Standards & Quality Report 2019-20 & School Improvement Planning 2020-2021
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Education and Children’s Services
Standards & Quality Report
2019-20
&
School Improvement Planning
2020-2021
St Fergus Primary School We are pleased to present both our Standards and Quality Report for Session 2019– 2020 and our School Improvement plan for 2020 -2021. This report forms part of our quality improvement framework and provides important information regarding our school’s progress to date and identifies our next steps in school improvement. Self-Evaluation for Self-Improvement is at the heart of our practice in St Fergus School. We continue to develop our practice in making robust use of evidence as a basis for judgements regarding the impact of our work on our learners. How are we doing? How do we know? What are we going to do now? Looking inwards to analyse our work. Looking outwards to find out more about what is working well for others locally and nationally. Looking forwards to gauge what continuous improvement might look like in the longer term. At St Fergus Primary we continue to be committed to working closely with our community and all other stakeholders that support the education we provide. Together we are working hard to ensure all our pupils get the best possible start in life and are enabled and encouraged to maximize their potential. We realise that within education things never stand still or stay the same. We continue to strive to meet the changes and challenges. The latter part of session 2019-20 brought unprecedented circumstances and school closures leading to new ways of continuing learning and teaching remotely as well as new ways of communicating with our pupils and wider school families. However, despite all this, through this document we hope that you will get a sense of our developments, successes and areas for further growth. Avril Sutherland/Pauline Robertson Head Teachers
The School and its context
At St Fergus School our vision is to ensure that every child is given the opportunity to ‘Create the
Potential to Succeed’ and that ‘Pupils will Exceed Expectations’. Our core values highlight that
we believe our pupils should be Happy, Confident, Achieving and Creative. Our school aims are
in line with Aberdeenshire Council School Aims.
AIMS
At St Fergus School we are committed to GIRFEC (Getting It Right for Every Child) to ensure our
children are SHANARRI (Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Responsible, Respected
and Included).
• We know what we are learning and why
• We can talk about our learning
• We learn well together
• We enjoy our learning
• We are all helped to make progress in our learning
• We learn in classrooms, our homes and beyond
• We celebrate our learning
St Fergus School is situated in the village of St Fergus, five miles north of Peterhead. It is a
primary school of traditional design, with an open plan extension sponsored by Mobil Oil. It
admits pupils from ELC (age 3) to primary 7 (age 12).
On completing P7, pupils transfer to Peterhead Academy, in the town of Peterhead which has
ten associated feeder schools, part of the Peterhead Cluster. Within the Peterhead Cluster, all
services operate in an integrated framework to ensure that each child has the fullest opportunity
to maximise his or her potential.
The school has a roll of 113 pupils and an ELC roll of 18 with seven full-time equivalent teaching
staff, including the joint Head-Teachers. The teaching team is supported by four Pupil Support
Assistants, an Additional Support for Learners teacher, an Early Years Senior Practitioner, joint
Early Years Lead Practitioner, three Early Years Practitioners, a Modern Apprentice in ELC, our
school administrator, kitchen staff, cleaning staff and two part-time janitors.
Our school website provides current information on all aspects of school life. The school
handbook provides more information on names of staff along with other school data. A copy is
available on our website.
Community links are a vital part of school life. School has links with all companies situated at St
Fergus Gas Terminal and with smaller local businesses. The village church and hall are utilised
throughout the session. St Fergus School Association (Parent Council) meet at least once everyterm and fundraise continuously in order to support school improvement priorities. The school building is let out to various organisations including Active Schools, 1 st Kid Zone After School Club as well as other volunteers who run extra-curricular clubs. School staff offer many extra- curricular lunchtime clubs including choir, art, netball, coding and Children’s University for pupils to choose from. (Due to Covid-19 restrictions, there are no clubs currently running in school) SIMD Data The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation provides data on how many children we have living in different deciles. Although St Fergus School does not have any children who are classed as living in an area of deprivation this may not accurately reflect the circumstances of all our pupils in their everyday lives and their access to opportunities or the needs that they have as individuals. We believe that all children are entitled to the best education to enable them to be the best they can be and we work hard to achieve this for our pupils. We aim to meet the needs of every child within our setting, providing targeted support and interventions to try to close the attainment gap. Our gaps are very unique to our setting and are concentrated on individual/cohorts of pupils for specific areas such as unique issues within HWB, reading, writing, maths/numeracy, attendance and punctuality.
This Standards and Quality Report and Improvement Plan is influenced by both Aberdeenshire and
national priorities. These can be summarised as follows:
Aberdeenshire Priorities: these should be reflected in all areas of this document and the
actions that emerge from it
• Improving learning, teaching and assessment.
• Partnership working to raise attainment.
• Developing leadership at all levels.
• Improvement through self-evaluation.
National Improvement Framework Priorities:
• Improvement in attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy.
• Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children.
• Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing; and
• Improvement in employability skills and sustained, positive school leaver destinations for
all young people.
National Improvement Framework Drivers:
• School leadership
• Teacher professionalism
• Parental engagement
• Assessment of children’s progress
• School improvement
• Performance information
Additionally, to support self-evaluation various quality indicators from the national evaluative
framework How Good Is Our School? 4 are referenced. Links to these sources are:
NIF- www.gov.scot/Resource/0049/00491758.pdf
HGIOS?4 - https://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/HGIOS4August2016_tcm4-
870533.pdfImpact of our developments
In this section we will outline the targets we set last session and identify the progress we have
made during session 2019-20.
Priorities 2019-2020 Visible Learning
• Develop staff leadership roles, VL Impact Coach to support critical friend approach.
• Use of quality/timely feedback (clearly linked to success criteria) will continue to support
pupils in becoming assessment capable learners.
