Gold Award
All Saints Church of England Primary School is situated within the heart of the industrial West Midlands. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the catchment area is rich and varied. The socio-economic background is also wide-ranging though predominantly from socially deprived homes. A small percentage of the school population are transient due to the school attracting children from families who are either studying in the UK or here on short-term seconded professional contracts. The school is expanding from a one form entry to a two form entry.
While the school still has one or two elements of the gold award status to develop more fully, such as its impact beyond the school community, the work undertaken over the past four years to promote history within the school and the part it plays in the life of the school is admirable.
1. Teaching and Learning
The teaching and the learning at All Saints was inspiring. The dedication and collaborative working relationships between the staff was admirable and the impact that all of this had on the children, many of whom are socially deprived, was significant. The opportunities that they provide for them are outstanding. The children really enjoy learning about history and talked competently about how history is linked to other subjects. They understood feedback and how to use this to help achieve their own personal targets.
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The children talked at length about the various visits they had been on together with the visitors that had been arranged to support their learning. The Key Stage Two children could talk about chronology and linked various periods of history together comparing and contrasting each of them. They were also very aware that they were making history today and were part of history.
The staff that were interviewed were equally enthusiastic. History was part of the wider curriculum as well as a core part of many topics. All staff work collaboratively to ensure that subjects are inter-related wherever possible in planning and assessments. This is particularly evident in IT, Science, English, Maths, Music, Art/Drama and Outdoor Education. The way that the staff use the Forest School to support learning in history is both innovative and imaginative. The children were observed really enjoying their learning both in the classroom and the Forest School.
The Subject Leader works with the staff and Head Teacher to constantly update and improve the resources. This is achievable because the staff try to ensure that they can be used efficiently across other areas of the curriculum. The resources are organised well with teaching notes and planning aids.
There was a great sense of professionalism on the staff and it is clear that the Head Teacher gives them autonomy to lead their subject areas. The children are comfortable with the enquiry based approach using artefacts, photographs, articles and IT resources as a way of learning.
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2. Leadership
The status of history across the school is high. Members of the school community speak very highly of the Subject Leader and the work she has achieved to raise the profile of history through the school.
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The school embraced the new curriculum with vigour and enthusiasm. Teachers and Teaching Assistants have been very well supported to teach the curriculum and do so very effectively. This is evident by the standards of attainment and the pure enjoyment the children have for learning about history. The Senior Leadership Team and Governors have worked hard to engage with parents. Three years ago 6-8 parents would attend the sharing assemblies, whereas today it is not unusual to have 60-70 parents attend. Home Learning packs are also a huge success in developing home/school links. The parents really support the children in these tasks and there is evidence around the school of this work. The Staff and Governors are currently working with parents to develop and update the website.
Continued Professional Development is well planned and takes many forms. The Subject Leader is very proactive working collaboratively with other Subject Leaders to develop the cross curricular approach. This is particularly evident with Maths, IT, the Arts and Science.
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3. Curriculum
The curriculum is detailed and has been planned across the school in collaboration with colleagues.
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An enquiry based approach is embedded within history and other subjects where appropriate such as Science, Maths, English, IT, Art/Drama/Design/Outdoor Education and Geography. It is part of the culture of learning. Children and staff spoke very enthusiastically about history with the children openly talking about a range of topics they had covered. They also discussed the way in which they use history in other subjects. The children were keen to point out that they too were making history and part of history. The Head Teacher, Senior Leadership Team and wider staff body have worked hard to develop a curriculum to suit the needs of the children at All Saints School. It is exciting, current, innovative, practical and relevant.
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4. Achievement
The history displays around the school are attractive, informative and educational. They are 4D including Quick Response bar codes. These demonstrate the children actively learning, which is excellent as it contextualises the learning process. They evidence the children’s conversations and the enjoyment behind the excellent written work and 2D/3D art work on display.
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The school is developing an assessment and tracking system to enable them to track children’s progress and inform planning. This system is relatively new although the historic tracking systems do show that the leadership team have been tracking history and other subjects successfully for a number of years. The Subject Leader showed evidence that the staff were using the information effectively to raise standards. The children were less aware of how local, national and world history supported their understanding of the broader historical context. This will be a developmental target over the next year.
The school is keen to celebrate success in history through whole school assemblies, displays through the website and the growing relationship with parents. This is evident in the Home Learning projects which the children share with their families. Display of this work is evident through the school.
Feedback in books is good and the children respond to it in a positive way including discussing their personal feedback with parents. It is clear that the culture of a partnership in learning between governors, parents and staff is very well embedded.
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5. Enrichment
There are links shown through the portfolio to cross-curricular approaches to history, the use of artefacts, speakers and links with the local community and educational visits. Discussions with the Subject Leader and the children would indicate that the examples go beyond those highlighted in the portfolio. The children refer to these enrichment activities in positive ways. The older children clearly understand the value of the activities and articulate very well the positive impact they have on understanding the topics.
A note from Jaye Tonks: History Coordinator
Before we applied for the Quality Mark, as a school we believed that history was already in a good place. As subject leader I was privileged in terms of how enthusiastic the staff and children were about all aspects of history. As a school, our hopes were that the process of the Quality Mark would help us strengthen the service we provided our children and raise the profile of History even more.
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During the process the most challenging aspect for me was ensuring I celebrated the amazing work our teachers and children do to full potential within the limitations of the amount of evidence we could provide.
Our biggest success has to be the link that we have developed the Royal British Legion. The anniversary of the First World War provided an invaluable opportunity to roll out a whole school project with help from the Legion and local artists. As a result, we now have an established relationship with people who can bring some aspects of history to life for our children.
The Quality Mark has had a big impact on what we do in school. Whole school planners have been adapted to meet the needs of the 2014 curriculum and our history policy updated to reflect the development in our thinking. Subject specific CPD has been delivered focusing on teaching enquiry skills which is at the heart of the history we offer. It has also impacted teaching and learning. We now analyse pupil voice for history and use this to develop teaching and learning. We have a cycle of lesson observation to observe and share good practice in history. We have also put a new assessment system in place. We increased visitors and visits linked to topics being taught and have undertaken a whole school project. Through our participation we have used parent voice to evaluate current practice in history and suggest development and long term planning for the subject is now embedded across the school. The QM has allowed us to generate strong links with the local community.
The guidance and portfolio were easy to follow. If any aspect was unclear, a quick email or phone call addressed any misconceptions and pointed us in the right direction. The online portfolio was an effective way to collate all of the evidence, keeping it ‘safe’ and easily manageable.
Our assessor was amazing! He was very focused on what he wanted to see more of after reading through our online portfolio and it was clear that he wanted us to do well. His enthusiasm and knowledge for history was infectious and he left us wanting to become involved in projects he mentioned and CPD opportunities he advised. His manner with children and staff put them instantly at ease—he wasn’t here to ‘trip us up’, he was here to celebrate our achievements.
The impact of the Quality Mark on our school has been an extremely positive one. Receiving ‘Gold’ status acknowledged and celebrated all of the hard work and dedication our teachers have towards history. It highlighted how strong our cross-curricular links were and how embedded our practice is as a whole school. As subject leader for history, I now have a deeper understanding of the teaching and learning of history and have been able to clearly identify future areas for development. In terms of value for money, it has provided us with many opportunities to enable us to grow our provision for history. Many of which we would not have thought of if we had not been through this process.
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