The Provider:

Anston Brook Primary School

• Ofsted (2006) judges the school to provide a safe, welcoming and caring environment that promotes a learning culture of succeeding together; pupils start school with 'exceptionally low' skills and knowledge and the proportion of pupils with SEN is above average .
• The NOR is 162 full-time pupils, 172 FTE, taught in seven classes (including the Foundation Stage). Some year groups are mixed, some not, due to uneven cohort sizes.
• The school serves a broad area, including a socially deprived estate which local information indicates has an increasing number of fragmented families and rising crime levels.
• The majority of pupils are from homes where at least one parent is in full time employment.
• The majority of the pupils are white British; none has EAL; this has resulted in a mono-cultural school.
• Mobility has had a minor impact on attainment.
• The need to focus on raising attainment is reflected in the School Learning Plan; each teacher has a Performance Management target related to boosting an identified group of pupils in each year in writing.

Summary:

• Following whole-school discussions, and support from the Local Authority Gifted and Talented consultant, a range of strategies for working with gifted and talented pupils have been trialled and adopted in school. The strategies have quickly become embedded into school practice and have led to the personalisation of teaching and, more importantly, learning for all children.
• The strategies have impacted on whole-school target-setting, lesson objectives and outcomes and on lesson monitoring. The strategies have given all children more responsibility for their own learning and have ensured challenge in the curriculum for all.

The Aim:

Following an Ofsted Inspection in February 2006, and school self-evaluation, the progress of high achievers needed to be furthered. Local authority support was sought and a Gifted and Talented consultant was allocated to the school. Teaching staff welcomed this support and used release time to explore strategies for personalising the curriculum.

What do you see in the school?

• Whole school approach
• Staff training
• Support from LA Gifted and Talented Advisory
• Class displays/targets promoting must, should could.
• Strong links with LA advisory teacher
• Thinking Skills day held June 2007
• Two teachers - British Council Placement Canada
• Teaching and Learning Policy - updated- whole staff involvement
• HT - performance management target included review of T & L policy - showing high focus
• Lesson observations - focus implementation of strategies
• HT - led on implementation of strategies with support for LA and SLT
• Vision of HT & determination of LA advisor
• Release time for staff - dedicated to developing/trialling/embedding strategies
• Must, should & could used to word whole-school curricular layered targets trialled in one class and them implemented in all September 2007.
• Targets displayed within classrooms and shared with parents
• Training for all staff
• Re-wording of lesson objectives and assessment criteria.
• Implementation of three main strategies:-
• Must, should, could - children self nominate, gives greater pupil input in learning, removes ceiling imposed on attainment and has led to higher expectations from both staff and pupils
• Visual Literacy - pilot for Rotherham with British Film Institute - using film clips in place of some texts.
• Use of TASC wheel - giving children input in to what they want to learn. Starting from what they already know.
• Philosophy for children
• Use of Bloom's Taxonomy when questioning
• Lesson observations - formally by HT and informally by LA advisor
• Linked in individual Performance Management for teachers
• Good practice shared within school - staff meetings/observations
• Records of pupil learning conversations
• Attainment - assessment and results of SAT's
• Professional development for staff
• Sporting opportunities accessed
• Pupils involved in target setting and monitoring progress
• Reports in local media
• Cluster staff meeting to share good practice
• LA Gifted and Talented Consultant - use the support given t o the school as model for development in other clusters
• Strategies shared with Rotherham science co-ordinators and Year 6 teachers through science training delivered by HT
• Case study added to Rotherham SEF website.

What difference does it make?

• Confidence - demonstrated by external awards, film making, writing etc and to take part in after school clubs
• Rise in attainment and test results
• Rise in pupils achievements
• Pupils happier and motivated
• Pupils and teachers aspiring higher and raised expectations
• Raised self - esteem for pupils and an increased understanding of what is achievable by staff
• Confidence - demonstrated by external awards, film making, writing etc and to take part in after school clubs
• Pupils - they showed that they felt good about themselves and where able to say how things had improved with the introduction of new teaching methods.
• Whole staff enthusiastic about the approach and related how they went about reviewing and incorporating new strategies
• Pupils said they felt confident to have a go at things that they would not have done before. Said the teaching was much better now!

From where is evidence collected to prove the Leading Aspect?

• Case Study report
• Class room displays and targets
• Discussion with class teachers; HT and LA advisor
• GB minutes
• LA advisor's visit notes
• LA Advisory consultant reports
• Lesson objectives within classrooms
• Lesson observation notes
• Meeting minutes
• Photographs
• Pupil feedback and questionnaires
• Pupils work samples
• School Improvement Plan
• Staff training notes
• Subject leaders notes
• Teacher notes from TIPD and dissemination
• Teacher's planning
• Teaching & Learning policy - included strategies for teaching thinking
• Tracking files, FFT data, SAT results/CVA
• Training presentations seen

The Verifiers Comment

• Raising pupils aspirations - by allowing them to choose their own targets from a given three. All children must complete, some children should be able to and some children could. A very simple but effective strategy as most pupils aim for the higher challenge. Resulting in raised achievement and attainment.
• The use of visual literacy - the school is part of a pilot for the British Film Institute for lead teachers within Rotherham. This basically is using film clips rather than text on some occasions, children have completed animations, discussed characters and the standard of work has increased as a result.
• Using the theories of Bloom's Taxology , using a TASC wheel to plan the curriculum and lessons - this involved finding out what pupils already know about a topic, then asking what they want to know and planning the future lessons accordingly and developing teacher's questioning techniques.