Onwards & Upwards - The Braes Context
Welcome to the fourth Pupil Equity Fund update from Braes High school. In this update we bring you information about the work undertaken in 2020-2021 to close the poverty related attainment gap and ensure equity in education across our school.
In session 2020-2021 Braes High School received £64,486 in Pupil Equity Funding.
Our Onwards & Upwards programme supports young people and their families in both targeted and universal ways. Many families are affected by poverty and this number has increased over the last year. Our focus this session has been on recovery and providing support as we meet the challenges of learning through COVID-19. Raising attainment and increasing opportunities for our learners is at the heart of everything we do. This year we planned to increase awareness around the cost of the school day and of the supports available in school to maximise income for families.
Whole School
- 999 school roll
- 130 entitled to FME (13% of total)
- 4% increase in FME on previous year
- SIMD 1-4 21.2%
- SIMD 5-7 20.22%
- SIMD 8-10 58.53%
Our Strategy
Onwards & Upwards as a strategy to close the attainment gap understands that FME is not the only indicator of need among our families. With this in mind, our programme of interventions supports young people both in targeted and universal ways through inclusion of all pupils in SIMD 1-3 and an open referral system to O&U interventions where all staff can highlight the need for support.
Barriers identified through consultation with staff, pupils, Parents/Carers and partner agencies were:
- Attendance
- Confidence
- Engagement
- Exclusions
At the centre of our “Onwards & Upwards” strategy are three key focus areas tackling these barriers:
- Building strong, positive relationships
- Engaging learners and raising aspirations
- Community engagement
Our focus in Year 4 of PEF has been on "closing the gap" through the introduction of Targeted Attainment Groups supported by members of staff and on maximising income for families through a whole school approach to reducing the cost of the school day.
“Community Engagement” with emphasis on Family Learning and Engagement has again been a significant focus this year as we supported young people and their families with home learning. Providing Parents and Carers the tools needed to support their young person's learning at home has been vital and provided the opportunity to continue to build strong links between home and school.
Our strategy focuses on interventions that:
- get all pupils attending and achieving more
- increase confidence in our learners through engagement and participation
- build resilience and encourage self-care and positive mental health
- de-escalate and explore alternatives to exclusion
- raise learner aspirations and facilitate Family Learning
- reduce the cost of the school day and maximise income
Impact
- Attendance in session 2020-2021 shows a 4.24% improvement for the period August-December 2019-2020
- Exclusion in session 2020-2021 shows a positive trend overall (August-December)
- Braes Bites our Home Learning playlist on YouTube has added 15 home learning videos from across Faculties
- Over 1200 views since launch
- 40 families supported through our Braes Festive Parcels programme
- Over 90 responses to P/C Cost of the School Day survey
Talking About Money
After consulting with staff and pupils on the hidden costs of school last session in August we sought views of Parents/Carers as to the main costs of school and the challenges they face day to day.
Top Three Costs:
- Uniform
- Lunch
- Trips
60% of respondents said they were aware of the supports on offer at Braes
In response to suggestions raised in our survey we created a "You Said, We Did" graphic to show how we are targeting support in these areas. We also issued a "Support at Braes" communication to all Parents/Carers to raise awareness of the supports currently on offer.
One thing highlighted during this survey was that some Parents/Carers were not aware of all the supports available which led us to explore how we can make it clear to all that help is available and reach a wider audience.
Making it Clear When Help is available
Talking about money and costs can be difficult so we wanted to make sure all members of our Braes community were aware of the supports on offer, knew financial help was available and that we made accessing that help as easy and non-stigmatising as possible.
To make sure all families were aware of help available we introduced a dedicated COSD section to our website where Parents/Carers can find out about supports and can email directly for assistance.
By communicating in a forum open to all in our Braes community we made it clear that money worries can affect everyone and that help is available for all. This approach also removed some of the anxiety around speaking to the school directly or having to call and ask for help.
Since introducing this section of the website we have seen an increase in Parents/Carers contacting the school for support, advice, or financial help.
Working as part of the NHS led "Facing Up to Child Poverty in Schools" network group has led to our inclusion in Child Poverty Action Group's "Talking About Costs and Money" resource as a Case Study school.
Social media and simple graphics have also been a great way to share with our community the supports available.
Maximising Income - Braes Festive Parcels
Nearly 40 families got in touch to sign up to our Braes Festive Parcels programme which provided families with groceries and festive treats over the Christmas break.
Thank you so much for the Braes delivery package...I'm honestly blown away by the kindness and the amount I received
Great service really pleased with the stuff I received and will help my family
Excellent parcels and I hope they help other families in years to come as we were so happy to receive them
Just thank you so much!!! My kids were very excited about all the extra goodies we received
Digital Support and Learning
One of the challenges facing families during online learning has been online connectivity and access to digital devices. In the Summer term we applied for a received support through Connecting Scotland for 5 Chromebooks and mini devices to support families. We also received free data SIM cards from Vodafone and wifi vouchers from BT which were issued to support our families to stay connected.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
We continued our reduce, reuse, recycle theme encouraging our community to think about the impact of fast fashion and revamp their wardrobe with some pre-loved items with two Pop Up shops this year.
