School improvement team rationale

A key role for all LEAs is to work in partnership with schools to raise educational standards. In order to achieve this objective, the LEA will need to support, challenge and, when necessary, intervene. The LEA will also want to work with schools on innovative approaches to establishing sustained school improvement strategies. The LEA's Education Development Plan outlines our School Improvement Programme and our School Improvement Team, working closely with other LEA teams, has been set up to carry out the LEA's monitoring, support and intervention functions.

The document summarises the main roles of the School Improvement Team and how the LEA applies the "inverse proportion to success" and other principles in the Code of Practice: LEA- School Relations. The main priorities and associated activities within our Education Development Plan are also included.

Approach

This document includes:

• A summary of the School Improvement Team
• How the LEA applies inverse proportion to success and intervenes in schools causing concern.
• The main features of the Education Development Plan
• The School Improvement Project and how the LEA is working with schools on a shared vision for sustainable school improvement that has a clear focus upon learning, the classroom and working together.

The role of the School Improvement Team

In partnership with schools, the School Improvement Team plays a central role in promoting school improvement and in raising educational standards in Bedfordshire and carrying out the principles of the Code of Practice: LEA-School Relations.

Its objective is to assist schools in moving speedily towards sustained high performance and continuous-improvement.

There are 13 School Improvement Advisers in the team. Each serves a group of about 20 schools.

The School Improvement team's major activities are:

• To identify strengths and weaknesses in schools and to secure the appropriate levels of support and challenge
• To support and intervene in inverse proportion to success
• To make sure schools are provided with appropriate performance data and are able to make sense of it.
• To set realistic but challenging targets for improvement and development with schools
• To monitor and evaluate the progress and performance of schools against agreed targets
• To help identify and disseminate good practice to improve performance
• To support the development of school led self-improvement projects
• The spectrum of support provided by the School Improvement Team ranges from
• 1. intensive programmes of multi-specialist support in schools and clusters of schools where there are agreed concerns to
  2. 'light touch' monitoring where the results of pupil performance, OFSTED inspections and local monitoring are consistently positive
• All schools will be entitled to at least two consultation sessions per year; at least one of which will be a school visit
• The yearly monitoring schedule which is sent to schools before the beginning of the Autumn term will include elements:
• 1. for all schools e.g. target setting to
  2. those matched to the school's stage of development, position in the OFSTED cycle of inspection, particular needs
  3. Links between the School Improvement / Development Plan and the LEA's EDP.
• An evaluation relating to the capacity of the school to sustain improvement is now shared and agreed with each school on a yearly basis
• A written record of the results of each monitoring and evaluation activity is agreed and promptly forwarded to the headteacher. It is expected that this record be available to the school's governing body and will inform the work of school governors.

Schools Causing Concern

• Bedfordshire LEA has a responsibility to in work with "Schools Causing Concern" to assure in partnership with schools, rapid improvement. This responsibility is contained in one of the key activities of Priority 6 of our Education Development Plan "Improving LEA effectiveness"
  
  
• In order to raise standards and to secure improvement, the LEA therefore, acknowledges the importance of monitoring and evaluating performance and where appropriate applying particular strategies to achieve rapid progress when schools fall into the following categories;

• The LEA has provided support for schools causing concern since 1992. This programme has been revised several times and written information has been published and shared with schools since 1998.
  
  
• Bedfordshire regularly evaluates the capacity of each school to improve.
  
  
• The categorisation of each school is agreed with each school and informs the allocation of additional levels of support and resourcing to effect improvement.
  
  
• Thus, whilst all schools are expected to purchase additional support and training from HBS or elsewhere in accordance with their development priorities and funding capacity, the EDP highlights activities where targeted support is provided on the basis of assessed need either

• The process of identifying schools is informed by

• Excluding those schools in special measures, serious weaknesses and under-achieving categories where information is published in OFSTED inspection reports, the list of school grades is confidential to individual schools. (A breakdown of the percentage of schools in each category is included in this document)
  
  
• The principle underpinning support to schools causing concern is that the prime responsibility for recovery and school improvement remains with the Headteacher and Governing Body.
  
  
• All schools causing concern are assigned a lead Adviser who will be responsible for ensuring that progress will be achieved. In the case of high priority schools there is an additional requirement of an action plan (associated with the release of additional Standards Fund monies).
  
