Item 7(ii) - 2021-22 HL School Report
Argyll and Bute Council · 14 June 2022
Back to Helensburgh & Lomond Area Committee — 14 June 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 Argyll and Bute Council 2021 - 2022 OUR CHILDREN… THEIR FUTURE… Education Service Primary Area Report: Helensburgh and Lomond
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2 Introduction Within the Helensburgh and Lomond area there are 12 Primary Schools, with nursery provision provided within several of these schools. There is secondary school provision in Hermitage Academy for the Helensburgh and Lomond area. Our primary school rolls for the area vary considerably ranging from 12 pupils at Luss Primary School to 370 at Hermitage Primary School. The Education Performance Data Analysis Report to Community Services Committee on 16th December 2021 asked elected members to note that following the cancellation of the formal SQA examination diet due to Covid-19, schools submitted Provisional Results for each young person. The Provisional Results were based on teacher professional judgement which considered a wide range of candidate assessment evidence. All attainment evidence was subject to extensive moderation and quality assurance as detailed in the 2021 Alternative Certification Model (ACM), as published by the SQA. This report provides a range of key information about school provision during the school session August 2021 to June 2022 and reports the National collection of attainment and achievement data from June 2021. This is the first uplift of attainment data since 2018/2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns which resulted in pupils learning remotely from home. Additional and more detailed information about each school can be found in the schools’ Standards and Quality Reports. In addition each school’s Improvement Plan outlines their main priorities for improvement. Most schools have an active website where these documents can be accessed and further links or information can be obtained from the Head Teacher.
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3 Primary School Profiles: Helensburgh and Lomond SIMD Profile: Table shows number of pupils at each SIMD level in each cluster area of Argyll and Bute. Cluster 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Unknown* Total Bute 54 88 119 46 34 17 358 Cowal 111 77 115 101 223 222 17 866 Helensburgh and Lomond 45 89 97 55 137 236 275 383 200 130 11 1658 Islay and Jura 39 181 2 222 Kintyre North 2 87 34 123 Kintyre South 85 63 22 79 165 92 2 508 Mid-Argyll 64 75 43 148 176 1 507 Mull and Iona 99 86 185 OLI 22 8 157 380 170 355 127 40 1259 * SIMD data from June 2021.
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4 Helensburgh and Lomond School Profile 2021-2022 Primary School Roll (as at census) * Cluster Primary Schools 17/18 18/19 19/20 20/21 21/22 % change in Roll over 5 years1 Arrochar Primary School 60 60 65 60 54 -10.00% Cardross Primary School 164 169 163 162 174 6.10% Colgrain Primary School 305 303 314 302 273 -10.49% Garelochhead Primary School 110 119 123 112 121 10.00% Hermitage Primary School 377 377 385 374 370 -1.86% John Logie Baird Primary School 151 148 135 116 108 -28.48% Kilcreggan Primary School 90 83 82 81 86 -4.44% Luss Primary School 7 8 9 10 12 71.43% Parklands School (P1-P7) 14 12 10 12 19 35.71% Rhu Primary School 221 214 212 200 190 -14.03% Rosneath Primary School 88 83 87 81 80 -9.09% St Joseph’s Primary School 178 172 163 161 147 -17.42% Total Roll for cluster 1733 1761 1748 1671 1634 -5.71% * Data for rolls provided at Census each year 1 Please note the % change in Roll over 5 years shows the percentage change in roll figures from 2017/18 to 2021/22 and is not an average.
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5 Footwear and Clothing Grant and Free School Meal Information for AREA Clothing and Footwear Grant (CFG) is not shown as a National Average as each authority set their own criteria and therefore cannot be compared accurately. Please note that 2021-2022 data for CFG and Free School Meals (FSM) is to date (end February 2022) and therefore may change as the year progresses. In January 2022, the Scottish Government launched the extension of free school meal universal eligibility to include all children in primary 1-5. The above figures only show those pupils in P6 and P7. In August 2021 the Scottish Government introduced a School clothing grant minimum for all authorities set at £120 for Primary pupils and £150 for Secondary pupils. During session 2020/21 the Scottish Government introduced ‘Bridging’ payments of £130 per pupil in receipt of FSM under the National criteria (this excludes anyone eligible who receive FSM in P1 to P6 who do not qualify financially). These payments are made 4 times per year (Easter, Summer, October and Christmas).Further information can be found at Scottish Child Payment Bridging Payments - mygov.scot. In addition to this anyone eligible for these payments have been paid a FSM payment during the school holiday period. Further information School meals - mygov.scot
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6 Exclusion and Attendance Information for AREA Authorised absence includes bereavement, short – term exceptional domestic situations, religious observance, weddings of immediate family. Unauthorised absence includes truancy, unexplained absence and most family holidays during term time. Attendance and absence is outlined in Management Circular 3.03. During 2020/21 there were additional attendance codes added for COVID. These codes can count as attendance, authorised absence or unauthorised absence depending on the circumstance. Please note that attendance data for 2021/22 is up to 28 February and not a complete year. It is therefore subject to change. Please note that exclusion data for 2021/22 is up to 28 February and not a complete year. It is therefore subject to change.
