1. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Crossford Primary School Composite Classes

2. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Why do we have composite classes? Scottish Government Class Sizes P1 – 25 children; P2-3- 30 children; P4- 7 33; 25 for composites Crossford Year group sizes vary from 19-35 (31 in this year’s Primary 1) so composites are necessary 26.9% of Scottish pupils were in composite classes last session

3. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all How do we work out composite classes? Fife Council allocate the number of teachers based on maximum class sizes and the EXACT number of pupils. Excel Spreadsheet Given the number of classes centrally and then each Headteacher must allocate their classes. Age must remain the key criterion for the allocation of pupils to classes Number of pupils within each group in a composite class: The paper states that there will normally be a viable working group of pupils from each stage within a composite class. Although the proportion of pupils from each year group may vary (especially in small schools), it is recommended that a group of at least 5 pupils would be required to meet this criterion in any composite class of 25 pupils (Standard Circular APP4)

4. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Educational Research on Composites Researchers have explored the possible impact of composite classes on pupils’ cognitive and non-cognitive development Educational Psychologist Veenman conducted a large scale study There is no evidence to show that composite classes affect pupils’ progress adversely. Their academic and social progress is, Veenman concluded ‘simply no worse and simply no better’ than pupils in single- age classes Specific Scottish research commissioned by the Scottish Executive concluded that "there is no evidence to show that composite classes affect pupils adversely. It is possible that pupils may gain socially from the experience." This is borne out by the findings of HMI inspections in schools Children in composite classes are at no disadvantage

5. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Won’t my child be held back? Definitely not! The ways in which learning and teaching are organised in primary schools means that work is tailored to the needs and current achievement levels of individual pupils. Much work is undertaken in small groups and it is at least as easy to form groups with similar existing achievement levels in a composite class as it is in a non-composite class. Furthermore, the school will plan the educational experiences for pupils in all classes in ways which ensure progression and continuity. How do schools ensure that each pupil is working at an appropriate level? Curriculum for Excellence guidelines require that every pupil should have learning experiences which are appropriate to their own level of development. Every pupil follows a planned programme of learning that aims to help them progress and achieve their potential. This applies whether your child is in a composite class or a single year group class. The school will also provide opportunities for pupils from the same stage to work together. In this way pupils will continue to identify with their own year group. In addition there is often less of an age gap within a composite class.

6. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Meet Morag and Malcolm – they are going into a Primary 3/4 class in August

7. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all How are the core subjects taught? The importance of differentiation Two types of differentiation- by task and by outcome. Literacy and numeracy tend to be taught in groups according to ability (not age). This is differentiation by task. This will include: maths groups; spelling groups; reading groups etc. The children are assessed for ability on a number of different aspects including teacher judgement; formative assessments and diagnostic testing. Ability is not fixed which is why children may move spelling, maths or reading groups as appropriate. Again academic research proves that being in the top group is not the most important thing but being in the “right” group is. Ability grouping does not take age into account. It is common for a Primary 3 child to be working at a “Primary 5 level” and it also common for a Primary 5 child to be working at a Primary 3 level.

8. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Morag and Malcolm's Literacy and Numeracy Differentiated by task ( ability grouping) Morag is in Primary 4; Malcolm is in Primary 3. Morag’s birthday is December 12 th Malcolm’s birthday is January 12 th Morag’s chronological age is 7 years and 6 months Malcolm’s chronological age is 7 years and 5 months

9. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Morag and Malcolm’s Literacy Morag has a reading age of 6 years and 11 months (7 months behind her chronological age). This was established through diagnostic testing and confirmed by teacher judgement. At the end of Primary 3, she was reading ORT Stage 8. She was half way through the stage. At the start of Primary 4 she will continue reading ORT Stage 8. In her group she will have children of a similar reading age. This means she may have Primary 3s and Primary 4s in her group.

10. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Morag and Malcolm’s Literacy Michael has a reading age of 8 years and 10 months (1 year and 5 months ahead of his chronological age). This was established through diagnostic testing and confirmed by teacher judgement. At the end of Primary 2, he was reading ORT Stage 11. He was almost finished the stage. At the start of Primary 3 he will continue reading ORT Stage 11 and then start Stage 12. In his group he will have children of a similar reading age. This means he may have Primary 3s and Primary 4s in his group.

11. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Morag and Malcolm’s Numeracy Morag has a mental maths age of 8 years and 5 months (11 months ahead of chronological age). This was established through diagnostic testing and confirmed by teacher judgement. At the end of Primary 3, she was working on SHM4 and Teejay First Level At the start of Primary 4 she will on from where she left off. In her group she will have children of a similar maths age/ ability. This means she may have Primary 3s and Primary 4s in her group.

12. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Morag and Malcolm’s Literacy Michael has a mental maths age of 7 years and 3 months (pretty much chronological age). This was established through diagnostic testing and confirmed by teacher judgement. At the end of Primary 2, he had just finished SHM 2 in number and was working on SHM 3 for Maths. At the start of Primary 3 he will carry on exactly where he left off. In his group he will have children of a similar maths age/ ability. This means he may have Primary 3s and Primary 4s in his group.

13. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Other curricular areas “I don’t want my child doing a Primary 3 project when they are in Primary 4.” There is no such thing as a Primary 3 project. It is simply a context for learning adapted appropriately. I taught Mary Queen of Scots at Primary 5; a topic my daughter has just finished studying in her Honours year of a History degree Primary 6 did Crossford as a topic last year and this year Primary 1 and 2 plan to do Crossford as a topic The learning that happens at each stage is different not the topic.

14. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Other Curricular Areas When the teacher is not teaching ability groups, the work is differentiated by outcome and level of support. The whole class will study the same thing but the outcomes for each pupil will be different according to their ability in that particular thing. This will include social subjects; writing; expressive arts; technologies; health and well-being etc. It is the teacher’s job to tailor the work to the individual.

15. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all How is this different from a single stage class? It’s not. Single stage classes are organised in exactly the same way as composite classes. There is no difference in their educational experience.

16. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all What social impact is there? Research indicates that there is either no impact or possibly beneficial impact in experiencing a composite class. At Crossford we do the following things: Opportunities to mix at break and lunch. If there is wet break, children are allowed to be in either classroom. Joint trips ( but not every one as the main focus of excursions is learning) House events with their stage Ensuring they are in stage level concerts Joint treats such as Christmas parties

17. Education and Children’s Services Directorate Improving educational attainment and achievement for all Questions? How are we ensuring they are not left out socially? As previous slide but also partnership working with home. We have the children 1140 hours a year. If we take away 10 hours a day from sleep, they are at home (and awake!) 2450 hours a year; more than double the time at school. At school we build social skills and confidence and resilience to allow your child to hopefully flourish in any social situation. At home the focus can be on fostering existing and new friendships.