  
• Regular progress evaluations are undertaken and reviews involve senior officers and the Strategic Director (Learning).
  
  
• The progress of schools on this programme is carefully monitored and trends overall are very positive.

School Improvement Categories Description:

Category of School	Title	Description
A B	(i) Special Measures (ii) Serious Weaknesses (iii a) Underachieving	Schools which have been identified by OFSTED inspection as requiring special measure having serious weaknesses awaiting next satisfactory OFSTED following positive HMI report Underachieving
B	(iii b) At risk (single or specific including budget)	Schools which have become a cause for concern since the last inspection (all 3 core subjects giving poor value added, making insufficient progress on OFSTED key issues, risk of failing next OFSTED or with budget deficits influencing quality of provision)
C	(iv) Alert	Schools requiring extended support or monitoring following removal from above categories to determine if they should be in "at risk" category B (following indications that identified instability could significantly undermine progress)
D	(v-viii) Light Touch Schools	Monitoring principally, through the analysis of data and via one minimum annual visit. Schools in this category are entitled to two monitoring consultancies per year. Additional support is provided on a fully traded basis in line with the Code of Practice (LEA and School Relations) principles.

Percentages of Schools in each category:

Support for School Improvement:

The LEA's support for School Improvement is a key activity for all our colleagues. The LEA's approach to school improvement is included within the LEA's Education Development Plan. This contains the targets for pupil performance, levels of attendance, and rates of exclusion as well as a very detailed School Improvement Programme. The approach adopted by the LEA to target setting is also outlined within the Education Development Plan, and a separate section explains how the LEA works with schools causing concern. The School Improvement Programme is based around seven key priorities. Each priority is linked to a number of activities necessary to achieve the priority and these in turn are linked to detailed action plans with clearly stated outcomes and success criteria.

The seven priorities and key activities identified in the EDP are:

1. To raise and maintain standards of pupil performance. Together with schools, governing bodies and parents we will:

• raise achievement in literacy (reading and writing) and numeracy
• improve performance in examinations at Key Stage 4 and GCSE level
• focus on improving the performance of pupils who are under achieving, particularly boys
• further develop study support and other out-of-school initiatives in partnership with parents and business community
• maintain and enhance a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum with emphasis on the personal, social and spiritual development of pupils
• further develop the early years education provision in line with government policy

2. To support school self-review and development we will:

• actively support the school-based school improvement project (BSIP)
• provide direct advice and support to schools about effective management, organisation and governance
• provide a continuous professional development programme for teachers, other school staff and governors
• further develop the use of statistical information to help schools in their planning and evaluation
• encourage good practice and actively support a range of government initiatives including specialist schools, Education Action Zones and School Centred Initial Teacher Training

3. To promote more effective continuity and progression procedures we will:

• improve support for cross-phase liaison activities
• develop and revise transfer and information system with the use of unique pupil numbers (UPNs)
• further develop training and support to help schools evaluate pupil progress

4. To highlight the importance of "learning for tomorrow" we will:

• further develop the ways in which Information and Communications Technology is used in schools, ensuring children are taught by appropriately trained and resourced teachers
• promote a positive attitude to learning and an understanding that learning continues throughout life and can take many forms
• provide work-experience opportunities for pupils and encourage education-business links
• provide opportunities that promote international links and global awareness

5. To improve motivation and behaviour in Bedfordshire schools we will:

• promote a positive attitude to learning
• promote partnership between schools, parents and support services
• ensure that children who have special educational needs are identified early so that both schools and parents can act quickly
• raise parents' and children's' expectations in terms of what can be achieved
• provide a secure and caring environment which support learning
• raise levels of attendance and reduce the number of exclusions

6. To improve LEA effectiveness we will:

• refine procedures for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of schools and providing support in proportion to need
• ensure that schools causing concern are identified quickly, so that the necessary support can be provided
• ensure a co-ordinated approach is taken to national and local initiatives

7. To meet Individual Needs and encourage access and equal opportunity we will:

• support children with special educational needs and looked after children in mainstream schools
• provide specialist provision, for example, for children with autism, behavioural problems or physical disabilities
• improve the way special educational needs are identified and assessed
• monitor the quality of provision and the progress pupils make
• target and co-ordinate a programme of support for able and gifted pupils