Post on 07-Aug-2015
Tracking and Monitoring Partnership Penicuik, Dunbar and Preston Lodge – School Improvement Partnership Programme
Michael Atkinson, Mark Edie, Paul Raffaelli, Gavin Clark
Effective school improvements are locally owned and led by teachers and school
leaders working in partnership.
Projects should focus on educational inequity with a commitment to mutual
benefit for all involved.
Closing the gap is the priority!
Rationale
Midlothian and East Lothian formed random trios because we believe in the
principle that every school has something to bring to the table.
We want to close the gap between our most successful learners and those not reaching
their full potential – “the bottom 20%” – and identify those students who are falling
behind at an early stage and put in place appropriate intervention strategies.
Form
ation
While the schools have a common destination it is very clear that they are on
three different roads to it.
We are each developing systems to identify youngsters who require additional support
and sharing expertise along the way.
We are planning a “closing the gap conference” for October 2015 which will showcase strategies from each school.
Progress
We have shared experiences from the past (including the dead-ends) and have avoided
completely re-inventing the wheel three times by having regular collaborative
discussions.
Wider benefits have included the opportunity to give staff meaningful
“thinking time” and to share expertise from areas outwith the stated remit of the project.
Benef
its
The “closing the gap conference” will share expertise on visible learning, effective feedback, flipped classrooms, effective
learning and teaching strategies as well as whole school approaches to improvement.
We will implement efficient whole-school
tracking and monitoring systems which will be coherent and coordinated, have clear outcomes and actions, and utilise clear
responsibilities for all levels of staff.
Targets
Historically, the local authorities have been keen to forge links and so it is likely that the
partnership will continue in some form.
We are keen to see inter-departmental collaboration, and recognise that this will
take more time to develop.
It is likely that learning partnerships will form on Insight although it is not known
how these will develop. In the
futur
e
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