Professional learning and leadership roles at Canberra Nursery Class

Canberra Nursery Class is part of Canberra Primary School and serves the Westwood and Hairmyres areas of East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire. The nursery is registered for a maximum of 44 children, with a current roll of 39. All children access 1140 hours of early learning and childcare.

The improvement issue

Senior leaders recognised the importance of nursery staff being actively involved in school improvement planning. This included a collaborative approach to professional learning, sharing effective practice, and taking on distributed leadership responsibilities.

What Canberra Nursery did

All staff undertook a coordinator role in either literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing, first aid/Makaton, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), or other identified improvement areas.

Working groups were established, comprising early years, teaching and support staff. Each group developed a strategic three‑year School Improvement Plan (SIP) focusing on a particular improvement priority. These SIPs highlighted how they would develop and drive improvements across the nursery and school.

The working groups tracked progress and analysed data within their areas of responsibility each term. This work was supported by the Principal Teacher for Additional Support Needs (ASN), who helped staff correctly identify any additional support strategies needed to reduce barriers to learning.

Literacy

A literacy coordinator participated in training to develop knowledge and skills in using songs, stories, and rhymes to enhance early years learning. This included exploring opportunities for partnership working with parents and identifying resources parents could use at home with their child.

Numeracy

The numeracy working group identified aspects of the school’s numeracy programme that could enhance learning experiences in the nursery. As a result, nursery staff completed training and introduced new approaches to numeracy within the setting.

A member of staff also took on the role of STEM coordinator. They attended training to improve their practice and shared this learning with staff across the school and nursery.

Health and Wellbeing

The health and wellbeing coordinator developed a Nature Adventures programme to support children to connect with the natural environment. Parents attended a session where children shared their learning. The programme later extended into joint Nature Detectives activities with Primary 1.

What the sustained impact has been

All staff were involved in planning, evaluating, and identifying areas for improvement. Participation in working groups provided staff with a sense of agency, empowerment, and increased value. Staff became active drivers of improvement and worked collegiately with other professionals to develop and share knowledge and skills. This led to targeted improvements across the nursery and school, with positive outcomes and appropriate progression in children’s learning.

Staff have applied the knowledge and skills gained through their coordinator roles and working group participation. This has positively influenced staff interactions and engagement with children. It has also supported improvements in learning spaces and experiences across the nursery and school.

Nursery staff reported increased confidence in delivering numeracy and mathematics. Greater understanding of mathematical concepts has allowed children to experience broader and deeper learning. As a result, children are more engaged and use mathematical language confidently and accurately. Most children who were off track in November 2023 were on track to achieve by June 2024.

The STEM lead, supported by the head teacher, developed a STEM programme for both the nursery and the school. This provided a coordinated and progressive approach to developing STEM learning and skills.

The nursery Health and Wellbeing coordinator, supported by the Team Leader, developed a programme to help children connect with nature. The programme also engaged parents as partners in learning and extended into joint Nature Detectives work with Primary 1.