SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLANNING PROJECT

21 primary schools from 3 family groups have been working together with funding from the DfEE to raise standards of achievement in literacy and numeracy and develop their capacity to manage their own improvement. They have worked systematically through the school improvement planning cycle of AUDIT, TARGET SETTING, ACTION PLANNING, MAKING INTERVENTIONS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING, MONITORING PROGRESS and EVALUATING THE OUTCOMES AND IMPACT. As a result they have made significant gains in children's attainment and progress and at the same time developed the whole school organisational culture using the 7 Processes of school improvement.

Listed below are examples of both their interventions in teaching and learning and their application of the 7 Processes.

Characteristics of successful interventions in teaching and learning of numeracy.

• sharper focus on learning objectives; l.o.'s shared with children and expected outcomes made explicit
• more accurate assessment of attainment and closer monitoring of progress
• more flexible deployment of teachers and support staff
• emphasis on quantitative data being used to inform planning
• "benchmarking" performance with similar schools
• establishing daily numeracy hour
• children grouped according to specific learning needs for fixed period of time
• team planning and more structured, focused teaching
• emphasis on mental maths and on the technical language of mathematics
• observation of teaching/learning followed by reflection and analysis
• challenging targets discussed with children and parents
• enriched maths environment in classrooms and around the school
• integration of problem solving and investigative maths
• continuous monitoring of outcomes and impact used to adapt and fine tune teacher planning and delivery
• use of scripted lessons
• more use of homework with support for parents
• "circle time" organisation used for numeracy sessions with emphasis on appropriate "on task" behaviour, pace and questioning techniques
• introduction of "I can" statement banks to assess attainment and progress
• review of learning outcomes held at the end of each session
• children encouraged to discuss the purpose and "real life" application of numeracy tasks and to explain the relevant concepts and technical language to each other

If you would like more information about this project or other school improvement initiatives, please contact me or John Hill at the Centre for School Improvement, Knox House, Martineau Education Centre, tel. 0121 428 4816.

Elizabeth Burridge