Progress Common learning language continues to be embedded throughout all stages
and has been reinforced termly at assembly. Happy Hero has been initiated
with ELC setting. Replacement of green cards with learning leader awards has
been successful in both raising pupil awareness of how/why they have
achieved success and also providing opportunities for sharing of their learning
with others. Parents continue to be made aware of initiative at Sharing of
Learning, through wall displays, fortnightly newsletter, reports to Parent
Council.
Staff continue to recognise the need for feedback to be linked to success
criteria so that children know what their next steps are. All teaching staff have
conducted a critical enquiry linked to Feedback and have been supported in
this by their ‘critical friend’ and Impact Coach.
Impact More pupils continue to display the characteristics of effective learners. This is
evidenced through monitoring and class observations, HT conversations with
teaching staff at key tracking and monitoring periods, teacher reflections and
evaluations, learning walks, collegiate discussions/evaluations, tracked and
recorded in celebrating success book/reflective records.
Most pupils are receiving quality and timely feedback linked to clear learning
intentions and success criteria. In P1 almost all feedback is teacher led and
given by the teacher. Pupils in P1 all know and act upon ‘tickled pink & green
for growth’ feedback. In P2/3 feedback given on writing linked specifically to
success criteria has the biggest impact when given during the lesson. In P4-7,
a critical enquiry focusing on reading comprehension skills introduced and
taught with co-constructed success criteria, showed a rise in attainment over a
short period of time.
Next steps • To promote appropriate self and peer feedback.
• To provide daily opportunities for timely feedback to be given during
lessons.
• To encourage the co-construction of success criteria with pupils.
• To continue to embed the common learning language throughout
school, with this clearly on display and being used in all classes.
• To continue to focus on the dispositions we value in our learners, to
consistently and rigorously develop these.
• Mrs Robertson to redo video of target groups of children. Is the common
learning language being used consistently and applied?Priorities 2019-20
• Staff training to further implement French from P1-7
Progress Head Teachers and teaching staff attended local authority event on ‘Making
Languages Relevant’. November in-service day focus on collegiate working to
develop progression to ensure coverage of experiences and outcomes linked
to Education Scotland benchmarks at second level for pupils in P5-7. All
teaching staff involved in refamiliarization session with Power Language online
resource and now beginning to make more use of this learning tool with pupils.
Whole school ‘buy in’ to French phrase of the week and this to be used in
classes, at assembly, etc as way of promoting collaboration and ensuring that
French continues to be part of daily routines throughout school. Some class
teachers have established links with Modern Language staff at Peterhead
Academy for upskilling support. P2/3 class and P6/7 class held a joint event
with carousel activities to encourage conversation and use of French
vocabulary. P1 and P2/3 had a conversation café afternoon. P5/6 made video
conversations using green screen as part of a family learning event. As part of
L3, whole school participated in Mandarin day with workshops led by staff from
Confucius Institute in Aberdeen.
We now have a second level progression for P5-7 that clearly shows topics to
Impact be covered at set times for each year group with links to Power Language and
vocabulary to be introduced. There is now greater participation in daily routines
in French across all stages of school. Through attendance at CLPL events,
staff are using digital technologies more frequently to create real and
meaningful learning experiences for pupils.
Next steps • Explore further the best ways of using Power Language resource with
composite classes
• Develop progression to include first level for pupils in P2-4
• Look at ways of encouraging further whole school collaboration e.g.
French question of the month?
• Include opportunity for collaborative French conversation café event
between first and second level pupils in annual school calendar.
• Expand on 1 plus 2 links for L3 in cross-curricular planning at second
level.Priorities 2019-20
To support and build confidence in professional judgement through focus on
assessment/moderation.
Planning for holistic writing assessments 3x per session is now well embedded
Progress throughout school. Assessments are clearly linked to Education Scotland
benchmarks and staff use pupil assessment sheets to plan for next steps.
Through working time agreement, collegiate moderation opportunities are
planned and shared with staff through annual calendar. All staff are aware
of/use the Moderation Cycle. Head Teachers carry out moderation exercise on
planners/samples of work/jotters across all stages and again this is pre-
planned through annual calendar. Teaching staff have worked collaboratively
to produce holistic reading assessments that can be used as part of the range
of evidence to show achievement of a level. Staff are becoming increasingly
more aware of the need to gather a range of evidence in order to support their
professional judgement around achievement of a level. Staff are analysing and
using SNSA results as part of this evidence.
Teaching staff have worked collaboratively on a progression to support more
robust assessment of listening and talking from early – second level. This is
based around essential indicators of good listening & talking and clear
statements for the various organisers of what learners should be able to do at
the end of each primary year within early, first and second level. Adaptations
were made to the curriculum rationale to include pre-planned opportunities for
pair/group discussions, listening to audio transcripts, individual
talks/presentations, film review presentations, listening & notetaking, tasks
linked to class/group/pair discussion, use of audio books, group presentations
with a structured format.
The Head Teacher supports as an Aberdeenshire QAMSO and has been able
to share this at school/cluster/local authority level.
Staff consistently now work collaboratively to ensure that planning, learning,
Impact teaching and assessment provides pupils with opportunities for challenge,
breadth of learning and the chance to apply learning in new contexts.
Attainment in writing, after rising over the past 4 years to 80% < 90% has
remained at around 85% and in reading is slightly higher at 88% of pupils on
track or exceeding expectations.Teachers are more confident in making
predictions on pupil attainment and also in the use of assessment data to
support professional judgement. Use of the new listening & talking progression
planners linked to adaptations to our curriculum rationale for L&T, should going
forward make teacher professional judgement more reliable and robust.
