Bunscoil McAuley Rice -   School Improvement Plan Numeracy

 

Summary of Main Strengths as identified in School Self Evaluation, February 2015

• Early intervention for Learning Support in Numeracy.
• Consistency of planning amongst staff
• Variety of organisational and teaching styles used
• Variety of Assessment tools used
• Excellent Planet Maths Programme in use.
• Good variety of numeracy resources for Infant and First Classes
• 68% of students assessed have a Sten of 6 or greater.
• Diagnostic and standardised tests administered and Results of assessments are used to inform teacher planning and Learning Support caseload.

Summary of Main areas requiring improvement with regard to Literacy:

• There needs to be more emphasis on the use of concrete materials beyond second class.
• Involving students in the setting of personal targets.
• Problem solving was highlighted as the area in need of most attention
• There should be a central Resource Room with hands on materials for the teaching of Numeracy.
• Termly Maths Trails should be held for all classes to emphasise the use of numeracy in the student’s environment.
• Team teaching in the area of Maths should be developed.
• A greater emphasis is required when learning tables.
• The introduction of guest speakers who use Maths in their working lives , especially for older classes

 

School Improvement Plan was published on 8th June,2015.

School Improvement Plan 2015-2018 - Numeracy

 

Priority	Improvement Target	Required Actions	Planning Activities		Timescale	Responsibility		Carried out by …	Success Criteria
No.	Related to pupils achievement	Teaching & Learning that will help achieve the Target	Review	Policy/Plan	When will the activity be completed?	Principal	Teachers	Individual
			Research	Implementation		Other staff	BoM	Committee	Measure	Outcomes
			Consultation	Monitoring		Parents	Pupils	Cluster
			Action Plan	Evaluation
1	Problem Solving	Strategies for Problem Solving: ROSE RAVECCC RUDE	Emphasis placed on Problem Solving techniques at each class level. Implement and monitor		June 2015	Teachers Principal		Teachers In class	Improved Problem Solving Results in Sigma Test in May,2016-2018
2	Development of Maths Awareness in the students’ environment	The use of Maths Trails to create an awareness of the possible use of Maths in the immediate environment. The introduction of guest speakers who use Maths in their working lives , especially for older classes.	Identify opportunities			Teachers		Teachers	Increased level of Maths awareness across all class levels
			Research Possibilities		June 2015	Principal		Parent
			Create Action Plan			Parents		Pupils
			Implement and monitor			Community Groups-lbrary
3   4	Learning of Tables       Provision of Numeracy Resources	Emphasis on the learning of tables.   Provision of adequate resources for Numeracy in a central resource room.	Create Plan of Action		June 2015	Teachers		Teachers	Increased scores in in class Maths Tables tests
			Implement at all class levels			Principal			Adequately stocked resource room for Numeracy
			Monitor and evaluate

 

Bunscoil McAuley Rice - School Self Evaluation Report for Numeracy

Report issue date: 26th February,2015

 

 

School Self-Evaluation Report

 

1. Introduction

 

1.1 The Focus of the Evaluation

A school self-evaluation of teaching and learning in Bunscoil McAuley Rice,Callan,Co. Kilkenny was undertaken during the period January,2014 to June,2015. During the evaluation, teaching and learning in the following curriculum area was evaluated:

 

• Numeracy

 

This is a report on the findings of the evaluation.

 

1.2 School Context

 

Bunscoil McAuley Rice is a sixteen-teacher Catholic Primary school, which caters for boys and girls from junior infants to sixth class. The school is an amalgamation of the two original primary schools in Callan. We moved into our new school building in April,2014. The school has 16 classrooms,4 Special Education Rooms,a Library,a central Resource Room and a PE Hall.The current enrolment in the school is 363 students.

The student population represents a cross section of society. The school is situated in a rural town with a population of 1,300 but also serves a parish population of a further 1,700.

 

2. The Findings-Numeracy:

 

During the School Self Evaluation process, the quality of teaching and learning in the area of Numeracy was examined. The school used available assessment data from standardised test scores together with questionnaires from parents, students and teachers to gather relevant information and opinion.

 

Standardised Test Scores:

 

The Sigma T test scores from May,2014 were analysed and the following information was gathered from the age based Sten scores:

 

• 5% of students have a Sten of 1-3.(Normal Distribution:15.9%)
• 26% of students have a Sten of 4-5.(Normal Distribution:34.2%)
• 68% of students have a Sten of 6 or more.(Normal Distribution:50%)
• 33% of students have a Sten of 8-10.(Normal Distribution:15.9%)

This information reflects positively on the teaching and learning approaches in the school at present.

Parents’ Questionnaire:

 

The Parents’ Questionnaire was carried out as an anonymous questionnaire with 10 questions. Parents also had an opportunity to highlight any areas of concern that they might have in the area of Numeracy.

There was a strong response from parents and the following information was gathered:

• 83% of parents agreed that their children like Maths.
• 78% of parents agreed that their children are doing well at Maths.
• 74% of parents agreed that they know their child’s strengths/weaknesses in Maths.
• 84% of parents agreed that they their child learns at the right level of difficulty in Maths
• 22% of parents stated that their child regularly requires assistance with homework in Maths
• 50% of parents agreed that they get good information from the school about how their child is doing in Maths
• 50% of parents highlighted word problems as an area of difficulty in Maths.

Students’ Questionnaire:

 

• 81% of students like Maths.
• 72% of students consider themselves good at Maths.
• 77% of students discuss Maths ideas in class.
• 73% of students stated that they use Maths in real life outside of school.
• 58% of students would like to work with Maths when older.
• 75% of students stated that they mostly work individually during Maths class.

Teachers’ Questionnaire:

 

Teachers found that our strengths in the area of Numeracy are:

• good communication, consistency of approach with regard to planning and expectations,the use of a variety of organisational styles.

Areas of concern were highlighted as follows:

• The use of concrete materials beyond second class.
• The use of team teaching for Learning Support.
• Involving students in the setting of personal targets.
• Problem solving was highlighted as the area in need of most attention.

Effectiveness in the teaching of Numeracy:

Teachers found that we teach numeracy in a very comprehensive manner. It is well structured and the policy of early intervention from Learning Support and Resource teachers strengthens our numeracy programme.

Suggestions were made in the following areas:

• There should be a central Resource Room with hands on materials for the teaching of Numeracy.
• Termly Maths Trails should be held for all classes to emphasise the use of numeracy in the student’s environment.
• Team teaching in the area of Maths should be developed.
• A greater emphasis is required when learning tables.
• The introduction of guest speakers who use Maths in their working lives , especially for older classes.

 

3. Progress made on previously-identified improvement targets

 

• The introduction of the Planet Maths series has been seen as a positive step this year.There has been a significant increase in the number of students achieving a Sten of 6-10 in recent assessments.

 

 

4. Summary of school self-evaluation findings

 

4.1 Our school has strengths in the following areas:

• Overall numeracy levels are high.
• Early Intervention for children with learning difficulties.
• Planning , teaching preparation and methodologies.
• Continuous Assessment

4.2 The following areas are prioritised for improvement:

• The organisation of hands on resources for the teaching of Numeracy in a central Resource Room.
• The use of Maths Trails to create an awareness of the possible use of Maths in the immediate environment.
• A greater use of group work when teaching numeracy.
• An increased emphasis on the learning of tables.
• The use of team teaching in the area of Maths.
• We aim to increase the number of students in the 7-10 Sten bracket by 2% by 2017.