronology and Child’s Plan

• Implement Sue Ellis Reading Programme in cohort 2 schools

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Language Is Fun Together (LIFT) Deliver LIFT (Language Is Fun Together) training to six Early Learning and Childcare (ELCC) settings

Language is Fun Together (LIFT) was introduced in August 2017 to close the vocabulary gap for children entering P1. It is led by NHS Forth Valley Speech and Language therapists.

A recent study of three year olds attending 7 ELCC settings across Clackmannanshire found that 66% of them had speech, language & communication needs (SLCN) arising from a number of factors, including deprivation. This appears to be higher than the national data suggests.

Clackmannanshire Council funds specialist Speech and Language Therapists to carry out universal and targeted work within our most deprived schools and ELCC settings. In LIFT settings, families develop

knowledge and skills to improve the quality of their everyday interactions with their child with positive effects on spoken language development, improved attainment and life outcomes.

During 2018/19 staff were trained in several interventions. A ‘Nursery Narrative’ group was run in collaboration with Early Years Officers and a Speech and Language Therapist with targeted groups of children with the aim being to develop children’s spoken language skills. A ‘Teaching Children to Listen’ intervention improved children’s active listening; (all children aged 3 & 4 received this intervention within their key group). Parental sessions were also included in the interventions.

Engagement with families is the main focus for year two of the LIFT Nurseries. In year one, all parents and carers were supported with information and resources to

encourage their role as primary communicative ‘teachers’ for their children. Following formal training on the communication environment, staff in each setting will continue to work alongside the therapist to audit the communication environment. All nurseries will be expected to achieve the Bronze level ‘excellent visual environment’ award in 2019/20.

“Parents have been super, engaging in discussions and practising the LIFT techniques. Catching parents individually has meant we can tailor support and strategies just for them”

Lydia, LIFT Speech Therapist

Language Is Fun Together (LIFT) training is delivered to 6 early learning and childcare establishments. Year 1 settings: Sauchie Nursery, Tillicoultry, Banchory and Coalsnaughton Nursery Classes. Year 2: Abercromby & St. Serf’s Nursery Classes.

Aim: Children will start school with a significantly increased vocabulary and ready to engage with the P1 curriculum.

“The LIFT techniques will certainly come in handy”

“Really interesting talking to the speech therapist, very challenging not to keep asking questions.”

“Enjoyed talking with the speech therapist getting tips for home.”

Banchory Nursery parents

Early Learning and Childcare Academy Recruit additional graduates for Early Learning and Childcare establishments which have the most children in SIMD 1 and 2

As part of the expansion to 1140 hours by 2020, the Scottish Government provided funding for additional graduates to work in areas of deprivation. As such, Clackmannanshire was allocated 7 additional graduates. These ‘Senior Early Learning and Childcare Educators’ are either at University or already hold their BA in Childhood Practice.

Across the authority, these ‘Educators’ are in establishments where there is a high proportion of children living in SIMD 1&2: Abercromby Nursery Class (NC), Sauchie Nursery, Coalsnaughton NC, Park NC, Banchory NC, Clackmannan NC and Sunnyside NC. The focus of their role is closing the poverty related attainment gap by providing a targeted approach to literacy and numeracy.

Focus is also on working with their parents with some of the additional graduates receiving PEEP Parenting or Incredible Years training in order to facilitate this.

In order to more effective in closing the poverty related attainment gap, it was identified over this reporting period that the additional graduates should be integrated with the peripatetic nursery teacher team. Their role is therefore under review in 2019/20 .

20

Early Learning & Childcare Academy: this Academy was established to provide training to ELC trainees so they could successfully gain their SVQ in Social Services (Children and Young People) [SCQF Level 7].

Staff: To launch our own Early Years Academy it was identified that internal verifiers, assessors and mentors were needed and all were appointed in 2018/19. Staff were also trained in each nursery establishment with a trainee acting as a mentor. In Cohort 1 there are 7 trainees and in August 2018 Cohort 2 a further 9 trainees were started. An additional 5 trainee assessors were also appointed in 2018/19 with all assessors becoming qualified.

In June 2019 one assessor completed training as an Internal Verifier. There are now plans to train an additional two internal verifiers to make the Early Years Academy more self sufficient. Our aim is to have a qualified assessor in each Early Learning and Childcare Establishment.

Cohort 1 on completion of 2 years at Clacks Early Years Academy

Danielle, Additional Graduate, Banchory NC.

E-Learning Journals in Early Learning and Childcare Train and support staff in all Early Learning and Childcare establishments to use e-learning journals effectively

E-Learning Journals were introduced across the ELCC establishments during August 2017. Previously nurseries recorded children’s progress differently, mainly using paper journals. The E-learning journals were introduced to ensure consistency and robustness in recording children’s progress to support the recording of their observations and the tracking of children’s progress.

A Principal Teacher Early Years was appointed in August 2018 with the responsibility of reviewing the quality of observations and in providing support to establishments for the tracking and monitoring of children’s progress. After an initial consultation with staff, a small test of change was carried out in a small group of nurseries using the progression pathways. Following evaluation, this process of tracking and monitoring will be rolled out to all nurseries, including the partner providers, during the next academic term.

It has been identified that further development on defining significant learning and what to record is needed. Initial sessions on recording have already been held during 2018/19 with further guidance being developed. Over the next reporting period the focus will be on ensuring robust tracking and monitoring information from nursery follows the child into Primary 1.

In order to ensure consistency and robustness in the recording of children’s progress, moderation events were held by the Alloa Learning Community; these events will be rolled out across the other two learning communities in 2019/20. The E-learning Champions Network will also be reinstated to ensure there is representation from all establishments on the development of tracking and monitoring linked to the E-Learning Journals.

With the expansion to 1140 hours by 2020 it was identified that there is a need for more staff than the traditional routes into childcare provides. Hence, the

Early Learning & Childcare Academy was established.

See the joy from our learners as they engage in story acting on stage and play the part of the

audience.

E-Learning Champions Network will

be reinstated in 2019/20

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Inclusive Practice Training (ASN) Colleagues from ASN settings provide training for mainstream colleagues to ensure awareness and inclusive practice in all Clackmannanshire Educational Establishments

Previously, training had been provided by all ASN services on a “needs - led” basis. Training is now provided in a more planned approach by the three identified leads of ASN:

• Complex Learning Difficulties • Autism • Social, Emotional and Behavioural Needs During 2018/19, mainstream colleagues accessed a CLPL on Complex Needs. Their feedback is currently being evaluated. Allied Health professional colleagues have already commented on the increase in confidence among staff in our schools and nurseries.

SEBN staff had their MAPA (Management of Actual or Potential Aggression) training updated to Pivotal MAPA in November 2018. Given the relevance to educators the training was offered over the 4 in-service days in 2018/19. Over the reporting period, 84 members of education staff were trained in Pivotal MAPA.

As a result of the progress made in training staff, ASN in mainstream settings is becoming less confusing for colleagues. This training has allowed ASN staff to upskill, building their confidence and understanding of the whole education team whilst connecting staff together.

Over the next year, ASN training will be highlighted in the ongoing development of an authority wide training programme.

“Building the capacity of staff” is a key aspect of our draft Equity and Inclusion Strategy

Feedback from session: “I have a better understanding of how to manage verbal and physical behaviour in a safe and controlled manner” “This was very useful and will benefit my role greatly” “I know how my body, expression and voice can escalate or de-

escalate a situation”

Pedagogy and Equity (Tapestry) Programme Implement Pedagogy and Equity (Tapestry) programme to deliver consistent approach to improving learning and teaching

The Leading Learning, Improving Pedagogy and Equity Programme has delivered 4 out of the planned 7 sessions to allow Senior Management Teams and practitioners to

• engage in professional learning around 5 key strategies [Learning Intentions: Feedback: Quality Questioning: Involving Learners; Learners Supporting Learners]

• carry out research

• engage in professional dialogue

• action plan to improve pedagogical practice

…all to support improvement in learning and achievement in their own establishments.

(A group of 50 Learning Assistants are currently engaged in CLPL which will continue into 2020).

Seminar: All schools were invited to a seminar launch in September 2018 prior to the implementation of the Programme. This event was attended by the lead teacher and a designated Teaching Learning Community (TLC) lead; both of whom are responsible for implementing the programme and leading / facilitating monthly TLC groups.

Feedback from the first two workshops which were held in 2018/19, indicates almost all teachers are positive about the impact of the sessions on improving their practice and are encouraged to experiment with formative assessment strategies.

Evalua�on: posi�ve, powerful & engaging

presenta�on of programme’s strategies

Lots of enthusiasm

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GIRFEC (Getting it Right for Every Child) Training Develop multi agency training on GIRFEC-based One Integrated Assessment Chronology and Child’s Plan

Child Protection (CP)

Due to previous Child Protection policies being out of date, Education Services commissioned the production of Clackmannanshire Council’s Child Wellbeing & Protection Guidance in July 2017.

A programme for ‘Intensive Level’ training was developed and delivered to all headteachers, depute headteachers and team leaders within Education Services and managers of our Early Years establishments including private partner nurseries.