Our first pop-up took place in the Winter term and while people were not able to come into school we adapted and created a Pop Up catalogue online. The link to our "online store" was sent to all Parents/Carers via email, GroupCall and twitter.
Switching to an online ordering process meant Parents/Carers could browse our catalogue at their leisure, fill in an order form to request specific items and we'd deliver the items direct to their door.
We found this was a great way to engage with our school community, remove stigma, and reduce some of the anxiety around contacting school. We saw a significant increase in engagement and the number of families and young people we reached based on the previous year.
Our "Summer Clothing" pop up which includes PE kit and sportswear is currently live and already has orders coming in.
Braes Backpacks
There's a real sense of community at Braes High school and this is driven forward by our pupils. Our Braes Backpack project provides a school bag full of resources to give new S1 pupils the best possible start at secondary school.
The programme is led by Senior students who wish to encourage new pupils to make the most of their time at Braes, to "be part of it" and to ensure each young person has the same fresh start. Each backpack is free, includes all the items you might need for school along with a "hero" message from an S6 pupil with advice from their school experience.
These backpacks were delivered to our Primary schools in the last week of term. This programme has also received support from Friends at Braes.
Targeted Attainment Groups - Pilot
This session we have trialled a project of Targeted Attainment with one member of staff providing support to a small group of learners. These young people were identified through discussion with pupils, teachers, Pastoral, Pupil Support as benefiting from a more individualised programme of support.
S1 - Best Foot Forward
Led by Miss McDonald the "Best Foot Forward" programme provides support with the transition from Primary to Secondary school for our S1 pupils.
We piloted this programme as part of the Enhancement course in S1 and aimed to build strong, positive relationships.
Young people worked closely with Miss McDonald to identify areas of strength and development to focus on during their first year.
Impact:
- 97% of pupils have increased their Literacy level this session
- significant decrease in negative referrals across the group
- 44% of the group achieved at least one Junior award with one pupil receiving 6 awards
- 80% of the group maintained attendance of 86% or higher
- one pupil has shown an 35% improvement in attendance (Aug-May)
After the successful piloting of this project, next session all S1 will take part in the Best Foot Forward programme as part of the S1 curriculum. This course will provide regular support with their class teacher tracking and monitoring progress and offering pupils support and encouragement twice a week. A smaller targeted group will be provided individualised support from Miss McDonald.
S2 - Onwards & Upwards
Miss Godfrey has been working with our S2 pupils this session. Some of the challenges facing our S2 group were attendance, engagement, and attainment.
Miss Godfrey's nurturing approach focused on positive reinforcement and built strong relationships with her group. Regular check-ins in school allowed a flexible and solution-based approach when challenges arose. This continued during lockdown where the Team met over Teams and where her dog, Penny, was a favourite chat topic.
Impact:
- One pupil has improved their attendance from 45% during lockdown to 100% this term
- This group saw a 32% increase in pupils receiving award at our yearly Junior Awards ceremony
- Despite COVID we've seen participation in clubs within the group increase by 10% over the year
S3 - Onwards & Upwards
Mrs Paterson in the Maths department has been leading our S3 group of 35 pupils. A challenge facing our S3 group was engagement and building confidence in our learners.
Impact:
- 89% working at Level 3 or above in Literacy
- 91% working at Level 3 or above in Numeracy
- 35% of pupils received 1 or more awards at our Junior Award ceremony
S4 - Ascent
Mr Deane has been working with an S4 group of 43 pupils to support them to reach their potential and ensure they completed S4 with at least 5 National Qualifications.
At the start of the project 95% of the group were identified as being "off track" in at least one subject.
Sharing data with classroom teachers and offering daily support helped to identify individual challenges to learning but also aided in the development of strategies and targeted support towards each young person's needs.
A staff planning tool provided classroom teachers with the mechanism to establish effective strategies to maximise pupil attainment and introduce fallback qualifications where needed.
Working in small groups, or with individuals, Mr Deane has delivered N3 and N4 qualifications and supported our young people to get "over the line" despite the challenging circumstances this year.
Impact:
- 95.5% of pupils now have 5 qualifications
- 62% of pupils gaining 6 qualifications
- 0 exclusions
Family Learning & Engagement
Family Learning & Engagement Lead, Ruth Kelly, continues to support families with learning at home and through our Flourish and Braes on Screen projects.
S1 Flourish & Slow Cooker Project
With the Government shutdown of schools between the Christmas and Easter breaks we wanted to make sure we maintained positive relationships built in the first term and continued to build the confidence of our learners. This led to our "Slow Cooker Project".
