Cliciwch yma i ddarllen yn y Gymraeg.

Estyn’s Mark Campion HMI shares key findings from the inspectorate’s recent report “Healthy and happy – school impact on pupils’ health and wellbeing”.

Tackling issues that affect children and young people, such as bullying, obesity and poverty isn’t easy for teachers. In school, it is the everyday experiences of pupils that have the greatest impact – positive or negative – on their health and wellbeing. In a new report, Estyn highlights the importance of giving consistently positive messages across all aspects of school life. Here, the inspectorate explores what it takes to help pupils be healthy and happy.

Pupils’ wellbeing has always been an area at the heart of our inspections. And as schools develop their areas of learning experience in readiness for the new curriculum, the focus on wellbeing will be even stronger. The new curriculum recognises that good physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing underpins successful learning.

Our report brings together insights from a range of different sources, making for stark reading in parts about pupils’ own experiences including smoking, drinking and sexual health.

We found that in the best schools, messages about health and wellbeing in lessons, assemblies and in policies are consistent with pupils’ everyday experience.

Space to socialise, a nurturing culture, enjoyable opportunities to be physically active, timely pastoral care and positive work with parents are just some of the approaches that collectively support pupils to be healthy, confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives.

A nurturing culture, where positive relationships enable pupils to thrive is essential to strengthen young people’s health and wellbeing. The little things that good teachers do like smiling and greeting pupils by name at the start of the day or an individual lesson should not be underestimated. They help pupils feel valued and encourage a positive mindset.

Consider whether the approach of your school is consistent across all aspects of its work. Does the school have:

• Policies and practices that ensure pupils make good progress in their learning?
• Leaders who ‘walk the talk’ about supporting pupils’ health and wellbeing?
• A nurturing culture, where positive relationships allow pupils to thrive?
• An inclusive community and ethos?
• Detailed knowledge about pupils’ health and wellbeing that influence policies and actions?
• An environment and facilities that promote good health and wellbeing, such as space to play, socialise and relax at break times?
• A broad and balanced curriculum that includes discrete, evidence-based learning experiences that promote health and wellbeing?
• Supportive pastoral care and targeted interventions for pupils that need additional support?
• Effective links with external agencies?
• Close partnerships with parents and carers?
• Continuing professional learning for all staff that enables them to support pupils’ health and wellbeing?

Inspiring good practice is highlighted through case studies in the report. In secondary schools, in particular, pupils’ day-to-day experience of health and wellbeing does not always match school leaders’ stated aims. But Eastern High School in Cardiff successfully improved the leadership of the school which had a notably positive effect on the culture and support for pupils’ wellbeing. Their culture recognises that young people are still developing physically, mentally and emotionally and that teachers have a responsibility to address the developmental needs of the whole child. The school also identifies that a teacher’s expertise lies in their understanding of how young people learn rather than simply their subject knowledge.

At Gilwern Primary School, Monmouthshire (a longstanding NACE member), the school’s approach to supporting vulnerable pupils has helped staff to better understand the reasons behind poor self-esteem or undesirable behaviour.

Health and wellbeing is an important feature in achieving the four purposes of the new curriculum in schools. Schools have the opportunity now more than ever to provide lifelong benefits to the children and young people in Wales.

The full report is available at estyn.gov.wales and recommends ways that schools, local authorities, regional consortia, initial teacher education providers and government can improve pupils’ health and wellbeing. Teachers and leaders can use the report’s case studies to inspire changes in their own schools.

Kevin Sexton, Acting Headteacher at Challenge Award-accredited Chesterfield High School, shares the school’s use of learning journeys to support the development of character, culture and challenge throughout students’ career in education.

In our recent presentation at the NACE National Conference, we spoke about our use of learning journeys to support our focus on the three 3Cs used by the PiXL Club in school development – Currency, Character and Culture – as well as supporting our work with the NACE Challenge Framework to improve provision for more able learners and provide challenge for all.

For examples, you can view our school’s overall learning journey here and our learning journeys by subject here.

Looking beyond “currency” to focus on character, culture and challenge

The DfE’s 2017 report “Developing character skills in schools” found although 97% of surveyed schools claimed to promote desirable character traits, only 17% had a formalised plan or policy for this, less than half dedicated any time to staff training for character education, and fewer than a quarter had a dedicated lead for character development.

Currency (all data about the individual learner) will always be important. However, we also want our students to be better people. A newspaper article alerted me to statistics in the latest OECD report on health behaviour in school-aged children, which shared data on the percentage of 15-year-olds who agree that classmates are kind and helpful. The figure was 84% in the Netherlands, 82% in Iceland, 81% in Portugal 81%... and just 59% in England.

