The Learning Hub North Lanarkshire Council
The aim of North Lanarkshire Council’s Learning Hub, which is part of our Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) programme is to raise attainment and close the poverty-related attainment gap for learners through research-based pedagogical approaches. Education Support Officers (ESOs) lead the literacy and numeracy curricular workstreams within the Learning Hub.
A coaching model was established to build staff capacity and empower staff through creating a professional learning community for literacy and numeracy. The model ensures that every Primary, Additional Support Needs and Secondary school has a ‘Literacy Coach’ and a ‘Numeracy Coach’ to support and grow professional knowledge and understanding from early through to the third level. Coaches have opportunities to engage in a variety of core professional learning, as well as research-based pedagogical approaches and interventions.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the coaches met every 4 to 6 weeks with ESOs. During the past two years, the coaches have continued to meet online, which has allowed the coaching model to be maintained and developed.
The ESO team continually self-evaluate the coaching model against the Professional Standards for teachers for CLPL alongside other core opportunities. This ensures that the Professional Standards underpin training delivered across NLC, including the coaching model, thereby facilitating opportunities for Literacy and Numeracy coaches to self-evaluate across the Professional Standards within their own establishments.
This model enables coaches to lead developments within their own schools and feedback to staff through collaborative meetings, present to staff and engage in professional dialogue. In addition to coaching and mentoring staff, the model supports coaches to further professional knowledge and understanding of literacy and numeracy pedagogical approaches to enhance learning, teaching and assessment within their establishments. Research undertaken shows that by using the coaching sessions to deepen knowledge and understanding, there has been an improvement in confidence in planning and teaching, and staff feel more informed regarding current guidelines and initiatives.
The culture of professional learning developed through the coaching model contributes to positive outcomes in attainment for children and young people. Through self-evaluation, Numeracy Coaches identified that learning and teaching practices within numeracy and maths lacked consistency. Therefore, the focus from the outset has been on sound pedagogical practices, the culture and mindset around maths and increasing pupil engagement. Literacy Coaches, while satisfied with the core Active Literacy approach, were concerned about those learners not experiencing success through the core programme. This led to a focus on assessment and identification of literacy difficulties, as well as what appropriate adjustments, supports or interventions to use in response to findings.
The Learning Hub team analyse a variety of data that has been gathered at national and local levels alongside coaches to identify professional learning to support the closing of any gaps that have been identified. Feedback from coaches has shown that the impact on learners has led to:
- increased consistency in the teaching across individual establishments.
- improved pupil confidence.
- pupils benefit from more targeted programmes of work as learning is more appropriate and targeted appropriately.
- improved attainment as a result of implementing improved pedagogical approaches.
Focusing on this coaching model and improving pedagogical approaches based on developmental progress has made a significant difference to the knowledge and understanding of our coaches and to the pupils and staff that they lead and work with on a daily basis. The Learning Hub will continue to build on the coaching model as part of our Scottish Attainment Challenge programme and continue to raise attainment and close the poverty-related gap.