Teamwork leads to high quality teaching
Information about the school
Severn Primary School is in the Canton area of Cardiff. There are 407 pupils on roll aged between 4 and 11, and a further 146 nursery pupils attending on a part time-basis.
Around 24% of the pupils are eligible for free school meals and 25% have additional learning needs. The school has pupils from a diverse background, including over 50 different languages and dialects, of which the most common are Urdu and Arabic. Many of the school’s pupils speak English as an additional language.
Context and background to sector-leading practice
Senior leaders have developed excellent teamwork within the school, through strong lines of communication, a common vision and sharing good practice. Staff feel empowered and motivated to be innovative, to challenge convention and to be reflective to improve teaching within the school. This, together with the points below, has led to high quality teaching throughout the school.
Description of nature of strategy or activity
Sharing / communication
Senior leaders have established excellent communication channels. The carefully considered line management structure ensures effective two-way communication of information, for example the headteacher’s weekly Diary Meetings, whole school in-service training (INSET) sessions, monthly senior leadership team led phase meetings and weekly assistant headteacher led meetings for teaching assistants. School staff are always willing to support each other and share ideas in an informal setting. These sessions evolved into the school’s ‘Wednesday Workshops’, which are an innovative way of sharing good practice in a relaxed environment, for example 100 best plenaries and questioning for science. Staff lead and attend these voluntary workshops if they feel that the topic is of benefit to their professional practice.
Training
Senior leaders organise an effective programme of training for all staff. They base weekly INSET sessions around the school improvement plan and staff performance management objectives. Teaching assistants’ performance management (carried out by higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs) highlights training needs. Leaders often use INSET days to introduce new initiatives and both teachers and teaching assistants attend these. Ongoing training for staff ensures consistency of approach and expectations. The cluster of local schools that feed the high school organise an annual joint INSET day, which gives all staff opportunities to attend workshops that support their professional development.
Teaching
Through rigorous discussion, staff agree what makes an excellent lesson, leading to consistently high expectations. Lessons are broken down into ‘chunks’ and teachers carry out a self-audit, recording strengths and weaknesses in their teaching. The senior leadership team approves common areas for improvement. Staff agree on shared vocabulary and staff work in small teams/triads to coach each other to improve teaching. These areas linked well with staff performance management objectives. Leaders give staff the freedom to trial new ideas with their colleagues, who act as critical friends. Where necessary, leaders arrange external training and/or visits.
Schemes of work
Senior and subject leaders complete an internal curriculum review update for both Foundation Phase and key stage 2, ensuring that they are skills based. The school’s schemes of work are engaging and challenging for all learners, with each lesson having three differentiated learning objectives.
Planning
All teachers are involved in updating planning so that it is consistent across phases. Lessons have differentiated and Literacy and Numeracy Framework learning objectives, exciting activities, appropriate questioning, assessment for learning opportunities and evaluations that lead to future planning.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Review (MER)
Senior leaders have developed a comprehensive MER Timetable. Some classroom observations focus on ‘chunks’ of a lesson, for example starters and plenaries. Book scrutiny sessions highlight areas for improvement, for example marking, feedback and presentation. The school’s rigorous monitoring processes, carried out by senior and subject leaders, identify good practice, and share it with all staff.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
Teaching across the school is consistently of a high quality and most pupils make very good progress in relation to their starting points. Teachers are committed to school improvement and plan imaginative activities, which engage all groups of learners. Teaching assistants are highly effective and valued.
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