I have been the headteacher at St Silas CE Primary School for four years. Prior to this, I was the deputy head for four years. Over these last eight years, I have witnessed and been involved in a number of improvement strategies, which have taken our school from strength to strength. In November 2017, Ofsted judged us to be outstanding in all areas – this is how I believe we got to that grade.
St Silas is a one-and-a-half form entry primary school close to the city centre of Liverpool. It is based in an area of significant socio-economic deprivation with many families experiencing challenging circumstances. The number of children entitled to Pupil Premium is at least three times the national average. We have 92 per cent of children from minority ethnic backgrounds, with 83 per cent of pupils having English as an additional language.
We live by our vision: “To ensure that every child, no matter what their background or their circumstance, reaches their potential and leaves us ready for the next stage of life.”
Displayed in the front entrance, this vision is referenced and referred to regularly. What it means for us, in a nutshell, is that there are no excuses for underachievement. We do not “dumb down” our curriculum or put a glass ceiling on any child’s learning; we believe that everyone can and will achieve if we expect them to do so. This vision is evident in our mastery curriculum: all children are challenged to do the same standard of work, with extra support or resources given to those who need it, and extra challenge for those whose learning needs to be extended further.
We have a relentless focus on teaching and learning, and our expectations of staff are extremely high. We regularly record teachers’ lessons so that they can review their own performance, reflecting on what went well and how the lesson could have been improved further.
Once a week, every member of the senior leadership team is involved in “triangulation”, a day which is devoted to observing the lessons and scrutinising the work of a given teacher. In addition, time is spent discussing pupil progress and SEND in relation to individual pupils and groups identified within the class.
Through this rigorous support and evaluation of all class teachers, we can ensure that each and every child is making the progress they should be. Where they are not, the relevant senior leader can intervene – be it the SENCO to implement an intervention, or teaching and learning support around possible teaching strategies for the whole class or individual pupils.
Where pupils are seen to have specific needs, we offer a range of bespoke interventions to diminish these differences, such as Lego Therapy, Nurture Base, Better Reading, Forest School or Talk Boost. We also have a specific support programme to support pupils arriving at school with little or no English – at whatever stage of school this may be.
We have an experienced EAL teacher who supports new arrivals in a focused, daily English lesson. This same teacher also works across the whole staff team to offer advice and support to ensure that all EAL pupils – whether total beginners of advanced learners – are supported so that they can make rapid progress. As with all other support programmes, our aim is for them to meet national expectations at the end of year 6 and be ready for their high school careers.
Growth mindset, collaboration and an “open-door” ethos are all part of the culture we have built up for staff as well as pupils. Our teachers frequently observe one another’s lessons in both an informal capacity and through more formal approaches, such as Lesson Study. We hold monthly Learning Lunches – these Friday meetings supply a nice lunch as team members exchange ideas and resources with one another.
Being part of a multi-academy trust, we also use collaboration as one of the main drivers for school improvement. Teachers and support staff from across the trust meet regularly to share good practice, moderate standards and discuss new ideas.
Many of our children arrive with a variety of barriers to their learning and we spend a lot of time unpicking these and finding new ways of overcoming them. One of the main ways we have done this is through the support we offer to our children and their families. Whatever their need, our family engagement officer is always available to support parents and families; it could be a family whose lives were in danger in their own country, who have troubles at home or who just need a safe space and a friendly face to listen to them. In addition, we employ a full-time counsellor to support children. The impact that these two roles have had on attendance, behaviour and outcomes for individual pupils has been significant over recent years.
We also live out the Church of England’s vision for education – “Life in all its fullness” – in all that we do. To support this, we aim to provide our children with positive life experiences through our “50 things to do before you leave St Silas” passports. These include a range of different experiences such as riding a horse, learning to play an instrument, and taking part in a debate.
We also have extremely high expectations and aspirations for our staff. All staff members (including support staff) are involved in writing and monitoring our school development plan, and we give everyone the opportunity to lead in one capacity or another.
Staff wellbeing is high on our agenda. The children won’t be able to reach their potential if the staff team is not motivated to ensure that they can do so. From simple gestures – like providing free tea and coffee in the staffroom – to holding annual wellbeing weeks with yoga sessions and mindfulness workshops, we do what we can to support and value all of our staff.
I believe that by providing a supportive environment, having pride in all that we do and having a steadfast commitment to our simple vision, we have ensured that standards at St Silas have improved significantly over recent years.
- Gina Donaldson is headteacher of St Silas CE Primary School, part of the Rainbow Education Multi-Academy Trust. Visit www.stsilasblog.net or follow @stsilasschool. St Silas is a member of the SSAT Primary network and Gina Donaldson is on the advisory board. Visit www.ssatuk.co.uk