Why this is leading practice
We are proud of our Partners Scheme, where every child has a partner they meet with each week to participate in planned activities. We introduced SEAL and worked to develop clear links between different areas of the curriculum, led by the SEAL themes. The R.E. dispostions are taught alongside these themes and the R.E. clusters are clearly displayed for collective worship. A merit card system has also been introduced to reinforce good behaviour and these are based on the personal qualities reflected through the SEAL and R.E. themes. R.E., worship, partners, SEAL, School Council and the merit system for behaviour all support each other to ensure that 'We bring out the best in each other', our school motto.
Impact to date
- Improved pupil behaviour. (Fewer behaviour plans needed, less incidents at lunchtime.)
- Greater pupil voice (School council fund raise and spend the money, involvement by pupils in curricula and partnership decisions.)
- Increasing parental involvement
- Greater involvement by pupils in their community. (Extended schools co-ordinator gave many examples of pupils involvement, recently with the Fire Service.)
Rationale / Start Point
Partners is now firmly established and we also have links with a local special school to enhance the scheme. As a church school, R.E. is at the heart of curriculum and so we introduced SEAL and a behaviour system to bring it all together for clarity and maximum impact. This provides a consistent approach across the school for all staff and pupils. This programme gives a clear message about what kind of behaviours children at our school show and how to achieve them, as well as identifying areas for improvement. Daily reinforcement of positive messages through worship encourage a good start to the day.
Key Strategies
- Pupils have been involved at all stages of the development of the merit card system. The previous system was not popular with the children and was used inconsistently by staff.
- The house system has been developed to support the caring ethos of the school and will continue to be developed to influence more areas of school life.
- Parents are being encouraged to become involved particularly with SEAL. The PSHE co-ordinator is being careful not to overload parents with too much information or issuing advice on things that can be done at home to improve emotional literacy, but rather letting parents know the issues that will be discussed at school and being open and responsive to parental feeeback.
- The link with the local special school is particularly important to the pupils and staff. This is helping to build relationships and understanding.
Sustainability and Further Development
- The school recognises that it is still developing its cross curricula links and partnerships between pupils. There is a committment by all stake holders for this work to grow and flourish.
- The new Birmingham RE syllabus is still being embedded and the co-ordinator is aware that some members of staff are more comfortable with its delivery thsn others. INSET will continue.
- The attributes on the merit cards are attainable for all pupils and the three levels allow for progression and success for all pupils. The pupils are very keen for the system to work well and are committed to it.