Together – in Partnership Arbroath Academy Ayr Academy Holy Rood High Partnership Together – in Partnership Ideas • • • • Background of each school Overarching aims Key questions Identified Group Together – in Partnership Arbroath Academy • • • • Angus 658 pupils, 60 FTE 29.7% FME S4 Group Together – in Partnership Ayr Academy • • • • South Ayrshire 598 pupils, 45 FTE 27.8% FME S5 Group Together – in Partnership Holy Rood High School • • • • Edinburgh 1079 pupils 21% FME S1&2 Together – in Partnership Overarching Aims • To find out ‘what works’ in closing the gap in educational achievement for young people living in deprived areas • To build staff confidence and expertise, share effective approaches and then try these out • To encourage staff to learn from each other, experiment with their practice and monitor and evaluate change Together – in Partnership Key Questions • • • Will regular high quality feedback, both oral and written, result in raising attainment? Does improvement in attendance result in improved attainment? Does providing parents with clear expectations regarding parental engagement raise parental aspirations? Together – in Partnership Innovation • • • School specific plans 2 Day Conference School visits Together – in Partnership School Specific Plans • • • Feedback Attendance Parental Engagement Together – in Partnership Feedback • Agree a definition of feedback • Shared practice across school • Share importance of feedback with parents and pupils • Introduce feedback diary • Include professional learning in cluster plan Together – in Partnership Attendance • Update current school policy to ensure consistency • Mentor pilot group of pupils • Use EPS materials to identify reasons and take appropriate actions • Use attendance statistics to show parents the negative impact of non-attendance • Use ‘everyday counts’ resource • Increase administration assistant time Together – in Partnership Parental Engagement • Clarify purpose of Parents’ Evenings for school and for parents • Implement procedure for contacting all new parents by end of 4th week • Identify parents that are hard-to-reach and investigate ways to engage with them • Consider themes for seeking feedback from parents • Increase parents awareness of twitter and website • Clarify expectations of new parents and what they can expect from us Together – in Partnership 2 Day Conference Together – in Partnership Guest Speakers • Chris Chapman • Graham Goulden • Brian McAlinden Together – in Partnership Workshop Activities • • • • • • Attendance Feedback Parental Engagement Bring one – share one Please help! Beyond the key questions of the partnership Together – in Partnership Together – in Partnership Evaluation • All evaluations were extremely positive “Something magical has happened here!” Joan Highton (Pupil Support Leader) “This has inspired me to stay in teaching” Perminder Kaur (Supply Teacher) Together – in Partnership School Visits • Share practice on: • • • • • • BGE Tracking New Higher Numeracy Feedback Attendance Use of support agencies Raising attainment Together – in Partnership School Visits Together – in Partnership Impact • • • • • What difference is the project making? What has been achieved overall? What has been challenging? What has challenged our thinking? What still has to be achieved? Together – in Partnership What difference is the project making? • Developing leadership • Sharing practice – willingness to try something different • ‘Critical Friend’ approach • Increased awareness of SIMD • Growing awareness of need to take account of research • Increase in professional reading • Staff lifting head to look at bigger picture Together – in Partnership What has been achieved overall? • • • • • Strong partnership between the three schools established Better connections with parents in identified group Improved attendance Improved self-esteem Improved knowledge of individual pupil context Together – in Partnership Strong partnership between the three schools established Together – in Partnership Strong partnership between the three schools established Together – in Partnership Attendance Pupil SIMD % at Start % After Difference Predicted Attainment A 1 95.83 95.48 -0.35 6 Nat 5 B 1 100 98.49 -1.51 4 Nat 5 1 Higher 1 Nat 4 C 1 100 96.69 -3.31 4 Nat 5 2 Nat 4 D 2 97.72 99.40 1.48 6 Nat 5 E 1 79.17 83.73 4.56 5 Nat 5 1 Nat 4 F 7 85.42 86.45 1.03 6 Nat 5 G 2 85.42 93.67 8.25 5 Nat 5 1 Higher H 3 86.46 93.98 7.52 6 Nat 5 I 7 89.58 93.67 4.09 3 Nat 5 3 Nat 4 J 2 97.92 98.80 0.88 5 Nat 5 K 1 100 99.70 -0.30 6 Nat 5 Together – in Partnership Rosenburg Self-Esteem Results 7 6 Frequency 5 4 3 2 1 0 At Start After 5 1 6 7 1 8 9 10 1 2 11 12 2 1 13 3 3 14 1 1 15 1 2 16 3 17 2 18 4 19 3 20 6 21 3 22 1 3 23 2 24 4 5 25 2 1 26 2 27 1 28 1 29 30 2 Together – in Partnership Parent Engagement Together – in Partnership Parent Engagement Together – in Partnership What has been been challenging? • • • • • The geographical distance between the schools to facilitate school visits Access to supply cover Timescales Prioritising time in a year of implementing new national qualifications Engaging parents Together – in Partnership What has challenged our thinking? • Developing an understanding of what ‘closing the gap’ means • The value of action research • Getting it Right for Every Child • What we mean by ‘parental engagement’ • The purpose of parents’ evenings Together – in Partnership What still has to be achieved? • Increase in research based action and professional reading • Feedback resources and Professional Learning • Attendance launch • Parental booklet on expectations • Pilot new format for parents’ evenings • Expanding partnership to pupils and parents Together – in Partnership Any questions