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7 Achievement over time NOTES: ER English reading, EW English writing, ELT English Listening and talking N Numeracy GR Gaelic reading, GW Gaelic writing, GLT Gaelic Listening and talking. There was no ACEL collection during session 2019/20 due to COVID
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8 The table below outlines the National expectations of when most children and young people may achieve each level: CfE Level Stage Early The final two years of early learning and childcare before a child goes to school and P1, or later for some. First To the end of P4, but earlier or later for some. Second To the end of P7, but earlier or later for some. Third and fourth S1-S3, but earlier or later for some. Further information: National Improvement Framework for Scottish Education – https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/national-improvement-framework/
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9 General Updates 1 + 2 Languages The 1+2 Languages policy aims to ensure that all children and young people are equipped with the skills they need for life and work. Every child has the opportunity to learn a modern language from P1 onwards; this language (known as L2) is an entitlement up to the end of S3. Additionally, each child should have the opportunity to learn a second modern language (known as L3) at the latest from P5 onwards, continuing to the end of Primary school. Young people are entitled to learn a second language (L3) within their Broad General Education i.e. within the S1 to S3 experience. All 12 Primary schools are delivering French as L2 from P1 onwards. Colgrain PS, Arrochar PS, Hermitage PS, Colgrain PS and Luss PS are delivering Spanish as L3. Rosneath PS have provided Arabic as L3 - online lessons facilitated by SCILT. Parklands School is teaching Makaton as L3. Rhu PS and Colgrain PS are providing BSL as L3. Other schools in the area are planning to implement L3 during the academic session 2021/22. Hermitage Academy provides French as L2 and Spanish, Italian and German as L3. This cluster has a Language Leader who supports local schools and holds Languages cluster meetings. The cluster are using the online platform - PowerLanguage Schools (PLS) as the main teaching resource to deliver French as L2. This resource can also be used for teaching Spanish and German. To ensure progression throughout the cluster, they are using the French key language progression framework P1-7 The schools are teaching Gaelic through use of the online resource - Go!Gaelic. All schools have resource packs with resources for teaching French. Practitioners can also find teaching resources and information on the 1+2 Languages section of the SALi blog. Schools delivering BSL have resource packs and received training to support this. Schools also have access to support in terms of CLPL and teaching resources on the Teachers professional Learning Hub CLPL provided for HALCO: Upskilling in Languages 5 week beginners and follow-on French courses provided in first and second term and then again in the third term. A 20 week GLPS (Gaelic) online course for Primary teachers. This opportunity is fully funded by the Scottish Government. This includes twilight and morning sessions (Sept 21 - March 22). A Gaelic beginners’ and follow-on course provided in the first and second term. Four Gaelic taster sessions for beginners’ provided in March 2022. These sessions provided an introduction to simple Gaelic phrases to be used with learners in class. A 4 week Spanish beginners’ and follow-on course provided in the second and third term. A 5 week German beginners’ course provided in January 2022. Training sessions on using the L3 BSL teaching resource pack (Sept 2021). Languages pedagogy sessions: Teaching Languages through Songs and Games (March 22).
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10 Using Storytelling to Enhance your Language Teaching (March 22). Connecting Language Learning across the Curriculum (Nov 21). Enhancing language learning using digital tools in partnership with the digital team (Nov 21). Teaching 1+2 at All Levels - 3 sessions: Early Level, First Level, Second/Third Level (Sept/Oct 21). Differentiation Strategies and Multi-Composite Class Approaches (May 21). Ensuring Progression in Language Learning (May 21). Celebrating Achievements in Languages (May 21). Strategic sessions: Getting languages back on track - Moving forward with your 1+2 Languages strategy provided by Education Scotland. Getting the most from PowerLanguages School Resources led by PowerLanguages. Many teachers from HALCO who signed up for Immersion courses funded by an Erasmus+ grant and due to take place in France have been unable to attend these due to the pandemic. An alternative has now been found and all these teachers have been offered an online training course provided by our partners LFEE. This academic session one teacher from HALCO enrolled on the German Open University course for Primary practitioners. This session we have continued with our Authority wide French link with our partners from the Université de Picardie- Jules Verne. This has now become a virtual link and French Primary student teachers assist Primary teachers in A&B virtually with the delivery of French lessons and are able to add a cultural element to the learning. Teachers from HALCO have taken part in this project this session. Representatives from the university intend to visit Argyll and Bute in June 2022 and we hope to continue to develop this longstanding international partnership. This session, all clusters are using a French and Gaelic learning resource as part of the Authority wide ELC to P1 transition project - Over the Rainbow. This means that language learning is an integral part of this Early Years transition process. Hermitage PS is celebrating European Day of Languages in September 2021 with an amazing ‘Voyage en France’ Challenge. HALCO engaged with Languages Week Scotland in February 2022. Hermitage Primary School had a week full of fantastic language and cultural learning. Rosneath PS participated in a storytelling project as part of the Bethlehem Cultural Festival. They did this as part of the L3 Arabic course that they undertook this session. Shellycoat is a story in Scots, English and Arabic. Illustrated by pupils from Dalintober, Innellan, Rosneath and Toward Primary Schools. Click HERE to listen to the story and see all the beautiful illustrations. There were winners from HALCO in the Authority wide Multi-lingual Storytelling competition. Winners: Rhu PS won 2nd prize for a story in Arabic and Hermitage PS won 3rd prize in the home language category. Early Years Children and families within Argyll and Bute currently access Local Authority Early Learning and Childcare (ELC), offered either through term-time based sessions or a year-round model, now that the 1140 hours Scottish Government initiative has been phased in. ELC is also provided by childminders, voluntary and privately operated groups in addition to Local Authority services. The third sector is in a position to provide ‘wrap around’ childcare for parents
