School Improvement

Linking the school budget to the school development plan

It’s vital that school business managers avoid inadvertently leaving gaps between the school’s budget and its development plan. This ebulletin flags up ways to avoid these gaps and keep your budget in line with the school’s development needs

Using conversation as a strategic tool for school improvement

In this e-bulletin we consider how productive working relationships and conversation can be encouraged through reorganising the structure of staff meetings

The importance of following up on your monitoring and evaluation policy

When carrying out your school's monitoring and evaluation (M&E) policy, is it vital that you follow up and act upon your findings in order to make the process effective, says Jane Golightly

On being a school improvement partner

David White shares his school improvement partner (SIP) experiences from both sides, concerning the school improvement partner's role and a hidden agenda at work within schools

Primary leadership: end of year hot topics

What difference has your school made this year and how can you prepare for the next? Jane Golightly, school leadership and school improvement expert, discusses hot leadership topics for consideration at the end of the year

A leadership approach to good behaviour

A no-nonsense whole school approach to behaviour can be led from the top, says deputy headteacher David Morley, who here shares tips on how

Improving good schools through strong leadership

Do you think yours can become an outstanding school? Dave Weston gives advice on helping schools reach the highest level at Ofsted, through strong leadership

2012 Olympics: promoting primary PE

Schools can use the 2012 Olympics to promote sport, tackling PE participation problems. Primary headteacher Angela Youngman looks at how

Making sustainability cross-curricular

A second benefit to bringing the concept of sustainable schools to your institution is how much pupils can learn about sustainability through the curriculum. Anne Clarke explains

Planning quality provision for early years

What are the early years processes involved for quality provision and planning positive outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage? Early years consultant Jane Cole has a look

Curriculum organisation: grouping subjects

Reorganising your curriculum into grouped subjects can encourage development in facilitated learning. Jim Donnelly explains

How statistics and league tables are failing schools

School league tables and other school statistics can cause problems when they are poorly understood and inaccurately interpreted, warns Peter Kent, who here issues advice on the right way to use educational statistics

Building Schools for the Future: the basics

Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is a major school rebuilding programme. It is the biggest single government investment in improving school buildings in the last 50 years and its aim is to rebuild or remodel every secondary school across the UK, totalling 3,500 schools

BSF: does it meet expectations?

Chessington Community College in the first Building Schools for the Future one-school pathfinder (OSP) to open in the UK. But what does the transformation actually mean for the school and the local community?

Sustainability: what schools can achieve

What could your school achieve in the area of sustainability? Pupils must be encouraged to embrace this concept, says Anne Clarke, who describes her school's successes

Workforce reform: giving support teams a voice

Development changes in your workforce which make flexible use of vital support staff teams will do much to encourage school improvement in general, believes Brian Rossiter, headteacher of Valley School in Worksop

Reducing within-school variation

The difference between pupil outcomes in English schools is one of the highest in the industrial world, and reducing it is a persistent problem in education. But sharing good practice within schools can be a better solution than turning to outside experts, say Dr Peter Kent and Ray Tarleton

Managing early years staff performance

Early years staff perfomance can be reviewed in a simple but effective way as part of an overall quality improvement process

Making personalised learning a reality

The Personalisation by Pieces (PbyP) system, a personalised learning scheme to give learners control over their own progression, is being used by forty schools around the UK. Its designer, former deputy head Dan Buckley, shares some of its achievements

Renewed support for headteachers

Raising standards and improving pupil progress are at the heart of every school's work, and the renewed Secondary Frameworks are aimed at helping headteachers and their staff and schools do just that, says Clive Bus, National Strategies National Director, Secondary

The role of the excellence leader

Introducing an excellence leader to their school leadership team can give a headteacher peace of mind, whilst reassuring other staff that school improvement is being led by someone in touch with the classroom

People skills to affect change

John Viner reflects on his headship tenure at Draper Mills Primary, in his final article about turning the troubled school around. Here he highlights the importance of the way to deal with people as a way to affect change