What success is it to have very academically successful students who do not know how to be kind or helpful to each other or those in the community around them? We wanted to plan a learning journey for our students that would give them opportunities to be challenged as they developed their character and culture. We asked ourselves:

• How do we ensure every young person has a chance to develop their character in this school?
• How will we celebrate young people developing their character?
• What work do we need to do with parents and other stakeholders?
• What will be included in a challenging character development programme at our school?
• What do we want more able learners to be like when they leave our school and move on?

The fourth C: adding “challenge” to the mix

Our involvement with NACE and use of the NACE Challenge Framework provided clarity on how character and culture could support currency; in some cases, it matched existing thinking and in others it inspired refreshing thinking. We used CPD time to look at key characteristics of more able learners across each subject. When completing the Challenge Framework audit, we looked at how we were enabling more able learners to show and develop their talents. We agreed that students who have developed key skills of leadership, organisation, resilience, initiative and communication (LORIC) do have better currency – both in terms of exam data and personal development data.

We discussed how we could use a learning journey to review our current character and culture programme, ask whether it leads to our “desirable end state” for students, identify gaps and introduce new strategies to bridge these gaps. Within this, we created learning journey opportunities that would match key aspects of the Challenge Framework and key characteristics that we were trying to develop for our more able learners. The learning journey model has also proved effective in keeping parents of more able learners involved in their performance both inside and outside the classroom – aligning with the focus on partnership, communication and rounded education emphasised by the Challenge Framework.

Developing a learning journey for your school

The learning journey model is designed to create a plan based on the 3Cs, spanning a learner’s whole school career. It should be understood by everyone in the school community, deliberately and explicitly shared and taught using a common language. It should create sequential activities and challenges which are open to everyone, of all abilities. Students are recognised and rewarded along their journey through schemes such as Duke of Edinburgh, Sports Leaders awards, and so on.

Here are five steps to develop a learning journey for your school:

1. Lead a session on character education for all staff, exploring its importance within subjects and across the whole school.
2.  Plot your current character and culture programme. As a group of staff or SLT, identify the gaps. What’s missing? Where does the new careers strategy need to be included (for example)? Does your learning journey lead to your school vision? Does it lead to the “desirable end state” for students?
3. On a blank learning journey template, plot out your school’s learning journey across all year groups ensuring all students are catered for.
4. Repeat this process for each year group, adding more detail.
5. Share your learning journeys with students, parents and staff so all stakeholders can see where learners are heading – in our case, from the start of Year 7 to the end of sixth form.

In line with the new education inspection framework, a learning journey gives you and your school a clear map of where your personal development work is going and how and why it is sequenced in such a way. When new demands come along or as cohorts change, you can review year by year to ensure you don’t lose direction. We have now used the same structure within specific departments, mapping out the 3Cs journey at departmental level and using this to support thinking around the “intent” aspect of the new framework.

Jon Murphy, Executive Headteacher of Llanfoist Fawr and Llanvihangel Crucorney Primary Schools, explains why he’s optimistic about the new freedoms presented by the draft Curriculum for Wales 2022.

While observing an inspiring Year 5 lesson as part of an assessment for the NACE Challenge Award, my eye was drawn to a statement above the whiteboard: “Who says the sky’s the limit when there are footsteps on the moon?” Push beyond our thin and fragile atmosphere, escape the boundaries created by gravity and a whole new exciting world of exploration, discovery and possibility emerges. Those words have remained with me and have become a guiding principle in my work with more able and talented (MAT) children.  

The national curriculum defines parameters within which to operate, bringing both benefits and limitations. Key phases create their own “gravity” which can hold teachers and learners within fixed boundaries. Over-prescribed curriculum content stifles creativity, exploration and discovery, particularly for those with an independent spirit and capability. Boundaries create barriers to learning.

However, with the new Curriculum for Wales, we are being provided with the wonderful opportunity to change the way we teach our young people. We are on the verge of the introduction of a totally different approach, which promises the removal of boundaries, resulting in the creation of exciting educational discoveries that will challenge the way we think, the way we teach and the way we prepare our young people for the future. The significant change needed for curriculum reform will challenge us as professionals and by the same token will allow us the freedom to transform the way we challenge our more able learners.

The story so far…

30 April 2019 saw the publication of the draft Curriculum for Wales 2022. Within the Federation of Llanfoist Fawr and Llanvihangel Primary Schools, preparation for curriculum reform started long before the publication of the draft orders. Professor Graham Donald’s Successful Futures report, the catalyst which led to curriculum reform, provided the starting point for our own journey of curriculum transformation. We followed its progression through to the white paper, Our National Mission: A Transformational Curriculum, which gave us sight of the legislative proposals for Curriculum Wales 2022. 

Although the details of the new Curriculum for Wales have only recently become available to all schools in draft form, carefully considered strategic planning has provided us with a head start in our preparations for implementation. Fundamental to the new curriculum are the Four Purposes which guide educational priorities and underpin teaching and learning to ensure learners become:

• Ambitious, capable learners who are ready to learn throughout their lives;
• Enterprising, creative contributors who are ready to play a full part in life and work;
• Ethical, informed citizens who are ready to be citizens of Wales and the world;
• Healthy, confident individuals who are ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.

