School Improvement Services

We're focused on providing our schools with great value for money. This section provides an introduction to the school improvement services that our schools access from the Trust. 

For our schools

Schools in the Trust access support linked to core elements of quality assurance and improvement. School evaluations, subsequent school development plans and arrangements to review progress through the year are approached consistently across the Trust. Headteachers and their teams receive both support and challenge from peers from other schools in the Trust. Review activities including learning walks, class visits and wider deep dive activities are agreed at Trust level and enable each school to draw on Trust wide support and resourcing. Individual schools benefit from robust review arrangements, these helpfully pinpoint best practice and support Headteachers and their teams to feed this back into subsequent staff development activities.

Each Headteacher in our Trust meets regularly with our CEO and Head of Development to discuss the progress that their school is making and explore any potential issues or concerns. These sessions will often include learning walks, or additional meetings with staff in the school, enabling the central Trust team to work together with Headteachers, developing a genuine understanding of where each school is at on its journey. This means that where issues arise Headteachers benefit from constructive conversations with the central Trust team and access bespoke support to promote improvement. Our intention is always for quality improvement to be completed in partnership with leaders, teachers and wider staff.

There are also monthly Executive Team meetings involving all of the Headteachers in the Trust. These  provide a great opportunity for peer support, problem solving and informing the shape of future Trust school improvement strategy work and wider Trust policy. The development of the current Trust teaching, learning and assessment strategy, incorporating Trust standards, a self-assessment framework for teachers and a revised approach to class visits, observation and wider ‘deep dive’ activities is an example of what can flow from these meetings. 

School development fund

Schools in the Trust are able to access central Trust funding to cover the cost of projects that will support their progress. This might relate to investing in specific curriculum schemes or sourcing staff development.

For schools exploring Trust membership

The Trust offers school leadership teams and governing bodies who are exploring Trust membership the opportunity to access elements of the school improvement arrangements outlined above. If this is of interest please contact our CEO, Phil Webster, to scope any support that would help you on your journey.

We’d welcome the opportunity to talk with you.