Advancing learning through KTP

The knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) at Bedlington Community High School aims to improve learning for staff and students at Key Stage 3. Anna Reid describes the two-year project and how it aims to develop an assessment framework for enquiry using ICT

School improvement: professional resolutions for 2009

Jane Golightly discusses the issues school senior leadership teams might want to consider as they begin the new calendar year, to prepare for the future and ensure a successful 2009

A new fund to increase choice and diversity of provision

The government has made £327m funding available for investment into schools to increase choice and diversity of provision. Deputy headteacher Paul Ainsworth studies the guidance and summarises the key opportunities for school leadership teams

Asset management in secondary schools

With an increase in software and handheld learning in modern-day education, Tim Roots, director of IT vision, explains why headteachers should have a sound understanding of asset management

Spreading good practice from Foundation Stage upwards

When he took over a failing Manchester primary, Chris Fenton planned to develop the good practice he found in the Foundation Stage and spread it throughout the rest of the school

Why schools should tackle energy consumption now

Secondary schools have been warned to prepare for the introduction of new display energy certificates this autumn. If action is not taken now it could prove expensive, says education writer Angela Youngman

Building Schools for the Future: a personal view

Jill Cameron gives a comprehensive briefing on the highs and lows of the Building Schools for the Future initiative from her personal experience with the programme

Investors in People Standard: is it worth aiming for?

The Investors in People Standard had a major impact on Alison Shakespeare's school's CPD, helping them to embed a culture of continuous improvement across the organisation. Read why she thinks it's such a good idea for school improvement

Learning together: how collaborative research can benefit students and teachers

When teachers and students work together, they can learn a lot about learning. In a 'Learning Together' project at seven schools, students and teachers researched the link between pupil behaviour and learning

Motivating individuals to share CPD practice

Motivating individual staff to share their professional and personal development is a key factor in school improvement. This CPD Week offers ways in which individual staff can be helped to nurture their intrinsic motivation and offers a useful checklist for future reference

Raising standards by tackling behaviour

Academic standards can only be raised when behaviour is improved. Awaiting an Ofsted visit, headteacher John Viner continues his series on how staff at Drapers Mills Primary have worked together to raise standards

Leadership vision: fact or fiction?

What is your vision for your school? Jane Golightly discusses the factors important in developing a real, responsive vision for your school, and explains how a clear vision can help to create a common purpose

School improvement: intention to action

School improvement can be a challenging aspect of primary headship. The first issue of our e-bulletin Primary Leadership Focus gives primary headteachers practical suggestions and takes a common sense approach to school improvement

Using SEAL to build values

SEAL can help young people develop values that will enable them to address challenges in life, says trainer, school improvement partner and former headteacher Jackie Beere

Developing a pastoral team to improve your school

Problems with behaviour can be managed by building a pastoral team, with the help of an excellence cluster. So discovered headteacher John Viner in his second article in a series on bringing Drapers Mills Primary school out of special measures

CPD through teacher enquiry and research

Graham Handscomb and John MacBeath put forward the case for teacher enquiry and benefits of research engagement for professional learning

Audit tool for promoting racial equality

This free resource looks at the National Healthy School Standard (NHSS) programme, and the objectives relevant to the promotion of racial equality in schools

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Self-evaluation for school improvement: steps 1 & 2

This free resource outlines the first two recommended steps in evaluating your school for improvement

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Inclusive sport

Providing sporting opportunities for each and every one of its students is something that King Edward VI Specialist College aimed for - and achieved. Lisa Symonds finds out how

Using a virtual learning environment (VLE) to raise attainment

How can a virtual learning environment (VLE) in your school be used to raise pupil attainment, while complementing other school initiatives? Deputy heads Paul Ainsworth and Josephine Amith have some suggestions

Turning things around: reversing special measures

If a school is placed in special measures, it can be a long road turning it around. Headteacher John Viner starts a series on the journey of Drapers Mills Primary school to become a warm and welcoming place where students can thrive

Raising achievement by transforming learning

In a bid to help students raise their achievement and know success, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust initiated Raising Achievement Transforming Learning (RATL). David Crossley explains the school-to-school mentoring scheme which allows teachers to learn from the success of others

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