The Headteacher of Ysgol Glancegin, Bangor will give a presentation on the subject of the five steps to establishing a sound procedure for Care, Support and Guidance.
Minutes:
The Chairman welcomed Mrs Bethan Morris Jones, the Head of Ysgol Glancegin, Bangor to the meeting and invited her to address the meeting on the five steps to establishing a sound procedure for Care, Support and Guidance.
Mrs Bethan Morris Jones explained that she had been requested to give the Joint Committee, as the forum responsible for overseeing additional learning needs in both counties, an overview of the work done at Ysgol Glancegin, Bangor during the last six years to address problems highlighted at the school in the Estyn inspection held in 2007. She reported that the period in question had been a journey for all the school’s population leading to the publication of Estyn’s latest inspection report earlier this year that judged the school’s current performance and the prospects for improvement to be good. In addition, in the 2013 report the Inspector found that welfare standards at the school were outstanding and that the care, support and guidance it provides in promoting the spiritual, moral and social development of the pupils is equally outstanding. The Head therefore stated that she would be focussing in her presentation on the section of the inspection report dealing with additional learning needs and would draw upon it to demonstrate how the strategies and schemes implemented following the inspection six years ago have borne fruit and have culminated in very positive outcomes at the school in the form of particularly good behaviour; positive attitudes to learning; pupils taking pride in their responsibilities and playing a lead role in a number of activities; pupils feeling that their voices are important and that they are being listened to by adults, together with a considerable increase in attendance levels and standards generally.
In her subsequent presentation, the Head of Ysgol Glancegin referred to the following information and considerations –
· The Context – The social environment of Ysgol Glancegin on the Maesgeirchen estate in Bangor, which is an area considered to be socially deprived. Over 97% of the pupils live in an area that is amongst the 20% of the most deprived areas in Wales. 42% of the pupils are eligible for free school meals and 41% have been identified as pupils with additional learning needs. A Nursery Group has been established in the school funded through Communities First which receives 60 children and provides Welsh medium education for 12 ½ hours per week with the aim of giving them a solid start.
· The Five Steps
· Promoting the spiritual, moral and social development of pupils.
The Inspector found that teachers and ancillary staff at the school are thoroughly committed to high quality pastoral support that meets the needs of all the pupils. A range of effective strategies was implemented consistently and robustly to foster respect for others and promote good conduct. The Head referred in particular to a strategy entitled Solution Focused Therapy that concentrates on the positives in any situation rather than negatives and which encourages and trains children to think positively about themselves. This has led to significant increases in the children’s welfare standards and has had a positive impact on staff and parents.
Another key step has been to establish a specific system for special educational needs based on three tiers of intervention, where tier 1 concentrates on basic skills and on conducting daily skills exercises with the children with a view to improving those skills whilst at the same time fostering and increasing the children’s self-confidence. The Head clarified that there were expectations upon staff and pupils in every situation.
· The school benefits considerably from the expertise of a wide range of services in order to maintain the personal and social health of pupils across the school.
The school has worked closely with an Educational Psychologist to create an intervention scheme and a progress monitoring document. A Communication and Provider Group has been established to promote effective collaboration with the health and welfare service. The school has developed a methodology of community collaboration with Communities First, The Maesgeirchen Partnership in order to raise the school’s profile within its community and links haevbeen forged with the Psychology Department of Bangor University. The school participated in the University’s Reaching Wider Partnership.
· In the Inspector’s opinion, the provision for additional learning needs is very robust at the school.
This position has been reached though setting up effective systems to identify individual needs from an early age in order to assess and track pupils’ achievements and progress constantly through the use of internal data and statutory tests to confirm the progress and change the intervention level. The Head referred to a graph showing the positive change in the school’s performance after one year of implementing the intervention procedure and targeting children’s skills, with fewer than 5% of pupils subsequently performing below the expected threshold.
· The inclusion team provides comprehensive support for teachers and works very closely with them to ensure continuity and the progress of pupils with additional needs.
In Ysgol Glancegin, there are six assistants between both departments and the leader of the inclusion team is part of the Communication and Provider group. There is regular contact between the team and the Additional Needs Co-ordinator and daily communication between the assistant and the teacher. The targets are set by the Speech and Language Therapists. The Head referred to the Welsh and English Literacy Assessment and Monitoring manual used to carefully track children’s progress and demonstrated its impact by referring to a colour chart to illustrate pupils’ progress.
· Effective use is made of every room in the building with some being used to provide additional resources.
The Head showed how the school’s environment has been improved, and made attractive and stimulating for staff and children alike. For example, status has been given to parental meetings by creating a designated meeting room to that end. Artistic projects have been undertaken focusing mainly on the Maesgeirchen community and parents have been involved in that work. One feature of the school’s activities is the Fostering Group focusing on those children who have lost out in their early years in terms of skills development. The Head said that positive messages are also reinforced visually throughout the school’s classrooms and corridors. In addition, one classroom has been made to resemble a room in a home for those children whose basic skills are weak, with a view to them developing those skills in an informal and relaxed setting.
The Chairman thanked the Head of Ysgol Glancegin for an informative presentation.
The Senior Pupils and Inclusion Manager of Gwynedd Council stated that Ysgol Glancegin’s journey had taken several years and had been achieved through collaboration between the school and a range of services. First and foremost, the school has ensured that it is an inclusive school that does not close its doors to anybody. Multi-disciplinary co-operation has been crucial to its success, particularly in the early years period and it has developed a positive ethos and culture as well as positive teaching methods. None of the strategies and plans adopted by Ysgol Glancegin was intended to be an overnight solution to its problems – the arrangements have embedded and have taken effect over a period of time carrying with them every member of staff on every step of the journey. The school is now a school with high expectations.
The Members of the Joint Committee acknowledged the commitment, effort and perseverance involved in turning Ysgol Glancegin around and giving the children and the community the best opportunity to realise their potential and the Head, staff and support services were congratulated for their achievement. On the other hand, it was pointed out that it is very difficult for children in any area identified as deprived to free themselves from the attendant economic and social influences, despite the input into their development. As a consequence, children from such communities frequently do not achieve to the same degree as children from more prosperous areas. The expectations for less privileged communities are lower and, in the main, these communities do not exceed those expectations. However, the encouragement and support for children of the kind in Ysgol Glancegin is a step forward.
The Head of Ysgol Glancegin opined that if children leaving school are equipped to think that they can succeed there is a greater likelihood of their doing so.
The Head of Education of Gwynedd Council stated that the Head of Ysgol Glancegin was invited to give a presentation to the Joint Committee following the previous meeting’s discussion around the school questionnaire wherein it was highlighted that the teaching profession felt that it is increasingly encountering more of the kind of issues seen at Ysgol Glancegin around behaviour and attainment. Ysgol Glancegin is an example of innovation involving the entire school community to progress children regardless of their circumstances.
It was resolved to note the information presented and to thank the Head of Ysgol Glancegin for her time in attending this meeting of the Joint Committee.