The annual CP briefing, delivered to all school based staff at the beginning of each new session, was updated in 2018/19. Training has also been provided to volunteers who work in the Community Learning & Development Team. With the development of Specific Level and Contact Level programmes, training has been delivered to janitorial staff, school meals staff, escorts and crossing patrol staff (Contact Level) with plans to deliver the Specific Level training as part of the recently formed Multi Agency Training & Development Programme in 2019/20.

PREVENT

Since the summer of 2018 the authority has implemented new web filtering software to enable safeguarding of young people with different online profiles for primary, secondary and staff users. Safeguarding alerts apply only to primary and secondary pupil groups. Alerts are generated when pupils trigger warnings on Radicalisation, Abuse, Pornography, Suicide and/or Drugs. All web access is logged for cyber security compliance purposes.

During 2018/19, a Safeguarding Group has been established to monitor/oversee alerts and other safeguarding initiatives.

GLOW Blog

Over the last reporting period a ‘Glow blog’ has been developed which provides an online ‘library’ for all up to date guidance and access to GIRFEC paperwork to improve communication and consistency of approach across the authority.

In May 2019 an interim evaluation on TLC leaders involved in the Programme established an increase of 55% in practitioner confidence from a baseline set in August 2018. From the same evaluation, the Senior Management Team’s engagement and support indicates an increased awareness and understanding of the impact of the programme.

Progress will continue to be measured across the remaining 4 sessions in 2019/20. Impact of the programme will be monitored as part of the continuing School Review process.

Clackmannanshire Council has a duty to ensure that all staff who work with young people must be trained in child

protection and aware of the procedures for reporting concerns.

“I have become more confident and aware of AiFL. I have noticed a

big impact on learners” “Learners have become more confident at talking the language of

learning and discussing their learning steps to success”

Clackmannanshire Council take steps to protect children while they are

online. Under PREVENT, including schools, they must take steps to

safeguard young people from online radicalisation.

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Where highly-effective practice was evident; pupils commented on the strong reading culture in the school; that staff modelled the importance of reading and there was dedicated time to read and be read to each day. Pupils are enjoying access to a range of stimulating learning experiences including drama, art and reader response which is enhancing their understanding of shared texts.

Feedback from professional dialogue with class teachers shows that almost all teachers have engaged highly with the programme; experimenting

with small tests of change within their own setting to improve learner experiences. Some staff showed awareness of how to adapt and respond to learner interests and provide challenging and stimulating learning experiences to drive learning forward.

Some of this year’s probationers have completed a ‘test of change’ in relation to creating a positive reading culture as part of their Probationer Practitioner Enquiry project. Probationers shared their progress and its impact during the showcase event to inspire others and generate professional dialogue around what’s working well.

Sharing Practice

Two thirds of our primary schools were involved in a ‘sharing event’ with each school having a marketplace style stall for sharing a variety of innovative projects. As a result of feedback received, Literacy leads from across the authority would like further opportunities to share practice and ideas; more events are planned for 2019/20.

Largo the Literacy Lion is a project introduced to share reading ideas and high quality texts with our younger pupil cohort. The project’s aim is also to improve partnership working with our local library. In 2018/19, ‘Largo’ visited 50% of our primary school where evidence is captured within a ‘floor book’ of children engaging in reading activities. Initial feedback has included more reader engagement reported in the schools where ‘Largo’ has visited.

Equitable Literacy Implement Sue Ellis Reading Programme in cohort 2 schools

During 2018/19 CLPL was delivered by Professor Sue Ellis on the ‘3 Domain Model’ over 6 sessions to all eleven ‘Cohort 2’ schools, with additional support provided for three Cohort 1 schools who were identified as needing further input.

In almost all schools, practitioner confidence in targeted areas increased. Findings show that almost all schools achieved agreed targets and crucially, for all schools that did; this target was surpassed. Practitioner confidence was measured by re-capturing Class Teacher confidence through the use of self-reflection wheels.

• CT confidence in Cultural domain rose from an average of 3 to an average of 9 out of 10.

• CT confidence in Cognitive domain increased from an average of 2 to 7 out of 10.

• CT confidence using Identity domain increased from an average of 1 to 7 out of 10.

The increase in staff confidence indicates most staff have a greater understanding of how to create an effective learning mix for pupils which should lead to enhanced

learning experiences.

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Improvement activity by driver - Parental Engagement

Parents, carers and families are by far the most important influences in a child's life. Their support plays a vital role at all stages of education. Family engagement in school and in early learning has a bigger influence on a pupil's achievement than socio-economic background, parents education level, family structure and ethnicity.

Parents who take on a supportive role in their children's learning make a difference in improving achievement and behaviour. The active involvement of parents can help promote a learning community in which children and young people can engage positively with educators and their peers.

Parental involvement relates to the involvement of parents and carers in the life and work of the early learning and childcare setting or school. This can include, but is not limited to, parent representation on Parent Councils or associations, involvement in self-evaluation and improvement, and volunteering with fundraising activities or by sharing skills and knowledge to enrich the curriculum.

We want to see parents and carers actively and meaningfully engaged in their child’s learning and life at school, because when schools and families work together, the outcomes for children are much improved. Early Learning and school communities should deliver high quality universal and targeted support that enables families to access the learning and support they need.

The legislation underpinning Parental Involvement - the Parental Involvement (Scotland) Act 2006 - has recently undergone a review led by the National Parent Forum of Scotland (NPFS) which generated a set of recommendations. These recommendations have been published in the Government’s “Learning Together - Scotland’s national action plan on parental involvement, parental engagement, family learning and learning at home 2018 - 2021”. Several work streams for improvement are emerging from this plan to be implemented in due course. This work is led by the Scottish Government and key partners such as Education Scotland, local authorities and national parental representation groups.

Parental engagement is one of the key drivers in achieving excellence and equity in Scottish education. The actions under this driver include actions to support improvement in parental engagement, involvement and family learning as well as activities to provide wider support for children and families in the wider local community.


• Improve parental engagement, information and family advocacy support for families who have Addi-tional Support Needs

• Develop and deliver a framework for Adult and Family Learning in Clackmannanshire (FLIC) which will identify and address the needs of parents. children and young people

• Deliver 8 hours of ESOL and integration programmes for Syrian refugee families

• Improve relationships related to Capital projects with employers, pupils, families and communities through stakeholder groups

• Introduce Columba 1400 Leadership Academy for school leaders, families and communities

• Introduce Food, Families and Futures programme to Clackmannanshire in partnership with Children in Scotland and local partners

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Parental Engagement and Support Improve parental engagement, information and family advocacy support for families who have Additional Support Needs (ASN)

In October 2018, Clackmannanshire held its first ASN Fayre where attendees were able to access information from our own ASN provisions, meet multi-disciplinary and third sector representatives with the aim to improve support for our ASN families across the authority. Over 40 people attended this event. Due to the success of the initial event, further events are planned for 2019/20 with the next one planned for October 2019.

The authority has improved information sharing for parents who have raised a complaint under the rights of the child with Additional Support Needs by including their right to appeal on our Internal Resource Group decision letters. The authority also continues to have a contract with RESOLVE to provide mediation if required.

(see also case study at Appendix 2)

Feedback from ASN Fayre:

“Much better awareness of services and sources of assistance.”

“Lots of information for all disabilities. People giving information in a way people can understand. Plenty of

hand out materials also encouraged to get in touch for additional information.”

Adult and Family Learning in Clackmannanshire Develop and deliver a framework for Adult and Family Learning in Clackmannanshire (FLIC) which will identify and address the needs of parents, children and young people

The Family Learning in Clackmannanshire (FLIC) Framework was implemented during 2018/19. Effective partnership working with schools and third sector organisations has resulted in the development of family learning programmes which include a range of local initiatives. In total, 29 families have engaged which includes 41 children, from across our educational establishment (school support service, 6 primary schools, one secondary school, one nursery and ’Sauchie Active 8).

More than 40% of parents/carers participated in the ‘Columba Leadership programmes’ with two of the programmes aimed at both parents and families providing support in the transition from primary to secondary school.

More than 40% of parents have gained at least one qualification with half gaining more than one (first aid, elementary food hygiene and cooking skills). A fifth of the parents have opened a community café one day per week which is currently attracting a number of local residents and agencies providing weekly services. Families are also participating in outdoor learning programmes, family cooking groups and in family activity groups. Together with their children, they are also working towards a number of recognised awards including the John Muir award, a Hi5 award and Dynamic Youth Awards. Many are volunteering in the local community.

Creative Conversation

Over the reporting period Education Scotland facilitated an event, ‘Creative Conversation’ which included attendance by some of our third sector organisations. The aim of the event was to be able to explore our understanding of family learning, family engagement and home learning. As a result of the success of this event, there are plans to host Family Learning Network Cafes with the first one planned for September 2019.

FLIC feedback:

Parents have reported that they are more confident in seeking support for their child’s learning

One parent has stated that they now have friends, they volunteer and their children have noticed the change in their confidence.

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Syrian Refugee Integration Programme Deliver 8 hours of ESOL and integration programmes for Syrian refugee families

There was an increase in the number of adult learners who engaged in the Syrian ESOL programmes in 2018/19 (all offered 8 hours each week per individual learner). Programmes developed were in-line with SQA ESOL Introduction and Beginners Literacies 1 & 2; SQA National Level ESOL 2, 3 + 4.