• To develop further holistic reading assessments and moderate these at
Next steps early/first/second level.
• To continue to ensure opportunity for application, breadth and challenge
in learning, teaching & assessment, particularly in the core areas of
literacy and numeracy.
• To begin to use the new progression planners for Listening & Talking
and to embed the changes made to the curriculum rationale in this area.
• To allocate further collegiate time to ‘Achievement of a level’ materials
for maths/numeracy and to allow for moderation opportunity.
• Teaching staff participation in ‘sampling’ – gathering evidence/portfolios
of written work for authority level moderation of writing.
• Begin to track assessment of literacy early level in ELC, using more
robust assessment data.Priorities 2019-20
• Focus on assessment of Health and Wellbeing, leading to more robust data for tracking
and monitoring of levels.
Staff constructed a bespoke health and wellbeing survey on pupils’ attitudes to
Progress both self and school. These make use of the SHANARRI characters, creating
meaningful links to other HWB learning activities. Surveys were completed with
all classes during term 3 and results analysed to inform next steps. All teaching
staff attended ACEs presentation. PE assessments have been created for the
various topics within our rolling programme to provide guidance for teacher-led
assessment as well as a structure for peer-assessment of gymnastics and self-
assessment of dance.
We now have a clearer rationale for HWB with a definite progression from early
Impact through to end of second level. Staff feel more supported in the planning,
learning and teaching of HWB lessons and there is increased confidence that
we are covering all the SHANARRI indicators, less chance of gaps in learning
or repetitions of certain areas. The collaborative work to identify the ‘ethos
bundling’ was very worthwhile as it led to productive discussion around certain
topics that hadn’t been revisited for a while. Staff feel that the new resources
are easy to use and there have been opportunities for collaboration between
classes/team teaching. E.g. P6 and P7 lessons on adolescence/puberty.
Next steps • Use surveys on pupil attitude to self and school at beginning of term
1/term 4 as baseline for benchmarking and to assist with tracking and
monitoring of HWB levels. Surveys will also provide evidence for next
steps in planning HWB lessons at primary/stage levels.
• Whole school focus on - importance of a good night’s sleep.
• Whole school focus on - making healthy food choices.
• Whole school focus on - needs v wants.
• HWB planning through SCARF to focus on self-esteem, independence,
responsibility, valuing the views and opinions of others, resilience.
• Explore opportunities to offer more extra-curricular sports activities for
P1-3 (Active Schools)
• All staff to participate in Nurture training
• Raise awareness with all staff of the effect of ACEs on children’s
development, engagement with learning, achievement/attainment. Put
universal/targeted support in place to address identified ACEs.
• Focus on assessment of HWB through use of SCARF assessment
materials.
• Introduce new assessment guidance for teacher/self/peer assessment in
PE. (Core teacher/class teachers to work collaboratively on this)Priorities 2019-20
• To raise and maintain high attainment in numeracy/maths, particularly focusing on mental
maths and problem solving.
Targeted interventions were put in place for pupils who required additional
Progress support out with the frameworks/school progressions, and these were
evaluated and modified frequently. More Numicon resources were purchased
with PEF to support this and Dynamo Maths has been used with individuals.
Pace and challenge of numeracy/maths was the focus of HT observations
during term 2 and moderation in term 3. HTs gathered feedback on pace &
challenge as well as discussing new mental maths resources with pupils
through ‘Daily Dozen’ focus groups. Problem solving strategies were revisited
during staff collegiate time and a clear decision made on uniformity of language
and age/stage appropriate introduction of these. Class teachers now have
these on display in classes, and they are beginning to be systematically
introduced, used, and reinforced during lessons (all curricular areas, not purely
numeracy/maths). There is some evidence that children can talk about how
they problem solve and what they can do if they ‘get stuck’.
Attainment in numeracy/maths has been maintained at 80% < 90% largely due
Impact to universal support in mental maths/problem solving and targeted support as
required. Impact of targeted support has been mixed due to various factors
including pupil support staff changes and ASL staff vacancy.
• Embed new mental maths scheme P4-7 ensuring daily opportunity for
Next steps this. Review/evaluate end of session 2020/21.
• Amend term 1 focus (P2-7). Initial week of revision/regrouping before
continuation with appropriate progression to ensure sufficient pace and
challenge. Staff to evaluate progressions to ensure coverage at
appropriate pace. *ADAPT DUE TO COVID-19
• Develop and embed use of Numicon P1-3 and with targeted pupils.
• Whole school approach to problem solving to become embedded across
all stages and raise awareness of strategies with pupil support staff &
parents.
• Collaborative support for staff using Numicon through involvement in
TSISS.
• Family Learning event with numeracy/maths focus.Priorities 2019-20
• To update pupil profiling and track wider achievement in order to ensure that pupils
‘missing out’ are identified and appropriate interventions offered.
Progress All teaching staff were involved in an audit of the Reflection Records and
changes were made including age/stage appropriate adaptations. A focus on
the four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence has started with P4-7 pupils
and Head Teachers have followed up on this with focus groups through the
Daily Dozen initiative. Wider achievement is now tracked and dated across P1-
7 and Head Teachers maintain an overview spreadsheet of this then follow up
as required. The new tracking and monitoring of wider achievement has begun
to be effective in informing future planning.
Impact Changes to profiling continues to encourage pupils to reflect on their learning –
what they can do now that they couldn’t do before, what they are proud of and
why, how they learn best and what they can do to improve or if they get stuck.
Most of our pupils (89%) are participating in clubs/activities out with school or
as extra-curricular activities. Lunchtime clubs run by teaching staff have had a
significant impact allowing pupils a range of opportunities. Regular ‘Celebrating
Success’ assemblies with the whole school give pupils a platform to share their
wider achievements.