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11 who wish to purchase hours to allow them to work, attend college, etc. Community Childminding is a service which is provided for children following a referral from Health or Social Work; it is designed to be an early intervention to support families predominantly for children aged less than 3 years. Partner childminders also provide ELC for eligible children aged 2 years. Workforce Development Update April 2022 Early Years Foundation Apprentices Cohort 2 commenced August 2019 In a significant scale up this year, 41 pupils commenced the Foundation Apprenticeship in Early Years across 6 Argyll and Bute Secondary schools. 26 commenced the NPA in 5th year to complete the qualification over 2 years. 15 commenced the shorter model, in their 6th year, working towards the NPA and the relevant SVQ2 (SSCYP) units over 1 year. Placements were identified in Argyll and Bute ELC units, including partner providers in the private and voluntary sector. Early Years team members stepped up to deliver the NPA course, across the LA, until October 2019 when 2 new tutors, with appropriate Early Years experience, were recruited by the training centre. Early Years Modern Apprentices Cohort 1 - started in Jan 2019 6 MAs were recruited to the following ELC settings: Park Primary Family Learning Centre Colgrain Primary ELC John Logie Baird Primary ELC Campbeltown Nursery Dalintober Primary, ELC Clyde Cottage Nursery Five out of the six MAs have completed their SVQ3 (Social Services Children and Young People) award early, and two have been successful in securing temporary ELC practitioner posts. Cohort 2 - 2020 – was on hold due to Covid Cohort 3 - started in August 2021 1 at Clyde Cottage, SVQ3 progressing 1 at Silver Birch, SVQ3 progressing 1 at Dunbeg, SVQ3 progressing (December start) 6 MAs were recruited to the following ELC settings: Sandbank Primary Early Level (Gaelic) Rockfield Primary ELC (Gaelic) Dunbeg Primary ELC Lochgilphead Primary ELC Tobermory Primary ELC St. Joseph’s Primary ELC
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12 All are making good progress with their SVQ3 (SSCYP) with one changing course to SVQ2 (SSCYP) which is better suited to her role within the ELC unit. Early Years Graduate Apprentices Argyll and Bute recruited 2 graduate apprentices to take part in a 3 year pilot for the BA in Early Learning and Childcare, in partnership with UHI. One is on track to complete in June 2022 and the other apprentices in June 2023. Funded qualifications In 2021/22, 45 ELC staff were funded to work towards recognised qualifications, to meet SSSC registration and for professional development. SVQ2 (SSCYP) SVQ3 (SSCYP) SVQ4 (SSCYP) BA Childhood Practice MEd in Childhood Practice H&L 0 4 4 1 1 B&C 0 8 4 2 OLI 1 5 2 2 MAKI 2 4 0 4 1 CPD training 21-22 To deliver Scottish Government aims of 1140 hours of quality ELC provision, professional development for staff has been focused on the Early Years team priorities of: leadership at all levels effective use of information to improve outcomes learning and development 0-3 years outdoor learning and family learning CPD – 58 Early Level courses were offered Professional development for staff was focused on the Early Years team priorities of: Nurture Floorbook planning linked to the Three Assets Approach UNCRC Curriculum for Excellence - Partner settings and childminders The Leuven scales of Wellbeing and Involvement Realising the Ambition, national practice guidance The Early Years Team has also continued to work with Stramash to deliver training on Outdoor Learning through the Seasons in Argyll & Bute. This training involved 4 days of training, in different seasons throughout the year, in each of the 4 local areas, with the aim of creating a resource at the end which can be shared across all ELC settings. Our cluster leads have also played an integral part in outdoor training sessions to our settings. For further information on workforce development, please contact linda.burgar@argyll-bute.gov.uk ELC - Learning and Development As part of the Education Strategy ‘Our Children, Their Future’, the Argyll and Bute ‘ELC Learning and
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13 Development Framework’ has been developed to provide strong and consistent guidance on learning and development from birth through to a child starting school. Every setting and childminder has been issued with this guidance and providers are encouraged to use this tool as part of their self- evaluation, along with ‘Building the Ambition’ and ‘How Good is our Early Learning and Childcare?’ Members of the central support team use the framework as a key document as part of their support visits, focusing on ‘Environment’, ‘Experiences’ and ‘Interactions’. Data is also used to analyse the quality of provision with progress being tracked through Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland inspections. Twice a year, the Local Authority gathers data in relation to 4 year old children’s progress within their developmental milestones, and this is used to target resources more effectively. Teams are being trained in the use of improvement methodology to support their own improvement journeys – being clear about how they know a change has led to an improvement. As well as tracking progress in children’s learning outcomes, practitioners in nurseries also track each child’s progress within their developmental milestones. We know that most children achieve their milestones as a matter of course. However, some children might need a little extra help or time to achieve theirs. The milestones we track are: Social, emotional and behavioural Speech and language Cognitive and sensory Fine motor skills Gross motor skills The Early Years Service gathers data twice a year (December and June) to find out how children are progressing within their milestones. The EY target is 45 percent: This table shows the difference from the previous year. Please note this is a different cohort of children being assessed. Locality 2020 2021 Change B&C 42 39 -3% H&L 62 41 -21% MAKI 32 29 -3% OLI 30 36 +6% Authority Wide 42 37 -5% The Early Years Team, alongside the settings, are now using this data to target specific areas that require support. This decline in some areas will likely be connected to the period of Covid, especially for Speech and Language development, where children were not able to experience as much interaction as they can now both within an ELC and out-with. Cluster leads and EY teachers, alongside working with Speech and Language Therapist input and other multi-agency partnerships, are able to direct specific support and work alongside settings to monitor and show the impact of targeted learning. Additional training to staff has been provided on using the tracking system confidently and robustly to evaluate where the children are in terms of their developmental milestones. The impact of this will be seen during our next collection of data in June 2022. Area DM Data – December 2021 B+C 39% MAKI 29% OLI 36% H+L 41%
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14 Across the localities, Bute and Cowal and Helensburgh and Lomond have the highest percent of children, achieving stage 2, across each milestone. 63% percent of children are achieving stage 2 in gross motor skills, 7% higher compared to Authority wide. Across the localities, Helensburgh and Lomond and Bute and Cowal have the highest percent of children, achieving stage 2, across each milestone. 64% percent of children are achieving stage 2 in gross motor skills, 8% higher compared to Authority wide. Across MAKI, 45% or more of children, are achieving stage 2 across their sensory, fine motor and gross motor skills milestones. 37% of children are achieving stage 2 in speech and language, a -16% compared to Bute and Cowal. The percent of children achieving stage 2 in the OLI area within speech and language is +4% higher than MAKI, but still below the target of 45%. Developmental Milestone Data – December 2021 – By Area Similarly, data is collected and analysed around Care Inspectorate gradings of all ELC units. Care Inspectorate Grades – 21/22 69 ELC settings have been inspected and have had gradings assigned (data supplied by Care Inspectorate, issued February 2022). 91% of ELC settings are achieving grade 4 and above. A decrease of -2% as reported in August 2021. Area August 21 March 22 % Change Bute and Cowal 100 100 0 Helensburgh and Lomond 85 80 -5 Mid Argyll Kintyre and Islay 95 91 -4 Oban Lorn and Isles 90 95 +5 *Please note that HALCO had 3 settings that had the highest grading of 6. Inactive ELC Settings Lismore Primary Pre Five Unit Luing Primary Pre Five Unit Southend Primary Pre Five Unit No Inspection Gradings Apple Tree Nursery Campbeltown Aqualibrium Early Learning and Childcare Cardross Early Learning and Childcare Rainbow Childcare Oban Rosneath Early Learning and Childcare Silver Birch Outdoor Nursery Stepping Stones Nursery Willowview Early Learning and Childcare EY Conference November 2021 What’s Love got to do with it?