By delivering programmes aimed at our Syrian families success has already been reported of individuals progressing to college, gaining employment, volunteering and attending further training. A number of our learners are accessing Forth Valley College studying for accredited National awards in ESOL with many studying for different SCQF Levels. An increased number of learners are currently studying at college. A further number are engaged in additional community programmes, aimed at supporting their integration more effectively. More learners are also now volunteering in the community in 2018/19 compared to the previous year with a further number being successful in gaining employment. New businesses managed by members of Syrian families are effectively contributing to the local community. A significant increase of Syrian people successfully passed their driving test in 2018/19 with a further few having passed their theory part of the test.

As a result members of the Syrian Community are reporting increased confidence within the wider community with families being more confident in engaging with schools and supporting their child’s learning.

Columba 1400 Leadership Academy Introduce Columba 1400 Leadership Academy for school leaders, families and communities

The first family programme was run in partnership with Education CLD, our school support service and one or our secondary schools (Alloa Academy). Five parents have now completed the programme and as a result have developed a morning drop in cafe for other parents/carers.

The impact of this café is already leading to improved links with wider community organisations and in developing networks across the area. A second programme ran later in 2018/19 and included a further 4 new parents.

27

Food, Families, Futures at Sunnyside Primary School Introduce Food, Families and Futures programme to Clackmannanshire in partnership with Children in Scotland and local partners

By working closely with their parent council on issues such as reducing the cost of the school day, uniform consultation and a reduction in additional fundraising costs, Sunnyside Primary School recognised they had no strategy to assist with out of school hunger/food poverty.

As a result, of partners working with Children in Scotland, a programme was developed around the Food, Families, Futures initiative.

Initially, a steering group was created comprising of members of our learning community, third sector and local business. Following this first steering group meeting, two parent consultation events were held and our Pupil Council was consulted detailing possible activities for all.

Feedback developed an outline plan detailing learning activities for both parents and partners, involving more community partners. As a result parent and pupil activities have been delivered around the following areas: Healthy eating and food preparation; ICT skills; literacy & numeracy games; basic CPR; sport & team games; financial literacy, and drama. [Partners who have assisted in delivering and supporting these activities include Stirling University, The Gate Charity, Active Clacks, NHS Forth Valley, Scottish Fire & Rescue, Citizens’ Advice, SMS Garage and DYW Alloa Academy].

Feedback from parents include more experiencing more enjoyment in partaking in healthy eating & food preparation activities (especially at supper club). They feel having the activities in the school is beneficial to the local community with parents reporting they are developing new relationships with members of the community. Workshops are also assisting parents to access local services such as Citizens Advice and develop their skills for life, learning and work. A number of parents have been working closely with community chefs from NHS Forth Valley and as a result are on track to achieving their REHIS elementary cooking skills qualification.

Feedback from children reports they enjoy preparing their own food and cooking. New friendships are being developed through partaking in a variety of active learning games. The school roll shows our families come from a wide variety of backgrounds ranging from SIMD 1-8 and including EAL families. During 2018/19 the overall attendance rate for the school was maintained at between 94 & 95%.

In order to sustain activity and enable the clubs to become more financially viable it is hoped that further funding can be secured from community partners including Tesco Bags for Life and Asda Community Grants. Further developments also include involving our families in community projects such as the Gartmorn Dam Development Trust.

Supporting workshops to focus on adult literacy, numeracy and ICT are being considered into 2019/20 to widen employability opportunities with our families including improving links with Forth Valley College.

Aims of Food, Families & Futures Initiative

To improve the Health and Wellbeing of children, young people and families.

To create a supportive environment for parents/carers to bond.

To provide an opportunity for young people and adult members of families to gain

qualifications and certification in subjects related to the local economy.

To engage the wider comminute to support activities to develop life skills,

knowledge and potential employment routes for people.

To make better use of community assets outwith school/term hours and foster

stronger community relationships to build sustainability.

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Improvement activity by driver - Assessment of

Children’s Progress

Children progress through a coherent 3-18 curriculum, with strong

foundations in literacy and numeracy, skills and personal

development.

We want all children in Clackmannanshire to enjoy high quality

learning experiences, supported by value adding and efficient

practices, which provide useful information on the progress of

children and young people. Assessment of progress provides rich

data which can be triangulated with other data sources to ensure

that learning and teaching practice is closing the attainment gap.

This gives children and young people the best educational start in

life with the support they need and follows through to a positive

and sustained destination after school.

Teachers’ professional judgement is the foundation for quality and

improvement and we want to see effective use of assessment and

moderation by educators and learners to maximise the successes and achievements of our children and

young people.

Assessing children’s progress from the earliest stages of learning is important to ensure we identify those

children who may need additional support as early as possible.

Assessment of children’s needs is particularly important for children with Additional Support Needs who

need specific input, including specialist support, in Clackmannanshire schools through to out of authority

provision. Looked After Children’s attainment and wellbeing is tracked very frequently to ensure the best

possible educational outcomes.

A range of professionals, with the support of the Educational Psychology Team, will work with educators

in schools and nurseries to assist with assessment of children and young people’s additional needs.


• Develop and implement SWAP (School Wider Achievement Programme) to develop pupils’ readiness for learning, literacy and numeracy

• Implement new guidance and training on Staged Intervention is implemented across Clackmannanshire

• Scale up the Readiness of Learning (R4L) programme across all educational establishments in Clackmannanshire

• Improve and extend Senior Phase Pathways

• Implement employability programmes providing SQA accreditation for young people aged 16-19 years

• Implement the Mentors in Violence Programme across Secondary Schools

• Maximise Community Benefits - Skills Training and Employment - across all Capital projects

29

SWAP (School Wider Achievement Programme) Develop and implement SWAP (School Wider Achievement Programme) to develop pupils’ readiness for learning, literacy and numeracy

The primary school programme, ‘Primary External Education Provision’ (PEEP) was developed over the reporting period. During 2018/19, Primary 6 pupils in Park Primary School engaged in music and cooking programmes with 27 pupils participating in a Dynamic Youth Award. A number of primary 5 pupils engaging in

dance and drama are also being accredited through the Hi5 award.

For 2019/20, the SWAP programme has been integrated into the Flexible Learning, Individual Pathways (FLIP) which currently has 22 pupils participating. A number of pupils are successfully maintaining a reduced school time table with one to one support, although there are some who are not, despite receiving key worker support. Over the next year it is anticipated that an individual learning programme will be developed for each pupil (regardless of whether they are sustaining an individual timetable), including the possibility of the FLIP Digital Academy. Through the academy, the level of attainment achieved by pupils who would normally not achieve any qualifications is expected to improve; including their participation in wider accreditation programmes/awards.

The SWAP programme was initially developed in response to schools looking for external

education programmes for pupils who would enhance learning and provide opportunities for

wider achievement.

Staged Intervention Implement new guidance and training on Staged Intervention is implemented across Clackmannanshire

In February 2018 our Staged Intervention Guidance was reviewed and updated across the authority including the production of an information leaflet for parents. A Staged Intervention e-module is also now available on ‘Clacks Academy’ and is part of mandatory training for all staff.

An audit of Staged Intervention is in progress across all primary schools. It is anticipated that the findings will support learners are being appropriately placed on the appropriate Staged Intervention and are receiving the relevant support. Updated guidance on the recording of ASN needs on SEEMiS was also completed and this will be shared across all schools at the beginning of the new school year 2019/20.

During 2018/19 all three secondary schools have been engaged in ASN Reviews, which includes an audit of their current Staged Intervention process. As a result, two of the schools have already received bespoke training for Pupil Support Staff. In addition, all ‘Support for Learning’ Teachers have received Staged Intervention / Child’s Action Plan training.

There is currently a programme of training being developed for all primary staff as part of their collegiate activity for 2019/20.

Readiness for Learning (R4L) Scale up the Readiness of Learning (R4L) programme across all educational establishments in Clackmannanshire

Over the past year, the Readiness for Learning (R4L) approach has become more embedded across the authority as a multi-level way of closing the poverty-related attainment gap by supporting mental health and wellbeing and improving resilience.

The majority of schools have now been trained in the core element of the Neurosequential Model in Education (NME).

There are currently more than 100 staff who have completed R4L Level One e-learning modules, with a larger number still in progress.

Evaluative feedback suggests the majority of staff who received the training have been able to make positive changes to their practice. Further R4L classrooms were established across the authority in 2018/19 in order to continue the implementation of the approach at the universal level.

Feedback of training:

• 88% of staff who have used R4L in

their classroom feel it has made a

positive change

• 76% stating they will continue to use

the approach next session

30

Pupils in the R4L pilot class in session 2017/18 have continued to show positive progress, with a greater percentage of pupils in this class achieving the appropriate level within Curriculum for Excellence.

As of March 2019, there are eleven cases open to the Intensive Therapeutic Service. The average decrease in post-traumatic symptoms for pupils accessing this service in 2018/19 was 63%.

Toolkits: The ability of schools to implement the approach following R4L training has been enhanced through the introduction of organisational readiness and classroom self-evaluation toolkits which support schools to identify gaps in their knowledge, action plans and procedures. This information has allowed more targeted action planning to take place within a coach-consult model, and the number of schools unable to take forward positive actions after the training has reduced.

