Good to Outstanding Am Rai Montpelier School Ealing

Using system management to ensure outstanding teaching all day, everyday

Context 679 pupils (RAISE 2012) Highest percentile for ethnic minority and English as an additional language Average for free school meals, social deprivation Slightly below average for SEN - why? Lowest percentile for stability (73%)

2003 March - OFSTED judged school to be good Academic year 2002-2003, 345 teacher days’ absence Planning and assessment inconsistent Poor attendance and punctuality A school of “independent” teachers New head teacher arrived September 2003

2003 - 2006 11 newly qualified teachers appointed Restructure - 2 deputy head teachers, one assistant head teacher July 2006 - 4 Phase Leaders appointed Mobility of staff was noted by governors

September 2006 OFSTED inspection whilst there has been mobility of teaching staff, this has been an aid to improvement, not a barrier

2006 - 2009 Focus upon establishing system management as a way of ensuring sustainability Creating a safe, transparent, nowhere to hide culture - within and beyond the classroom

If it’s not going to stick, think again making senior leaders accountable for progress providing mechanisms which enable challenge, and allow action when improvement is not on the horizon sticking plasters and cover ups lead to a loss of confidence in the integrity of leadership

Appraisal and Performance Management

Questions Does it work? Is there a point to it? Do teachers have faith in it? Does it impact upon performance in the classroom? Are pupils’ experiences improved? Are teachers’ development needs anticipated and planned for? Is the link to CPD connected to the school’s capacity to deliver what is needed?

Bespoke Appraisal Systems Up to 3 hours of observations What is appropriate and helpful for which teacher? Work scrutiny, half termly data updates Talking to pupils - will tell you how effective leadership and management is Drop - ins: Developing a picture over time and a sense of TYPICALITY

Securing Performance Empowering senior and middle leaders - all can step up if enabled to Ensuring approach is fairly and consistently applied.... telling it how it is, all of the time Allowing for mistakes - avoiding fatalism Preventing repeated cycles of “nearly good enough” - fast track intervention and support

Self Evaluation and Monitoring Intrinsically linked to Appraisal and CPD policies Purposeful and useful - should direct improvements Accessibility - the rolling document! Easily communicated and recorded

Keeping on top of it all Continuous activity Centralised information storage. Online tools? Only doing things once : findings = agendas for action Clarity of role within teams - avoid grey areas

Everybody taking part Involving teachers in the development and exemplification of school priorities Open classrooms, open minds Increased transparency, stronger dialogue

Why system management? Easier to understand Supports maintenance of successful legacies Fairer to pupils and staff Can be used across schools, networks, partnerships, federations Facilitates capacity growth

Final Thoughts