Friday 13 Jun 2008 @ 11:15
Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted)
Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted)
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Ofsted report reveals the secrets to a successful journey out of special measures
Strong leadership, self-knowledge and a strong school identity are key to a successful journey out of special measures, according to the latest report by Ofsted.
A new report published today by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), draws on the results of visits over the last year by inspectors to 14 formerly inadequate schools which had made particularly successful journeys out of special measures. It aims to inspire those schools currently in special measures, and encourage all schools that are trying to improve. The report highlights case studies from schools which have embraced the need for change and are now classed as good or outstanding.
‘Sustaining improvement: the journey from special measures’ identifies the most important actions that lead to sustained improvement in such schools. The findings have implications for inadequate schools, local authorities (LAs) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) when planning support for schools in special measures.
Schools are placed in the special measures category when they are failing to give pupils an acceptable standard of education. Typically, schools placed in special measures have been judged inadequate in relation to one or more aspects of provision including: achievement and standards, teaching and learning, leadership and management, personal development, and care, guidance and support.
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, said:
“It is extremely encouraging that these schools have made the transformation from special measures to become either good or outstanding schools within one or two academic years. The report shows that if schools placed in special measures are willing to face up to the need for change and take appropriate action, they can improve very quickly and become outstanding schools.”
She added, “I hope that schools currently in special measures will be inspired by the case studies highlighted in the report, and are able to adapt some of the approaches and good practice that the report highlights for use in their own school.”
Other findings from the report show that the key factors for a sustainable journey out of special measures include:
• Strong leadership - headteachers need to give difficult messages, improve staff structures and emphasise the message that change is the only option.
• Create a school identity - The survey schools developed sets of well understood values and action plans including the views of all members of the school community. This contrasted greatly with the situation at the time of special measures.
• Sustain improvement by using self-assessment - The most important factor in improvement was ensuring that actions were implemented in a sustained manner over time, the impact evaluated and the action plan reviewed.
Examples of ways schools took action to improve standards include: personalised professional training to develop the skills and confidence of staff to improve the quality of teaching and learning and the leadership and management of the curriculum; in-house strategies complemented by national training programmes to improve teaching and learning; setting high expectations coupled with a relentless focus on behaviour management; the development of effective systems to evaluate whether actions taken by the school made a difference to outcomes. In all the schools developing inclusion was fundamental to raising standards.
Ofsted’s recommendations:
The Department for Children, Schools and Families should:
• ensure that schools clearly understand how any external support they receive is intended to contribute to school improvement
• consider ways to capitalise on the experience and expertise of headteachers who have successfully made the journey from special measures to good or outstanding provision.
Local authorities should:
• ensure that the authority’s assigned link adviser is experienced in working with schools in special measures
• work closely with each school’s senior leaders to ensure continuity and momentum during periods of transition in leadership
• devise a clear exit strategy, agreed with all stakeholders, and reduce support proportionately as the school establishes its own effective procedures for self-review and development.
Schools should:
• be honest about the state of provision and ensure that all staff and governors understand what is wrong and why
• seek to involve all stakeholders, but especially pupils and students, in the process of school improvement
• set high expectations prescribed through clear lines of accountability
• embed initiatives systematically and check rigorously for evidence of their impact to ensure the improvement is sustained.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The report ‘can be found on the Ofsted website www.ofsted.gov.uk
2. Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) visited 14 schools during the second half of 2007 that had been deemed to require special measures before April 2003. All were removed from this category of concern in either the 2003/04 or 2004/05 academic year. All were inspected again in either 2005/06 or 2006/07. The schools were selected because their provision and outcomes for pupils and students showed incremental and continuous improvement across these three inspection points.
3. These schools were chosen because the actions they took during their time in special measures laid strong foundations for sustaining the momentum of improvement; they were not chosen because they were removed from special measures particularly quickly. At the third inspection point, inspectors judged three of the schools to be outstanding; 11 were good and often had a number of outstanding features.
4. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects or regulates the following services; childminders, full and sessional day-care providers, out of school care, crèches, adoption and fostering agencies, residential schools, family centres and homes for children, all state maintained schools, some independent schools, Pupil Referral Units the Children and Family Courts Advisory Service, the overall level of services for children in local authority areas (known as Joint Area Reviews), further education Initial Teacher Training, and publicly funded adult skills and employment based training.