Over session 2019/20 schools will continue to be supported in developing learning spaces that take account of the theories in R4L through ongoing coaching and mentoring with school staff. The remaining schools are scheduled to be trained in NME in November 2019. E-learning modules for R4L Level Two will be made available to educators by October 2019.

End of year data indicates that target pupils within these classes show statistically significant

gains in their executive function skills as measured using the Behaviour Rating Index of Executive Function (BRIEF2) assessment.

Professional Collaboration

A number of opportunities to share the evaluation of the R4L approach have taken place in 2018/19. These include presenting virtually at the International Symposium of the Child Trauma Academy in Banff, Canada; presenting to national events such as the Scottish Learning Festival & the Association of Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP) conference on Nurturing Approaches.

Written material has also been shared through a peer-reviewed article in the Division of Educational and Child Psychology journal, and the Times Educational Supplement (Scotland) magazine. The R4L Lead EP has been appointed as an Education Fellow of the Child Trauma Academy in recognition of the innovative use of the Neurosequential Model within Clackmannanshire.

In addition, a number of individuals and organisations have approached our Educational Psychologist Team from across Europe for advice and support as they begin developing a trauma-informed approach to learning. These activities have enabled us to engage in collaborative professional dialogue with a range of services which has helped to further develop the approach delivered across Clackmannanshire.

Senior Phase Pathways Improve and extend Senior Phase Pathways

During 2018/19, all secondary schools reviewed their Senior Phase Pathways alongside a Quality Improvement Manager. Included in the review was a specific look at current (& future) subject choices, integrating alternative arrangements for learning provision, considering a Consortia approach and the use of digital technology.

This review informed both the ASN and Digital Learning Strategies for 2019/20. It is anticipated that through the flexibility of this new approach there is an opportunity for senior level attainment to improve. With the development of more flexible pathways there should be an increase in the percentage of school leavers with an initial positive destination more appropriate to their learning.

The success and range of learner journeys and pathways was celebrated at an event with Forth Valley College, Alloa Academy and the Deputy First Minister on 6 August 2019.

31

Employability Programmes Implement employability programmes providing SQA accreditation for young people aged 16-19 years

Traditionally, Clackmannanshire has had a higher rate of school leavers on Activity Agreements (AA) than the rest of Scotland. Therefore, in 2018/19, the authority focused on ensuring that the appropriate school leavers were being referred on to Activity Agreements through enhanced discussions between Community Learning & Development and the secondary schools. Of the number of young people referred in 2017/18, only two referrals were not appropriate, which is a significant improvement on previous years. More than 80% of the young people were offered an AA with more than three quarters registering in 2018/19.

Across the authority, including the young people already on an AA, 73% progressed with the programme (44 young people). Over 90% (33) participants started a minimum of one award/accreditation.

Of the young people who completed an AA in 2018/19: half gained employment; with the remaining either entering further education or training.

Given the increase uptake of AA across the authority, the skills and experience the young people are gaining is improving their positive destination which is ultimately contributing to the overall improvement in the positive destination rate across the authority.

Mentors in Violence Programme Implement the Mentors in Violence Programme across Secondary Schools

In August 2018 a Alloa Academy held a launch event for the Mentors in Violence Programme. A multi-agency group was thereafter formed to rollout the programme across the schools.

Core teams have been identified across the schools which include a member of the Senior Management Team in each group.

In February 2019 staff from all agencies attended MVP Lead training by Education Scotland. The next step is identifying Pupil Mentors and schools are in currently in the process of doing so. It is expected that the initial set of mentors will be from the S4 cohort with other year groups added in each session until the full school has been trained.

It is envisaged that it will take 3-5 years to fully implement this programme.

Police Scotland Forth Valley College Clackmannanshire Women’s Aid NHS Alloa Academy Alva Academy Lornshill Academy Secondary School Support Service Community Learning & Development team

32

Improvement activity by driver - School Improvement

Within our learning communities, we want to see regular engagement in effective quality improvement and

moderation activities and agreed standards and

expectations.

Schools work together in clusters to develop, promote and

improve a quality curriculum which meets the needs of all

learners reflecting local and national good practice.

The curriculum is regularly reviewed and refreshed with

the support of partners to ensure it continues to meet the

needs of learners. Coherent learning pathways are in

place to ensure progression, appropriate challenge,

personalisation and choice and develop skills for life and

work.

Educators, partners and other stakeholders have a good

understanding of the purpose of the school curriculum and how it promotes improvement in attainment

and equity for all. All educators, parents and partners should be fully involved in the improving the life and

wok of the school, with a range of stakeholders taking the lead in aspects of school improvement.

Educators will be supported by professional learning activities, clearly linked to self-evaluation and

identified areas of improvement.

Our school estate is in good condition and well maintained ready to deliver learning and teaching fit for the

21st century.


• Develop Clackmannanshire Flexible Learning Spaces, including Virtual Learning Environments, link-ing schools and learners at home and the community

• Develop and ASN Strategy for al learners with additional support for learning needs

• Develop and implement a Sport and Active Living Framework for Clackmannanshire

• Negotiate a 4 year investment agreement with sportscotland for Active Schools

33

Flexible Learning Spaces Develop Clackmannanshire Flexible Learning Spaces, including Virtual Learning Environments, linking schools and learners at home and the community

As detailed already within this report, FLIP (Flexible Learning Independent Pathways) is currently in development including the introduction of a digital pilot for the Clackmannanshire Schools Support Service pupils. This online learning environment is expected to feature a range of ‘tiles’ including 1+2 Languages, LGBT and an Educational Psychology tile.

At present these ‘tiles’ are being populated with the areas responsible for each tile currently sourcing material to be uploaded. This variety in content will be accessible by all pupils involved. It is anticipated the content will range from online clips and videos to online lessons.

During 2018/19 outdoor learning spaces continued to be developed at areas such as Gartmorn Dam, with access to a range of learning activities including cycling, canoeing, bush craft, archery and night line.

Bike maintenance programmes have also been introduced in the Bike Shed with cooking, music and life skills being provided from one of our community centres (Bowmar Centre).

Over the reporting period, these flexible learning spaces were used by a number of our pupils including: primary and secondary pupils through the School Wider Achievement Programme (SWAP) programme; holiday programmes; after school programmes; and Sauchie Cluster P7 pupils who were not able to take part in the residential programme at Dalguise.

These programmes are aimed at providing young people with lifeskills, improving their self-esteem and confidence so that they are able to contribute more effectively within our wider community. An improvement in attainment and the increase in the number of achievement awards is already evidence of success.

Additional Support Needs Strategy Develop an ASN Strategy for all learners with additional support for learning needs

As reported elsewhere in this report, the ASN guidance for the authority was outdated and needed reviewed. The new strategy is a collaborative action plan which outlines work to be carried out immediately and strategically from 2018 to 2021. It provides a more targeted support to ensure equity and excellence across ASN in Clackmannanshire.

The new ASN strategy will be presented to our Elected Members (People Committee) in September 2019.

Sport and Active Living Framework Develop and implement a Sport and Active Living Framework for Clackmannanshire

Negotiate a 4 year investment agreement with sportscotland for Active Schools

This action involves the changing of ownership of the Sport and Active Living Framework from sportscotland to the authority. The framework involves a ‘whole population approach’ to sport and active living with the aim to ensure it is accessible for all and particularly those who already face barriers through poverty, life circumstances or disability. It has been developed to align with our long term strategic outcomes for Clackmannanshire and our Local Outcome Improvement Plan for 2017/2027. It recognises that sport and being physically active can contribute to achieving our local strategic outcomes and to address the long-term inequality in our communities in Clackmannanshire.

Sport & Ac�ve Living Framework Priori�es

Ac�ve Communi�es

Infrastructure and Places

Schools and Educa�on (extracts from the

framework shown below)

Leadership and Governance

Mission Statement: All pupils will have the opportunity to get involved and participate

in Physical Education and sport and stay involved throughout their lives whilst develop-

34

Improvement activity by driver - Performance Information

Performance information is used to inform and drive

improvement at all levels.

As part of our continuous cycle of improvement, educators

analyse progress and performance across a range of data

and evidence to identify where the gaps remain and action

is required.

Our service is data rich, gathering appropriate and

accurate performance information which is reported

nationally as well as data which applies to a single school,

class or child. This information, appropriately triangulated

and analysed, helps educators to take early action to

improve outcomes for children and young people and

meet their particular learning needs.

Peer support and challenge helps educators analyse data

and ongoing reflective practice leads to improvements. Schools and Early Learning and Childcare

establishments are supported by colleagues at centre to analyse data.

Pupils, parents and other stakeholders have an essential role in helping school leaders identify areas for

improvement and also to contribute to and celebrate their school’s identified strengths and learners’

successes. Stakeholder views play a key role in school self evaluation and shaping and delivering school

improvement plans.

Teams at centre work in partnership with academia and peer local authorities to improve their self

evaluation processes and benchmark their data leading to improvements in service design and delivery.