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15 The Importance of a Rights-focused, Relationship-centred and Play-based approach to Education Our second virtual conference focused on nurture and the wellbeing of our staff and children; we explored the concept of Professional Love and introduced Our Children, Their Nurturing Education. We also looked at how the UNCRC could and should be embedded in practice within ELC and the crucial importance of play in child development. Early Years QI and Curriculum developments 2021–22 We have continued to develop use of the Leuven Scales within settings and evaluate its impact on engagement and learning, especially during Covid recovery. 144 practitioners have attended the Leuven training so far this academic year. Leuven training will continue to take place for new staff early next year. Cl continues to support individual settings’ use of the Leuven scale regularly as a self- evaluation tool to improve quality. We continue to deliver Three Assets training to support all settings and funded ELC childminders to take forward this approach to curriculum planning and pedagogy through planned delivery of training in our CPD catalogue and evaluations of its impact. We are focusing on reviewing the use of Developmental Milestones and its use across CfE Early Level into Primary One and in some instances, Primary Two. This is moderated through cluster meetings and the Likert scale is used to evaluate this. This is ongoing into next year’s development plan to be able to assess its impact. Our EY team developed a new, updated and interactive online link which details all current EY information to support every aspect of EY curriculum and development. It has been extremely well received by Heads of Centres and allows for quick and easy access to documents all in one place. For more information on ELC Learning and Development, please contact Tina Sartain tina.sartain@argyll-bute.gov.uk Assessment and Moderation ‘Systematic evaluation and subsequent sharing of high-quality materials (such as exemplars) in networks and digital platforms (for instance, through Glow) may offer welcome opportunities to support efficient (re)design of practices and professional learning in Scotland.’ OECD Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: into the Future 2021. In order to support our schools across the Authority with BGE digital moderation, assessment, professional development material and exemplars, we have created Moderation Platforms for all schools. These platforms continue to develop, meeting the needs of our schools. As well as platforms for the geographic areas, including Gaelic, we also have a Secondary platform. These platforms promote networks, provide a one stop shop for professional development in the area of assessment, supports teacher professional judgement and allows for the sharing of agreed standards. We have provided twilight support for schools and practitioners and the platform has also been shared with central staff from the Northern Alliance. To date, we have had 50+ practitioners engaging with the platform and the feedback has been very positive with practitioners valuing the materials available and the opportunities for regular moderation which does not require cover, travelling and photocopying.
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16 Education Scotland engaged with 40 practitioners across Argyll and Bute with QAMSO (Quality Assessment and Moderation Support Officer) training in September. This group then worked with Pauline Inglis, Education Officer, to refine and develop the moderation platform and also engaged in moderation activities within their school. The Education Officer held twilight support meetings with previous QAMSOs, introducing the platform and the QAMSO plan for the session. Continued support is being provided for schools to engage with the platform and Head Teachers are being encouraged to include moderation within their improvement planning for next session. Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Schools were encouraged to engage with national STEM initiatives. Dandelion Schools (Keeping Scotland Beautiful) - specially designed growing cubes, linked to a citizen science app, will be gifted to Secondary schools to explore the future of vertical farming through a series of growing experiments. In addition, seed potatoes and growing medium will be distributed to the Secondary schools and their associated Primary schools for a great tattie growing experiment across the country. Both Dunoon Grammar School and Tobermory High School will engage in this project with their associated cluster next session. The cubes and seed potatoes are being delivered to schools just after the Easter holidays. Scottish Schools Education and Research Centre, Primary Cluster Programme – this professional learning opportunity systematically involves all teachers in a cluster with experiential training, builds networks and provides resources for CLPL and the classroom (via Edina Trust grant). Schools within the HALCO Cluster will be taking part in this initiative next session. Education Officer Pauline Inglis has been working with staff and Education Scotland STEM officer Mark Irwin to develop a STEM platform for Argyll and Bute Council. Practitioners in the steering group wanted video shots of STEM work being undertaken across the Authority. These are being gathered and the platform will be developed and available for August 2022. Outdoor Learning Professional development has remained the area of focus for outdoor learning in session 21/22 with the launch of Argyll and Bute’s Programme and Outdoor Learning. This programme was designed and led by teachers and practitioners in Argyll and Bute and is robustly linked to key policies (Going Out There, Curriculum for Excellence and Out to Play). The programme has had one iteration, with 18 teachers attending. This consisted of face to face practical sessions, interspersed with theory and impact sessions, delivered through Google tools. Feedback from the programme was overwhelmingly positive with one Head Teacher saying, “This was such a worthwhile day and I wish more of my staff had also been able to participate – I would send them in future. So much was covered and it was all really useful and relevant. Best CPD I’ve done for a long time!” The Early Years programme on leading learning is now ready for launch after delays due to Covid. This will run in the autumn term for practitioners at early level. Early Years have delivered training to childminders in Kintyre on outdoor skills such as fire lighting, shelter building and nature. We also brokered access for 55 teachers in Argyll and Bute to the highly rated ‘Taking Maths Outdoors’ which has led to increased outdoor learning and improved Maths education across more than half of Argyll’s Primary schools.
