Raising Standards in Literacy and Numeracy

• to promote the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills in the early years within the schools and school communities
• to target effectively existing and additional resources to promote the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills in the early years
• to promote partnership with parents of children in the early years with a focus on literacy and numeracy
• to plan and deliver a comprehensive staff and parent development programme with a focus on literacy and numeracy
• to improve attainment in reading, writing and numeracy in the early years
• to disseminate effective practice in numeracy and literacy on a whole authority basis
• to work with parents in supporting their children and to give parents greater equality of opportunity to access lifelong learning.

• 9 nursery nurses working within primary one classes within the North Perth Initiative Schools
• 1 Early Years Support Officer providing practical school-based staff development and support in classrooms
• 1 Home-School Link Officer to promote parental involvement, effective home-school partnerships and develop family literacy
• Sessional staff to support schools in parental involvement and effective home-school partnerships
• 1 Clerical Assistant to provide administrative support for officers and schools and to assist with the co-ordination of the project
• targeting of school-based staff (eg learning support, SEN) in Initiative schools to early years.

• Comprehensive staff development programme mounted from 1 September 1997 and ongoing providing support for teachers and nursery nurses in the Initiative schools and to schools authority wide on aspects such as:
• early literacy and numeracy
• environmental print
• place of games in language
• phonological awareness
• teamwork approach
• baseline assessment
• support for pupils with SEN
• effective practice and improving methodology in listening and talking
• the reading process
• planning to support literacy in nursery classes
• developing literacy and numeracy in the nursery
• re focus on Council’s Early Education 3-8 policy and guidelines.
• Early Years Networks (Nursery, 3-8 and Initiative schools) established to disseminate effective practice.
• Leaflets produced to promote active participation in the Council on early intervention strategies and to disseminate effective practice.

• Devolved staff development budget to Initiative schools to take forward developments in baseline assessment and planning (8 days per school)
• Budget devolved to Initiative schools for purchasing resources to support literacy and numeracy (£600 per school)
• Establishment of resource base to support literacy and numeracy development on an authority wide basis.

• Initiative Management group established and meets once per term to discuss and evaluate progress
• Whole authority action plans produced for management group meetings followed by each school producing its own action plan
• Initiative schools carrying out complementary pilot of National baseline assessment approaches in pre-school and Primary 1
• One initiative school and one control school participating in national Primary 3 evaluation.

• Focus on important of child development, the management of the learning environment and the context for learning
• Focus on the importance of taking account of prior learning
• Emerging evidence of importance of additional adult support as part of an effective team approach to supporting children’s learning
• Emerging evidence of importance and impact of staff development activities
• Clear evidence of staff and parental awareness of the importance of early learning and a willingness to share practice
• Baseline assessment pilot is encouraging staff to reflect and evaluate current practice and to plan the next steps in pupil learning and attainment.

• Team approach is vital - it must be managed effectively at school and authority levels
• Requirement for pre-service training as well as in-service training to address staff’s understanding of the key components required to ensure that children acquire literacy and numeracy skills
• In terms of curriculum continuity staff in primary schools require to make better use of the learning entitlements set out in the Curriculum Framework for Children in their Pre-school Year
• Staff development and management at school level are vital - attainment can only improve through the actions of the adults working directly with the children - resources alone cannot improve attainment nor the quality of experiences offered to children
• Assessment needs to be much more focused and used to track individual children and families who may require both short and long term support at an early stage
• Schools need to target their own resources at the early years and support provided through the initiative should not be used instead of other vital services like learning support.
• The importance of the partnership with parents and home-school links with regard to early intervention strategies should be given a greater emphasis.