Item 08 Appendix 1c
West Dunbartonshire Council · 12 June 2024
Back to Educational Services Committee — 12 June 2024 and its agenda
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St. Eunan's ELCC Standards and Quality Report 2023 - 2024 Appendix 1c
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Welcome to our Standards and Quality Report for Session 23 - 24 which: • Sets out the progress that we have made against our annual improvement plan. • Notes the difference this has made for the children and families we serve to ensure excellence, equity and positive outcomes for all of our learners. • Provides an overall evaluation of our capacity for continuous improvement. • Provides information about the assessment of learners’ progress and wellbeing, and the quality of their learning experiences, working with partners and community. • Identifies our next steps further to improve outcomes for all learners. Context of our Centre St Eunan’s Early Learning and Childcare Centre is set in the heart of Clydebank and we offer 80 full-time spaces, 8.45am - 2.45pm, term time only. 62% of children attending St Eunan's ELCC are SIMD 1 or 2 and the average attendance at nursery is 61%.
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We are organised into 10 groups of 8 children, each group supported by one of our experienced and caring Key Workers. Within the centre the we have four large playroom areas and a separate snack, lunch and cooking and baking room. The children have direct access to the outdoor play area which provide opportunities for physical play, curiosity play and this is accessed every day in all weathers. Our centre strives to provide high quality learning environments for the children and the team work hard to build strong and nurturing relationships with children, families, the community and our partner professional across health and education. We operate during term time only. Our highly-skilled, well-trained staff provide a challenging and stimulating learning environment for children of all developmental stages. We are required to be registered with the Care Inspectorate, our registration number is CS2003014742 and you can read our last inspection report
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Our vision, values and aims
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Securing positive futures for out children
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Time to Enjoy Equality and equity for all Universal support provided for every child Nurturing and caring environment Aspiring to achieve your potential Needs of every child are met Successful Learners
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A message from our Lead Practitioner
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Welcome to St. Eunan's Early Learning and Childcare Centre. In St. Eunan's, we aim for all children to become successful learners, who have time to enjoy their experiences in the nursery environment. We ensure equity and equality for all service users and provide universal support for every child. St. Eunan's is a nurturing and caring centre with a focus on encouraging children to reach thier full potential. We aim to ensure the needs of every child are met and in doing so we are securing positive futures for our children. Throughout the day, children have the opportunity to free play both indoors and out. We are proud of our outdoor learning spaces and staff have worked together to develop this into a purposeful and exciting learning environment. At the start of each day, every child participates in welcome time with their key worker. The nursery setting is planned for by ensuring Literacy and Numeracy is embedded into all areas such as, construction, role play, snack area, sand and water, story corner as well as dedicated Literacy and Numeracy areas. We also ensure a wider range of experiences through Forrest schools, sports sessions, Gaelic bookbug time and community links with the local care home. We foster partnerships with parents through our Stay and Play opportunities, settling in sessions and getting to know the key worker and the nursery environment. Communication is part of our daily ethos, valued by staff who work hard to ensure open and honest communication. Lauren Dominick Lead Practitioner
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What were our priorities for the year 2023 - 2024?
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• Improve and Support Health and Wellbeing • Achieve Excellence and Equity and Reduce Poverty Related Attainment Gap • Improve Learning Teaching and Assessment • Build Leadership Capacity through a Self-Improving System Improve and Support Health and Wellbeing What we set out to do • To continue to have a strong focus on Health and Wellbeing to remove barriers to learning • Ensure we meet the needs of all children, having clear plans of support in place where required • Incorporate pastoral conversations between practice lead and primary 1 teachers as part of quality transition • Continue to develop health and wellbeing skills around independence, with a focus on Setting the table practices Progress • Key workers have engaged with Lead Practitioner, taking a collaborative approach to informing plans • Supply staff are given important information about the children in their group before they meet them • Lunch process is in constant review to ensure the needs of individual children are met at all times • All practitioners continue to work together to evaluate and adapt the flow of the setting, indoors and outdoor • Key workers maintain strong relationships with parents and discuss the needs of each child to inform practice • Collegiate time is timetabled on a fortnightly rotation to ensure all staff are given opportunity to participate and contribute. • As part of the transition plan, time is made for the Lead Practitioner to meet with the P1 teachers before transition begins. This has led to • Consistent approaches to planning for interventions and planning for personal targets • Increased communication between practitioners involved in setting targets within plans
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• A shared understanding of expectations and the role of the key worker in supporting quality lunchtimes • A sense of pride and teamwork amongst all staff who have worked together to adapt the environment • An inclusive practice, key workers understand individual needs and adapt experiences or opportunities to meet these • Teachers have a good understanding of the children moving through to the school and can plan for their needs in advance ensuring smoother transition for all. • Care Inspectorate identifying that we provide a very good, nurturing environment with staff who have a holistic knowledge of their children. Next Steps • Continue to focus on health and wellbeing, ensuring best practice is in place through evaluations and Aspect Reviews. • Embed this good practice by continuing with clear expectations and responsibilities around health and well being, including interventions and quality of experiences • Review grouping strategy of children 23/24 to enhance learning and wellbeing needs
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Achieve Excellence and Equity and Reduce Poverty Related Attainment Gap What did we set out to do? • Stay and play sessions every term that allow parents to experience welcome time and understand its importance in their child’s learning journey. • Lending library has been introduced which incorporated books and home link bags targeting specific baseline elements • To engage parents in their child's learning journey through Learner Journals • Encourage further parental involvement in the nursery • Provide additional opportunities to promote and recognise children's achievements within the setting and in different contexts. Progress • Flexible stay and play sessions are now timetabled in across the year to ensure all families are given the opportunity to attend.