• Develop and roll out a new pupil tracking system to all primary schools who have requested the new tracker

• Provide Data Surgeries and Collaborative Action Research coaching to schools to improve pupil tracking and monitoring

35

Pupil Tracking System Develop and roll out a new pupil tracking system to all primary schools who have requested the new tracker

During 2018/19 the authority pupil tracker was developed with input from a wide range of Educators, including headteachers, Improving Outcomes Team Leaders, Educational Psychologists and the Senior Management Team. The tracker uses MS Excel online which means it can be accessed by more than one member of staff at the same time and is managed through the creation of School ‘Glow’ Groups.

Almost all primary schools are now using the authority pupil attainment tracker in order to track progress and achievement of pupils from P1 to P7 based on Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Benchmarks. It is expected that through more robust and effective tracking and monitoring overall attainment will improve including the narrowing of the poverty related attainment gap.

The use of the tracker has been included in School Quality Assurance Calendars as part of the tracking and monitoring meetings. With the

Data Surgeries and Collaborative Action Research Provide Data Surgeries and Collaborative Action Research coaching to schools to improve pupil tracking and monitoring

During 2018/19 Joint Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL) for educators was delivered by Educational Psychologists and the Improvement Analyst to a number of teaching staff on the use of data and carrying out Collaborative Action Research. Ongoing data surgeries also took place between headteachers, deputy headteachers and the analyst throughout 2018/19 with discussion around children’s progress and the effective use of data to inform practice. Feedback from these sessions have also assisted in the development of the authority pupil tracker, as detailed above.

The RIC (Regional Improvement Collaborative) Data Coach was appointed in 2018/19. This person will take forward further CLPL and data surgeries focusing on the analysis of both achievement and attainment data in particular with teachers on pedagogy approaches and effective teaching practices. Support, where necessary, will be provided in conjunction with the Improvement Analyst.

5%0%

24%

61%

10%

0% 0%

% Achieved Early (Reading)

98 Pre E1 E1 E2 F1 F2 F3

2%

0%

20%

63%

15%0%

0%

% Achieved Early (Writing)

98 Pre E1 E1 E2 F1 F2 F3

36

Ap

pe

nd

ix 1

NIF

Pro

gre

ss

Re

po

rt

20

18-2

019

NIF Priority Action Base-line

Progress

Direc-

�on Evaluation/Improvement Prediction/Overall Comments

2016/17 2017/18 Target

Improvement in Children’s and Young People’s health & wellbeing Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disad-vantaged children

Increase the percentage of children achieving Early Years Milestones Measurement: Percentage of children with a concern in any domain (Speech, Language & Com-munication, Emo-tional/Behavioural Skills, Personal/Social Skills, Fine Motor Skills, Gross Motor Skills, Vision, Hearing)

22.8% 24.3% 15% 15% In 2017/18, the percentage of children with a concern in any domain measured, as assessed at the 27-30 month review, fell across the authority to 15%, equal to the Scottish average (equates to 77 chil-dren - over a third less children). The biggest concern identified across the authority relates to speech, although in 2017/18 it was lower than the average across Scotland. Poverty Related Attainment Gap: The percentage of children with a concern in any domain in SIMD Q1 (our most de-prived area) fell to 26.2%, a fall of 3.4 percentage points compared to the pre-vious year. The gap between children in SIMD Q1 and SIMD Q5 also fell to 12.6 percentage points (a fall of almost 3 per-centage points compared to the previous year). Despite the fall, the gap remains significantly more than the gap across Scotland.

Given that Clackmannanshire equalled the Scottish average in 2017/18 which was a fall of more than a third, then our target is to en-sure we reflect any changes at Na-tional level. This cohort of children will be assessed at nursery. Given that the number of concerns have fallen it is predicted that this cohort of children should show improvement in CfE levels. Nursery children continue to be as-sessed and monitored through ‘E’ Learning Logs using a Red/Amber/Green measurement in the following areas: Health & Wellbeing, Numera-cy & Mathematics, Literacy & Eng-lish, Expressive Arts, Sciences, Technologies, Social Studies, and Religious & Moral Education. Work is continuing to link the evidence of progress with CfE levels at Nursery level into the Authority Pupil Tracker.

Source: ISD Scotland Data Tables https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/27-30-month-review-statistics

37

NIF Priority Action Baseline 2015/16

Progress Direc�on Evaluation/Improvement Prediction/Overall Comments

2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

Improvement in attainment, par-ticularly in liter-acy & numeracy Closing the at-tainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children

Increase the percentage of children achiev-ing expected levels of CfE Reading, Writing, Listening & Talking & Numeracy: Early (P1) First (P4) Second (P7) Third or better (S3) Measurement Percentage gap between achievement levels of Pupils from SIMD Q1 and SIMD Q2-Q5 Reading, Writing, Listening & Talking & Numeracy Early (P1) First (P4) Second (P7) Third or better (S3)

Reading 77% 66% 68% 71%

Reading 81% 65% 70% 84%

Reading -12 -5 -15 -15

Reading 84% 77% 76% 87%

Reading -10 -11 -13 -7

Reading 85% 76% 75% 87%

Reading -2 2

-12 -14

Reading In 2018/19, the percentage of pupils achieving Early Level (P1) in Reading met our target set last year. This rate remains higher than the Scottish average for 2017/18 (81%). For children achieving First Level, the per-centage fell slightly compared to last year and is now lower than the Scottish aver-age. In P7, the percentage of children achieving Second Level also fell compared to last year and remains lower than the Scottish average. For pupils in S3 achieving Third Level or better, the percentage is the same as last year although remains lower than the Scot-tish average (90%). Gap In 2018/19, at Early level, the gap between achievement levels in Reading for pupils in SIMD Q1 and SIMD Q2-5 (average) nar-rowed to -2 percentage points; an improve-ment on the previous year. The achievement gap at First Level nar-rowed significantly with pupils in our most deprived areas outperforming the rest of the cohort. At Second level, the gap narrowed slightly. At senior phase the gap has grown and is now similar to the gap in 2016/17. The increase in Alloa Academy’s gap is the reason for the overall increase.

Despite improvement in the achievement of CfE levels in Read-ing, the older children are still not achieving at national levels. The targets set last year (improve by 1% in both Early & First Level; Sec-ond Level to improve by 4% & at Third Level or better, to improve by at least 3%) have only been achieved at Early Level. Including the narrowing of the gap at Early Level, the achievement gap between SIMD Q1 and SIMD Q5, which is the measurement used by the Scottish Government also nar-rowed and is now lower than the Scottish average. The gap has grown at senior phase (3rd level and above) hence this year more focus is being placed with the secondary school responsi-ble for the increase on the attain-ment of children from our most de-prived areas.

38


Progress Direction Evaluation/Improvement Prediction/Overall Comments

2016/17 2017/18 2018/19



Writing 73% 59% 58% 69%

Writing 77% 58% 49% 82%

Writing -12 -5 -15 -11

Writing 81% 72% 71% 85%

Writing -12 -12 -13 -13

Writing 84% 72% 67% 84%

Writing -6 -7 -13 -18

Writing In 2018/19, the percentage of pupils achieving Early Level (P1) Writing exceed-ed our target set last year and is higher than the Scottish average for 2017/18 (78%). For children achieving First Level, the per-centage remained the same as last year and is now the same as the Scottish aver-age. In P7, the percentage of children achieving Second Level fell compared to last year and is much lower than the Scottish aver-age (73%) For pupils in S3 achieving Third Level or better, the percentage is slightly lower than last year and much lower than the Scottish average (89%) Gap In 2018/19, both at Early and First Level, the achievement gap (SIMD 1&2 vs 3-10) narrowed compared to the previous year. At senior phase the gap has grown. Both the increases in the gap at Alloa Academy and Lornshill Academy are the reason for the overall increase. At Alva Academy, the gap narrowed.

As with Reading, despite improve-ment at Early Level the older chil-dren are not achieving at national levels. There is now a risk of not meeting national averages by 2020 for First, Second and Third & Above Levels in Writing. The achievement gap between SIMD Q1 and SIMD Q5 which is the measurement used by the Scot-tish Government, is the same as the gap reported across Clackman-nanshire.

39



2016/17 2017/18 2018/19



Listening & Talking 83% 69% 73% 81%


Listen & Talk -18 -10 -20 -5


Listen & Talk -4 -9 -8 -9


Listen & Talk 2 -1 -10 -11

Listening & Talking In 2018/19, the percentage of pupils achieving Early Level (P1) Listening & Talking continues to be higher than our target and the Scottish average for 2017/18 (87%). For children achieving First Level, there is a slight fall in the achievement rate hence it is now the same as the Scottish average in 2017/18. In P7, the percentage of children achieving Second Level improved beyond our target but remains lower than the Scottish aver-age (84%). For pupils in S3 achieving Third Level or better, the percentage remains lower than our target (89%) and lower than the Scot-tish average (91%). Gap In 2018/19, the gap narrowed at Early level with results showing that children in our most deprived area are outperforming the rest of the cohort. There is also improve-ment in the size of the gap at First level with a fall of 8 percentage points on the previous year. All three secondary schools reported an increase in the achievement gap.

Across Listening and Talking there is improvement in Early and Sec-ond level which differs from the previous year. Nationally, the achievement rate is not too far away from the Scottish average and the target to achieve the na-tional average by 2020 is still possi-ble.