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17 Our partnership with Outdoor and Woodland Learning Scotland (OWLS) has delivered eight outdoor first aid training programmes, reaching 48 practitioners, in Argyll and Bute and providing grant access to partners delivering outdoor play and learning experiences for children during the school holidays in Mull and Mid Argyll. The Argyll OWL group meets five times a year and creates networks of sharing best practice. They are in the process of organising a live network event in September, the first such event since pre-Covid times. Three schools took part in HMIE’s thematic inspection on outdoor learning and two schools were included in the national report as case studies in excellence. Oban High School was cited for its innovative ways of engaging partners and Inveraray Primary School was included as a study of effective strategic leadership in outdoor learning. Digital Literacy The following report summarises the Digital Learning Education Team’s work with learners, teachers and their schools. It includes support with online learning, professional learning, resources, school events, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) initiatives and digital infrastructure. Glow Usage Statistics Glow is the online platform through which teachers communicate, plan and learn, and via which children and young people access digital learning, both in school and at home. In December 2021, there were 106,721 Google Workspace for Education sessions (this is typically the most used Glow application and is therefore a good indicator of engagement). At the start of 2022, January saw 251,965 sessions; usage had more than doubled since December (a 136% increase). There were 6468 unique pupils and 1186 unique staff logins recorded by Glow in December 2021. January saw negligible changes to this (a 0.7% decrease and 0.2% increase respectively), indicating an almost identical number of individuals using Glow in both months.
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18 Scottish Government - a device for every pupil The Scottish Government has made a commitment to provide a device to every learner by the end of the present parliamentary session. Further information on this commitment has not yet been received. It has been suggested that a phased approach may be taken, where devices are released once Local Authorities reach milestones in relation to network infrastructure. The Scottish Government have made a budget commitment of £15 million during 2022/2023 to support Local Authorities to prepare for a 1:1 device rollout. The device deployment phase of this grant is not expected until 2023/2024 and may also include Internet connectivity to support learners who do not have access at home. The Scottish Government has issued a survey to gather information on the landscape of digital maturity across all 32 Local Authorities. The survey is designed to help inform Education Scotland's future roadmap and the potential impact of large numbers of additional devices accessing Glow. Feedback has been sought from other Local Authorities on their plans for a 1:1 device roll out. A meeting has been arranged with practitioners to help inform the Authorities’ position on the most suitable types of devices. Rural Growth Deal The Scottish Government STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) strategy aims to build Scotland's capacity to deliver excellent STEM learning and to close equity gaps in participation and attainment in STEM. It also aims to inspire young people and adults to study STEM, and to provide a better connection between STEM education and training and the needs of the labour market in Scotland. Given that 17% of our population resides across 23 inhabited islands, it is difficult for some of our island and rural communities to access STEM engagement experiences (such as those located in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow). Consequently, various sources of funding are being explored and investigated for the creation of mobile STEM hubs. This proposal has been included as a possible option within the Council’s Rural Growth Deal (RGD) under the section “Attracting – Skills, Training and Education”.
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19 STEM Hub Dunoon The Council was successful in a funding bid to the Scottish Government’s Clyde Mission fund. The purpose of the fund is to provide capital support to projects that deliver economic stimulus. The Council has appointed architects to lead the transformation of the former Hill Street office in Dunoon into a STEM hub / community hub. The STEM hub will provide cutting edge learning in the following: Cyber Security Renewable Energy Biology and Marine Science Engineering and Physics The vision of the STEM hub is to implement a blended learning approach (physical, mobile and virtual) that delivers a full suite of high-quality and equitable STEM education and experiences in order to meet the needs of children and young people across Argyll and Bute, as well as equip individuals with skills to benefit and develop the local business community. The budget available for the refurbishment of the building and infrastructure is £807,500. STEM Funding The Digital Learning team was successful in a funding bid to the UK Government Community Renewal Fund (UK CRF) for £100,000. £78,100 of this grant is for the creation of high quality STEM curricular materials. Following a competitive procurement exercise, the Glasgow Science Centre is the successful supplier who will create at least 8 high quality full day STEM activities (suitable for second level – comprising of video, animation and workshops). Wellbeing, Rights and Relationships Our schools have continued to demonstrate a commitment towards becoming Rights Respecting Schools. With 38 Primary schools on their accreditation journey to achieve with UNICEF, 19 have achieved Bronze, 7 Silver, 1 Gold and a further 10 have registered to date. 4 schools have progressed their certification status in 2022, 9 in 2021, 11 in 2020 and 6 in 2019. The breakdown of engagements across the Local Authority is noted below.
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20 MAKI 9 x Primary Schools OLI 8 x Primary Schools HALCO 8 x Primary Schools Bute & Cowal 13 x Primary Schools Schools have been encouraged to engage with Argyll & Bute Council Poverty Awareness Training. 10 Primary staff members (teaching and non-teaching) participated in this training. A further training session was delivered in partnership with Education and Social Work to explore ways to engage with pupil voice in relation to Child Poverty. Kirn Primary School is piloting the approach to pupil voice on Child Poverty. Rockfield Primary School has undertook pupil and parental consultation concerning the cost of the school day. The National Parental Involvement and Engagement Census has seen a 7.6% increase in returns from Primary school parents and carers, compared to the pilot that took place in 2020. This survey concluded recently. Further analysis will provide the Local Authority and our schools with valuable information with regards to reviewing engagement as part of Covid renewal plans. Cardross Primary School contributed to the Education Scotland thematic inspection that resulted in “Engaging Families in Learning” engaging-families-in-learning-a-thematic-inspection-of-family- learning-feb-2021.pdf (education.gov.scot). This was published in February 2021. A number of our schools were involved in thematic inspections with Education Scotland. Inveraray Primary School has been included as a case study within the report that examines “Successful Approaches to Learning Outdoors” Successful Approaches to Learning Outdoors | National Thematic Inspections | HM Chief Inspector Report | Inspection and review | What we do | Education Scotland. This was published in February 2022. Numeracy HALCO schools have been well represented in a variety of professional learning opportunities this session. 8 schools have signed up for a series of sessions looking at SEAL (the stages of early arithmetical learning), an approach which seeks to ensure that children have a solid understanding of the building blocks that sit behind later Maths learning and are learning at a pace that is right for them. Several schools have also taken part in training offered by the Learning through Landscapes organisation, which supports staff in delivering Maths in an outdoor environment. Cardross Primary has had the opportunity to work with Dr Lio Moscardini, developing problem solving skills in youngsters – this work is ongoing and we expect it to be developed further across HALCO next session. Through our engagement with the Northern Alliance, 1 school was lucky enough to be given the chance to take part in a Maths Mastery course, examining the ways in which we can ensure deep learning and retention in mathematical skills, while 3 schools are working closely with other schools across the Northern Alliance to investigate ways in which we teach fractions effectively. 3 further schools are working with other schools across Argyll in discussing ways in which we maximise pupil retention and recall in Maths. Schools have access to the online Maths programme, Sumdog, which supports a number of competitions and challenges, including regular Argyll and Bute inter schools challenges: Arrochar Primary has been a daily winner with the highest placing pupil and has come 2nd overall in this competition. Hermitage Academy has also been engaged with a variety of numeracy opportunities – its Maths department is represented at the Northern Alliance’s Subject Specific Support Group, giving them the opportunity to discuss current issues in the teaching of Maths with their colleagues across the North of Scotland, while they have also attended training organised through the Northern Alliance in Maths Balance – an intervention designed to support S1 and S2 pupils who need some additional input to ensure they achieve their full potential.
