Background

St Ninian’s were keen to maximise their PEF spend to create a sustainable support system for pupils. They recognised that positive relationships were at the heart of pupil engagement and decided to use their spend to employ, upskill and coach support assistants.

What was done?

The school chose to extend the hours of the support for learning teacher (SfL) to undertake a coaching and modelling role for support staff.

Reading interventions were agreed upon and support staff attended high quality training. Support staff then delivered daily deliberate practice with on the job coaching from the the teacher. Regular meetings both individually and as a team were integral to ensure staff were well supported. Pupil progress was carefully tracked by the teacher and successes shared with support staff.

Support staff were encouraged to seek accreditation for their learning and this has lead to an increased confidence in staff, staff identifying their own learning needs and some have even undertaken further education courses. Staff also report feeling more valued and able to make a stronger contritution pupil learning.

Improvement questions

• How will your PEF spend have a lasting impact?
• How do you maximise the support you have in school to impact positive learners outcomes?
• How has shared ownership met pupils’ needs?

Videos

The School Context

The Rationale

The Process

The Impact

What was the impact?

The impact of the intervention has been two fold:

1. Increased attainment for those children who were or in danger underachieving.
2. Support staff are empowered and confident in supporting learning.

How have support staff supported recovery from the impact of Covid 19 school closures at St Ninian’s Primary?

After returning to school in August 2020 St Ninians Primary used both teaching and support staff to support pupil recovery. The approach they followed using empowered support staff is outlined in the PDF file 'Adapting supports for Covid Recovery'.