40



2016/17 2017/18 2018/19



Numeracy 77% 66% 60% 55%

Numeracy

79% 60% 54% 64%

Numeracy -4 -11 -16 -21

Numeracy 86% 76% 67% 80%

Numeracy -5 -11 -17 -9

Numeracy 88% 75% 69% 77%

Numeracy -4 -5 -19 -22

Numeracy In 2018/19, the percentage of pupils achieving Early Level (P1) Numeracy improved on last year and remains higher than the Scottish average for 2017/18 (85%). For children achieving First Level, the percentage is slightly lower this year and remains significantly lower than the Scottish average (85%). In P7, the percentage of children achieving Second Level is higher than last year but remains lower than the Scottish average (75%). For pupils in S3 achieving Third Level or better, the percentage is lower than last year and much lower than the Scottish average (89%). Gap In 2018/19, the achievement gap nar-rowed at both Early & First Level com-pared to the previous year. Despite overall improvement at Second Level, the gap at this level has grown slightly. A significant increase in the gap in Alloa Academy is the main reason for the overall increase.

Despite improvement across some of the CfE levels in Nu-meracy, the achievement rate at First Level remains lower than the Scottish average and this is replicated later in the achieve-ment of Third Level and above. The achievement gap between SIMD Q1 and SIMD Q5 which is the measurement used by the Scottish Government, is much smaller at First Level than in the previous year and significantly, is lower than the Scottish aver-age.

Source: Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels 2017/18 – Scottish Government

Source: NIF Performance Baseline Database

41

SQA data 2019 published week

beginning 16th

Sept 2019

NIF Priority Action Baseline Progress

Direc�on Evaluation/Improvement Prediction/Overall Comments 2017/18 2018/19

Improvement in attainment, par-ticularly in liter-acy & numeracy Closing the at-tainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children Improvement in employability skills and sus-tained, positive school leaver destinations

Increase the percentage of young people achieving at SCQF Levels in English Measurement Pass Rate for Na-tional 5 & Higher English

National 5: 80.8%

Higher: 69.9%

Adv Higher:

47.6%

National 5: 76.7%

Higher: 55.8%

Adv Higher:

85%

The overall pass rate by qualification has fallen for National 5 and Higher level quali-fications in English in 2019. The overall pass rate for National 5 English has fallen 4.1 percentage points to 76.7% in 2019. The overall pass rate for Higher level Eng-lish has fallen by 14.1 percentage points to 55.8% in 2019. However, the overall pass rate for Ad-vanced Higher English has seen an in-crease with 85% of young people passing, compared with 47.6% in 2018.

42

SQA data 2019 published week beginning

16th

Sept 2019


Direc�on Evaluation/Improvement Prediction/Overall Comments

2017/18 2018/19

Improvement in attainment, par-ticularly in liter-acy & numeracy Closing the at-tainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children Improvement in employability skills and sus-tained, positive school leaver destinations

Increase the percentage of young people achieving at SCQF Levels in Maths Measurement Pass Rate for Na-tional 5 & Higher Maths

National 5: 51.8%

Higher: 79.3%

Adv Higher:

72%

National 5: 54.8%

Higher: 57.4%

Adv Higher:

87.5%

The overall pass rate by qualification has fallen for Higher level qualifications in Maths in 2019. However, the overall pass rate at National 5 and Advanced Higher level in Maths has risen. At National 5 level, the overall pass rate has increased by 3 percentage points to 54.8% in 2019. Further, at Higher level, the overall pass rate has risen to 87.5% in 2019 (from 72% in 2018).

43


Direc�on Evaluation/Improvement Prediction/Overall Comments 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

Improvement in employability skills and sus-tained, positive school leaver destinations

Increase the number of awards achieved by young people by the end of senior phase Other Awards (Accreditations Com-pleted by end of Senior Phase) [inc. Youth Achieve-ment Awards: Duke of Edinburgh, John Muir & Saltire (both Approach & Ascent)]

80

Partnership working with Forth Valley Col-lege has improved the opportunities for our young people to achieve a variety of other qualifications that are not necessarily availa-ble at our schools. In 2018/19 80 young peo-ple attended FV college studying a number of courses including Early Learning & Child-care, Construction Crafts, Engineering, Po-lice Skills, Computing, Make up artistry, to name but a few. Included in this years results is a number of young people who are studying for their Foundation Apprenticeships and have com-pleted Year 1: 26 young people, Other results achieved: National 5 Courses: 9 passes HNC: 3 continuing, 2 passes in Graded Unit: An increasing number of our young people are completing accredited national awards for volunteering such as SALTIRE, John Muir, Dynamic Youth and Duke of Edinburgh. Clackmannanshire has become the first local authority to have all our secondary schools directly licensed to work in partnership with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

More focus is being placed on en-suring young children have their own relevant pathway with schools now looking at their destination from S1. Improved partnership working with Forth Valley College has already enhanced the courses on offer for young people across Clackmannan-shire. It is expected the availability of courses will lead to a larger range of qualifications on offer for our young people.

Source: FV College datasheet, August 2019

44


Direc�on

Evaluation/Improvement Prediction/Overall Comments

2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

Improvement in attainment, par-ticularly in liter-acy & numeracy Improvement in Children’s and Young People’s health & wellbe-ing

Increase Attend-ance Rate All children Primary School Secondary School Special School Attendance Rate SIMD 1&2

93.3%

94.5%

91.2%

94.4%

93.0%

94.6%

90.3%

85.9%

92.8% 90.7%

94.2% 93.1%

90.7% 87.3%

87.9% 82.0%

92.8% 90.8%

94.1% 93.0%

90.9% 88.3%

87.9% 77.7%

Overall, attendance in 2018/19 remained consistent with previous years. Attendance of pupils from SIMD 1&2 has only been moni-tored since 2017/18 and there has been a slight improvement on last year’s attendance figure. The authority suffered from a significant out-break of Norovirus towards the end of term which affected the overall attendance rate. Before this outbreak most schools were re-porting improvement in their overall attend-ance rate. Whilst at primary school, the attendance for male pupils (93.6%) is lower than female pupils (94.0%). At secondary school the gap grows at gender level with male pupils still attending more than female pupils. In both cases however, both the attendance rates are lower in secondary school than they are in primary school. Attendance for LAC pupils differ depending on whether they are looked after at home or away. Pupils being looked after at home have a lower attendance rate (85%) than pupils looked after, away (94.5%). Overall their attendance is lower than the overall attendance rate.

Attendance remains an ‘Obsession’ for the authority given that the over-all attendance rate remains lower than the latest Scottish figures (93.3% - 2016/17). An initial target of 92.95%, set in 2016/17 remains the target in which the weekly attendance rate is cur-rently measured against.

45

NIF Priority Action Baseline Progress Direc�on Evaluation/Improvement Prediction/Overall Comments

2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

Improvement in attainment, par-ticularly in liter-acy & numeracy

Improvement in Children’s and Young People’s health & wellbe-ing

Reduce Exclu-sion Rate / Re-duce the number of exclusion inci-dents

212 19 8 A new exclusion policy was introduced at the beginning of the 2017/18 academic year where a new approach was encouraged across the schools to provide more support and inclusion for young people. This resulted in a significant fall in the number of exclusions across primary schools, secondary schools and Clacks School Support Service in 2017/18 and this has continued into 2018/19 with a further fall. The number of exclusions at the end of 2018/19 was 8, involving 8 pupils.

3 exclusion incidents @ Primary School

5 exclusion incidents @ Secondary School

0 exclusion incidents @ School Sup-port Service

Of the pupils who were excluded 3 (38%) were from SIMD 1&2 and all were recorded as having some level of Additional Support Need.

Given the new focus on improved curricular pathways, outreach sup-port and partnership working across Clackmannanshire schools it is ex-pected that the level of exclusions continue to be lower than in previ-ous years.

46

All three Secondary Schools reported a higher positive destination figure with Alloa Academy reporting the highest percentage point increase com-pared to the previous year. Alva Academy, at 94.1%, has the closest posi-tive destination figure to the National figure [94.4%]. • Alloa Academy – 93.7% (an increase of 8.7 percentage points on the previous year) • Alva Academy – 94.1% (an increase of 3.5 percentage points on

the previous year) • Lornshill Academy – 91.4% (an increase of 5.9 percentage points on the previous year)



Improvement in employabil-ity skills and sustained, pos-itive school leaver destina-tions

Increase initial positive destina-tion rate All school leav-ers (figure in brackets is VC)

92.6%

(91.8%)

86.9%

(92.4%)

93.0%

(93.2%)

%

(%)

The (initial) positive destination figure for Clackmannanshire’s 2017/18 leaver cohort is 93.0%; an increase of 6.1 percentage points compared to 2016/17; the highest percent-age increase across Scotland. Despite the improvement, the figure remains lower than the National average by 1.4 per-centage points [94.4%]; Forth Valley & West Lothian Regional Improvement Collaborative (RIC) average by 1.3 percentage points [94.3%] and our Virtual Comparator by 0.2 percentage points [93.2%]. The percentage of school leavers who are reported as not being in a positive destina-tion equates to 33 young people. Despite a fall in the percentage of school leavers last year entering employment from Clackmannanshire [27.9%], the rate remains higher than the National [22.7%], our RIC [24.9%] and our Virtual Comparator (VC) [22.8%] figures. Among the number of school leavers who entered employment, 38% started a Modern Apprenticeship. A higher percentage of school leavers entered Further Education [28.2%]; higher than the National average by 1.6 percentage points and similar to our VC. A higher percentage of school leavers also entered Higher Educa-tion [29.6%] although this still remains lower than the National average [41.2%] and our VC [36.3%].+

The ambition by 2020 is for the percentage of school leavers in a positive destination to be in line with the National average.

