Challenges in Addressing Poverty-Related Educational Gaps and Equity

Newton Parks Journey to Closing the Poverty Related Gap Outcomes and measures in the classroom shared leadership.

Our New School Merged two schools No moderation of standards between the two merger primary schools Staff from 7 different establishments coming together Significant levels of poverty related deprivation 30% in one school, 80% in the other. Great need to gather evidence about pupil attainment to support merger.

Starting Challenges We did not know our children or families well We were unsure of the reliability of the historical evidence of attainment We were now part of a large school so the SMT had to find time to support more staff We had considerable additional funding and wanted to make the most of it

PEFCollective Decisions PSA Support CSW / Family Link Worker Admin Assistant Teacher Training for all

Teacher Challenge Have you a clear understanding of equity? Can you think about the whole child and understand what they need to be able to help them be ready for learning when they come to school? Can you recognise where a child is not achieving their potential? Do you have enough information about this child to be able to meet their needs? How will you, as a class teacher, use the support available to close the poverty related attainment gap?

What did this look like We spent time as a staff looking at what equity meant and how this could affect children s lives and learning. We encouraged staff to look at all aspects of a child s learning and try to prioritise their needs. Where out of school circumstances were an issue we tried to get staff to think what could help in the short term as a starting point. We collated information about each child giving details of SIMD, FSM and their AfE results in reading, maths and developed ability (or we used benchmarking tests where this was not available) and we encouraged and supported additional assessments. We gave everyone a blank sheet of paper and said, Make a list of what you need to do and what we (SMT) need to do to support you.

What happened Variety of issues linked to completed blank sheets No focus No outcomes No idea what they really wanted to achieve Too many ideas for one child Confusion over poverty related support required and additional learning needs for other reasons

This led to Staff development work on outcomes and measures Staff training needs highlighted and then provided HT repeating the word impact over and over Most importantly really focused quality conversations between teachers and the DHT What do you want to do? Why do you want to do this? How will you know if you have been successful?

and continued on to Initially teachers stuck to Literacy and Numeracy as they were more confident measuring the impact within these Supporting staff as they recognised the need for HWB interventions but were unsure how to measure the impact of these Trying to develop a format for these plans Receiving the template developed by Education Scotland Attainment Advisor work

The Grid What data/ evidence informs this priority? Outcomes (detail targets % etc 17/18, 18/19, 19/20) Intervent -ions Expected Impact Measures (What on- going information will demonstrate progress? (Qualitative, Quantitative short/medium/long term data Actual Impact

Tracker Grid for Primary 1 What data/ evidence informs this priority? Outcomes Interventions Expected Impact Measures Actual Impact PRIMARY 1 Emerging literacy assessments for Phonological awareness Fine motor skills Scissor skills Pre-handwriting Daily 1-1 sessions (PSA and identified children) focused on Emerging Literacy gaps and Early Reading skills, following individual pre-assessments The children will be secure with all elements of Emerging literacy: *phonological awareness *fine motor skills *scissor skills *pre-handwriting 11 children in Primary 1 assessed as not yet performing at the expected standard for his/her stage of which 9 children are from SIMD 1/2 /Free School meals (82%). Improve the attainment and experience of SIMD 1&2 children in reading in P1 The children will be secure with all elements of the Emerging literacy fine motor skills tracker: *be able to hold a pencil correctly using a tripod grip *be able to write their own name *be able to write at least the first 2 sets of Jolly phonic sounds. Individual Emerging literacy assessment grid, phonic assessments and Initial P1 phonic assessments completed to compare at end of year. Fine motor skills development 30 minutes daily Good attendance across Primary 1 with an average 95.2% attendance this from Aug 17 Jan 18. Narrow the gap at Early level reading reduce from 82%. Evidence in Feb 18 show that only 21% of the highest attenders are in SIMD 1-2 / FSM but 79% are in the lower half of the table. The children will: *recognise all 9 Stage 1 words *recognise all 18 stage 2 words *read Stage 1 and 2 words with confidence Individual word assessments and Initial P1 assessment to compare at end of year. Improve word recognition of ORT stage 1-2 words

Outcomes Tracker Grid for Primary 3 What data/ evidence Interventions Expected Impact Measures Engage in 1-1 / small group reading activities with identified children on daily basis: discussion of stories word recognition order story cloze procedure word games Primary 3 Reading SPP: 22% of SIMD children in SIMD 1-2 / F achieving beyond or at the level they should be for stage, in comparison to 74% of children in SIMD 3 or above. To increase number of children working at appropriate age / stage in reading from SIMD 1-2 / F. Child A will progress to allow her to move up to the Gold reading band. Use children. Carry out ORT / Reading test papers to provide detailed picture of where reading is and identify next steps in learning. Child B will progress to allow him to broaden his vocabulary (EAL) and therefore show better understanding of texts read in class offer more ideas within group discussion and better comprehension skills. To raise status of reading for identified children and to ensure reading for enjoyment becomes central to their day. Use vocabulary specific books to provide discussion and assessment of language for EAL. Read banded texts not in main reading scheme to broaden vocabulary, reinforce reading skills and provide oral discussion to develop understanding. Project X assessments as appropriate to Project X levels. Introduce Project X for group of children to develop decoding and sequencing skills. To ensure identified children are working to potential and with group due to improved reading skills. (FG / AP) Good attendance across Primary 3 with an average attendance of 95.77% from Aug 17 Jan 18. Children will develop decoding skills beyond Yellow reading band. Track progress through Code Cracker as record of sounds / blends achieved. se PM Benchmarking to assess specific Introduce Code Cracker to small groups of children to develop blending /phonics. Engage in 1-1 / small group reading activities with identified children 3 times weekly: phonics table games flashcards rhyming activities board games words checks show-me boards magnetic letters word building To improve attainment in phonics / spelling, ensuring children make progress through HLP words and phonic progressions. Children will know all initial sounds and be able to use these to word build. Children will know blends as stated in HLP phonics progression. HLP phonic progressions / phonic assessments. No children in P3 SIMD 1-2 or F have an attendance of less than 85%.

Measuring impact in HWB Things we have found to be successful Monitoring individual child behaviour observations and discussions AfE Attitudes Scores track for classes, SIMD, individuals Tracking parental participation linked to our Profiling and Reporting to Parents development

Long term goals for working with parents Sustainability for when funding ends Continue training to upskill all staff Staff sharing expertise and experiences with others Develop nurture across the school to meet HWB needs better

To Conclude PEF has provided the resources to: empower staff to look at the whole child and then meet those needs even when they exist beyond the classroom allow us time to work as a whole staff to meet the needs of the children help us create an environment where conversations are constantly happening around the school that support the meeting of pupil need