School-led School Improvement  Extensive consultation in the spring term:  Learning Directorate team managers  school governors  CSH  CPH (twice)  120 primary headteachers  Governor Advisory Group  Members

School-led School Improvement  Broad agreement with what we want to achieve, i.e. a school improvement system:  that brings the whole system together, preventing further fracturing  that is led by those best placed to bring about school improvement – schools themselves  that builds on success, e.g. Cambridgeshire’s TSAs and school partnerships  that is a key factor in delivering the change Cambridgeshire needs

School-led School Improvement  Broad agreement with the potential advantages of a school-led system:  easier and more equitable access to high quality support for all schools  more robust professional challenge and support from peers  a better understanding of, and response to, local needs  a more effective use of school improvement resources  better recruitment and retention of high quality teachers, school leaders and support staff  new opportunities for learning what works best in the classroom through action research

School-led School Improvement  Some concerns:  Potential loss of LA support; Small schools might be left out; Will it just further benefit Teaching School Alliancess?; Commissioner / Provider tension – how will this be resolved?; Capacity of schools to be involved; Quality Assurance of provision; How will it be resourced?  A reluctance, at least at this stage, to accept the risk inherent in establishing any of the ‘company’ models.  Concern from Members about their ability to influence that for which they are held accountable.  Strong preference for a School Improvement Board of some sort.

Outcome  A strong preference for a Cambridgeshire School-led School Improvement Board  Task Group:  agreed the draft purpose of the Board  agreed a provisional list of members  agreed that we should aim for a September 2015 start

Purpose 1.Secure a comprehensive and ongoing needs analysis, informed by hard and soft performance data 2.Set school improvement priorities for Cambridgeshire as a whole, for areas and for clusters 3.Commission, broker and signpost school improvement support, using the collective resource of the Board 4.Encourage and sustain robust professional challenge and support from peers 5.Communicate Cambridgeshire’s school improvement offer 6.Ensure that no schools are left out 7.Evaluate the impact of support

Provisional membership  representatives from nursery, primary, special and secondary schools  all of the TSAs  school improvement clusters, e.g. Wisbech Project, A1 Cluster  6 th Form / FE  HEI  Dioceses  LA  Parent rep from Governor Advisory Group  Union rep  Members  with an independent chair

Questions  To what extent do you agree with the purpose of the proposed Cambridgeshire School-led School Improvement Board?  Membership – is it right?