Every school (and trust) is aiming to secure better. Better for pupils/students, better for staff. We do not see ‘improvement’ as a deficit but see what could be; we see improvement as our core business. Each school has aspects of improvement it is focused that are bespoke to them. As a trust, there will be things we need to work together on for shared betterment. This shapes our approach to school improvement.
Principles
- We do not do things for inspection. We understand and respect the role of inspectorate but we do not mimic what they do, use their language or only pay attention to schools in a ‘window’.
- We work with schools we do not do things to schools.
- We need to know our schools well. Data is one part of a puzzle. What happens in classrooms, on the playgrounds, what staff say and what pupils tell us matters.
- Every school is treated equally. There is a core entitlement for each school, regardless of shape or size.
- When a school is vulnerable, we will allocate more time and resource. This is an enhanced entitlement.
Strategy
- We systematically review aspects of every school’s work through our thematic reviews, for example looking at each school through an inclusion lens.
- We support individual schools’ through bespoke school level reviews, strengthening the work of each individual school and the priorities it is currently working on.
- We utilise our professional networks to share best practice, to collaborate on and improve further aspects that our reviews highlight or in responding to local or national policy.
- We provide support and development visits where we work with leaders and teachers to provide expertise, additional capacity or a different perspective.
- We take what we know about our schools, our trust and the expertise in our teaching school hub and develop professional development programs for leaders, teachers and support staff who work with pupils/students.
