Month: December 2018

Psychology and Numeracy

There are a number of psychology factors that are important in children learning numeracy concepts and skills.

The Educational Psychology Services across the regional collaborative have been engaging in collaborative research on numeracy. There are 4 projects and a meta analysis:

  1. Attachment and Numeracy, Clackmannanshire Council. This study involved a literature review of research into development of early years numeracy and its links with childhood development and particularly Attachment theory.
  2. Bridging the Gaps, Falkirk Council. This project focused on longitudinal analysis of pupil outcome data from an action research skills project, involving the Coach Consult method of professional learning, undertaken with teachers and managers from 12 schools, in 4 discrete projects during 2016/17.
  3. Meta Cognitive development, Stirling Council. This study involved a literature review of meta-cognitive aspects of numeracy development, which in turn is being used to contribute to a professional learning programme for teachers in early primary in Stirling Schools, using appreciative inquiry.
  4. Pupil Voice, West Lothian Council. This piece of research involved focus groups with 56 participants from 8 high schools. All were studying for National 5 Maths and in S4.

The meta analysis is only partially completed and has already identified 15 factors important for the development of numeracy.

The summary reports will be published on the National Improvement HUB in April 2019. The full reports will be published on the Blogs.

For further information contact your local Educational Psychology Service.

Consultation on RIC Plan Phase 2 – Ask and Offer

The lead planning team of the Forth Valley and West Lothian Regional Improvement Collaborative invites education practitioners within Forth Valley and West Lothian educational establishments to respond to a consultation and seeks views on the RIC Plan Phase 2. This will enable the ‘Ask and the Offer’ of the plan to be further developed taking into account our stakeholder views. We had originally invited responses to this consultation by Wednesday 19 December 2018 but this has been extended to Monday 14 January 2019

Please complete the form below (or you can click on this link to open in a new window).

Measurement Plan

Key Indicators and measures to evidence progress

In line with the 2018 National Improvement Framework, a basket of measures will be used to assess progress of RIC priorities. This will provide a comprehensive and consistent approach with key performance indicators being tracked across the Forth Valley and West Lothian Improvement Collaborative in relation to the four key strategic priorities of the NIF.

In addition to the Measurement Plan, the Performance Team will consider key performance indicators from each Local Authority and establish a common set for the RIC to better inform areas for development.

Building a collaborative approach to Career-Long Professional Learning that will provide quality engagement and learning development for practitioners

Why is this being prioritised?

Central to the success of the Forth Valley and West Lothian RIC will be the opportunity for practitioners to learn, share and develop together to achieve standards of excellence in learning and teaching so that our children and young people achieve their full potential.

Overarching Aims

To address expectations of the National Improvement Framework which are being taken forward by each of the work-streams.

To empower our teachers, head teachers, parents and communities to deliver excellence for our children and young people
What do we want to achieve?

Career-Long Professional Learning (CLPL) experiences and resources which will have a direct impact on improving outcomes for children and young people in our classrooms

A cohesive programme of CLPL across the RIC that supports practitioners in contributing to reaching improvement targets for numeracy, literacy, ELCC, curriculum design, quality of learning and teaching, and collaborative partnerships

Develop leadership capacity at all levels with consistent access to CLPL opportunities

Actions and Indicators of Progress

Short term (February-June 2018)

1. Identify leads from each authority (CLPL Team) to form a working team to develop a plan based on feedback from teachers and practitioners
2. Analyse data and information from across the RIC
3. Identify common areas for targeting interventions
4. Identify drivers for improvement (CLPL Strategic Plan Appendix 4)
5. Develop a professional learning programme based on the CSP model to include input from Stirling University
6. Create an overview of the RIC (power-point) to support Inset 1 discussions

Medium term (August 2018 – June 2019)