Source: INSIGHT Benchmarking Tool, Scottish Govern-ment

47



Improvement in employabil-ity skills and sustained, pos-itive school leaver destina-tions

Increase initial positive destina-tion rate (reducing the achievement gap) MOST 20% de-prived LEAST 20% de-prived GAP is measured by difference be-tween 20% MOST & 20% LEAST deprived cohorts [Measurement: SQA Results – S4/5/6 leav-ers]

88.4%

97.5%

GAP -9.1

86.1%

91.8%

GAP -5.7

79.8%

96.6% GAP -16.8

92% 97.5% GAP -5.5

More than a quarter of our school leavers [27%] last year are from the 20% most de-prived areas (SIMD 1&2). The percentage of school leavers from these areas in an initial positive destination increased by over 12 percentage points last year [92%]. This rate is higher than the National average [90.4%]; our RIC average [91%], and our VC [88.4%]. More young people from our most deprived areas entered Further Education last year [38.4%]; this figure is higher than both the National average [37.7%] and our VC [36.4%]. A higher percentage of school leavers from our most deprived areas also entered Higher Education last year [17.6%] although the rate is lower than both the National average [25.7%] and our VC [25.5%]. The percentage gap for leavers from our most deprived areas and the rest of the co-hort reduced for leavers who entered Higher Education. This is the only positive destina-tion where the gap reduced.

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2018/19 data published 27/08/19


Direc�on Evaluation/Improvement Prediction/Overall Comments 2015/16/ 2016/17 2017/18


Improve Par-ticipation Measure

New measure

88.2%

89.7%

89.3% The Participation Measure (PM) is pub-lished by Skills Development Scotland

(SDS) and represents a school leaver’s (16-19 years) engagement between the finan-cial year 1st April 2017 & 31st March 2018.

There has been little improvement in Clack’s PM in 2017/18 with 89.3% of 16-19 year olds participating in education, train-ing or employment compared to 89.7% in

2016/17.

61.7% in Education 25.6% in Employment

2% in Training

The Scottish PM is 91.8; 3% higher than Clack’s PM.

(Data suppled by SDS:)

As of 28/09/2018 there were 499 ap-prentices in training

Between April & Sept 2018, 190 Mod-ern Apprenticeships were sup-

ported by SDS; Modern Appren-ticeship achievement rate is 83%

In order to achieve the Scottish Participation Rate of 91.8%, the target is at least an increase of 3% points for the Participation

Rate for 2018/19.

The PM across Scotland con-sisted of 71.3% in Education (16% higher than Clacks);

18.7% in Employment (Clacks was higher) and 1.9% in Train-

ing (almost the same as Clacks).

The target is to ensure people that are in employment are in sustained employment and

have the skills to develop further in their chosen career.

Source: Skills Development Scotland Annual Participa-tion Rate; published August 2018; updated 27/11/2018;

www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/local-national-work/clackmannanshire/

49


Direc�on Evaluation/Improvement Prediction/Overall Comments 2015/16/ 2016/17 2017/18


Improve Par-ticipation Measure

88.2% 89.7%

89.3%

90.1% The Participation Measure (PM) is pub-lished by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and represents a school leaver’s (16-19 years) engagement between the finan-cial year 1st April 2018 & 31st March 2019. This year there has been improvement in Clack’s PM with 90.1% of 16-19 year olds participating in education, training or em-ployment compared to 89.3% in 2016/17 (0.8 percentage point (pp) increase).

63.2% in Education (increase)

24.6% in Employment (slight fall)

2.4% in Training (increase)

The Scottish PM is 91.6; 1.5pp higher than Clack’s PM. (Data suppled by SDS:)

As of 28/06/2019 there were 416 Modern Apprentices in train-ing

Between April & June 2019, 34 Modern Apprenticeships were started by SDS; Modern Ap-prenticeship achievement rate

is 74% (a slight fall compared to last year)

The Scottish Participation Rate fell slightly this year whereas the authority’s improved. This means that the gap between our figure and the national is nar-rowing. If we continue to work in partnership more effectively with Skills Development Scotland, it is anticipated that the gap will narrow further. The target remains to ensure people that are in employment are in sustained employment and have the skills to develop further in their chosen career.

Source: Skills Development Scotland Annual Participa-tion Rate; published August 2019

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Appendix 2: Clackmannanshire Parental Involvement

and Engagement (PIE) Strategy In 2017/18 School Reviews were carried out in every Clackmannanshire school. Part of the School Review was a focus group with parents and also a survey to gather parents views about the school. As well as informing the findings of the School Review, these focus groups, including one for parents of children with Additional Support Needs, and surveys provided data about what schools do well and where they could improve their parental involvement and engagement. That information shaped the strategy which was published in April 2018. It was welcomed by schools, some of whom used it as a checklist to identify areas of good practice and areas for improvement.

In addition to the Clackmannanshire Strategy, the Scottish Government published their action plan for Parental Involvement and Engagement in August 2018 - Learning Together: national action plan on parental involvement, engagement, family learning and learning at home 2018 – 2021.

During the course of session 2018/19 the Improving Outcomes (IO) Engagement Officer visited 84% of schools and nurseries to discuss the Clackmannanshire PIE Strategy and the Learning Together action plan. As well as recording which areas of the PIE strategy that schools and nurseries were intending to work on during the session (backed up by parent feedback and survey data) the IO Engagement Officer offered ideas and support and signposted to good practice elsewhere in the authority, Regional Improvement Collaborative and nationally through Education Scotland’s Improvement Hub and national working groups. Schools and nurseries, on average, identified 4-6 areas for improvement from the Clacks PIE Strategy or Learning Together Plan - some case studies are included below shown under headings from the Clacks PIE Strategy.

Schools in the Lornshill Cluster engaged CONNECT to deliver training for school senior leaders to promote awareness of parental involvement and engagement responsibilities and ask schools to take a stocktake of where they are in terms of the ‘6 types of involvement’ promoted as good practice by Dr Joyce Epstein. This work additionally led to schools identifying areas of improvement and developing an action plan to address these.

Welcoming Parents

Clackmannan Primary School

“We have continued to build on effective practice in the nursery and visit every new family at home prior to the child starting. In addition to this, we launched ‘PEEP Transition to School’ programme for pre-school families led by Senior ELCE. The sessions focused on building relationships with key people, familiarising new families with the layout of the school, a P1 classroom learning experience and providing information about every day activities at home which can maximise literacy and numeracy learning. Feedback from PEEP families noted increased confidence about their child starting school and a better understanding of how ‘school works’.

We introduced weekly Stay and Play sessions for P1 and P2 over 20 sessions and every child had at least one adult attend. Parents reported having greater understanding of how children learn in class and what progress looks like. 100% of P1 and P2 pupils had an adult attend at least one Stay and Play Session.

We established our first family learning events called ‘Sweeten Your day with a story’ where every week families hear a story read out loud by a team member, have a hot chocolate and then share stories of their choice together. 40% of families attended at least one ‘Sweeten your Day’ story session in school.”

87% of parents agreed that school staff are

approachable.

76% of parents are confident that if they

need to contact their child's school, it will

respond helpfully to questions and

comments.

Parent Survey - June 2019

51

Communication and Involvement

ABC Nursery

“When we first introduced the e-journals parents had very little engagement with them. Following a ‘big push’ to get families registered and to post a photo or comment we gathered the data at the beginning of the plan demonstrated in the graph above.

This showed a big improvement however posts and comments tailed off again. We engaged with our Parents Improvement Group to see if entering into dialogue around How Good is Our Early Learning and Childcare section 2.5 Family Learning may give them a better idea of the reasons behind wanting to engage families.

The parents in the group then came up with all sorts of ideas one of which was a sheet going home with ideas of how to do activities at home. Parents could choose an activity, do this with their child then post on the e-journal.”

Coalsnaughton Primary School

“Following consultation with parents, we agreed to focus on improving communication this session. Key documents are now available via the website. We are developing a Parent Zone and will consult the parents next session on the content of that. All staff including Nursery are using Twitter to share learning and Class Dojo to communicate with families. The school handbook has now been updated and is available via the website. All new Primary 1 parents were given a copy during the transition day. We will update any changes that happen next session.

Tillicoultry Primary School

“At Parents Night, we consulted with parents on which interventions for equity they would happy for us to spend our PEF money on. They dotted their opinions and could “dot” as many interventions as they liked - Social and Emotional Wellbeing was by far the most popular spend, with promoting healthy lifestyle, targeted approach to literacy and numeracy and promoting a high quality learning experience all having similar number of votes. All those interventions are included in our PEF spend for next session.”