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• A variety of home link bags have been created that target, numeracy, literacy and health and wellbeing. • Lending library has been introduced allowing parents and children time to choose a book together • All resources for home link activities are provided to ensure equity for all. • Tea, talk and biscuit sessions have been introduced, with a specific focus for discussion at each session. • Parents are invited to take time to read through their child's learner journal together with their child. They are encouraged to leave feedback in the journal about the experience. • Journals can now be sent home to allow all parents/carers the same opportunity to enjoy their child's progress. • We have introduced Proud Cloud where children can celebrate their achievements with their peers. • Our nursery Facebook page allows parents and staff to share success of children at home and at nursery. This has led to • Increased participation in stay and play sessions by parents/carers. • Parents are more at ease speaking to keyworkers/SLT about home situations. • Parents/carers have an increased awareness of focus areas for development for their child. • Some parents have taken up the opportunity to attend tea, talk and biscuits, developing better relationships with nursery. • All families now have the opportunity to experience home link activities. • Children are sharing their achievements with their peers and this is celebrated together. • Parents are sharing achievements with keyworkers and through the nursery Facebook page. Next Steps • Make use of the skills of our parents/carers by inviting them in to lead activities e.g. story sessions, baking etc • Continue with 'Tea Talk and Biscuit' sessions with families to further encourage parental involvement. • Include cultural experiences that are relevant to the children in our setting to promote their cultural capital and understanding of others. • Continue to develop a culture of celebration of children in nursery and at home through achievement displays, Proud Cloud and 'Ask Me' stickers.
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Improve Learning Teaching and Assessment What we set out to do • Integrate assessment into our planning and teaching practice • Develop staffs confidence in discussing, and using, data analysis to plan for next steps • Review and refresh planning documentation and monitoring approaches • Embed good practice of responsive planning and support this through further CPD opportunities Progress • Targeted experiences are timetabled into the day and led by staff who plan for specific aspects of the curriculum. • Gaps in learning are identified using baseline criteria. • Baseline support given by EST at collegiate times. • Staff work collaboratively to support all children. • CPD to support the development of responsive planning. • Monitoring schedule shared with staff with guidance provided detailing expectations. • Collegiate calendar with fortnightly rotation to include all staff • Staff are responsive to the needs of the children in their groups and in the wider nursery This has led to • Staff have a better understanding of the areas for development in learning for their key children. • Increase in attainment across all areas of the Baseline. • Staff are more confident in using Baseline as a tracker tool. • Good practice and strategies are shared between staff to ensure consistent approaches are used. • A good balance between responsive and adult let planning in the nursery. • Staff are supported in their production of learning evaluations and planning. • Staff feel valued and included and are all given opportunities to contribute to collegiate planning. • Staff are becoming more confident in their ability to plan responsively to the needs of the children in their care Next steps • EST and EEL to continue to provide support to staff when analysing and using data. • EST to analyse previous data to identify trends in learning gaps.
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• Review grouping strategy of children 23/24 to enhance learning and assessment
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Build Leadership Capacity through a Self-Improving System What we set out to do • Develop leadership opportunities at all levels, encouraging and supporting children, learning assistants and early years practitioners to lead on aspects of improvement and change. • All early years staff will develop confidence in accurately evaluating their own practice and actively participate in self - improvement through sharing good practice collaboratively with their peers. • Staff to work collaboratively with LA's when planning next steps for ASN children. Progress • Staff are in the early stages of focus groups with an aim to maintain and improve specific areas of learning. • Continued professional developed opportunities are highlighted and made available to all staff. • Staff are supported in further education opportunities. • Learning assistants are encouraged to share good practice and strategies with all staff.
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• Frequent observations are recorded on areas for development, good practice and children's needs. • Formal self-evaluation sessions are timetabled across the year involving all staff. • Staff take on board feedback from LA's and use this to plan. This has led to • Staff are working collaboratively to continuously develop the nursery environment and learning opportunities. • Almost all staff have taken part in external CPD including First Aid, Froebelian Practices, Forest School and 1140 expansion groups. • Several staff have achieved their BA degree with a further 5 in progress. • Staff are adaptable to change and take advice and guidance from LA's who work with target children. • Identified developments across the nursery are made quickly and efficiently • Staff share knowledge and experience from other centres to improve our practice. • All staff are experienced in evaluating all areas of our curriculum and practice and can contribute their thoughts and assessments collaboratively. • A collaborative approach to planning for ASN children has been adopted by all staff ensuring shared best practice • 'Very Good' grading from Care Inspectorate who made reference to 'a team committed to improvement'. Next steps • Timetable sessions for working groups to ensure opportunities for discussion and development. • Make more use of CPD opportunities. • Continue good practice of both formal and informal self -evaluation opportunities.
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