Next steps • Promote pupil ownership regarding samples of work added to Reflection
Records (P3-7).
• Raise awareness of the four capacities within Curriculum for Excellence
and highlight with pupils when these are being achieved. (Learning
Across the Four Contexts display posters to be used)
• Focus on how pupils learn best and also barriers to learning and how
these can be overcome.
• Increase participation in out of school/extra-curricular activities to almost
all pupils (over 90%).
• Explore further options for P1-3 sporting activities through Active
Schools.
• Share pupils’ wider achievements digitally via new TV monitor in school
entrance.Priorities 2019-20
• Early interventions to support emerging literacy.
P1-3 staff have supported Early Years Practitioners with their understanding of
Progress emerging literacy and in talking about the progress of learners. Literacy boxes
are being compiled and used in both ELC and early stage classes that will
assist with the development of foundation skills in reading, writing, listening,
and talking. P1 teacher and Early Years Lead continue to attend/be involved in
Emerging Literacy twilight sessions.
Initial assessments and screens were completed with all P1 pupils during
weeks 1-3 of new session. This was then an on-going process throughout the
session.
There have been some opportunities for collaborative planning and joint
learning activities between ELC and P1 through the context of transition.
Reading attainment over the past 4 years has remained at almost all children
Impact achieving early level by end of P1. Writing attainment over the past 4 years has
risen from only the majority of children achieving early level at the end of P1 to
almost all children doing so.
Emerging Literacy interventions and the use of new resources purchased
through PEF have benefitted targeted pupils who required intensive support.
• Develop robust assessment evidence of children’s progress through
Next steps early level Literacy and begin to track and monitor this.
• P1 teaching staff and ELC staff to continue to plan and implement joint
learning activities based particularly around storytelling and nursery
rhymes. ELC staff to carry out critical enquiry and evaluate this at end of
session 2020/21.
• Continue to fully utilise the new quality role play area in nursery to
support and develop children’s language and communication skills
through quality adult/child interactions.Priorities 2019-20
Developing the Young Workforce: continue to embed skills for learning, life and work
Staff engagement with key documents – Aberdeenshire Skills for Learning, Life
Progress and Work Guidance (Dec 2015) & Developing the Young Workforce Career
Education Standard 3-18. Staff are beginning to make use of our DYW skills
planner for attachment with CCT and IDL plans, focusing particularly on the
soft skills and how these can be developed. Blooms Revised Taxonomy skills
continue to be used throughout school as the basis of skills for learning.
P7 Leavers’ Legacy continues to be a context for DYW at second level and
pupils record/reflect on skills developed. However, due to Covid-19, the
current project of creating an outdoor courtyard has been put on hold. Staff are
more consistently making links in everyday teaching/learning to real life
situations and workplace scenarios. Until March 2020, there were continual
visitors into school and visits to local businesses to further promote this, as well
as pre-planned opportunities for parents to visit and talk about work
experiences. HT and Mrs McLean have been actively involved in the
Peterhead Cluster DYW Working Group and there have been opportunities to
share what is working well within our schools. Our Cluster Primary Careers Fair
had to be cancelled due to Covid-19.
Pupils are benefitting from planned opportunities to develop skills for learning,
Impact life and work in a range of contexts. They are learning transferrable skills and
understanding the importance of these. They are being given opportunities to
reflect on how they are developing their skills.
Next steps • Tracking of skills will inform planning and next steps.
• Restart Leavers’ Legacy when possible.
• Make use of digital platforms, virtual experiences, online technology to
explore ‘world of work’ with learners.2. How good is our leadership and approach to improvement? Relevant NIF priority: All Relevant NIF driver(s): School leadership, Teacher professionalism, School improvement Level of quality for core QI 1.3 and 1.2: 5 Overview: Our school has a shared vision, core values and aims that we feel are still relevant to our school and community. The school engages in self-evaluation involving all stakeholders and encourages pupils to take responsibility for decision making and school improvement through their involvement in the Pupil Council, Prefects, Play leaders, Digital leaders, E Safety team, Junior Road Safety Officers, Librarians, Magazine Group and Rota kids. Pupils engage in reviewing their own learning and the work of the school. The Head Teachers ask for their views through the ongoing ‘Daily Dozen’. P7 pupils take responsibility for improving an aspect of school for those coming behind them through their annual Leavers’ Legacy. This year they embarked upon transforming an unused outdoor area into an enclosed garden/outdoor courtyard. A successful fundraising bag pack enabled the work to begin including a bespoke gate with the school logo, adaptations to the door out to the courtyard and signage. They had all been involved in plans for a mural to be painted along one wall and pxlimited (St Fergus Gas Site) were involved with this. Unfortunately, these plans were put on hold when school buildings closed in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our Learning Leaders’ initiative continues to encourage all pupils to lead learning and share their learning with others. More Learning Leader awards were given out this session than previously, partly due to the replacement of green cards with these but also partly due to this initiative being given a high profile throughout school. It was also rolled out to include our nursery children with the introduction of ‘Happy Hero’ awards in ELC. Staff share lead roles in school initiatives such as Visible Learning Impact Coaching, Emerging Literacy, One Plus Two, DYW, Music/Choir, School Magazine, Netball and other lunchtime clubs, PE, and Science, to improve outcomes for all pupils. All staff engage in professional dialogue and are keen to continue to improve the school. New staff are fully included to ensure we have a shared understanding of what we need to do to improve the school through evaluating the quality of our work and the impact of change. Staff purple folders provide support and guidance for both new and existing staff. These include staff annual calendars with information on key tracking and monitoring periods, collegiate activities, etc. as well as self- evaluation booklets linked to the challenge questions from HGIOS 4. All teaching staff have participated in a critical enquiry this session and these have been shared collegiately to ensure professional engagement and collaborative working to promote moderation of planning, learning, teaching & assessment. Staff have had opportunities to engage in moderation exercises within and across stages to share practice and develop a shared understanding of progression, particularly in literacy/numeracy/HWB. We engage with all stakeholders through a range of evaluation methods e.g. Open Morning/Parent Evenings, Family Learning Days, Stay n Play sessions, surveys and questionnaires, post it comments, suggestion boxes, SFSA meetings. Numbers have steadily risen in our parent working groups (Improvement Planning/E Safety) and these are now sub- groups of the SFSA. An annual school calendar continues to be issued to all parents/carers in August and this is kept updated on the school website. The fortnightly newsletter also keeps all stakeholders informed of school developments and improvements as well as being an excellent platform for sharing children’s successes and achievements. The number of parents/carers following school on Twitter has significantly risen this session and the latest news of what’s happening daily as well as photos/comments of pupil learning is tweeted. Senior pupils, in their role as Digital Leaders assist with this at times. Teaching staff read and became familiar with the document How Good Is OUR School? Staff then participated in an initial audit around the ethos of learner participation and to what extent children at St Fergus School are actively involved in school improvement before identifying some areas of focus.
