St Mary’s Primary (Ruabon) School

Teachers are innovative in supporting pupils to strengthen their writing. For example, they use well-chosen children's literature to spark their class's interest and promote creative writing. They support pupils to write imaginatively, selecting well-chosen vocabulary. Once pupils have aired, verbally rehearsed and then drafted their writing, they use AI generated images to recreate their descriptions. Pupils compare the image to the picture they had visualised, inside their heads. This gives the pupils, especially those learning English as an additional language, useful and thought-provoking feedback about where they might strengthen the description or refine their text.

At St Mary's RC school, the professional development approach through whole school enquiry has inspired and benefitted staff and their pupils. Statutory performance management is known as 'professional growth'. This approach includes a breadth of professional reading and careful classroom trials of better focused methodologies. It results in improved learning experiences and greater staff motivation. This teacher-led innovation promotes collaboration both within and beyond the school, with a clear focus on school improvement, ultimately making a positive impact on learners' outcomes.