Leadership and management

Overall senior leadership is good, although our self evaluation has identified areas for improvement. Some examination results have improved, although there is more to achieve in the medium term.

The senior leadership team works cohesively and has many complementary skills (Evidence: Belbin Team analysis). The team has expanded strategically to meet the changing needs of the school and developmental priorities and broaden experience and expertise. (Evidence: SLT File).

The new headteacher has a clear vision about inclusive education, promote equality of opportunity and providing a strong sense of purpose. This is shared by the SLT, the Governors and an increasing number of staff and other stakeholders (Evidence: Governors’ Strategy Committee; SLT residential programmes, IQEA Project). Overall, the members of the SLT provide a consistent high quality of leadership and management in their respective areas of responsibility (Evidence: Performance Management File).

The School Development Plan for 2005 – 2008 is seen as a clear, evaluative and purposeful document (Evidence: Link Adviser school visit report) but is not yet seen as the key agenda for school improvement and needs to be more focused, succinct and ‘owned’ by staff.

Middle leadership is generally effective in terms of curriculum planning, designing course programmes and ensuring direction within their areas of responsibility. Staff actively look to enhance their skills and a weaker aspect is in the rigorous interpretation of assessment data to create a better match of work to the needs of all learners (Evidence: Professional Development File). The SLT are committed to a distributive style of leadership and coaching middle leaders who are beginning to respond positively to greater accountability. In English, science, geography and MFL there are new, effective heads of department who are leading change, setting a clear direction and improving the quality of provision (Evidence: Departmental reviews; lesson observations).

All staff are aware of their role and the objective setting, lesson observations and Review Meetings have been successful in developing staff. Other improvements include a better balance between the needs of the whole school development with those for individuals (Evidence: Staff Development File).

Each curriculum area is line-managed by a member of the SLT and is subject to an annual progress review, taking into account the analyses of assessment data to identify any under performance amongst individuals and groups of learners (Evidence: Subject Review File). Major aspects of whole-school performance are reviewed on a regular cycle, including lesson observations and a termly QA sampling exercise to evaluate the quality of work being produced by learners (Evidence: School review file, lesson observations, reports on sampled work) . All monitoring and evaluation processes include feedback and outcomes are presented in a short summary report for both staff and Governors (Evidence: School Review File, Minutes of Staff Meetings, Minutes of Governors). We are currently concerned about the quality of provision and the standards achieved by learners in ICT.

All financial decisions are based on the needs of the school and departmental improvement plans. Budget holders produce statements for the Finance Team to indicate how spending has achieved value for money. Our school remains the lowest funded secondary school and has the worst PTR in the county (Evidence: LA Report). However, the resources available to the school are geared towards the needs, aims and aspirations of learners within the school.

In recent years we have usually been close to fully staffed by appropriately qualified, experienced and skilled staff. Given the level of overall funding, the school is adequately equipped and has significantly improved its learning resources (e.g. ICT and the expansion of the library). However the accommodation is no longer appropriate for the school population and the needs of 21st Century education and look forward to the proposed BSF new-build from 2009 onwards.

Governors display a keen interest in the work of the school and are a seen as a strength of the community, both individually and collectively. They have a considerable educational expertise and have worked with the SLT to develop the school’s vision and are beginning to evaluate the impact of decisions on policy and strategic developments such as the Specialist School bid (Evidence: Minutes of Governors).

We aim to:

1. Integrate the SDP and the Specialist School Implementation Plan into a succinct, focused, accessible and coherent strategic plan for school improvement.

2. Further develop leadership skills and expertise at all levels via coaching and sharing good practice, emphasising the critical role of self evaluation for subjects and whole school priorities.

3. Implement strategies to improve the performance of all learners and integrating the relevant aspects of the the National Strategies into our improvement strategies.

4. Ensure that preparations and planning for the proposed re-build (BSF) relates to the school’s vision and developing practices, including emerging models for ways of working such as collaborative learning schemes.