Published on:
16
April 2012
Park Primary School in Alloa has beaten off stiff competition from across Scotland to be selected as a finalist at the Scottish Education Awards 2012.
The school has been shortlisted for the Literacy Across Learning Award to celebrate the Clackmannanshire Language Intervention Project (CLIP) which was developed at Park Primary School, Deerpark Primary and Banchory Primary.
CLIP is a collaborative approach between health and education services, a speech and language therapist and class teachers. The unique project delivers programmes to whole school populations rather than identifying individual children.
The project works in partnership with parents, schools and nurseries to develop a coordinated approach to developing the language and communication skills of children from nursery to P2.
At Park Primary, a series of meetings took place with class teachers to identify pupils' needs and concerns. The team researched the effectiveness of a variety of language and communication resources to support early communication and literacy skills. The key focus was on listening, expressive language skills and the social use of language.
They adopted a coaching approach with class teachers and parents joining the sessions. This provided opportunities for observation, discussion and modeling new approaches. Weekly evaluations allowed the team to be flexible and provide specific and tailored follow-up activities and responses.
The team asked Park Primary staff to complete a questionnaire to ascertain their skills, knowledge and confidence levels in areas of language and communication skills, while parents were also invited to attend parent sessions
Pupils at Park Primary were asked to evaluate their CLIP groups which indicated that the groups were popular with children and something that they looked forward to.
The project has been a big success and Park Primary is continuing to use many of the interventions demonstrated by the project. Language through Listening is still being delivered for P1 students and the nurture class teacher is available to P1 pupils. The Play and Share Bags adapted by the CLIP team for Park Primary are still used by school staff and parents.
The judges selected Park Primary and the CLIP team as worthy finalists to acknowledge the success of the project which has not only improved the learning potential of the children directly involved but will have an ongoing impact on future pupils at Park Primary.
Belinda Greer, Head of Education at Clackmannanshire Council said: "I'm delighted that Park Primary School is a finalist in these coveted awards. In Clackmannanshire, we work hard to make sure schools are part of the community, supporting happy, active and creative students. Park Primary exemplifies this, and my congratulations go to everyone at the school for going the extra mile."
Park Primary will join finalists at an awards ceremony at the Hilton Hotel, Glasgow on Tuesday 12 June 2012 where judges will unveil the winners of each award category.
People in Clackmannanshire are being thanked for nominating their local schools, nurseries or individuals into the Scottish Education Awards 2012 so that their exceptional achievements can be recognised.
The awards, which celebrate the achievements of schools and teachers across Scotland, are open to all publicly funded schools, including secondary, primary, nursery and special schools. There are also categories to recognise and reward the dedication of teachers, head-teachers and support staff across the country.
For further information visit www.scottisheducationawards.org.uk
A specially selected panel of judges will select winners in each category at an awards ceremony at Hilton Hotel, Glasgow on Tuesday 12 June 2012.
Categories at this year's Scottish Education Awards include:
Active Nation Award
Learning Through Technology Award
Aiming High Award
Lifetime Achievement
Educational Supporter of the Year
Literacy Across Learning Award
Enterprise and Employability Across Learning Award (Primary and Early Years)
Enterprise and Employability Across Learning Award (Secondary)
Numeracy Across Learning Award
Partnership for Learning Award
Entrepreneurial Learning Award
Probationary Teacher of the Year
Sustainable Schools Award
Global Citizenship Award
Teacher of the Year
Headteacher of the Year
Health and Wellbeing Award
For further information please contact Ashleigh Colquhoun or Nicola Armstrong from Consolidated PR on 0131 240 6420 or ashleighc@consolidatedpr.com / nicolam@consolidatedpr.com