1. Gather overview of the CLPL input from the other work streams to provide alignment with the RIC plan
2. Clearly outline baselines across RIC and measure progress
3. Consider how sessions may be delivered with a RIC brand/approach
4. Research and bring together national expertise, university and international research and practitioner experience
5. Work with the National Improvement Methodology Advisor to underpin CLPL activities using an improvement model in supporting all work streams
6. Engage with new work streams to agree CLPL offer and ask (Curriculum design and development, Learning, teaching and assessment, and Collaborative partnerships)
7.The CLPL Team will discuss measurement of progress and analysis of data with thePerformance Improvement Team
8.Engage with the Communications Team to design a strategy to share practice anddevelop a practitioner network for CLPL
9.Provide input to the Autumn FV & WL RIC Consultation on the ‘Ask and the Offer’
10.Review CLPL plans in light of the outcomes of the RIC consultation
11.Share localised CLPL to the collaborative where appropriate and manageable
12.Alignment initially of one in-service day to facilitate collaboration

Longer term

1.Evaluate the effectiveness of staff development approaches
2.Explore and facilitate sharing best practice from PEF CLPL strategies across the RIC
3.A wider collaboration strategy will be developed with partners and stakeholdersincluding CLD, H&WB groups and parents

Intended Impact of the CLPL Plan

The measures of success will be:

  • Teacher feedback demonstrates engagement with professional learning opportunities offered by the RIC work streams
  • Take up and evaluative feedback of collaborative CLPL opportunities and models of collaboration
  • Participation by class teachers and regional network input
  • Engagement and participation with the digital communication platform
  • All performance measures will be impacted by CLPL and will show an upward trend
  • Identified attainment gaps are reduced for children and young people

Raising attainment in early learning and child care and closing the poverty related attainment gap

Why is this being prioritised?

Each local authority is undertaking work to improve practitioner professionalism and to raise standards across Early Learning and Childcare settings. By working across the Collaborative, combining existing resources and expertise will support a more consistent approach to the delivery of professional learning and development, and to sharing practice. Practitioners have asked for support in this area to improve the quality of delivery of ELCC.

Overarching Aim

By the end of 2020, 100 % of children aged 2-3 years old will experience good or very good quality ELC in establishments in the FVWL RIC.

What do we want to achieve?

  • To build a deeper understanding of the key features of a high quality Early Learning and Childcare workforce
  • To establish a CLPL programme across the Collaborative that supports developing high quality learning experiences
  • To develop networks that demonstrate the best practice in collective responsibility and collaborative enquiry
  • Outcomes for children improve from the support of highly skilled early learning and childcare practitioners

Actions and Indicators of Progress

Short term (February-June 2018)

1. Identify leads from each authority (Early Learning and Childcare Team) to work with EY&CC education officers to develop a plan based on feedback from practitioners
2. Analyse HMI reports and data information from across the RIC
3. Identify common areas for targeting interventions
4. Identify drivers for improvement (Early Learning & Childcare Strategic Plan Appendix 3)
5. Develop a professional learning programme to support the pilot project (to be delivered by numeracy champions)
6. Develop QA framework focusing on Learning and Teaching (Age 2-3) using Building the Ambition resource
7. Trial use of the QA framework with a number of establishments
8. Initiate partnership links with colleges, improvement advisor and Care Inspectorate representative
9. Identify core teaching materials to address common need
10. Share presentations used with staff in each authority and agree on key messages arising from these

Medium term (August 2018 – June 2019)

1. Use feedback from the QA trials to review and further develop the QA framework
2. Discuss and agree next steps for use of the QA framework with a whole scale approach across the RIC
3. Deliver launch event of the QA framework with practitioners and heads of establishments
4. Build shared understanding of the role for ELC graduates
5. A sub-group of the lead work stream has identified parental engagement as a key improvement theme and will examine the quality of this across settings.
6. A parental engagement strategy will be developed building collaborative working practice
7. The lead team will discuss measurement of progress and analysis of data with the Performance Improvement Team
8. Engage with the Communications Team to design a strategy to share practice and develop a practitioner network for early learning and childcare
9. Provide input to the Autumn FV & WL RIC Consultation on the ‘Ask and the Offer’
10. Review ELCC plans in light of the outcomes of the consultation
11. Identify practitioners to undertake leadership and coaching improvement methodology training

