Includes a  summary of progress against last year’s priorities  (2023-2024) and sets out the priorities for  2024-2025

Introduction

The  School Development Plan (SDP)  is a three year plan that sets out our priorities  and the actions that will secure continued improvement over the three year period. The priorities and actions in the plan are continually evaluated throughout the year to monitor  impact and adapt as necessary.  The final evaluation of the year  is  the  School Self Evaluation Report  (SSER),  an annual  and in depth analysis of where the school is in relation to its performance and how well the implementation of the  previous year’s plan impacted  on  standards and progress.  The evidence from  the self-evaluation process  informs the priorities for the  School  Development Plan (SDP) which are  revised,  adapted or developed to ensure they address the changing needs of the school and its students.  The self-evaluation cycle  starts at individual  student and subject  level to   ensure there is  robust identification of the priorities for the school.

Aims:

 

• further develop the school as a learning organisation: an intelligent school that draws on  introspection  and extrospection; 
• address the priorities that arise from the school’s  evaluation of standards and progress across the five Inspection Areas  (IAs);
• raise standards in the  national priorities of Literacy and  Numeracy  and reduce  the impact of poverty on attainment; 
• address the local  priorities identified in the Caerphilly Local Authority Education Strategy, ‘Pursuing Excellence Together’. 
• support the aims of the national mission in developing  a high quality profession, inspirational leadership to raise standards, committed to excellence, equity and wellbeing and a self-improving system through assessment, evaluation and accountability; and  
• create  teaching and learning  fit for  the  purpose of the 21st century that develops the four core purposes of the Curriculum for Wales.

 

Planned actions will  draw on and engage  with the EAS regional support programme for educational reform. The school’s work is  underpinned by the  principles of the Professional Standards which  set  clear expectations of practice and  support  reflection and development to realise the Curriculum for Wales.    All  priorities link  to the Base Budget, PDG,  EIG and Grant  Funding.

The priorities for the 3 year  plan are:

• Progress/Learning:  All students make progress over time in knowledge,  skills and understanding and  the impact of poverty on disadvantaged and vulnerable students is reduced  
• Wellbeing:  Refine and develop students’ attitudes to learning so they can self-regulate and engage in learning and other aspects of wider school life and community, value their education and  attend school regularly,   taking responsibility for their choices.  
• Teaching-pedagogy:  Embed all aspects of the  learning fit approach so all students access high quality teaching that impacts on their knowledge, skills and understanding
• Teaching-provision for skills: Embed  the  effective  whole school approach to purposeful literacy,  numeracy and DCF to improve students’ skills.
• Teaching-curriculum:  Continue to  refine  the work of Learning Development Teams  to provide a curriculum  fit for purpose with a focus on the work of the cluster and assessment for progression. 
• Care, support and guidance: equity and access: Strengthen the school’s provision,  quality and monitoring of  support for students with ALN, ensuring  a child-centred approach, removing  barriers to learning and allowing  each child  access to  high quality  learning experiences.
• Leadership: collaboration and innovation:  Continue to strengthen and grow leadership at all levels internally  and in collaboration with external partners.  

The priorities for  2023-2024 were:

 

• IA1: Learning and outcomes: All students’ progress over time  in  knowledge, skills and understanding (develop the use of the language of Principles of progression so that students can understand  their progress: see IA3); improve outcomes for all  RADY students, specifically those who made limited progress in numeracy 2022-23; improve students’ use of Welsh and develop the Welsh culture; improve outcomes in WB/ Skills Challenge and RE at key stage 4; improve outcomes in psychology at key stage 5.      
• Evaluation of priorities:
• IA2: Wellbeing and attitudes to learning: Continue to adapt the attendance plan to impact on  attendance, particularly those student eFSM; implement the revised  Positive Inclusion plan to reduce the number of exclusions;  continue to develop the wellbeing  curriculum to  (1) widen the empowerment, safety and respect element of the RSE cross cutting strand of the curriculum, (2) educate students in the dangers of vaping and reduce numbers of students who vape; (3)_develop students’ understanding of peer and peer sexual harassment; (4)  strengthen  e-safety to reduce the number of incidents. 
•  Evaluation of priorities:
• IA3:Teaching and learning provision: embed  all elements of the Learning  Fit approach at all key stages with specific focus on  co-construction, modelling and gradual release; explicit use of higher order questioning techniques (verbal and written to challenge and deepen understanding); increase written feedback at the point of learning; refine classroom-based enquiry to focus on impact; enhance AfL and effective feedback for progress; develop ‘seamless’ learning through flipped learning opportunities;  embed the language of the Principles of Progression so that all teachers can capture progress and ensure feedback is effective; and further develop a shared understanding of progression within AoLEs and across the cluster.
• Evaluation of priorities:
• IA4: Care, support and guidance: Continue to develop roles within ALN and implement the ALN Code, including ALN+; engage in quality assurance to remove barriers to learning for all students.
• Evaluation of priorities:
• IA5: Leadership:  Develop the role of the wellbeing curriculum coordinator;  strengthen  middle leaders’ ability and capacity in effective quality assurance using high quality, first hand evidence; develop senior middle leaders through opportunities to shadow SLT; develop coaching and mentoring across the school; continue to engage with partnership schools. Implement a strategic plan to develop the Welsh ethos and curriculum.