Engagement in Child’s Learning

Banchory Primary School

“Using guidance from the service, we have developed and implemented a new volunteering policy that caters for the needs of our own school community. As a result of this parents have been volunteering in P2/1 supporting pupils and parents with how to support reading at home and a parent has been able to volunteer to gain experience working in a school for future jobs she is looking to apply for. We have had some parents to volunteer to be part of our Junior Leadership Teams; our Chair of the Parent Council supported the Junior Leadership Team in using ‘How Good is OUR School?’ to evaluate school improvement, our Parent Fundraising Team joined our Pupil Fundraising Team to plan and organise our end of term ‘Banchory has got Talent’, some parents have supported the ‘Grounds Maintenance Crew’ with their time and talents in developing our school grounds.

To support parents and pupils with P7/S1 transition, in partnership with Columba 1400, we ran a Family Transition Leadership Academy during the Easter Holidays. This has

had a positive impact on both pupils and parents as they have fed back that this pilot has improved relationships between parents and pupils who took part and allowed stronger friendships to develop.”

66% of parents agreed that their child’s school keeps them well informed about their child's progress in a way they can understand.

Parent Survey June 2019

66% of parents agreed that they know what their child is learning in school.

Parent Survey 2019

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Family Learning

St Serf’s Primary School

“As a school we are keen to continue to develop family learning and to involve parents in planning and co-delivering policies.

Following consultation with nursery & P1 parents, the transition programme for nursery to P1 has been extended considerably. The programme now runs from February – June with weekly events/visits/activities being put in place. A questionnaire will be issued at the end of term one to evaluate the new programme.

Parents were invited onto our Digital working party to shape direction of digital technologies. An afterschool Digital Showcase took place and was well attended by pupils, parents and teachers.

Parent workshops were held in response to parent feedback to support parents with numeracy.”

Park Primary School

“Family learning groups were created to work with families across the school. Little Literacy Leaders family learning focussed on developing early literacy skills from P1 – P3. A variety of family learning opportunities were developed across P4-7 classes including cooking, STEM and animation. These groups proved to be successful with our parents/carers who attended. Engagement from parents/carers was particularly high in P1-6 classes, however, P7 family learning was adapted due to parents/carers not being able to attend.”

Family Learning ‘Conversation Event’

Education Scotland was invited to Clackmannanshire for a ‘conversation event’ to discuss and share information with a view to improving Family Learning.

This all day event was very well attended with almost all schools represented and it has increased the focus on Family Learning for next session. Community Learning will also be a priority.

Parent Councils and Parent Representation

Fishcross Primary School

“We ask parents for their views through surveys, during parents’ evenings and at Parent Council meetings. We managed to recruit more parents to the join the Parent Council. They led a successful campaign to keep the school open when it was threatened with closure and have raised their profile in the local community. They are very committed to being part of school decisions.’

Tillicoultry Primary School

“Parental Engagement and Involvement continues to be a school priority next session. The Parent Council has completed the Family Engagement Toolkit and our Improvement Group will analyse these results to develop an action plan that hopefully puts some of our ambers into greens!”

Lornshill Academy (PC Chair’s AGM Report)

“I think this has been a really positive year in terms of parental engagement. The SLT have consulted with the Parent Council on a lot of topics this year, including: • Parental Engagement Strategy • Communication Strategy • Faculty questionnaire • Monitoring and Tracking system • School Handbook • School website. We are planning to run a session on the website in the new term.

We want all Parents/ Carers at Lornshill Academy to get involved in what’s going on at school because when Parents/Carers and Schools work together - KIDS DO BETTER!”

59% of parents agree that their child's school offers a selection of Family Learning activities such as events and workshops.

Parent Survey 2019

89% of Parent Council members agreed that the Parent Council represents the views of parents about matters in the school.

80% of Parent Council members agreed that the views and suggestions of the Parent Council are taken into account by the school's senior management.

Parent Survey - June 2019

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Appendix 3

Case Study: Parental Involvement & Engagement at Lochies School

Lochies School is a school for children with additional support needs - some of which are severe and complex. The school already has a very good and mutually supportive relationship with parents and recognises that improvements can always be made. Following a school review in May 2018, the results from a Parents Focus Group and Parent Survey were used to decide priorities for improving Parental Involvement and Engagement in session 2018/19.

Parental Engagement Lochies School:

Our School Improvement Plan for 2018-19 set out to increase opportunities and access for all our families to participate in Family Learning, School Volunteering and Parent Voice together with and for the benefit of their children in Lochies School. Families in SIMD 1&2 were automatically included although Lochies unique context meant that all our families face multiple deprivations, irrespective of their SIMD banding. 1. Family Learning:

In line with our identified focus on Literacy and Communication, a programme of 'family and friends' events was initially circulated via our website, school newsletters and our Twitter account. These included:

• Makaton Sign Sharing workshops with our SLT

• Eye Gaze information sessions with specific families targeted for more in depth sessions

• Fun family oriented literacy events in school: World Book Day, Story Telling Day, Sensory Story Telling sessions and Literacy Whole School Learning contexts and Focused Learning Weeks

Progress/Adjustments:

Uptake of these sessions was fairly constant but did not attract any more of our target group of families than before. Our approach was updated to ensure that at our Parent Consultations and following IEP and CSP Reviews these parents were offered opportunities to stay on and work alongside their children and staff in smaller groups to enjoy Literacy learning activities and to see how their children responded to them. A small number of parents took up the offers but we did not see a sustained increase in their attendance at further events.

Feedback:

Several factors seemed to impact on our families uptake of these events:

• Transport - many of our parents did not have access to their own transport and lived some distance from the school

• Timing - parents reported that they worked during the school day and could not attend - after school events would require them to rearrange carer packages etc. for their children with ASN

• Relevance - some of our parents reported that that their child was not interested in reading or books despite their efforts and that they did not see the relevance of these activities to their child.

Positive impact:

A small core of families attended the planned events regularly, with Eye Gaze and Makaton Signing being the most popular events attended by parents in school. Participation by pupils in events such as World Book Day was high, with families seeming to prefer to support Literacy events in school aimed at their children rather than attend events themselves.

Two families who attended all the Makaton sign sharing events reported that as a result of the increased communication with their child, they had noted a real improvement in their child. One family noted an improvement his behaviour at home, their ability to support this and his relationships with his siblings. The second family reported a significant increase in their child's willingness and ability to participate in family events and his teacher noted a real increase in his initiation of verbal communication with peers and staff around the school.

2. School Volunteering Opportunities:

Our Parent Council were keen to support this aspect of our School Improvement Plan. Within the group there were several parents who expressed interest in pursuing their interests in the following:

• Story telling

• Baking

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• Gardening

• Arts and Crafts

Plans were made to offer a rotation of these events initially with teaching staff supported by parents with the hope that parents would eventually take on the groups and run them with individual children receiving support from the school Learning Assistants to attend and access the activities.

Progress/ Adjustments:

Interest from the pupils and staff was high with parents initially supporting regularly. However it was evident that the parent group volunteering were the core of the Parent Council, who had children with the most severe needs and were generally in SIMD bands 3-9. Uptake of volunteering opportunities was very poor amongst other parents with similar feedback given around why they were not able / interested in engaging.

Parent participation dropped off to all but one parent from the original group due to the following:

• The identified member of staff with responsibility for driving this focus was re-deployed to another setting.

• A number of children of the parents who were volunteering experienced some significant health challenges resulting in prolonged absence or admittance to hospital.

• Parents had no capacity to keep up their participation and the groups were subsequently run by other staff for a period before it was decided that they were not sustainable and provided no measurable impact to the pupils.

3. Parent Voice:

The Parent Council decided to contact parents to canvass support for their idea of offering a summer club. This was something previously identified by the members of the PC as something they themselves would like to pursue.

Support was sufficient that the PC decided to book a venue in Stirling and organised a programme of once a week 'play dates' for Lochies children and their families.

Lochies was able to support them in delivering their plans and provided contacts at Dial-a -Journey who were also looking to support children and families with ASN but without transport to access a summer outing. Lochies also provided games and sensory equipment to supply the group.

Impact:

The group is currently ongoing with one family choosing to comment positively on Twitter about the opportunity. Once the groups have finished for the summer the PC will report back on which families participated and how regularly. The PC will then discuss if the group was impactful enough to continue next year.

Another already positive impact of the PC taking on this new avenue of support for the families of Lochies is that we have now planned for them to be closely involved in gathering parent views and ideas around a planned improvement to our sensory room and resources. They have accepted our request that they be actively involved in the design and reconfiguration of the Sensory Room in session 2019-20.

Future Plans

In session 2019-20 we plan to focus our opportunities for volunteering/family involvement in learning via the following:

• A School Library Service with a parent volunteer librarian who will be offered training by the Library Service

• A PEF funded SLT collaboration focusing on working in homes and in school with families to engage their children in reading and stories

• Parent Council support and contact with parents to make changes to our Sensory Room, sensory resources and to support families to understand sensory needs and how we and they can meet them for their child.

nif progress report 2018-19 · 2020. 8. 20. · 6 attendance & exclusions: average attendance...

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