1.3/1.2 Key strengths: • An aspirational vision underpinning continuous improvement is shared by the whole community. • Our vision, values and aims drive school improvement. All staff encourage commitment to the shared vision and through focused whole school assemblies, children are developing a clear understanding of our school vision and values. These were also shared once again with parents at our annual ‘Meet the Teacher’ event and via the school newsletter early in term 1. • Parental and school community expertise continues to drive school improvement. • The effectiveness of professional learning opportunities that support staff and improve outcomes for learners. • Inspired and passionate teaching is commonplace and embedded in the school ethos. • Sharing and collaboration of evaluation and improvement priorities with all staff, pupils, parents and wider school community. • All key improvements link clearly to evaluations which are collated and driven by strategic direction. • Collaborative working practices between all staff to improve planning, learning, teaching and assessment. • Staff understand the value of self-evaluation and improvement planning. They are highly committed to work collegiately to improve outcomes for pupils and their CLPL is linked to improvement planning. • Leadership roles are encouraged and taken on by staff. • Professional Review and Development procedures are implemented as per GTCS and Aberdeenshire guidelines. • Staff are clearly aware of and use GTCS standards as a tool for self-evaluation. Identified priorities for improvement: • Give Pupil Council more opportunity to be involved in suggested school improvement - (suggestion boxes, monthly Fri pm visit to classes, display board to highlight improvements). • Raise the profile of all Pupil Participation Groups throughout school through assembly participation and visits to classes (particularly in term 1). • Consider opportunities where Parent Council (SFSA) and subgroups can be more fully involved in school improvement driven by the pupils. • Use ‘How Good Is OUR School?’ with senior pupils as a starting point for pupil involvement in gathering parental feedback/surveys. • To continue to embed the common learning language throughout school, with this clearly on display and being consistently used in all classes. • To continue to focus on the dispositions we value in our learners, consistently and rigorously developing these. • Focus on collaborative approaches to self-evaluation through involvement in TSISS as part of a trio of schools challenging and supporting one another. In relation to the priorities listed above the following action plans have been confirmed:
Actions/Roles/Timings Expected Outcomes/Impact on learners How will success be measured?
Priority 1a
Year 2
To continue to use the resource ‘How Good is Pupils will become familiar with ‘How Good is OUR Pupil Council involvement (monthly class
OUR School?’ to support children to participate School?’ and will use this to ensure they are fully involved conversations/minutes of meetings), display board
fully in school self-evaluation/improvement. All in school improvement. There will be more regular tracking, self-evaluation documentation, Leavers’
staff/pupils/parents (starting point – Pupil Council, opportunities for all pupils (including P1-3) to contribute Legacy evaluation and reflections, analysis of data from
senior pupils, SFSA/subgroups) their views and ideas. senior pupil parental surveys at May Parents’ Evening.
Year 3
Continue to embed Learning Leaders’ initiative Almost all learners will exhibit the characteristics of Mrs Robertson to redo filming of target groups of pupils,
throughout school, use of common learning effective learners. They will be able to talk about their June 2021
language and planned opportunities for learning, how they learn best and steps they can take to Is the common learning language being used and
collaborative class working. Continue to improve/overcome difficulties. Learning Leader awards consistently applied?
consistently award Learning Leader stickers and will continue to be celebrated weekly at assembly to
make children aware of how/why these were promote self-esteem and will also be tracked throughout Analyse evidence (Assembly achievement book –
achieved. (Happy Hero for ELC) school. The common learning language will be on display tracking)
and consistently used by all staff.
Priority 1b
Year 3
To develop staff leadership roles further, Leaders will be motivated and inspire others to • Pupil conversations, Daily Dozen responses,
particularly relating to Visible Learning, One Plus sustain a collective commitment to our priorities, Reflection Record comments, Classroom
Two, DYW, HWB, Music. ultimately improving outcomes for pupils. observations, HT monitoring, Self-evaluation
documentation, Long/short term plans amended
Visible Learning & evaluated, Records of conversations at
There will be a focus on promoting appropriate self and tracking meetings, Purple folder input.
peer feedback.
There will be daily opportunities for timely feedback to be
given during lessons.
Teachers will regularly co-construct success criteria with
pupils.
Through all the above, learners will become more
assessment capable.One Plus Two
There will be greater consistency from P1-7 in pupil
opportunity for/participation in daily routines in L2
(French).
