School Improvement Priorities 25/26

Every year, all schools choose specific areas that they would like to develop and focus on. Following a school self-evaluation, along with feedback from parents, carers, children and staff, we have decided on the following school development priorities for this academic year:

1. Closing the gap between children at risk of underachievement and their peers

This is always our first target as it is an area you can never lose focus on. Nationally there is an academic achievement gap between children classed as disadvantaged for whom schools receive a Pupil Premium Grant, and their peers. There is also an achievement gap between children from different ethnic groups.

The gaps at Telferscot as much smaller than national average. For many of the children who are not working at age-related expectation, there are multiple barriers to learning and the solution is not straight forward. Each child at Telferscot is treated as an individual and so the support needed is bespoke. Some need specialist or specific support due to them having a special educational need or disability, whilst others may not have English as their first language. Some families need support to improve attendance and some children need more life experiences that their families have not been able to provide.

The progress and attainment of all children is carefully monitored by the class teachers and teaching assistants every day, with standardised assessments taking place three times a year. Interventions and additional support is put in place for those children who need it. Senior leaders closely monitor the achievement of all children and may allocate enhanced or specialist support if needed. The school governors receive a detailed anonymised report three times a year so they have oversight of academic attainment across the school.

2. Maintaining our offer in a challenging landscape

The education sector, as with all public services, continues to be under increasing pressure. School budgets have not kept up with the high levels of inflation of recent years, and national school staff pay increase have not been fully funded by government. Everything is getting more expensive! Schools have been expected to do more and more to fill the gap left by the closure of other community services and the increase in children with special educational needs and disabilities continues to put a strain on the limited resources schools have. As you are probably aware, due to decline in birth rate, there are now less child in the UK. Lambeth is the most affected part of the country and Lambeth primary schools currently have over 4,000 vacancies. Unlike the majority of Lambeth schools, Telferscot continues to be oversubscribed in Early Years which has helped protect our budget to an extent. Some Lambeth schools are closing, downsizing and amalgamating, with more schools making changes to be announced in the near future. Telferscot has been assessed as being in the lowest risk category for any actions needing to be taken by the local authority. Twenty-three Lambeth schools are currently in a financial cumulative deficit. Telferscot is not one of them and continues to have a balanced budget.

Over the last few years at Telferscot we have successfully been doing our best to tackle financial challenges by taking a range of measures aimed at making efficiencies without affecting our pupil offer. Despite this, budgets are tighter than ever and we are continuing to look at further savings and ways to increase our income.

Last academic year, our PSA raised over £40,000 which helped to fund a range of activities that we otherwise would not have been able to provide. We also launched an online wish list for classroom resources and lots of parents and carers generously purchased and provided a range of items to support classroom learning. We are incredibly grateful to the PSA and families for their kind contributions, and hope that there will continue to be a high level of engagement in community and fund raising activities this year.

We continue to work with governors and the local authority to ensure the budget remains balanced despite all the challenges and turmoil around us.

3. Developing our knowledge and application of AI (Artificial Intelligence)

The world is changing. The rapid advancements in AI are being utilised by individuals and organisations in a range of ways and we are just at the dawn of the AI revolution. There is lots to consider when implementing AI and this year at Telferscot we will be exploring this in greater depth.

• How can AI help school staff to work more efficiently?
• How can AI help staff to adapt resources for individual children with special educational needs or English as an additional language?
• What policies do we need to put in place to ensure we use AI safely and appropriately?
• What skills and knowledge do we need to instil in the children for a future where AI and AGI is commonplace?

In June 2025, the government released guidance and some training materials for schools. We will also be conducting our own research. We have a fabulous, experienced staff team and are looking to lead the way with innovations to improve outcomes for all children.