School Improvement Plan Literacy - Scoil Naomh Áine NS

Scoil Naomh Áine, Rathgarogue, New Ross, Co. Wexford   School Improvement Plan

Period: 2013 to 2016

Plan issue date: 07/11/13

1 Introduction

1.1 Focus of the evaluation

As part of our ongoing work in the school, we conducted a school self-evaluation of teaching and learning this year. We evaluated Literacy. For more information on how the evaluation took place, please see our School Self-Evaluation Report which is available in the office.

This School Improvement Plan sets out the actions that we will undertake in the school over the next three years in Literacy. The main purpose of these actions is to improve our pupils' learning.


2 Summary of school self-evaluation findings

2.1 Our school has strengths in the following areas:

• Reading
  

• Phonics
  

• Parental support of pupils during homework time
  

• The vast majority of children understand their homework
  

• The majority of pupils enjoy reading for pleasure
  

• Children and parents are comfortable approaching the teacher for support or with a concern
  

• 47% of our pupils are in the top 25%ile in national reading norms and 55% fall within the 15%ile - 74%ile.
  

We know this because we consulted with pupils, parents and teachers and examined test results and other information in the school.

2.2 Our school has decided to prioritise the following areas of development:

Areas for Development
Year 1 (2013 -2014)
Spelling
Free Writing (Creative Writing)

Year 2 (2014-2015)
Writing Genre
Punctuation


Year 3 (2015-2014)
Comprehension - provisionally - We will re-evaluate our progress before 2015 and perhaps re-focus our priority area for this year at a later stage.


We have decided to prioritise these areas because teacher observations indicate that spelling of commonly used words, in particular, is an area causing difficulty for many pupils.

As a staff we feel that the pupils should be offered more opportunity to engage in Free Writing. The pupils will use this time throughout the year to explore many different genre of writing and develop skills in a variety of areas.

2.3 Our school has set the following targets for improvement which are related to pupils' achievement and has identified the following actions which will help in achieving those targets over the next three years.


Targets for Improvement

Spelling - Pupils will be enabled to self correct common mistakes and recognise errors in spelling.
Action -Emphasis will be placed on spelling accuracy especially with the most frequently misspelled words.
Spelling games and IT to develop positive attitudes towards spelling accuracy.
Commonly misspelled words will be displayed in classrooms


Writing - Pupils will willingly engage in Free Writing activities regularly and will be mindful of spelling and punctuation.
Action -Broaden the range and shape of Free Writing activities encouraging pupils to write from many different genres.
Timetable Free Writing as part of the English programme ensuring all pupils get an opportunity to engage in Free Writing weekly.

As a parent you can help us by continuing to help your child with his/her homework and emphasising the importance of correct spelling. If your child has a spelling test, help your child prepare by testing them at home. If your child has particular difficulty spelling common words, print these onto card and hang them up at home. Play a game with your child until they remember the correct spelling eg. because/becus/bcos. Always praise your child for making an attempt to spell a new word.

As a parent you can help us improve your child's standard of creative writing by encouraging them to write and draw at home. They might like to write a letter, menu, poem, acrostic, short story, recipe, book review, email, comic strip, advertisement, play, newspaper report, rhyme, joke, quiz etc. Ensure they have somewhere comfortable to sit and have plenty of pencils, colours and paper. Give your child the opportunity to read what they have written. This method of Free Writing should never be criticised or marked. Praise and encourage your child to be creative and let them know that Free Writing is never wrong.

2.4 We know we will have achieved our targets when

• Pupils self-correct spelling mistakes in their writing and others writing.
  

• Teachers will notice an improvement in standards of spelling especially commonly misspelled words.
  

• They willingly use their Free Writing copy and enjoy the writing process engaging with a number of writing genre.
  

• Teachers use Free Writing copies as a source of information on what each pupil's individual needs are in relation to spelling and punctuation.