Already the Four Purposes are a regular and natural part of the everyday new curriculum vocabulary used by pupils and staff. The purposes chime so well with the aspirations we have always held for our more able learners. We have created a vision and aims that are aligned to the purposes of the new curriculum, and although early days, we are already striving to ensure our vision ultimately comes to fruition through the introduction of new pedagogical approaches. We have moved away from the traditional subject coordinator role and allocated staff to the six Areas of Learning and Experience (AoLE) – expressive arts; health and wellbeing; humanities; literacy, languages and communication; mathematics and numeracy; science and technology – creating curriculum teams which bring together colleagues’ existing skills, knowledge and expertise.

Preparing for change: the role of the PLL

Although not a Pioneer School involved in the initial shaping of the curriculum, we have worked closely with our Pioneer colleagues to keep abreast of innovation and change. Pivotal to our work with Pioneer Schools has been the internal appointment of a Professional Learning Lead (PLL) – an initiative introduced by the South East Wales Consortium (EAS). Due to the significant changes in pedagogical approach needed to deliver the new Curriculum for Wales, it is essential to appoint a PLL with extensive skills, knowledge and experience in child development to ensure the curriculum is designed to meet the needs of every individual pupil, regardless of ability.

In addition to success as a subject leader across a number of areas, our own PLL has extensive experience as an Additional Learning Needs Coordinator and is also our More Able and Talented Coordinator. A key role for the PLL is to oversee the development of the 12 Pedagogical Principles across the six AoLEs, which are at the heart of curriculum reform. Currently our PLL is developing staff knowledge and understanding of the “what matters” concepts in each AoLE – headline statements that outline and organise learning. The “what matters” statements make connections to the Four Purposes to ensure learners acquire the appropriate knowledge, skills and experiences in each AoLE.

An operational starting point for staff has been involvement in the redesign of our planning templates to address the elements of the new curriculum framework. We are now making our first attempts to pilot planning and curriculum design for delivery of the new AoLEs.

Ensuring consistency and coherence

Successful implementation of the new national curriculum will be dependent on the quality of professional development provided for staff, upskilling them in the pedagogical approaches needed for effective delivery. Our PLL attends curriculum reform professional development opportunities facilitated by Pioneer colleagues, the EAS and other providers. She acts as a conduit bringing back into school new developments and good practice to be shared in senior leadership, staff and governors’ meetings and through facilitating school professional development days.

As a school we are already finding that professional development gained through participation in the NACE Challenge Development Programme is complementing and enhancing our curriculum reform work. We are looking at change holistically, and as a result we are carefully aligning curriculum reform with other work streams, including our transition to the six elements of the revised NACE Challenge Framework and amendment of our self-evaluation processes to address Estyn’s five inspection areas. This strategic alignment of the different systems and processes we use in school is ensuring that they work together as a coherent whole.

The freedom to let learners fly

Within the draft orders for the new curriculum are details of the principles for progression. These guide the progression of learning within each of the six AoLEs; the outlined progression steps contain achievement outcomes which can be used to identify progression of what a pupil can do as they progress in their learning. Unlike the current curriculum, which almost ties learning into key phases demarked by outcomes and levels, the progression steps are a true continuum and allow children to progress more in line with their ability – without the boundaries which can suppress progress. For more able learners there are no false ceilings; they can fly. 

Teachers will need to teach differently, developing new pedagogy, assessment processes and the confidence to “let go of the reins”. Young people will have a greater say in what and how they learn. Enrichment and experiences which are an integral part of the new curriculum will allow learners to have a greater voice in how they design, guide, investigate and lead their own learning: a tantalising thought for more able learners, who will be provided with even greater opportunities to spread their wings. Through the freedom intended in the new curriculum, Welsh Government is handing us the scissors with which to cut the apron strings.

Grounds for optimism

The new Curriculum for Wales will provide a continuum of learning; the restrictive key phases present in the current curriculum will no longer exist. Transition will become smoother but at the same time will require even greater partnership and tighter transition plans to ensure a successful and seamless move for pupils from primary to secondary schools. With a learning continuum, it follows that work, which has traditionally been seen as the domain of the secondary sector, will permeate its way more readily into primary practice, an exciting prospect for more able learners who will access increasingly challenging concepts earlier in their primary career.

There is a great deal of optimism in Wales surrounding the introduction of a new curriculum. Naturally, there are concerns about resourcing and the pace and extent of change. Overall, educational professionals realise that we are on the verge of a new educational system that is non-prescriptive, boundary-free and which offers the freedom to develop learning opportunities that are genuinely bespoke to meet the needs of all learners, preparing them for work and life. We all have a lot to gain from current educational reform, and none more so than more able and talented learners.

Create a “learning together” ethos

A road map for school transformation