National Association for Small Schools

Richard Maudsley, Education Officer for the Diocese of Exeter, welcomed everyone to the conference. He reminisced about his experiences as headteacher of a very small rural school, which was at the centre of its local community; at a time when Molly Stiles was chairman of what was then called NASSS.

Bill Goodhand, chairman of NASS, explained how the organisation, originally called the National Association for the Support of Small Schools had been set up by Molly Stiles, ably supported by her husband, in 1978. This was in response to the large numbers of small rural schools threatened with closure because of concerns about surplus places. Her enthusiatic advocacy of the value of small school education saved many from closure.

He then introduced Mervyn Benford, NASS information officer, who gave the first Stiles Memorial Address on "Small Schools- Assets not Liabilities". Mervyn encouraged people to actively celebrate the standard of education provided by small rural and urban schools; he refuted the mantra that small schools cost more, giving factual evidence to show that when all expenditure on schools is taken into consideration, cost per pupil is comparable or even less.

Angela Palin, head teacher of St Mellion C.E. Primary School then tackled the challenging topic of "Working with Governors to achieve outstanding". Angela spoke from her experience of leading a school from "having serious weaknesses" to "outstanding". She said the responsibilities of governors had evolved and now their role was to help shape the direction of the school; they needed to know the school and to see its potential and in order to do this they must take the opportunity to walk round the school, look and listen.

Governors should be actively involved in setting the structure within the school and helping to pinpoint individual strengths. They should be helping to determine the vision, understanding the aims, objectives and priorities and assist in writing the action plans. They should be involved in observing the implementation of new initiatives and monitoring the impact of change.

Angela believed it was vital to establish lines of communication with standard pro forma to communicate actions. The governing body drew up a calendar of tasks; the prospectus was reviewed in September; visits to school during the day were timetabled to observe playtimes, lunchtimes and pro forma were devised for monitoring ethos. The teaching staff came to governors¡¦ meetings to talk about aspects of school life; staff and governors worked together to build up evidence with reviews being undertaken by governors and staff. Curriculum subjects on the action plan had a governor assigned to monitor progress for the year. The governors gave out annual pupil and parent questionnaires which fed into the annual review in October. They acted as critical friends. This all led to a rapid management of change to ensure a thriving school community. Outstanding governance was characterised by:

• Long standing governors having confidence, with the ability to support new governors
• The embedding of robust procedures - reports, reviews and effective communication
• Ability to focus on the future because systems were in place.

Garry Reed from Swimbridge C.E. Primary then led the session "Raising Attainment in Maths, adding and developing excellence and enjoyment". He admitted that as a child in primary school, his way of surviving maths lessons was to sit next to a mathematically able boy and copy. Only later did he realise the importance of discovering the patterns in mathematics and learning the short cuts. Garry asserted that "Mathematics provides skills for everyday life and is vital to prepare us for the future".

Garry acknowledged that planning was important; differentiation essential and that the learning objectives - where you are going - was the key but was detailed daily planning really necessary? He declared that assessment should to be continuous, with the teacher responding to the needs of the pupils as the lesson progressed. He believes that maths should be taught in an environment of fun- with failure rare but allowed. Garry talked about the importance of knowing times tables and of practising them frequently, of giving plenty of opportunities for mathematical investigations, encouraging explanation of how the problem was solved and identifying short cuts to calculating answers. Comments from the children included "we have fun lessons/special rememberings with short cuts and patterns/lots of investigations. I have a brilliant teacher who makes maths fun and exciting." We agreed. His presentation was dynamic, enthusiastic and aspirational - those listening felt inspired.

After lunch, the theme was "Delivering outstanding in EYFS/KS1 classes- 2 approaches" using two very different approaches. Unfortunately there had to be a change to the planned programme as Lizzy Webber, who taught a EYFS/KS1 class at Blisland Community Primary School had been asked to attend a job interview on the same day (at which she was successful) and so was unable to make the conference. She did however send copies of her planning which were available to anyone interested.

Jayne Peacock, executive head teacher of the West Exmoor Federation, which is composed of Lynton, Parracombe and Kentisbury Primary Schools, then presented, with colleague teachers, their approach. Jayne explained that the small number of pupils at Kentisbury School threatened its viability and by forming a federation the schools took charge of their own destiny. She believes that the federation enabled each school to retain its own uniqueness whilst developing community cohesion.

Since federating, the two smaller schools, Parracombe and Kentisbury schools have become key stage specific sites. The pupils are registered at their home school with minibus transport between schools provided by the federation. Children in Reception and Key Stage 1 are primarily taught at Kentisbury within an EYFS class or a Year 1/2 class. Kentisbury also has a Pre-school and a Forest school. Children in KS2 are primarily taught at Parracombe within a Year 3/4 class and a Year 5/6 class. Once a week children from both schools come together for a community day alternating between the two schools. This gives the pupils the opportunity to be taught by specialist subject teachers for music, science etc.

The final presentation was by Nicola Morris who, joined by three pupils from Crudwell C of E Primary School, talked about using "The International Curriculum". Head teacher of an outstanding school, Nicola wanted to use a curriculum which challenged the pupils and enabled them to become independent learners. The International Primary Curriculum provides over 90 thematic units of work, each spanning between 4 and 8 weeks from early years to age 12. Each unit contains a framework for the teachers, including details of learning targets with each pupil¡¦s learning journey being assessed against learning criteria. The children spoke confidently and enthusiastically about the work they had produced showing examples of a project on Charles Mackintosh, looking at architecture and interiors; mosaics and associated art work; along with an example of being a young entrepreneur: running a shoe shining business to raise money for the Haiti earthquake.

Although there was a cost to be an IPC school, Nicola felt it was well worth the investment.