A new report published today by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), draws on the results of visits over the last year by inspectors to 14 formerly inadequate schools which had made particularly successful journeys out of special measures. It aims to inspire those schools currently in special measures, and encourage all schools that are trying to improve. The report highlights case studies from schools which have embraced the need for change and are now classed as good or outstanding.
‘Sustaining improvement: the journey from special measures’ identifies the most important actions that lead to sustained improvement in such schools. The findings have implications for inadequate schools, local authorities (LAs) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) when planning support for schools in special measures.
Schools are placed in the special measures category when they are failing to give pupils an acceptable standard of education. Typically, schools placed in special measures have been judged inadequate in relation to one or more aspects of provision including: achievement and standards, teaching and learning, leadership and management, personal development, and care, guidance and support.
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, said:
“It is extremely encouraging that these schools have made the transformation from special measures to become either good or outstanding schools within one or two academic years. The report shows that if schools placed in special measures are willing to face up to the need for change and take appropriate action, they can improve very quickly and become outstanding schools.”
She added, “I hope that schools currently in special measures will be inspired by the case studies highlighted in the report, and are able to adapt some of the approaches and good practice that the report highlights for use in their own school.”
Other findings from the report show that the key factors for a sustainable journey out of special measures include:
• Strong leadership - headteachers need to give difficult messages, improve staff structures and emphasise the message that change is the only option.
• Create a school identity - The survey schools developed sets of well understood values and action plans including the views of all members of the school community. This contrasted greatly with the situation at the time of special measures.
• Sustain improvement by using self-assessment - The most important factor in improvement was ensuring that actions were implemented in a sustained manner over time, the impact evaluated and the action plan reviewed.
Examples of ways schools took action to improve standards include: personalised professional training to develop the skills and confidence of staff to improve the quality of teaching and learning and the leadership and management of the curriculum; in-house strategies complemented by national training programmes to improve teaching and learning; setting high expectations coupled with a relentless focus on behaviour management; the development of effective systems to evaluate whether actions taken by the school made a difference to outcomes. In all the schools developing inclusion was fundamental to raising standards.
Ofsted’s recommendations:
The Department for Children, Schools and Families should:
• ensure that schools clearly understand how any external support they receive is intended to contribute to school improvement
• consider ways to capitalise on the experience and expertise of headteachers who have successfully made the journey from special measures to good or outstanding provision.
Local authorities should:
• ensure that the authority’s assigned link adviser is experienced in working with schools in special measures
• work closely with each school’s senior leaders to ensure continuity and momentum during periods of transition in leadership
• devise a clear exit strategy, agreed with all stakeholders, and reduce support proportionately as the school establishes its own effective procedures for self-review and development.
Schools should:
• be honest about the state of provision and ensure that all staff and governors understand what is wrong and why
• seek to involve all stakeholders, but especially pupils and students, in the process of school improvement
• set high expectations prescribed through clear lines of accountability
• embed initiatives systematically and check rigorously for evidence of their impact to ensure the improvement is sustained.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The report ‘can be found on the Ofsted website www.ofsted.gov.uk
2. Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) visited 14 schools during the second half of 2007 that had been deemed to require special measures before April 2003. All were removed from this category of concern in either the 2003/04 or 2004/05 academic year. All were inspected again in either 2005/06 or 2006/07. The schools were selected because their provision and outcomes for pupils and students showed incremental and continuous improvement across these three inspection points.
3. These schools were chosen because the actions they took during their time in special measures laid strong foundations for sustaining the momentum of improvement; they were not chosen because they were removed from special measures particularly quickly. At the third inspection point, inspectors judged three of the schools to be outstanding; 11 were good and often had a number of outstanding features.
4. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects or regulates the following services; childminders, full and sessional day-care providers, out of school care, crèches, adoption and fostering agencies, residential schools, family centres and homes for children, all state maintained schools, some independent schools, Pupil Referral Units the Children and Family Courts Advisory Service, the overall level of services for children in local authority areas (known as Joint Area Reviews), further education Initial Teacher Training, and publicly funded adult skills and employment based training.