Learners will expand their vocabulary in L2 (French) and
have more regular collaborative opportunities to use this
vocabulary.
Developing the Young Workforce
Learners will continue to make links between the world of
work and knowledge & skills gained in the classroom thus
making learning more meaningful and enjoyable.
Health and Wellbeing
All pupils will be part of a nurturing environment where
universal and targeted support is in place and where
individual needs are met through adaptations to the
environment/ethos/use of resources/staff training. (Include
all staff – teaching, pupil support, early years, catering,
janitorial)
Music
Regular fortnightly music lessons will ensure all pupils are
covering the relevant experiences and outcomes from
Curriculum for Excellence. Collegiate time will be
allocated for Miss Cantlay to share/develop music
programme of work (early – second level) with all teaching
staff.
Evidence of progress/comments/identified next steps:
Date:
Date:
Date:3. How good is the quality of care and education we offer?
Relevant NIF priority: All
Relevant NIF driver(s): Teacher professionalism, School leadership, Parental engagement,
Assessment of children’s progress
Level of quality for core QI 2.3, 2.2, 2.5 : 3/4
Overview:
Our whole school ethos is centred on our vision – ‘Creating the potential to succeed, pupils will
exceed expectations’. We believe children at St Fergus are happy, confident, achieving, and
creative. These core values form the basis of everything we do. All of our staff share this vision
and recognise children as unique individuals with specific talents and needs. They work tirelessly
to provide a varied and engaging curriculum and a positive school experience for all. Children are
safe, treated fairly and are protected by appropriate Child Protection and Safeguarding policies.
Aberdeenshire Frameworks/Highland Literacy Progression and Education Scotland Benchmarks
continue to be used to inform planning and identify next steps in learning to ensure progression
for all learners, in all curricular areas. Teaching staff make use of Aberdeenshire’s BGE Sharing
Standards site on GLOW to support assessment and moderation. School progressions for
numeracy/maths, grammar & punctuation, music and art continue to be used/evaluated. New
progressions for listening/talking and for second level French have just been introduced.
Overviews for Health and Wellbeing/Science continue to support staff with planning, learning/
teaching and assessment. Through cross-curricular themes, we plan lessons that are unique to
our setting and locality and continue to make links through these to the wider world of work as
well as One plus Two language delivery. Staff attended in-service day training to upskill their
delivery of French to pupils in P1-7. Our curriculum rationale is continuously evaluated and
modified and is shared with parents annually as well as being available on the school website.
2.3/2.2/2.5 Key strengths:
• The very positive ethos in the school based on our shared vision and values and a respect
for learning. Most children are motivated and eager to engage in their learning.
• Positive engagement with parents through regular Family Learning Days, Sharing of
Learning events, concerts, fortnightly newsletter, Twitter @StFergusSch, School website.
• Clear priorities for continuous improvement of the curriculum and these are regularly
reviewed and refreshed by an awareness of current educational thinking.
• Maintaining a focus on the importance of E Safety and highlighting this with both pupils and
parents annually. (In term 3, PC Taylor worked with all classes to provide age/stage
appropriate support and there was a drop-in café session for parents.)
• Learning is being enriched and supported by more effective use of digital technologies.
Senior pupils who are Digital Leaders/E Safety team support the Head Teacher with this
and help run a lunchtime coding club.
• School closures due to Covid-19, although challenging, provided opportunity for digital
skills to be developed and consolidated further for both staff and pupils!
• Staff have a shared vision and understanding of what very good learning, teaching and
assessment looks like.
• Staff use Aberdeenshire Frameworks, Highland Literacy Progression and Education
Scotland Benchmarks to plan effectively, ensure sufficient pace and meet pupil need. They
provide a balance of group work and personalised tasks to give children appropriate
support and challenge.
• Tracking formats are in place and staff are becoming more confident when considering a
range of assessment evidence to make judgements about children’s progress within a
level.
• Holistic assessments are adding to robust evidence to assist with professional judgement
of achievement of a level.• Collegiate time is allocated allowing staff opportunity for moderation of literacy and
numeracy within/across stages.
Identified priorities for improvement:
• One Plus Two - using Power Language resource with composite classes
• Developing a French progression to include first level for pupils in P2-4
• Collaborative learning opportunities e.g. French question of the month/ French
conversation café event between first and second level pupils in annual school calendar.
• Expand on 1 plus 2 links for L3 in cross-curricular planning at second level.
• Holistic reading assessments to be further developed and implemented.
• To continue to ensure opportunity for application, breadth and challenge in learning,
teaching & assessment, particularly in the core areas of literacy and numeracy.
• Pace and challenge through curricular adaptations & through improved learning, teaching
and assessment.
• To begin to use the new progression planners for Listening & Talking and to embed the
changes made to the curriculum rationale in this area.
• To allocate further collegiate time to ‘Achievement of a level’ materials for maths/numeracy
and to allow for moderation opportunity.
• Teaching staff participation in ‘sampling’ – gathering evidence/portfolios of written work for
authority level moderation of writing.
• Focus on assessment of HWB through use of SCARF assessment materials.
• Introduce new assessment guidance for teacher/self/peer assessment in PE. (Core
teacher/class teachers to work collaboratively on this)
• Family Learning – areas of focus to include HWB/numeracy & maths
In relation to the priorities listed above the following action plans have been confirmed:Actions/Roles/Timings Expected Outcomes/Impact on learners How will success be measured?
