School Improvement Secondary

Education, Learning and Skills,  within the Children, Adults and Health Department, provides all maintained secondary schools with one day of School Improvement Adviser time without direct charge. Half a day is provided in the autumn term and half a day in the summer term.

School Improvement Membership provides you with a number of days of support which you can select. The typical number is six days which are delivered as whole or half days in your school/academy.

• All our SIAs have wide expertise in school improvement and show a respect for the school’s autonomy to plan its development based on the school’s self-evaluation. Many are inspectors for Ofsted, current or recently retired Headteachers and experienced LA officers.
• Our expertise in analysis of data and other evidence; strategic planning; impact evaluation; and understanding of change management processes with skills honed over a wide variety of school systems, enables us to support you in bringing about effective and sustainable change appropriate for your organisation.
• Our team of SIAs understand the local and national context in which you work and have backgrounds firmly rooted in highly successful teaching, leadership, inspection and training.
• With strong relationships and access to other services such as Governor Development and HR for Schools, we can take a holistic approach to your school improvement requirements.
• We provide professional development for SIAs to ensure consistency, up to date knowledge and joint problem solving, ensuring you receive accurate and reliable judgements and helpful notes of visits.
• There is strict adherence to confidentiality for all our work within the context of the Freedom of Information Act and the Code of Practice for working with schools.
• Our approach is collaborative, bespoke, flexible and responsive. We build on your ideas and challenge your school to improve at all levels.
• We already have long standing and successful relationships within South Gloucestershire and have developed new ways of working with groups of schools through partnerships and collaborations.
• We understand how quickly education changes and we can help you change with it.

Specific benefits are dependent upon the focus for support but will include:

• a focus on pupil progress, learning and achievement and the many factors which influence it, including pupil well-being, wrap-around services, the curriculum and parental involvement
• impartial and objective evidence-based assessment of the school’s performance and its strategies for improving teaching and learning, including national and school based data analysis
• respectful professional challenge and support so that the school leaders, teaching and non-teaching staff feel that school practice is improved by interactions and there is evidence of impact
• understanding of local context including working with, academies, MATs and federations
• sharing of good practice from other schools with links made to other School Improvement services
• clear and frank communication about judgments where appropriate as part of a purposeful and productive dialogue to inform continued development
• more rigorous subject leadership with clear systems for accountability
• teaching which is more engaging and challenging for learners; promotes progression, enrichment, creativity and capacity to meet the needs of all learners
• skilled, knowledgeable staff confident to lead and deliver an enriched and exciting curriculum that gives outcomes you want for your children
• support which aligns with your ethos, your SDP, your challenges and your distinctiveness.