Schools Improvement
Partnership Programme (SIPP):
June 2014
Julie McGrogan – Educational Services
School Improvement Partnerships
• Most effective school improvements are locally owned
and led by teachers and school leaders working in
partnership and collaboration with like-minded
professionals
• Well-supported partnerships can lead to significant and
sustained improvement and raise attainment
• Long term partnerships where schools tackle issues of
mutual concern brings mutual success
Local authority partnerships
(learning visits)
Inter authority partnerships
(training events)
13 schools (5 Renfrew and 8 WDC)
4 Collaborative Groups
PARTNERSHIPS
Key to success:
strategic lead and professional
dialogue
Raised attainment at P3/4
Consistency in approaches to
learning and teaching
Increased expectation of our
schools and staff
Parental involvement in
reading
Challenging attitudes,
behaviours and pedagogy
Problem solving using higher
order questioning
Core principles
• Focus on exploring issues relating to educational inequity
• Use of Action Research and evidence
• Leadership opportunities and professional learning
• Commitment to reciprocity and mutual benefit to all involved
• Supporting long-term collaboration and new approaches to
capacity building
• Explicit links to strategic improvement planning
• Involvement of a diverse range of partners including
schools, local authorities, Education Scotland and other
agencies
Capacity Building
local authority
school leaders
teachers
Action Research
Professional Learning Opportunity
(How to conduct research)
Professional Learning
Writing research questions
Planning interviews, surveys,
questionnaires
Key messages
• School Improvement Partnerships are an action research
programme and a process of collaborative inquiry.
• We are trying to find out what works.
• The focus is on building staff confidence and expertise,
sharing effective approaches and then trying these out.
• In the spirit of action research we want to encourage staff
to learn from each other, experiment with their practice
and monitor and evaluate change.
Feedback from participants
Challenges
Opportunities
Next Steps
Assessing the impact
• Each partnership will be asked to indicate what
success will look like, with a strong focus on impact in
making a difference to young people’s achievement
and ultimately life chances.
• The results of the action research in this first year will
be shared widely, and will be used to inform how and to
what extent this programme may be rolled out in future
years.
SUCCESS
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Professional dialogue
Learning Visits
Assessment Tools
Critical reflection
Tackling Bureaucracy
NEXT STEPS
• Conduct research
• Small tests of change
• Expand number of schools involved
Lessons Learned
Know why you are collaborating
Early involvement of partners
Education Scotland
Approach – Raising Attainment for all
What raises attainment?
• Need to ensure every child is progressing
well at all ages by maintaining the pace of
progress consistently building confidence.
This session aims to help you to:
• Reflect on your practice in developing and
promoting attainment in literacy
• Consider how to enhance children’s literacy
skills, to support their learning
• Plan how to develop our practice to incorporate
some new concepts and ideas, and share views
with colleagues on literacy.
TASK 1
• ICEBREAKER – Introduce yourself round
the table (your name, school). Tell the
people at your table the name of your
favourite teacher and why.
• Brainstorm – ‘How do you raise attainment
in literacy’
• Record your ideas on the flip chart paper
Scottish Survey of Literacy and
Numeracy 2013 (Literacy) 24th April 2013
• The percentage of pupils not yet working within their respective
levels is small, but increases between P4 and S2.
• Pupils from the most deprived areas performed less well
than those from the least deprived areas at all stages
• Around two thirds of writing scripts at P4 and S2
demonstrated that pupils were performing well at, very
well at or beyond the relevant level for their stage.
Performance was higher in P7 at 72 percent of scripts.
The Standard for Full Registration
2.3.1 Have knowledge and understanding of relevant educational
principles and pedagogical theories to inform professional practices
Professional Actions Registered teachers:
have secure knowledge and detailed understanding of the stages of learners’
cognitive, social and emotional development which they are able to use to take
an holistic account of all learners’ needs;
have secure knowledge and detailed understanding of learning theories and
draw on these systematically in planning, teaching and learning;
have knowledge and understanding of the ways in which natural, social,
cultural, political and economic systems function and of how they are
interconnected to professional practice.
2.3.2 Have knowledge and understanding of the importance of
research and engagement in professional enquiry
Professional Actions Registered teachers:
know how to access and apply relevant findings from educational research;
know how to engage critically in enquiry, research and evaluation individually
All staff should have an agreed
understanding of effective literacy
practices
What assessment approaches are you
using currently that help you to make
secure and reliable judgements about
learners attainment
• Discuss successful ways
attainment is being raised in your
school. (list comments)
• Discuss areas that make raising
attainment challenging. (list
comments)