Priority 2a
Year 4
August 2020 Continue to implement Through class/learning visits and observations –
Pupils will consistently participate in daily routines
French from P1-7. Embed French into daily teachers conducting daily routines in French.
classroom routines, including collaborative in French from P1-7. Inclusion of French at whole school events –
activities such as phrase of the Pupils will experience meaningful, well-planned weekly assembly, Celebrating Success, etc
week/question of the month. Include Planning formats, tracking/monitoring/recording –
learning activities, designed to extend their
collaborative events in annual school staff conversations with HT during tracking
knowledge and use of French vocabulary.
calendar. Staff to use Aberdeenshire meetings.
frameworks/Education Scotland Staff will have a clear understanding of the
benchmarks/school second level progression of the four skills in language learning
progression to inform planning and
which supports effective learning and teaching.
assessment. Develop familiarity with Power
Language online resource and plan for use Digital technologies will be used by staff and pupils
with composite classes. to create real and meaningful learning experiences.
Further develop L3 through cross-curricular
themed rolling programme at second level Learners will be introduced to additional languages
for P5-7. (L3) from P5 onwards through the context of cross-
HTs, class teachers – collegiate for curricular themed work.
development of first level progression, L3
through second level CCTs, familiarisation
with Power Language online resource.
Priority 2b
Year 2
Use school survey for pupil attitude to both Staff will have a greater insight into individual Assessments, assessment data, professional
self and school to assess pupil health and learners’ wellbeing, informing specific interventions dialogue, observations, feedback sheets, Daily
wellbeing. (Term 1/repeated in term 4) and more meaningful interactions. Hidden barriers Dozen responses, tracking and monitoring
Analysis of survey results also used to to learning will be identified, informing clear next documentation, track level of parental
inform future planning of HWB topics. steps for planning of HWB lessons. engagement with Family Learning events and
Surveys issued in 2019/20 highlighted the Assessment data for HWB will be more robust, tasks.
focus for 2020/21 should be: valid and reliable.
• Whole school focus on importance Family Learning Days will focus on these whole
of a good night’s sleep school priorities to ensure that parents are fully
• Whole school focus on making involved in the HWB programme, including tasks
healthy food choices for parents and pupils to complete together both
prior to/during the Family Learning events.• Whole school focus on needs v
wants Needs v wants to be Daily Dozen focus terms 1 &
Include other agencies/partnership working 2.
to support the above.
Year 3
Initial HWB lessons to focus on coming back Improved health and wellbeing – physical, mental,
to school and feelings around isolation, social and emotional.
social distancing…
Further HWB planning through SCARF to
focus on resilience, self-esteem,
independence, responsibility, valuing the
views and opinions of others.
Teaching staff to become familiar with
SCARF assessment resources and to begin
to use these.
PEF – PSA support for targeted
interventions/programmes
Maintenance
Health and wellbeing rationale and Pupils will have increased knowledge and skills.
progression to become embedded across all
stages. P5-7 to continue to develop their
first aid knowledge and training. PEF
Class teachers to consider SHANARRI
indicators when planning and delivering Clear understanding of GIRFEC by all staff will lead
HWB lessons. Staff to access and use to more effective pupil support.
Aberdeenshire GIRFEC website to ensure
they have a clear understanding of policies.
Year 2
Core teacher – PE Further develop and Pupils will give and receive quality feedback
implement teacher/self/peer assessment leading to improved outcomes.
format for physical education, physical
activity and sport. Work collaboratively and
support class teachers.
Priority 2c
Year 2
To make use of a range of valid, reliable and Whole school guidelines on assessment of listening Tracking & Monitoring meetings, professional
relevant assessment tools and approaches & talking will lead to more robust data for tracking, dialogue, moderation at school/cluster level.to support the improvement of children’s monitoring and recording of levels. Increased
listening and talking skills. To make use of confidence with professional judgements relating to
the new Listening & Talking progression achievement of a level in literacy.
planners (early – second level) in line with
the adaptations to the curriculum rationale.
Year 3 Whole school understanding of holistic assessment
and this is further informing teacher professional
Staff to plan for and carry out holistic judgement. Learners able to apply their
assessments of reading as part of overall knowledge, understanding and skills in new and
evidence of achievement of a level. Further challenging contexts, across a breadth of learning.
opportunities for staff to work collegiately to Staff are engaging in moderation
moderate at the planning stage, identifying a activities/conversations at stage and school level.
bundle of experiences and outcomes to be Consistency in assessment and understanding of
assessed. Staff to continue to work achieving a level using benchmarks.
collaboratively to produce/evaluate holistic A shared understanding of standards.
reading assessments.
Year 3
Staff will use BGE Sharing Standards Toolkit and
Collegiate working time (stage, school, will become more confident in using data and Assessment data
cluster) to allow for sharing of standards and triangulation of evidence to inform their professional Head Teacher/staff conversations at key tracking
for moderation of evidence judgements on learners. periods
(Literacy/Numeracy) to further promote Teacher evaluations
teacher confidence in their professional Observations
judgement on ‘achieving a level’ Clear use
of Education Scotland benchmarks to
support this. Staff participation in gathering
portfolios of writing evidence for local
authority level sampling.
Priority 2d
Year 4
Continue to use Emerging Literacy data to Pupil observations and assessments
Improved assessment procedures ensure children
ensure pupil needs are met at the early Tracking – documentation, meetings,
stages, developing robust assessment experience a developmentally appropriate conversations
evidence of children’s progress through curriculum in literacy development. Profiles
early level literacy. Continue to roll out Consistent, collaborative working between ELC
Emerging Literacy principles as whole and P1school approach. P1 teacher will continue Pupil attainment is tracked, monitored and recorded Literacy resource boxes supporting identified
to work with/support ELC staff as they plan effectively and staff are confident that their individuals/groups
and implement joint learning activities based professional judgements are confirmed through
particularly around storytelling and nursery appropriate use of benchmarks.
rhymes.
