School Improvement

School Improvement Priorities 2022-23

The School Improvement Plan is the document which drives ongoing improvements and developments in school. The Governing Body is responsible for evaluating the progress made against the plan and has an approved process in place for regular and effective monitoring. At Pinewood we never ever sit tight, we are always striving for improvement and excellence in all that we do. Our main school priorities this year are:

1. To improve whole school attendance rates and decrease persistent absenteeism

Historically attendance data at Pinewood has been above National figures. However, this has been hugely affected by the pandemic and wider social issues at present. Despite much work and detailed records showing the steps school has taken to improve attendance for all children our attendance rate at school is at an all-time low. We need this to improve to support children’s outcomes.

  How you can help?

• Please ensure your child is in school every day
• Follow our attendance procedure

2. To revisit whole school approaches to helping our children know and remember more including the growth of a whole school consistent approach of retrieval practice

We have been working on approaches to supporting children’s ability to remember for a few years now. We recognise the need for intelligent repetition as nothing has been learnt until if goes into your long term memory. This can be seen through our approaches to maths, writing, geography and history for example. We ensure we ‘over learn’ and repeat knowledge and skills and ensure our curriculum is not ‘over full’ leading to confusion for young children. All teachers are aware of how memory works and have had much CPD around working memory and cognitive load. Retrieval practice has been developed across school with lots of recapping and revisiting to consolidate learning through quizzes, starters etc. 

How you can help?

• Your class teacher/s will communicate with you about what your child is learning about – please keep up to date with SeeSaw and talk to your child about their learning
• If you receive a ‘knowledge organiser’ use this to discuss your child’s learning
• Read daily – little and often

3. To further develop a culture of aspiration within the whole school community 

At Pinewood we have a culture of striving for excellence and never sitting still. This is true of all our staff and leadership and we try to instil this determination into our children. This culture of ambition and aspiration is also evident in many of our families that join us in supporting their children with aspiration and learning. Attendance at performances, stay and play sessions, lunches, special events are extremely well attended. It is engagement with us in regards to reading practise at home for some of our children that we need to improve as 30% of our children last year did not read 3 times a week at home last academic year. We also want to increase attendance in after school clubs (KS1) so that all children access these at least once over the year. Only 42% of free school meals children attended an after school club for enrichment last year which is much lower than percentages prior to lockdown. We would like ALL children in KS1 to partake in an out of school enrichment activity with us throughout the year.

How you can help?

• All parents and carers engage with reading at home ideally 5 times a week but at least 3 times
• All parents encourage your children to undertake an extra-curricular club at school when the opportunity arises – watch this space for further club information
• All Y2 parents encourage your child to attend our annual residential in the summer term 2023
• Make sure we know if your child has a special interest or a special talent or if you have an idea for a club that will support with aspiration
• If any parents are willing to come and talk to our children in assembly about their job role or any particular hobbies or interests – please email me – or if you can offer a club!
• Email the office with any information about your child’s achievements outside of school so they can get a special mention in our Friday assembly

4. To meet the needs of an increasing amount of children in school with very complex SEND needs

   We are a very inclusive school and support children with special educational needs very well indeed. We benefit from the         expertise of Claire Al-Hussaini, our SENDCo and Deputy Head Teacher who also works as a family SENDCo for many other schools.

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How you can help?

• Work closely with us as a parent of a child with SEND
• All parents to be mindful and thoughtful towards children with additional needs and encourage your children act thoughtfully also
• Talk with your own children about differences and how we need to respond in different ways to meet the needs of all
• If you have any concerns then talk to us at any point

5. To implement successfully a new phonics scheme to ensure consistency across school and the needs of all children are met

Although we are happy with our Phonics teaching until we get 95%+ there is room for improvement. We are adopting a new scheme to ensure consistency and that the needs of all pupils are met.

How you can help?

• Read with you child daily
• Attend phonics meeting if asked
• Undertake additional work with your child if asked at home
• Bring you child to breakfast club if asked for extra catch up support
• Look at the phonics section on the website if unsure how to say the sounds