We had gauged level of interest in the project through responses to feedback of our Braes Festive Parcels and began this project as a pilot with a group of 11 families in our Flourish group.
We provided each family with a free slow cooker and delivered ingredients every Tuesday. Young people and their families would then take part in a live cooking session via Microsoft Teams each Wednesday at 10am.
The aim was to provide healthy, budget-friendly recipes and encourage families to cook together, try new foods and build confidence as well as strengthen relationships between home and school.
We also provided recipes every Wednesday on our Family Learning and O&U twitter feeds to encourage families in our wider Braes Community to get involved though a "Big Braes Cook-a-long".
“Pupil A has changed, he is now spending more time with his family and going out more and he is well pleased that all the family have congratulated him and appreciated the feedback he has received from everyone. They all sit as a family eating the dishes which has made Pupil A feel special, I am very proud of him and am delighted with the way it has helped him and his family through the very tough year they have had they have grown so close. I would urge anyone to join this project as it is well worth it.”
“Pupil B and I enjoyed the cooking classes. It was lovely to see Pupil B following instructions. His confidence has grown in the kitchen, and I now have a new confidence in Pupil B and ask him to help out more in the kitchen.”
“I was really worried about my daughter before she took part in the slow cooker project but it has changed her life. She is more confident she loves cooking and she spends more time with her family. Pupil C and family are moving into a new house and the slow cooker is going with us as she is going to make her dishes for all the family every week.”
All families who took part keep the slow cooker to continue cooking together. As part of the project we are producing a recipe book with family favourite recipes. S1 Families are currently working on producing a front cover for this recipe book. We have applied for funding through Education Scotland's Food for Thought Fund to continue and expand this project for more families next session.
Barnardo's
We have continued our work with Barnardo's this session. Barnardo's work in and out of school supporting young people and working with families. This programme will continue over the summer break and next session.
Braes Brains
Our Braes Brains- Peer Tutoring programme continues to utilise the experience and knowledge of Senior students to provide support to our young people. Working online via teams, meant pupils could leave questions get support. We have had 7 partnerships this session.
BB Peer Tutor: I think Pupil A has been very enthusiastic and always asked questions until she grasped any concepts. I think she’s a very bright girl who will do well in maths in future years. It’s been a pleasure to help you on your journey!
BB Tutee: Thank you for helping me understand all of the areas I struggled with, it was a great help!
Braes Buddies
Our Braes Buddies Therapets, Jamie and Dexter, might not have been able to come into school this year but that didn't stop Jamie and Janette keeping in touch and offering support to our young people.
Janette took her support online this session and met with classes virtually. She also provided our new S1 with a video all about Jamie and the work he does at Braes and in the community. We look forward to welcoming Janette and Jamie and Dexter back into school soon.
Summer Activity Programme
Working with CLD we ran a successful holiday programme in 2019 providing activities one day a week throughout the Summer break. This session we will be working with a group of 12 pupils every Wednesday on an activities programme both in school and out in the community. The focus is on health and well-being with activities in outdoor learning, cooking healthy food and creativity.
Moving Onwards & Upwards 2021-2022
Braes High will receive £70,062 in Pupil Equity Funding for session 2020-2021.
As with our School Improvement Plan our focus will be on recovery as we encourage positive mental health and support our young people and their families as we hopefully return to a more familiar environment in school. We hope to take the lessons we have learned through the experience of digital and blended learning to maintain strong relationships between home and school but also to foster a flexible and inclusive approach to learning that allows learners to engage with school in a way that meets their needs and ensures they can reach their potential for excellence.
We're delighted to be expanding our team after the successful trialling of Target Attainment Year Leads this session. Miss McDonald, Miss Godfrey and Mrs Paterson will continue their roles and will be joined by Miss Binnie supporting S4 and Mrs Liesse-Fernandez who will focus on Pupil Engagement. Ensuring our young people and their families feel supported and have early access to the right supports needed is essential to closing the gap.
Some of the programmes we will be including for next session are:
- Continuing to support equity in the classroom through: CLPL sessions delivered to staff, COSD, and Pupil Premium funding projects
- Small group targeted support through Flourish, Explore, O&U Challenge & Ascent
- Barnardo's
- Encouraging talking about costs and money through COSD and effective communication with all our Braes community
- Maximising income for families through COSD and financial advice a from a Benefits Advisor
We would like to thank our young people and their families for their support this session. We look forward to continuing to raise attainment and reduce the cost of the school day for our Braes Community next session.
If you would like to get involved or find out more about "Onwards & Upwards" at Braes please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Email: emma.taylor@falkirk.gov.uk Tel: 01324 719 551
School Website: https://www.braeshigh.com
Twitter: Follow @On&UpBHS @BraesHigh
YouTube: Subscribe Braes High
Credits:
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