Welcome to St. Andrew’s R.C. Primary

1. Welcome to St. Andrew’s R.C. Primary

2. School statement • For over a century, St Andrew’s RC Primary has offered a quality education to its pupils. The learning and well-being of children has always been central to its purpose. The Charter for Catholic Schools fits well with our existing ethos. A Curriculum for Excellence sits comfortably with the values held dear to us for many years. Our parents choose St Andrew’s School because they are aware that it is a Faith sharing community and desire this for their children. Our parent body are participants in the decision making processes of the school.

3. The things we value at our school are: • Our Faith • Our Children and adults. • Our relationships with one another • Our shared values (Love, Respect, Faith, Hope, Gentleness, Compassion, Forgiveness, Mercy, Wisdom, Purity, Holiness, Integrity, Truth, Peace, Fortitude, Service, Sacrifice, Justice, Tolerance) • Our Team Spirit • Our partnership with Parents and Parish

4. We aim to enable all your children and young people to become: • Confident, Responsible, Effective, Successful • Good citizens for the future of Dumfries/Scotland • Well rounded balanced people who can take on the challenges of life • Pupils who have acquired transferrable skills which they can adapt whenever the need arises

5. Our Curriculum Rationale • The curriculum in St. Andrew’s Primary is defined as the totality of the experiences each child receives in their learning. • Its purpose is to offer a coherent, broad, general education throughout, but one that is grounded in several key themes. • The curriculum is embedded within an ethos of Catholic Christianity and its impact on community. • It focuses on enabling our young people to be literate and numerate. • It provides a progressive approach to developing creative, cooperative, imaginative, lifelong learners who communicate confidently and embrace the challenge of solving problems (in their widest sense) in an increasingly skilled manner. • The curriculum actively promotes fitness and health, inclusion, charity and tolerance. • It does all this within an ongoing commitment to making learning fun for children and engaging them through technologies and maximizing their talents and those of adults within the context of our school, community and wider world.

6. Key Improvement area 1 • Improving life chances through raising attainment. • Raise attainment through improving learning and teaching. • Introduce raising attainment Toolkit as a whole school resource. • Highlight how it is a tool for individuals and groups for improvement in targeted areas. • Identify an area of toolkit of most use to school at present and present a plan for implementation. • (Phonics/spelling ) Key Outcomes Key Tasks

7. Key Improvement area 2 • Develop use of Significant Aspects of Learning national resource in line with local and school “sharing standards” initiatives of last couple of years in order to better share standards with learners, parents and colleagues. • Understand the extent of the SAL resource as a staff and as individuals. • Use the resource to suppliment and inform the sharing standards work already undertaken. • As a staff, compare and contrast the SAL with that being produced in school. • Reflect on changes to opinions about standards that this process stimulates. Key Outcomes Key Tasks

8. Key Improvement area 3 • Improve the capacity of learners and teachers to develop and use a common language of reflection (including visual) when reviewing learning and proposing targets. • Pupils become more aware of own learning paths and more able to communicate these. Attainment, achievement and participation improve as a result. • Sharing of personal, class and whole school success becomes more efficient and effective. • Awareness raising of the scope of technologies as one way to consider such communication. • Identify agreed methods for recording and reporting on achievement, attainment and participation at each stage or level, acknowledging that each level may need a different approach. • Have written expectations of how celebrating learning, review and target setting will be recorded and reported on to parents in a timeous manner. • Agree how the above strategies fit into an overall whole school communication strategy with parents. • Consider how technology can impact positively on the overall process and implement as identified Key Outcomes Key Tasks

9. Key Improvement area 4 • Pope Francis Awards • Introduce the Pope Francis Award second phase pilot to P6 and P7. Focus on impact on the local community and learners. • To begin to engage with the identified community involvement of the award. • Feedback to all teachers about purpose/methods etc. Key Outcomes Key Tasks

10. Key Improvement area 5 • RE resourcing. • To revitalize the RE resourcing of the school from Mass resources to curriculum resources.- Intention to further improve the impact of RE on the children and whole school community and resource the “This Is Our Faith” approach to the curriculum. • Identify areas of RE curriculum most in need. • Match suitable resources to need. • Finance resources. Key Outcomes Key Tasks

11. Key Improvement area 6 • 1Plus2 languages • School introduced to the concept of 1plus 2 approach to languages in line with national proposals. • School prepared for the changes that will come with 1 plus 2. • Identify key member of staff. • Initial training for identified member of staff. • Encourage the development of Spanish Club further. Key Outcomes Key Tasks