Background

The Dundee City Council Pedagogy Team works in partnership with schools to raise attainment. They have worked intensively with 15 schools and provided support for a further 21. This case study is an example of a targeted approach within one school.

Rationale

St. John’s Roman Catholic High School is a secondary school in an urban area of Dundee. The school roll is 1199 with 50.2% of pupils living in 20% of the most deprived areas, 31.9% of accessing free school meals and 38.8% having additional support needs.

Following inspection, areas of development were identified. These included improved, consistent use of learning intentions and success criteria, Collaborative Action Research (CAR), meta-skills, differentiation, questioning and feedback.

Attainment Scotland Funding

Strategic Equity Funding: Over £50,000

What St. John’s RC High School did

Since August 2023, the pedagogy team have provided intensive support within the school. This included:

• professional learning sessions on the identified areas of development 
• working alongside staff in the school to model approaches 
• whole school input on ‘Putting it into practice' meta-skills 
• support for school enquiry groups to write plans, select measurement tools and analyse impact  
• individual support for staff and departments focused on approaches to meta-skills implementation, differentiation and planning using progression frameworks 
• advice on the creation of a ‘Learning and Teaching Standard and Padlet’ to support staff

Impact

This work has:

• increased teacher confidence, knowledge and skills 
• developed a shared understanding of the identified areas for improvement
• provided practical suggestions for teachers
• ensured consistency across departments and the school 
• increased use of identified approaches and us of collaborative action research 

Positive relationships have been established, resulting in increased collaboration between the team and staff. Professional learning sessions were well-attended and there was strong evidence of increases in staff knowledge, confidence and skill.

Feedback from participants

"Meta-skills underpin all our work, but it needs to be throughout the whole school"

"I felt that the topic lent itself to examining what differentiation means for us teachers and for pupils"

"I now know how to structure and plan for a successful test of change. If I go away and implement this, I feel my confidence will improve"

A council-led review has taken place. Findings noted the positive impact of the team. Departments who have worked with the team show a more consistent use of approaches. For example, increased used of meta-skills within S2 Expressive Arts and increased differentiation in S1 Home Economics.