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21 Literacy The Hermitage Academy English department is also represented at the Northern Alliance’s Subject Specific Support Group and has been involved in the setting up of 2 sessions to support the discussion of consistent standards across the whole of the North of Scotland. 3 Primary schools are represented at Education Scotland’s Literacy and English Curricular Network, where they have the opportunity to work alongside colleagues from across Scotland to discuss key priorities in Literacy. Primary practitioners across HALCO have been enthusiastic in their engagement with a range of Literacy development opportunities. These include 4 sessions examining approaches to the teaching of writing, 3 sessions exploring Storyline, a way of engaging pupils with Literacy in an inter disciplinary context and a series of sessions introducing practitioners at early level to Emerging Literacy, an approach to literacy learning which ensures that every child is working at a pace appropriate to their developmental stage.
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22 Hermitage Primary School We were incredibly privileged to have been approached by the BBC Education LAB to take part in their ‘Then and Now’ project. Pupils on our Media and Digital Leadership Teams were given the unique opportunity to work with two BBC producers and a recording engineer in school over two days in February creating content on the theme of ‘Holidays’ and ‘Information’. Working with the BBC staff they contributed interviews and artwork which was recorded and will be shared through the BBC LAB website and on social media platforms. Over the two days pupils took part in workshops, learning about how to be a good interviewer and an informative contributor. The children also had the opportunity to be in front of the camera and act as crew (sound/director, etc). Filming was done on iPads with sound kit, meaning that all of the skills the children learned can be used in future school projects; upskilling us and improving the quality of our digital productions – and area that has expanded hugely for us in the course of the pandemic. It was an amazing learning experience to be part of! Please see more of our pupil-produced digital / media productions on our school YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYo3NJipWf12d3hce- QYNhA and in our in-house ‘BeeTV’ broadcasts: https://youtu.be/SINmPkxRIAk https://youtu.be/KKqB0YJKfwg
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23 Cardross Primary School After reviewing surveys completed by staff, pupils and parents we recognised that Health and Wellbeing was a priority for session 2021-2022. Following staff training from Educational Psychologists we implemented the PAThS programme from ELC to P7. The PAThS programme has had a positive effect on pupil’s emotional understanding, peer relations and self-control. Parents have commented on the positive effect of the PAThS pupil on their child’s self-esteem. Pupils across the school were keen for our Friday House group time to restart. This was an excellent opportunity to re- establish relationships across the school, and gave pupils the opportunity to feedback on school improvement, health and wellbeing opportunities and pupil voice to be heard. Following feedback from the pupils once Covid guidelines allowed we quickly reintroduced our extra-curricular clubs working with Active Schools. Our Primary 6 class continued with their work in the school vegetable garden, working with a local garden nursery in the village who donated soil, seeds and plants. At harvest time they picked vegetables that had been planted last year and created soup packs that were then distributed to the local senior citizens along with soup recipe cards made by the pupils. Primary 7 went to Lockerbie for a 5 day residential trip where they experienced high quality outdoor learning experiences that allowed them to challenge themselves and have fun and laughter together. Over the 5 days pupils took part in canoeing, climbing, archery, team and individual challenges. These learning activities have led to restored relationships and a stronger school community.
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24 Colgrain Primary School Digital Team Teaching Colgrain’s overall aims for digital learning reflect those of Argyll and Bute Council’s Digital Learning Strategy and the Scottish Government’s 2016 strategy Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology. Our overarching aim is to ensure our children have access to current digital technologies, enabling them to make a significant contribution to our growing digital world, and successfully equipping them with essential skills for life and work. Principal Teacher management time was used to develop the integration of technology within lessons. All classes were able to experience a variety of digital experiences, with the benefit of team teaching. A progressive set of experiences were planned, allowing pupils to have digitally enhanced learning experiences across curricular areas. P1-3 lessons linked to Literacy and Numeracy with children recording digital book reviews, creating digital characters and exploring symmetry through the use of digital photography. P4-5 classes were introduced to basic coding skills using the Blocky coding language. P5 also became animators and after studying the work of Aardman they created their own short films. P6 and P7 explored the tools available to them within Glow creating their own websites, online quizzes and collaborating in real time on documents and spreadsheets. All pupils were able to showcase their learning using our school wide Digital Learning Portfolio and the pupils have become more autonomous, independent users of computing technologies, gaining confidence and enjoyment from the activities.
