Renfewshire Attainment Team

In Children’s Services, we have a relentless focus on improving outcomes for all children and young people while closing the poverty-related attainment gap. We are delivering this through high-quality professional learning and through our service vision:

“Working together to get it right for children, families and communities— protecting learning, achieving and nurturing”

For a number of years, we have developed and delivered professional learning in collaboration with a range of partners. However, we have steadily built internal capacity and expertise to be less reliant on external partners which underpins our sustainable approach to career-long PL.

In 2019, the local authority was inspected by Education Scotland and was the first authority recognised for making excellent progress towards improving learning, raising attainment and closing the poverty-related attainment gap. This success was underpinned “by a sector-leading approach to professional learning” (Education Scotland, 2019).

An extensive offer of online and face-to-face professional learning is available at all levels in order to develop a positive collaborative learning culture. For example, specialised training for classroom assistants in the Renfrewshire literacy and numeracy approach has improved their understanding, enhanced their roles and increased their job satisfaction. The approach has had a very positive effect on the ethos of schools and as a collective group of staff.

There is an expectation that professional learning extends beyond the acquisition of knowledge. Practitioners are supported in taking an enquiry stance and are encouraged to collaborate to develop a whole school approach ensuring sustainability.

Our professional learning offer is aligned with the Standard for Career-long Professional Learning framework recognising the importance of enhancing professionalism and career-long professional growth, self-evaluation and reflection.

There is an expectation in Renfrewshire that coaching and supervision are embedded in all professional learning. For example, Modelling and Coaching Officers develop the professional knowledge of class teachers directly in the class by modelling and coaching numeracy approaches. Literacy and Numeracy Champions are ambassadors for professional learning and guide colleagues in their practice, as evidenced in our Primary Literacy Coaching Programme.

For over five years, we have worked in partnership with Barnardos to implement Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS). Fundamental to this approach is coaching and modelling where PATHS coaches work alongside class teachers to promote positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in school. Schools are now in a position to deliver PATHS as a sustainable model.

This approach is mirrored by our primary Transition Teachers who team teach in secondary schools to ensure targeted children are supported through their curricular transition.

Transition teachers share pedagogy and a knowledge and understanding of children they have worked within primary.

Professional learning in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing has had a direct impact on children and young people.  There has been an improving trend in relation to BGE and senior phase literacy and numeracy attainment. Pupil engagement surveys demonstrate increased engagement and enjoyment in literacy and numeracy and highlight the direct success of specific interventions. Prior to the pandemic, the attainment gap in Renfrewshire had reduced.

We are able to demonstrate improvements in social and emotional literacy and attendance. Referral data from our counselling service is woven into health and wellbeing PL and used to target training content ensuring it is responsive to the wellbeing needs of our children and young people.

The impact of our PL does not stop at children and young people.  Through our leadership PL programme, we have “grown our own” promoted staff by providing appropriate training opportunities. Staff report enhanced self-evaluation and reflective skills and an understanding of distributed leadership.

The authority will continue to build on our sector-leading approaches recognising that recovery will be an important part of the professional learning journey. Through rigorous self-evaluation and improvement planning, our authority-wide offer will be responsive to local and national priorities but always focused on improving outcomes for all children and young people.