Raigmore Primary School Blog

Raigmore Primary School

Standards and Quality Report
Summary for Parents

October 2009

VISION AND LEADERSHIP

Vision

Raigmore is a confident school with a strong sense of pride in our achievements

Our vision is for our:-

• Pupils to be keen and motivated to achieve of their best

• Staff to be skilled and dedicated to helping pupils achieve of their best.

• Parents to be involved in and supportive of their children to achieve of their best.

Values

In all our work we strive to instil the following values:-

• FUN in what we do

• PRIDE in what we achieve

• RESPECT for each other and our property and resources

• FAIRNESS in how we treat each other.

October 2009

Dear Parents / Carers

Session 2008/09 was once again a very busy year for us all. One of the many highlights was the publication in January 2009 of our very positive Inspection Report. We were all delighted with the report which recognised and commented very favourably on the many strengths of the school. With Curriculum for Excellence increasingly taking over from the previous 5-14 Guidelines our pupils are continuing to be much more involved in planning what they want to learn in addition to what we need to teach them. You will have noticed that they are taking home Mind Maps of their topics to share with you and to see if and how you may be able to help with their learning both at home and in school.

Over the Summer Holidays we had a major refurbishment to the building by the replacement of all the old wooden and metal frame windows making the school not only a lot warmer but also much nicer to look at. We also upgraded all our computers – thankfully this is done centrally and does not come out of our budget. Another welcome addition last session was a Lottery Grant which allowed us to buy the Trim Trail and Climbing Frame – 2 pieces of equipment which the children have wanted for some time and which are well used on a daily basis.

Out Hearts and Flowers garden continues to be a great success and the recent Garden Party raised over £600 which will be shared with the British Heart Foundation and the school. Although we recognise that the garden is very much a whole school project I do want to highlight the magnificent work done by Miss Fowler in planning and managing the work, in involving all pupils and not least in badgering us all to ‘do our bit’. It really is a fantastic resource to have and it gives so much pleasure to so many.

Our work continues to feature at National Level with staff presenting at National Conferences, features in National Newspapers and publications and regularly hosting visitors from other schools, authorities and indeed other countries to see our good practice. We continue to be very grateful for the support of the Friends of Raigmore who organised the recent very successful Summer Fair.

A small group of pupils made a film about how they use Information Technology to keep in touch with their dads during their recent deployment in Afghanistan. They entered a National Competition and we are delighted to have won the Scottish finals.

Our school website continues to be an excellent way to keep up with what is happening not only in Raigmore but also what parental support is available nationally. This site is now supported by our school blog which gives even more detailed information on what is happening in school and we are very pleased that an ever increasing number of parents are posting comments on our Blog – from as far afield as Afghanistan, America, Russia and Australia.

There is so much more I could write about here but I would like to finish this letter by saying once again that we are a confident school with a strong team of staff dedicated to providing high quality education for your children.

Our work is enhanced by your on going support which is much appreciated.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Moira Leslie
Head Teacher

AIMS

In Raigmore Primary School and Nursery we aim to Get it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), to be an emotionally literate nurturing school and to deliver a Curriculum for Excellence by

1 Maintaining high standards of discipline and creating an environment in which all staff and pupils show confidence, self expression, care and consideration for themselves and others by measures which include:
• having a clear Discipline policy with achievable school, class and playground rules and agreements
• actively promoting positive behaviour – house captains, rewards systems, achievement assemblies and displays
• Fostering self awareness and self respect, the ability to assess risk and take informed decisions, and an increasing level of independence.

2 Providing a range of experiences and resources and using a variety of teaching methods which will enable our pupils to gain their highest levels of attainment and achievement in all areas of the curriculum appropriate to their age, stage and ability in line with National and Local Guidelines by measures which include:
• ensuring programmes of learning are appropriate for each stage taking account of individual’s needs
• regularly reviewing teaching and learning styles to ensure that they match pupils’ learning styles by regular, rigorous internal Quality Assurance and Self Evaluation
• Creating a climate which fosters critical, creative and independent thinking, making reasoned evaluations, and openness to new thinking and ideas.