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25 Kilcreggan Primary School Staff undertook a collaborative enquiry into using play pedagogies to increase engagement in learning using the Leuven Scale as a measure of wellbeing and engagement. An initial non-play based lesson provided a baseline observation followed by play based experiences for the learners. Observations were completed by all 3 researchers using the Leuven scale. Learners experienced higher levels of engagement and wellbeing during the play activities when compared to a non- play based lesson. This suggested play should be developed further. This work linked to the school Improvement Plan priorities of: Raising attainment through improved Listening and Talking Raising attainment in Numeracy through play pedagogies And all four priorities of the National Improvement Framework priorities were impacted positively by this activity. Improvement in attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy; Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged; Improvement in health and wellbeing; Improvement in employability skills. Our next steps are for all staff to self-evaluate indoor and outdoor learning environments to increase learning through play opportunities, to further develop play approach in numeracy and to work with pupils to create a shared understanding of play pedagogies and a shared language.
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26 Luss Primary School All pupils in school successfully engaged in our self-evaluation of ‘relationships and our learning and teaching’ using the How Good is OUR School framework (HGI OUR S). Pupils used results from the baseline survey to support input into school Improvement Plan for the current session and also for next year. Pupils used information the gathered in maths lessons where they analysed and acted on findings from the survey. Information was also shared with parent council and a workshop for data analysis with parents took place to ensure that key findings are acted upon by the parent body. Our quality assurance calendar was introduced and shared with all staff in order to measure impact and know what the strengths and improvements are for the school. Strengths and improvements will be shared with parent council as a standing item on each parent council meeting. Our staff professional learning calendar was shared with all staff and aligned to school priorities, which are informed by pupil voice surveys. One of our exciting developments this year have been the introduction of journaling as a way of ensuring that learners take responsibility for their own learning and progress. With staff undertaking reading and training on the use of journaling as way of raising attainment in literacy and numeracy. As a result learners are much more confident in articulating their ideas and reflecting on their learning.
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27 Parklands School In Parklands this year one of our Improvement priorities focused on Language and communication, a key priority for all our pupils and young people at Parklands, this also ties in with “ensuring children have the best start in life”. One of our pupils who is in primary 2 has limited motor control with no speech has been introduced to eye gaze with the support of our early years childcare worker and instructor. Eye gaze is technology that follows and responds to the movements of the eye. To date this has shown to have the potential for this young pupil who is already able to master the basics of scanning, tracking and holding the focus. It is hoped that as she progresses in the future eye gaze will be a communication device in order that she is able to express opinions, ask for needs and wants and possibly even use as word processing device with voice output. Many of our pupils have huge potential, the exciting part is that now we have the technology to tap into the potential. Article 23- A child with a disability has the right to live a full and decent life with dignity and, as far as possible, independence? Article 29: Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full.
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28 Rhu Primary School Refuweegee Project In Term 2, Primary 5 had been learning about the plight of refugees as part of their interdisciplinary topic on natural disasters. Pupils expressed a strong desire to do something to help these people. We decided to support a Glasgow-based charity called Refuweegee. The charity provides support for refugees who arrive in Glasgow. Pupils linked their topic & literacy together and planned a persuasive campaign to encourage the rest of the school to participate.They opted to support Refuweegee’s Welcome Pack Campaign. This involved putting together individual packs of essentials (toiletries, etc). But the packs had a nice touch as they were to include ‘a letter fae a local’. This made the connection real as the children had to explore their own feeling of how they would feel in the same situation. Their campaign, involved creating persuasive posters and performing a whole class digital charity advert appealing for help. This was uploaded to YouTube and shared with the rest of the school and families. This project linked with the theme of global citizenship and with supporting the development of quality literacy skills. It also tied in with our school improvement plan and with Argyll & Bute’s Rights Respecting Schools goals. The impact of this project was an increased awareness and empathy for global issues surrounding refugees, this was particularly evident during discussions around the current Ukraine crisis. From a learning perspective it enhanced persuasive literacy skills, with all pupils achieving highly in assessed writing linked to this topic.
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29 Rosneath Primary School Primary 5/6 pupils entered the Keep Scotland Beautiful; ‘2022 One Planet Picnic Pocket Garden Competition’ and we were delighted to be selected as a winner. We are now beginning our adventure to build and grow our garden design. Winning Entry Design A Pocket Garden is a miniature garden that uses edible plants, plants that attract wildlife, and that reuses something which would otherwise have been thrown away. The 2022 One Planet Picnic Pocket Garden Competition builds on this, linking garden designs, sustainability and the 2022 Year of Stories. Winning Pupil Design Each pupil in Primary 5/6 rose to the challenge of planning and creating their own designs; containing edible plants, recycled materials and depicting their favourite story. Pupils then voted on their favourite designs. The winning design was a depiction of ‘The Jungle Book’. Together the children then evaluated their entry design and agreed to make further alterations by including an idea from every child’s design; such as plant, habitat or material. The class organised a very successful enterprise jumble sale to raise funds for the project and establish a ‘Garden Centre’. Pupils decided to share their enterprise donations by gifting all classes and nursery children a voucher to spend on their garden grounds for wildlife. The children were motivated to get involved as they all collaborated into the overall design. They worked in groups to identify plants which would be edible to humans and also those which would
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30 attract wildlife, sharing knowledge and utilising technology to research. The children have developed an increased awareness of biodiversity and in particular what they can do to boost this within our school community grounds and at home in their own gardens. Pupils had to select materials from a sustainable source - reusing as much as possible and ensuring compost is peat free. The children related this to prior knowledge from learning about climate change studies and the role of carbon. Pupils creating their design We are now very excited to begin building and growing our design. Here are some of our pupils comments: "It's going to be amazing for us and wildlife!" "When we were finished drawing we voted on the best, then we chose the winning one to build, but we did put in a little bit of everyone." "I like it because when you look at it there's lots of things to look at." "I like the design a lot because it looks really cool. I'm looking forward to building it because it will attract wildlife."
