Whittington Primary School Geelong Barwon South Western Region

Workshops Aims To understand the main strategies used to drive rapid school improvement. To understand the underlying principles that informed the choice of strategies.

Universal Truths All children have the right to learn. All children have the ability to learn. We are all responsible for the learning of all children. All aspects of school improvement lead to measurable improvements in children’s learning.

Basic Principles School improvement is the journey between two known points. The challenge is to identify the shortest route between them to secure maximum performance.

Effective Schools Schools effective at analysing their own data tend also to be those most effective at self-evaluation. Schools making good use of the data: 1. identify strengths 2. identify potential issues and 3. judge the impact of actions taken. How well do we honestly know our own school?

Four Key Questions

Philosophy The most effective teacher knows exactly what each child in their class needs to learn next in each area of the curriculum and then teaches them that.

Implications teachers must teach assessment must be reliable and fine-graded outcomes need to be projected for the end of each semester and the end of each year student performance must be reviewed regularly curriculum planning must be yearly, termly and weekly.

A Logical Sequence Individual, class, year group, whole school Are we on track ? What are the changed outcomes sought ? Individual, class, year group, whole school AssessmentModelling TargetsMonitoring

Strategic Use of Target Setting At the end of the year what do you want the results to be for: 1. The school 2. Each year group 3. Each subject 4. Each student. What progress does each student need to make ?

Projections and Aspirations School Improvement implies acceleration. We miss 100% of the shots we don’t take.

Modelling Future Outcomes ReadingWritingMaths target 2011 project target 2011 project target 2011 project A B C D E

Student Progress Meetings A termly discussion with each grade teacher to review the individual student outcomes for students in the grade. Who is making excellent progress ? – group A Who is on track ? - group B Who is falling behind expectation ? - group C What needs to happen for students in group C ?

Y5 Reading Dec 2010 attainment comparison to target

Teaching Quality The best teaching produces the best results. Theory without impact is useless. The more intellectually disadvantaged a student is, the greater their need for truly effective teaching for progress to take place.

Raising Quality Establish a consistent standard that identifies the core elements of effective practice. If not e5 then what ? Link professional learning and performance indicators to improvements against this standard. Hold teachers to account within an environment of support and development.

Instructional Leadership Classroom Observation is one element of instructional leadership. It is not an instructional round nor an inspection. It might lead to a coaching intervention as part of a development plan. It is confronting initially until a relationship of trust is established. Done properly it doesn’t take long for teachers to experience the benefits and request more observation.

School Improvement Strategies School improvement is the journey between two known points. Rapid school improvement requires the shortest route between the known points. Therefore... Every action must be focused on meeting the school’s goals; and Leadership must be instructional, single-minded and unrelenting.

Whittington Outcomes 2011 Learning has accelerated sharply D/E % has fallen to 17% in reading 33% in writing and 26% in number. Average VELS progress is in reading, in writing and in number. Teaching quality is now consistently at e5 Level 3.

Whittington Outcomes 2011 The staff meeting discussions focus on learning and the impact of actions. Program for Students with Disabilities (PSD) children now have support We provide a free lunch every day for every child. Classrooms are twice the size.