3 Providing for all our pupils and staff a healthy and safe environment along with a stimulating, happy and secure working atmosphere by implementing inclusion, equal opportunities, safe internet use and cyber bullying, anti bullying and anti racist policies by measures which include:
• displaying pupils’ work and achievements to make the buildings as attractive as possible
• though risk assessment, regularly monitoring health and safety issues
• ensuring all pupils have access to Breakfast Club, drinking water, fruit tuck shop, nutritious school meals, mental health programme and a range of sporting and recreational activities

4 Providing opportunities for and supporting staff with their continuing professional development by measures which include:
• ensuring all staff are aware of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme, in-house professional support and other available sources of training
• allocating available resources fairly to all staff
• providing Professional Review and Development meetings (PRDs) for all staff
• providing opportunities to visit other classes and other schools.
• an understanding and respect of staff skills and interests and opportunities for sharing these.
5 Maintaining existing and encouraging new links and communication between school, home and the wider community in order to promote and develop a sense of shared responsibility and partnership by measures which include:
• actively fostering partnerships with Wimberley Way Community Centre, Families office, Raigmore Community Centre, Balloan Farm, Lifescan, charities and voluntary organisations and encouraging parent involvement in the Parent Forum and Friends of Raigmore Primary School.
• weekly pupils’ reports, regular newsletters, information fliers, parents’ meetings and evenings
• regularly reflecting on and reviewing the schools values in light of changing population and curriculum
• ensuring democratic participation and decision making through committee work
• fostering a culture of enterprise and the making of informed choices and decisions
• involving parents and pupils more in curricular design and delivery.

AIMS (cont.)

In addition, Raigmore Primary School Nursery Class aims to deliver a Curriculum for Excellence by:-

1 Providing a safe, happy, well resourced environment for pre-school children

2 Providing a broad range of appropriate experiences for children through play activities

3 Delivering pre-school education experiences in line with national and local advice including
• Emotional, Personal, and Social Development
• Communication and Language
• Knowledge and Understanding of the world
• Expressive and Aesthetic development
• Physical development and movement

4 Meeting the National Care Standards (Early Education and Childcare up to the age of 16)

5 Offering parents/carers opportunities to become involved in their child’s progress and
development

6 Providing parents/carers with regular information about their child’s progress and development

7 Regularly evaluating provision in line with the national document ‘The Child at the Centre’

8 Arranging appropriate professional development and training for all staff employed by the group.

Reviewed in consultation with pupils, some parents and staff in September 2009
The aims will be reviewed again in August 2010

are

PROGESS WITH OUR IMPROVEMENT PLAN

In addition to managing the support of many new pupils, we identified 3 priorities for session 2008/09 –.

2008 / 2009 Improvement Projects

Project 1 Title: Developing an Emotionally Literate School

We said we intended to have:

• staff and pupils better equipped to recognise and describe own and others feelings.
• learners more Emotionally Literate and aware of clear pathways for their future developments.
• increased quality time for pupils to check in and out daily ensuring learners are better prepared to undertake their days learning.
• increased resilience and self confidence and better ability to handle conflict in a restorative way.
• staff more skilled in emotional coaching and active listening.
• staff and pupils more aware of their own strengths and areas for further development so that their learning can be focussed in a more targeted way.
• better awareness of staff competences to ensure the most appropriate deployment of staff to support learners.

This is the difference we made:

Our Pupils

• can express a variety of emotions
• are more able to decide on strategies to cope with difficult situations
• feel more secure about sharing difficulties
• have less stigma attached to other’s problems – greater ability and wish to help each other
• have a greater awareness of themselves and their needs
• are more aware of the consequences of their actions
• are becoming more resilient
• are more aware of other’s feelings and how to recognise emotions in others.

Our Staff

• are more aware of children’s emotions and difficulties of learning
• are more aware of the underlying problems of children who find expressing feelings difficult
• prioritise self evaluation
• are more aware of GIRFEC (Getting it Right for Ever Child)
• are more aware of reasons for children making specific choices

Both Pupils and Staff are more aware of body language and facial expressions

Project 2 Title: Engaging with Curriculum for Excellence:-
Writing, Maths and Health and Well Being

For Writing we said we intended to:
• improve attainment in 5-14 levels
• increase enjoyment, confidence and engagement in more appropriate writing contexts
• increase expectations from pupils and staff
• increase opportunities for writing across the curriculum.

For Maths we said we intended to:
• improve attainment in 5-14 levels for most able
• improve challenge for P4-P7 pupils.

For Health and Well Being we said we intended to:
• increase awareness of Outcomes and Expectations
• improve home link activities in Health and Well Being
• increase awareness of how Health and Well Being links with other curricular areas.

This is the difference we made:

Writing
• Staff more aware of issues around the development of writing
• More opportunities for writing across the curriculum
• Pupils enjoying seeing published work
• Boosted self esteem for pupils / school
• Greater ethos of self evaluation throughout staff and some pupils

Maths
• Staff more aware of issues and have created a greater variety of experiences
• Greater opportunities for dialogue in maths
• Greater opportunities / understanding of cross curricular elements for numeracy / maths
• Learning is more relevant / purposeful
• Planning is more child centred with more self evaluation
• Dedicated more time to maths
• Pupils seem more enthusiastic

Health and Well Being
• Staff are more familiar with the Curriculum for Excellence Health and Well Being Outcomes and Experiences
• Health and Well Being Activities are increasingly included in Home Link Activities

Project 3 Title: Collaborative learning

We said we intended to create:

• more opportunities for collaborative learning – both pupils and staff.
• increased motivation in their learning.
• greater pupil involvement in their learning.
• improvement in pupil achievement, attainment and enjoyment.
• greater responsibility for, ownership of and confidence in pupils’ own learning
• greater continuity in teaching methodology from primary to secondary with an agreed focus on collaborative learning.