Longer term

1. Evaluate the effectiveness of staff development approaches
2. Review progress of children age 2-3 (milestones and CfE) using data analysis, and discuss measurement criteria with the Performance Team
3. A wider collaboration strategy will be developed with partners and stakeholders including CLD, ASN, Ed Psychologist groups and parents
4. Build partnerships with multi-agency partners to deepen knowledge to support children’s progress- across RIC collaborative
5. Develop a plan to promote use of outdoor areas for a variety of activities
6. Develop opportunities for children’s voice in all aspects of provision

Intended Impact of the Early Learning and Childcare Plan

The measures of success will be:

  • Practitioner feedback demonstrates improved engagement and confidence in early years delivery
  • Take up and evaluative feedback of collaborative CLPL opportunities and models of collaboration
  • Participation by practitioners and regional network input
  • Engagement and participation with the digital communication platform
  • Children (age 2-3) show improvement in progression measures
  • Improvement in gradings from the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland
  • Recruitment and retention of excellent staff

Raising attainment in literacy and closing the poverty related attainment gap

Why is this being prioritised?

Each local authority recognises that by improving attainment levels in reading, young people will be able to achieve more. By working across and through the Collaborative, combining resources, creativity and expertise, we will be empowered to transform learning.

Overarching Aims

To develop collaborative learning approaches which build staff capacity to deliver high quality literacy learning experiences for all.
What do we want to achieve?

To directly support practitioners to develop their knowledge, understanding and application of research informed pedagogy that is proven to improve outcomes for children and young people.

Develop face to face and digital collaboration between practitioners within and across local authorities and health boards to promote leadership at all levels.

To raise literacy attainment for all and close the poverty related attainment gap by supporting reflection on the performance of learners to enable continuous improvement.

Actions and Indicators of Progress

Short term (February-June 2018)

1. Identify leads from each authority (Literacy Team) to work with the literacy QAMSOs to develop a plan based on feedback from teachers and practitioners
2. Analyse baseline data and information from across the RIC
3. Identify common areas for targeting interventions
4. Identify drivers for improvement (Literacy Strategic Plan Appendix 2)
5. Establish sub group work-streams for agreed areas to research, develop and support: Accurate practitioner judgement of CfE levels in reading
Practitioners’ skills in pedagogies required to engage learners in building a reading culture
Sharing skills in pedagogies required in vocabulary development
6. Develop a professional learning programme for reading moderation

Medium term (August 2018 – June 2019)

1 Literacy QAMSOs will work with the lead team to develop a high quality moderation pack for Reading
2. Develop a digital sharing space to support pedagogy CLPL
3. Develop power-points and holistic assessments to support professional judgement in confirming CfE levels in Reading
4. Identify best practice to share across the RIC
5. Initiate practitioners groups supported by librarians and researchers who will build practitioner skills in developing a reading culture
6. Discuss and agree baseline measures to use to gauge progress (use information provided by the Performance Improvement Team)
7. The Literacy Team will discuss measurement of progress and analysis of data with the Performance Improvement Team
8. Create a Literacy data pack demonstrating tracking progress and improvement
9. Engage with the Communications Team to design a strategy to share practice and develop a practitioner network for literacy
10. Literacy QAMSOs will work with practitioners, schools and clusters within their own local authority to build confidence in professional judgement on CfE levels in reading
11. Provide input to the Autumn FV & WL RIC Consultation on the ‘Ask and the Offer’
12. Review Literacy plans in light of the outcomes of the consultation
13. Develop partnerships with Scottish Booktrust and other identified literacy partners.

