Andy Howe Currently headteacher of Elm CE Primary School Previously Executive Headteacher of Rochford Primary and Nursery School and Holt Farm Junior School. A journeyman headteacher!

School Improvement Your time as a school leader is like a journey….. Where are you going? Who is going with you? How will you get there?

Where are you going: school improvement planning A living document Systems and schemes Compliance and consistency Marking and monitoring Problem-solving and innovation.

Effective marking Rochford Primary and Nursery School May 2013 – OfSTED: “Marking is generally good and sometimes outstanding, particularly in showing pupils clearly what they need to do to improve their written work.” Holt Farm Junior School, May 2014 – HMI: “The quality of marking by all teachers has improved considerably and is now good in all classes. All teachers mark their pupils’ work in much detail, inviting them to make corrections or complete extra challenges in follow-up sessions with a green pen. This is greatly valued by the pupils, who say it has really helped them make good progress.”

Two maths initiatives Going on a number hunt Counting objects/animals/stairs Cooking / baking A visit to the shop to buy some sweets! Sorting stickers into a repeating pattern Organising and classifying toys, books or cars Guessing the missing number on the fridge Helping children to learn times tables facts Learning number bonds Finding and identifying 2D and 3D shapes Exploring patterns Collecting and displaying data Playing Maths games on the computer Playing chess or other board games Looking for differences and similarities Using our mathematical powers Exploring number lines Using reasoning, fluency and problem solving skills Have fun!

Who is going with you? Who is on the bus? The team is everything. Include subject teams in your improvement plans. Deal with staffing issues firmly and clearly, but fairly and humanely as far as possible. Keep trying for the best staff, even though it will cause problems. Get to know the agencies. Who do you know?

How will you get there? A transitional year – hard to escape some pain. Roll with the punches! Try to move from compliance to empowerment Trust your instinct: Blink! Ask the children: learning assemblies and surveys and school council and….. Get some good advice Resilience! Sing!

The challenge is to improve education in the only way it can be – through the day-to-day actions of empowered individuals.