This is the difference we made:

• More pupils are equipped with better social skills
• Pupils are more capable of working together
• Confidence has grown to speak up when stuck – both staff and pupils
• A greater awareness of learning intentions and next steps
• Pupils have a greater sense of belonging to a group / class
• Some children are aware that better behaviour leads to better learning (due to social targets)
• Pupils are more motivated as they have set the targets themselves
• Staff are spending less time talking in class – activities are more child centred
• Staff have a clearer idea of what co-operative learning actually is
• Staff are more aware of how important social targets are
• The school blog has created a more collaborative school community
• There has been an increase in professional dialogue between primary and secondary staff

SUCCESSES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

School successes this year

These are only some of our successes:-

• Our very positive HMIe Inspection Report

• National Recognition for our work in Emotional Literacy

• A well attended and highly successful Garden Party which raised over £600 for British Heart Foundation and school funds

• A very successful and very enjoyable Xmas Factor Talent Show won by Alasdair Davidson

• Substantial Charity Donations throughout the session

• Upgrading of the school premises by playground resurfacing, new windows, replacement railings and various other minor improvements

• Natalie Shaw and Ewan McIvor won a Jacobite Cruise for the whole class by winning a writing competition

• Natalie also won the Tesco Healthy Eating Poster Competition

• Selected as the only Highland school to host a visit by the “Three Blonds in a Boat” Olympians

And last but by no means least…

• Winning the Scottish final of the Make IT Happy Competition and getting a place in the UK Finals

LIFE AND WORK OF THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY

Pupils’ Voices

My highlight of 2008/09 was:-

P1
• Visit to Wildlife Park
• Playing together with friends in the garden
• Santa visiting
• Bubble painting
• Lots of yummy things to eat at snack time
• Digging and building castles in the sand
• Going out in the snow and catching snowflakes
• I like it when all the boys and girls sit feet and fingers at storytime

P2
• Playing with cars – motorbikes – in the shops
• Golden Time
• Drawing pictures

P3
• Getting certificates for things we have done well
• Getting a trophy for being nice to your friends
• Getting a visit from the SSPCA and a dog
• A visit to the hospital and the Floral Hall
• Learning about space and dinosaurs
• A visit from a grandad to tell us about the old toys

P4
• A visit from the Kosmic Krew and Magic Show
• Old Smithy’s Place Topic
• Science experiments on friction
• Reading
• Art
• Writing Stories
• Dressing up competition at Halloween
• Taking part in Nativity play
• School fete when Mr Fraser got soaked with wet sponges

P5
• Working in trios and getting a sticker on our shield if we worked well
• Going on a trip to the farm / writing to Mr and Mrs McQueen / learning about the animals/ sitting in the tractor
• Mr and Mrs MacQueen coming for a tea party in our class
• Committees – we enjoyed doing things for school
• Playing games to learn maths
• We like sharing our feelings to the whole clas
• The Policeman coming to visit, getting to see his baton and wearing his hat
• Topics – I like planning what the class are going to learn
• Making electric circuits in science

P6
• Enjoyed cooperative learning
• Loved the Flight topic
• Having choice in activities

P7
• Playing for Raigmore in the P6/7 football team
• Going to Culloden Battlefield
• When the rainforest animals came into class
• The basketball tournament
• When Miss Dollan student teacher came into the class
• The Jacobite Cruise

School Nutrition Action Group –

We liked making up the recipe cards which we sold at snack time and at the fete.

Safer Routes to School Committee–

We enjoyed designing, making and selling our Safer Routes to School Calendar

Pupil Council –

It was great organising loads of Charity Events like the Blythswood Shoe Box Appeal

Eco Committee –

We had to keep an eye on our Action Plan after getting our first Green Flag

Parent Council – Friends of Raigmore Primary School

This is just a note to let you know about the Friends of Raigmore Primary and what we do. We are a group of parents who meet about once a month at the school and talk about fund raising and other points that people want to bring up about other school matters. The meetings are very informal so please don’t be scared to come along and see what we do. So far some of the things we have done for the school are the purchase of white boards for the remainder of classes that didn’t have them, subsidised the singing and drama groups, bought a gazebo and a tea urn for when we run our Summer Fete. Things we are planning to do this term are to help to fund the football team, again subsidise the singing and drama and to help purchase extra library books, plus any other things that pop up during our meetings. All are welcome at our meetings.