Attainment data to be used to target Effective planning and differentiation ensures
appropriate pupil support. Literacy boxes to raised attainment in language and literacy
be used for intervention/support. particularly in relation to early literacy/phonological
awareness and writing.
P1 teacher – initial assessments weeks 1-3,
HT – share resources/info with parents of
new entrants, twilight training sessions for
early years staff/P1 teacher.
Priority 2e
Year 3
Staff to engage with and further implement Pupils will be more aware of/make links between Staff/pupil career fair evaluations
national and local guidance documentation. the world of work and knowledge and skills gained Gifting of Leavers’ Legacy, pupil evaluation/written
Continue to embed skills for learning, life & at school. Increased awareness of the use of reflections
work, and track skills through short/long higher order thinking skills. Learners will become Planning/tracking documentation
term planning to inform next steps. more capable and confident in the soft skills for life. Learning visits, observations and conversations
DYW cluster working group priorities to be Staff will regularly reference DYW links in their
shared via Head Teacher and Mrs McLean. weekly and termly planning and track skills
Senior class to attend Cluster Careers Fair. covered.
Restart Leavers’ Legacy when possible. Pupils will have opportunities to engage with a
Use digital platforms, virtual experiences, range of local companies/businesses as well as
online technology to explore the world of parental involvement, sharing workplace and
work with pupils. employment information.
Evidence of progress/comments/identified next steps:
Date:
Date:
Date:4. How good are we at improving outcomes for all our learners? Relevant NIF priority: All Relevant NIF driver(s): Assessment of children’s progress, School improvement, Performance information Level of quality for core QI 3.1: 4 Overview: Staff at St Fergus School have a very good knowledge of pupils, their families and the local community. The school strives to ensure all are treated fairly and with respect and there are clear procedures in place to support pupils. All staff have completed the appropriate equality and diversity training on ALDO. Tracking and monitoring procedures are in place for children with additional support needs. Both learners and parents, along with staff are involved in the setting up and review of individual educational plans where these are required. At St Fergus School, we have an annual Global Citizenship week with a focus on the UN Convention and the rights of every child. Classes work individually and collaboratively on this, giving children a voice to challenge intolerance and discrimination. Every Christmas, after research and discussion, our Pupil Council choose a charity as the focus of our fundraising and this is then shared with the school and wider community. Fundraising for Comic Relief/Sport Relief is also planned and led by the Pupil Council. A Macmillan fundraiser is held annually as part of a planned IDL collaborative by classes and this past session a fundraising day for Children In Need was also introduced as a result of feedback suggestions from parents. Our team of Junior Road Safety Officers organise and track the Walk to School on Wednesday initiative and all classes participate in the Daily Mile. We now have a clear rationale and programme in place for Health and Wellbeing with clear links to the wellbeing indicators to help us get it right for every child at St Fergus School. The SHANARRI characters are introduced from nursery upwards so that children can begin to identify visually with these and speak about what it means to be safe, healthy, active, nurtured, achieving, responsible, respected and included. 3.1 Key strengths: • The ethos and culture of the school where everyone feels valued and cared for, where views are listened to, and opinions/concerns are regarded as being important and worthwhile. • Everyone in our learning community is treated fairly and with respect and we place importance on fostering positive, open and supportive relationships based on trust. • Staff use GIRFEC and wellbeing indicators to improve outcomes for children. • Health & Wellbeing rationale and programme with clear links to SHANARRI. SCARF online resources (Coram Life Education) are used to deliver HWB themed topics from early-second level. • All P5-7 pupils receive first aid training through PEF. • IEPs are in place if required and are written in consultation with all relevant stakeholders. • Individualised programmes are in place to close gaps in learning. • Learners’ achievements in and out of school are recognised and celebrated. This is tracked and recorded. Follow up procedures are in place to support children who may be missing out. • All staff are up to date with Child Protection procedures and show great commitment to the welfare of the children. • Chronologies are maintained on Latest Pastoral Notes. • The school has an ASN audit of need which is used in regular tracking discussions with staff. The timetabling of pupil support staff links to this. • The school applies PEF to support learners who are in danger of achieving below expectations in literacy, numeracy/maths, health & wellbeing.
• Parents are kept informed about pupil progress and events in school through the
fortnightly newsletter and the school website. Progress reports are issued annually, and
parent appointments held twice yearly. There is also an annual Open Evening and each
class takes a turn to Share Learning during the school day. (Covid-19 forced the
cancellation of some of these during 2019-20 session)
• For pupils transitioning to Peterhead Academy, prefects run an after-school Transition
Club, and this has proved popular and worthwhile. CLD work closely with school and
offer enhanced provision.
• ELC and P1 transition activities commence in January with regular opportunities for joint
sessions with pre-planned learning in the P1 area.
• St Fergus School Association (Parent Council) supports the school extremely effectively
to ensure inclusion and equality in learning opportunities within and beyond the school.
• SFSA fundraising enabled school to purchase 13 new iPads this session, increasing the
ratio of devices: children from 1:4 to 1:2
Identified priorities for improvement:
• Supporting pupil wellbeing when school building reopens and addressing the challenges
of missed learning.
• Whole staff nurture training/emotional coaching focus.
• Partnership working for the above.
• Individualised programmes of work/assessments with Additional Support for Learning
staff.
• Continue to strive to close the gap through planned, prioritised use of PEF.
• Parent/family involvement in Global Citizenship week through shared task and Family
Learning workshop & presentation.
• Global Citizenship week to focus on needs v wants.
• Charity focus termly at school assemblies.You can also read
