Becoming a vital part of the wider community
In addition to the Perth links already mentioned, building positive working relationships with the educational community is important for Glebe and other educational establishments. We have been keen to give opportunities for colleagues to see us as a resource and for us to collaborate with them in mutually developmental ways. Some ways this has been taken forward are through the transition review process as pupils leave or enter the school and by actively encouraging colleagues to visit Glebe.

Changing the perceptions of the wider community about Glebe School has been high on our agenda and we have more to do on this. A very successful Open Evening held at the end of September assisted in this process and has laid a good foundation for further work. This task is highlighted by the proposed new school build when, in a few years, we will be relocated in a school campus alongside Perth Academy, as part of the Authority’s Investment in Learning Project. This has opened up a whole realm of possibilities for Glebe and the Academy and the strategy for Special Educational Needs in Perth and Kinross. Personnel from the schools, parents and Officers from Education and Children’s Services are working together to create a new, exciting and relevant educational provision for the 21st Century.

We have good working and professional relationships with personnel from Perth College, Careers Scotland and Social Work. We want to create further opportunities to integrate their work into the work of the school in order to support pupils as they move on to their appropriate placements after school. There are challenges and opportunities as to how this can best be achieved. We have to ensure a balance of support to enable teachers to have time for on-going curricular work as well as the important dimension of the preparation to move on. As we continue to develop our programmes of study and curriculum policies, this will be achieved.

As we move towards developing Integrated Community Schools in the Authority, we want to make it easy for the community to come to the school. We already use local community facilities as educational resources (see Picture F) to enhance the educational experience of pupils and we want to develop this further. Work experience placements are an obvious way of doing this and we are now formulating plans for a range of such experiences. During the summer term of last session we put on a lively school show and members of the community supported us very well. Members of staff have undertaken talks to local groups about the work of the school and that has added to the profile of the school being raised. Local groups support us financially and fundraise on our behalf.

We are keen to develop the links with a range of community based groups so that two way processes develop and build up. Our pupils should never be perceived as passive recipients of the good will of others - they themselves have so much to offer (see Picture G). We must encourage them to develop as citizens in the School’s local community and in their own communities. We have much to do in this area and it will once again form a good deal of our work in the coming sessions. There is a tremendous feeling of goodwill in the community for the pupils in the school, so we have a good platform on which to build. The school chaplain is a regular contributor to assembly – a good friend of the school who will be coming in to take part in the Religious and Moral Education programme.

Residence experience
The residence - registered with the Care Commission as School Care Accommodation - offers pupils opportunities to develop their personal independence skills. The focus may be on personal care and hygiene, daily organisational skills, behaviour management or social skills. The number of pupils staying overnight each night is informed by the amount of support they need from staff.

Individual programmes are created for pupils through shared discussion between teachers and residence staff. Residence programmes are tailored to meet the needs of each pupil and are part of Individualised Educational Plans, developed as far as possible with parents and pupils so that aims are shared. Pupils only access the residence experience if they wish to - there is a clear and friendly induction process for them and their parents. Residence staff also work with designated pupils in school to extend their social skills or to prepare them for a residence stay by building up familiarity and confidence with staff. As a result of the inspection, the school was asked to create admissions criteria and to widen access to the residence. We need to ensure that our future school also offers this imaginative ‘real experience’ to meet the challenge of developing life-skills - our pupils’ progress and pleasure are evident.

"It’s good, I like it, I like all the staff and going out places in the evening"

"The food’s good and being able to go into school at night. I like being with other children"

"I look going to the play-shed to play pool and being away from home"

Pupils’ comments about their residence experience

The length and intensity of programmes have been reviewed to enable more pupils to access residence – one of the inspection’s recommendations. Pupils’ needs are reviewed on an annual basis to prioritise access. In addition all pupils will be offered an annual residence experience on designated weeks of the year and more experiences will be sought for older pupils. We feel this will be more equitable.

Conclusion
All of the work we have undertaken has ultimately been to improve and impact positively on the lives, learning, self esteem and confidence of our pupils. We have now created a brag box for the school as we receive oral and written compliments on how the school looks and ‘feels’. Visitors to the school now comment on that wonderful intangible mixture of positive atmosphere and 'vibes'. We wanted to create a warm, welcoming, busy and friendly atmosphere and judging by visitors’ responses (see right), we have achieved our goal.

Clearly, such responses validate all our efforts as these reactions reflect and reinforce what we feel Glebe School is actually about – learning and teaching effectively, collaboratively and happily. This is evident at all levels of the organisation and most importantly in pupils. It goes without saying that we must also be open to constructive criticism and complaints – we haven’t yet succeeded in pleasing all the members of our school community all of the time!

A recently seen poster declared ‘Die of exhaustion, not boredom’. It is never boring in Glebe School and we will always be delighted to welcome visitors to the school and to share our experiences with them. We have challenges and priority tasks still to overtake, successes to share and we want to hear our visitors’ stories too. Our immediate priorities are to:

	Continue to develop a relevant and appropriate curriculum
	Develop effective systems for planning, assessment and recording pupil progress
	Make learning fun and successful.

We know we will get there and then find we have still more to achieve, but we hope to enjoy the journey!