Longer term

1. Evaluate the effectiveness of staff development approaches
2. Review progress at identified level(s) of literacy in reading
3. The Literacy team will explore and facilitate sharing best practice from PEF strategies across the RIC
4. A wider collaboration strategy will be developed with partners and stakeholders including CLD, ASN groups and parents
5. Design a scaling up of the project to all levels throughout the BGE

Intended Impact of the Literacy Plan

The measures of success will be:

To be confirmed in consultation with the Performance Workstream – January 2019

Interim progress will be gauged by

  • Sampling of moderation shows consistency of practice
  • Practitioner feedback demonstrates quality collaborative activity
  • Assessments from speech and language therapy service demonstrate improvement
  • Practitioner feedback demonstrates improved confidence in reading level CfE judgements
  • Take up and evaluative feedback of collaborative CLPL opportunities
  • Engagement and participation with the digital communication platform

Raising attainment in numeracy and closing the poverty related attainment gap

Why is this being prioritised?

The data from the four regions indicates that there is a significant issue with Numeracy, particularly between first and second level. This is reflected in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 teacher Professional Judgement Survey for all four authorities.

Overarching Aims

•  To reduce the percentage gap from Early to First Level in Numeracy.
•  To use and enhance the expertise and talent within the Forth Valley and West Lothian RIC to develop collaborative learning approaches which build staff capacity to deliver high quality learning experiences in First Level Numeracy.

What do we want to achieve?

To establish an inter-authority, teacher driven, professional network that will work together to strengthen and improve confidence and understanding in teaching numeracy. The focus will initially be at CfE 1st level.
To further develop the partnership between the four Numeracy hub champions where they will jointly design and deliver high quality CLPL to identified schools and classroom practitioners.

Actions and Indicators of Progress

Short term (February-June 2018)

1. Identify leads from each authority (Numeracy Team) to work with the numeracy champions to develop a plan based on feedback from teachers and practitioners
2. Analyse baseline data and information from across the RIC
3. Identify common areas for targeting interventions
4. Identify drivers for improvement (Numeracy Strategic Plan Appendix 1)
5. Identify up to 3 schools to participate in a pilot project aimed at building staff capacity within First Level Numeracy
6. Develop a professional learning programme to support the pilot project (to be delivered by numeracy champions)
7. Produce a contract for each school engaged with the project to agree parameters commitment, and feedback outcomes to the wider RIC

Medium term (August 2018- June 2019)

1. Undertake pilot project- Numeracy PL programme
2. Gather feedback from head teachers and teachers about the pilot project, and review against agreed outcome criteria (discussed with RIC lead group)
3. Revise and prepare roll out of the CLPL programme to a wider audience throughout the RIC
4. Numeracy Hub Champions will facilitate professional dialogue on a monthly basis to increase teacher confidence in using manipulatives to help children and young people gain a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts
5. An agreed assessment measure using teachers’ professional judgement will be used to gauge progress over time
6. The Numeracy Team will discuss measurement of progress and analysis of data with the Performance Improvement Team
7. Create a Numeracy data pack demonstrating tracking progress and improvement
8. Engage with the Communications Team to design a strategy to share practice and develop a practitioner network for numeracy
9. Provide input to the Autumn FV & WL RIC Consultation on the ‘Ask and the Offer’
10. Review Numeracy plans in light of the outcomes of the consultation

Longer term

1. Evaluate the effectiveness of staff development approaches
2. Numeracy Hub Champions will establish an electronic platform for staff involved to engage in professional dialogue and share good practice
3. Review progress at 1st level Numeracy and reducing the gap from early to 1st level using data analysis, and discuss next steps in preparing to progress into 2nd level
4. The Numeracy team will explore and facilitate sharing best practice from PEF strategies across the RIC
5. A wider collaboration strategy will be developed with partners and stakeholders including CLD, H&WB groups and parents

Intended Impact of the Numeracy Plan

The measures of success will be:

  • Teacher feedback demonstrates improved engagement and confidence in numeracy delivery
  • Take up and evaluative feedback of collaborative CLPL opportunities and models of collaboration
  • Participation by class teachers and regional network input
  • Engagement and participation with the digital communication platform
  • Numeracy at 1st level shows improvement in teacher professional judgement surveys
  • CfE 1st level increases across the RIC
  • The gap between early and first level is reduced for children from the lowest quintile and highest