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31 Arrochar Primary School One of our highlights this session at Arrochar Primary School has been our use of PEF funding to employ an outdoor instructor to provide high quality outdoor experiences for children. A range of data indicated that many of our children would benefit from a Health and Wellbeing intervention as part of our education Covid recovery. We had targeted our group of children impacted by poverty who had had reduced opportunities to participate in trips, clubs and activities during school closure and lockdown. As many of these activities involved teamwork all our pupils were able to benefit from this intervention. The focus of these sessions encouraged teamwork, engaging with nature and trying new physical activities. These took place in the school grounds, surrounding areas and local outdoor centre. Activities included bushcraft skills, arts and crafts, climbing and watersports. At regular points in the year we surveyed children, staff and parents to find out the impact of our intervention. We had very positive feedback from all parties. The children particularly have enjoyed being outdoors, reported feeling more confident in trying new things, happier working with others, more calm and more engaged with school.
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32 John Logie Baird Primary School Unique to JLB is our dedicated nurture service run by our very own talented staff member which helps children to build their confidence, self-esteem and self-belief over four terms. Very favourable comments and compliments have been received by parents and children on the impact that this bespoke service has had. We have also opened our new Learning Centre, developed to meet specific needs of a small number of children where learning in the classroom can prove overwhelming. It offers a quiet, fun environment with our committed staff including our learning support teacher and our ASN Assistant. This service has already gained much praise from parents of those who attend, recognising how their child’s outlook has transformed. Access to this provision starts firstly with a Universal Child’s Plan following on with onward referral to the Education Resource Group where a decision is made. Furthermore, we are consulting parents and the locality area occupational therapist about creating two sensory rooms within the Learning Centre. Very recently our P5 class asked the whole school to take part in a sponsored walk to help Ukranian refugees. They, together with accompanying parents, completed the equivalent distance from Kyiv to Helensburgh by walking around our football pitch many times over two weeks!
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33 Garelochhead Primary School This year, in line with the Covid-19 Recovery programme, we have focused on improving the Health and Wellbeing of our pupils and enhanced the Health and Wellbeing curriculum we have at Garelochhead. We have taken our learning outdoors across the stages completing activities such as beach cleans, “Green Man” clay modelling, gardening and den building. All of our classes have incorporated outdoor sessions into their daily programmes, as well as having specific days of the week when they have taken the learning outdoors. PEF funds provided each class with outdoor learning boxes. Pupils have stated that they feel engaged and motivated by these outdoor learning sessions whilst teachers noted that pupils had increased resilience when presented with challenges. Along with our focus on Health and Wellbeing, one of the rooms in our school was transformed into a nurture-inspired base, and pupils spend time in small groups, working on activities to enhance resilience, emotional wellbeing and problem solving abilities. We also delivered Seasons for Growth for a group children, working with the Argyll and Bute Pupil Counselling Service. Across our school you will also see daily emotions check-ins, soft starts each morning and the establishment of ‘quiet zones’ around the school.
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34 St Joseph’s Primary School Our Pupil Council and Eco Committee were able to meet up in person this year for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. We wanted to focus on what mattered to the children and to promote pupil leadership at all stages of the school in developing our health and wellbeing recovery programme. The Pupil Council focused on playground games and equipment and improvements in amenities whilst the Eco Committee wanted to improve the look of the playground to help with a focus on good mental health. The Pupil Council met and minuted their meeting themselves on issues raised, one of which was improvements to the toilets. The Head Teacher subsequently addressed all issues raised and the pupil council were delighted with the results having considered their voices heard. Playground games are being developed together with the Pupil Support Worker who has opted to lead on Playground Games as part of the leadership programme in the school. The Eco Council met outdoors and, at the request of the children, they assessed our outdoor space and what they would do to improve it. The pupils wanted to plant flowers, grow vegetables and hang bird feeders because they felt that flowers and wildlife would improve the mental wellbeing of all stakeholders. In addition we created an Eco Google Classroom so that parents can see an updated report of improvements and make comments. One benefit of this was that a set of parents recognised we needed litter pickers and bought a whole set for the school!
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35 School Contacts SCHOOL HEAD TEACHER ADDRESS WEBSITE Arrochar Primary School Marianne Docherty Arrochar Primary, Tarbet, Arrochar, G83 7DG 01301 702261 http://www.arrochar.argyll‐bute.sch.uk Cardross Primary School Kelly Girling Cardross Primary, Kirkton Road, Cardross, G82 5PN 01389 841433 http://www.cardross.argyll-bute.sch.uk Colgrain Primary School Pauline Walsh Colgrain Primary, Redgauntlet Road, Helensburgh, G84 7TZ 01436 673557 http://www.colgrain.argyll‐bute.sch.uk Garelochhead Primary School Maria McArthur Garelochhead Primary Garelochhead, G84 0DG 01436 810322 http://www.garelochhead.argyll‐ bute.sch.uk Hermitage Primary School Elspeth Davis Hermitage Primary, Argyle Street East, Helensburgh, G84 7EW 01436 672949 http://www.hermitage.argyll‐bute.sch.uk John Logie Baird Primary School Carolyn Randall John Logie Baird Primary Winston Road, Helensburgh, G84 01436 674001 9EP 01436 674001 http://www.johnlogiebaird.argyll‐ bute.sch.uk Kilcreggan Primary School Allison Smith Kilcreggan Primary, School Road, Kilcreggan, G84 0HT 01436 842109 http://www.kilcreggan.argyll‐bute.sch.uk Luss Primary School Gemma Houston Luss Primary, Luss, By Alexandria, G83 8NY 01436 860244 http://www.luss.argyll‐bute.sch.uk Parklands School Gwen Gilmour Parklands, 27 Charlotte Street, Helensburgh, G84 7EZ 01436 673714 http://www.parklands.argyll‐bute.sch.uk Rhu Primary School Catherine Tetlow Rhu Primary School Road, Rhu, G84 8RS 01436 820316 http://www.rhu.argyll‐bute.sch.uk Rosneath Primary School Emma McDermid Rosneath Primary, Rosneath, G84 0RJ 01436 831354 http://www.rosneath.argyll‐bute.gov.uk
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36 St Joseph’s Primary School Michelle Collins St Joseph’s Primary, Old Luss Road, Helensburgh, G84 7LR 01436 671748 http://www.st‐josephs.argyll‐bute.sch.uk