 

 

 

Therefore priorities for 2024-25  are:

 

IA1 - Progress of Learners

 

• KS5: Improve A*/A performance in KS5.  Improve performance in identified subjects.
• KS4: Reduce the impact of poverty on learners’ progression and attainment. Closing the gap between eFSM and non-eFSM in the Capped 9, the Learning Measure (E,M,Sc) and all non-core subjects across the curriculum. Maths and numeracy A*- C average point score will continue to be a priority for improvement (including cohort entry for numeracy). Improve the Average Point Score (APS) in all subject areas by increasing the value added for all levels of ability with a particular focus on the lower third. Improve performance outcomes of lower and middle ability students in identified subjects.
• KS3: Improve provision and standards of Welsh including reading, writing and the use of incidental Welsh  inside and outside of the classroom. Continue to  develop provision and impact for students disadvantaged by poverty. Improve standards of literacy (reading comprehension) numeracy (decimals and scale) and digital skills by addressing skills deficits. Increase learner effectiveness, independence and self-regulation and application and transfer of knowledge and skills to different contexts.

 

 

IA1 - Teaching and Learning

 

• Advance the Learning Fit approach focusing on ‘how’ students learn:
  • Extend the use of adaptive teaching and gradual release to promote independence and resilience;
  • Increase the use of diverse flipped learning methods to keep students engaged and enhance learning for understanding in lessons;
  • Integrate higher order thinking and metacognition opportunities into lessons and use higher order questioning to promote deeper understanding;
• Quality of teaching to ensure all teaching is at least good;
• Increase the quality of written feedback to ensure that feedback/feedforward is effective in supporting next steps of progression.
• Developing  formative and summative assessment techniques to identify where students are on the continuum of learning/ principles of progression.
• Align vision into practice: monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum design to ensure purposeful and relevant learning allowing all students to learn and make progress. 
• Ensure an effective process for the transition of learners along the 3 to 16 continuum focusing on LLC, maths and numeracy, science and technology and Welsh.

 

 

IA2  - Wellbeing and Attitudes to Learning:

 

• Improve whole school attendance to pre-pandemic level - 95%. Close the attendance gap between eFSM and non-eFSM. Improve year 11 attendance and reduce persistent absenteeism rates.
• Reduce the rates of fixed term exclusions.
• Develop the wellbeing curriculum to address outcomes of the SHRN survey including consumption of energy drinks, increase in vaping, sexual health awareness and misuse of illegal substances.

 

 

IA2  - Care, support and guidance

 

• Improve the demographic and representation of  student voice groups;
• Continue to develop systems and practice for students ALN and ALN+;
• Implement the new home/school based tuition structure;
• Support and guidance during transition for students ALN 14-16 (Enhanced Transition); and
• Increase in class and bespoke support for ALN learners.

 

 

IA3  - School Improvement/Leadership

 

• Implement a strategic plan to improve bilingualism & Welsh ethos across the school;
• Development and use of mechanisms to reflect on effectiveness of new curriculum, pedagogy and assessment arrangements and use that insight to improve;
• Strengthen  middle leaders’ ability and capacity in effective quality assurance using high quality, first hand evidence;
• Develop coaching and mentoring across the school centred on the Performance Development Review (PDR)-enquiry-based research focus;
• Development of  the school as a learning organisation, with a particular focus on ‘modelling and growing learning leadership’ and ‘establishing a culture of inquiry, innovation and exploration’;
• Continue to develop the  Intelligent School model based on  a School as a Learning Organisation and the enablers of the national mission;
• Continue to engage with partnership schools; and develop shared understanding of progression from 3-16
• Refine tracking and monitoring of CfW (Taith/other systems) to capture progress over time.
• Adapt the reporting system to capture progress, next steps and wellbeing of all students across all areas of learning.