School Effectiveness Strategy 2017-18
Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good
Educating for Wisdom, Hope, Community and Dignity
DRAFT – Nov 2017
Key documentation
- The Church of England Vision for Education
- Diocesan strategy – Living the story, Telling the story
- Governance strategy
- RE strategy and ‘Understanding Christianity’ resource
- Ofsted and SIAMS frameworks
- Memorandum of Understanding for schools within multi-academy trusts
Foreword / This strategy seeks to set out the key principles andapproaches to school effectiveness taken by the Diocesan Board for Education. It outlines a clearly defined offer from our education department to all our schools in order to support the achievement of this vision, and the way in which our team seeks to support our church schools to enhance and celebrate their Christian character.
Context :
Our educational ecosystem
Our local context / We continue to operate within a complex educational system which brings both opportunities and challenges. Equally we all live within a plural and diverse wider society within which tolerance and mutual hospitality are key principles. Our diocese is characterized by a high proportion of small rural schools, with 50% of primary schools being Church of England schools. We sometimes liken our church school family to a ‘patchwork quilt’ and have a strong policy of being inclusive to all.
The Diocese has a responsibility to support all of its church schools in this family, to provide appropriate support and challenge ,and to work with others to secure the best possible provision for all its children and young people leading to excellent educational outcomes and a holistic education. We seek to facilitate a partnership approach with our schools, within whichever structural setting they sit, as well as with our parishes, and also with other appropriate bodies. As more of our schools joined ‘mixed MATs’, we also seek to be outward facing and to extend our offer to non church schools.
Local contexts / The new vision for education makes it very clear that all schools and settings should seek to apply the vision very much in their local context. This sits well with our diocesan approach which seeks to empower local working practices and to take account of the needs and strengths of individual schools and settings.
VISION / JOHN 10.10
That they shall have life, life in all its fullness
Our vision is one of human flourishing for all, one that embraces excellence and academic rigour. It embraces the spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, moral and social development of children and young people.
4 core elements of the Vision /
- Educating for Wisdom, Knowledge and Skills
- Educating for Hope and Aspiration
- Educating for Community and Living Well Together
- Educating for Dignity and Respect
Core Values , Principles &
Approaches / Our approach can be defined by the following key features :
- It is based on deep theological and pedagogical thinking and on firmly rooted principles and beliefs about humanity and about learning
- It is based on trusting relationships : our schools are part of a Diocesan family
- It is driven by professional learning communities – a school-led model
- It is achieved by effective partnerships and collaboration
- The voice of the school is key and the well-being of all our staff, children and families is crucial
- It recognises our teachers as valued professionals, to whom pedagogy and theology are important both in terms of principles and practice
- It is based on research and is evidence- based
- It reflects our commitment to social justice and inclusion
- It is responsive and needs driven
We are unequivocal in seeking to know our schools well, simply in order to be able to support them effectively.
Just as we believe each and every child is unique and can flourish and achieve, so we believe that each and every school and partnership is unique and can flourish and achieve.
Aims and Objectives
Key outcomes / Our key aims and hopes for our schools are that :
- All schools within the Diocese will be judged to be good or better in their Ofsted and in SIAMS inspections
- All children will make excellent progress and attain high standards in their learning relative to their starting points
- Our church school communities will be places where there are opportunities for spiritual growth and the expression of faith through learning about and witnessing the Christian faith and other faiths
- All children in our care will experience high quality learning experiences which motivate them, and give them courage and belief in their own abilities and futures
- All schools will flourish as professional learning communities
- All schools will serve and be seen as part of their wider community
Our Offer to our Church schools is :
- A commitment to working with our schools to ensure that appropriate support is in place to promote, develop and share a distinctively Christian character
- To provide direct or facilitated support from a team of quality professionals who both support and challenge
- To develop key strategic partnerships across the locality and beyond to support our schools
- To develop key strategic and local partnerships at diocesan and parish level to support schools and churches working together within their communities
- To implement a number of strategies as outlined below which support our schools in a process of exploring and embedding the new Church of England vision for education
- To be an advocate for all our schools
Our Expectation of our Church schools is :
- Engagement and participation including the sharing of good practice and supporting others
- A commitment to exploring and exemplifying the 4 core elements of the Church’s vision for education and engagement with the diocesan strategy as it relates to its schools
- A commitment to sharing data and self-evaluation
- Sharing in and shaping and monitoring our strategy
The wider church school family
The diocese and Bath and Wells has a clear policy and expression that all the children in our diocese are children ‘of’ this diocese and as such should access our support, care and nurture. This is expressed through the notion that we have a ‘wider church school family’ rather than simply a focus on what goes on in our church schools.
Our core offer to our Church schools, therefore, is further complimented by our offer to the wider church school family as seen in existing and emerging ‘mixed MAT’ models. This is clearly stated within the Nationally agreed Memorandum of Understanding which essentially protects and enhances the church school distinctiveness of church schools within a mixed MAT; agreement to which forms part of the conditional consent. Within the MoU there are clear expectations regarding accountability for church schools within a mixed MAT setting ( see Appendix 1). By the same token, non-church schools are encouraged to access our core offer as outlined below, and specific pieces of work will support MATs within their parishes to ensure that church and schools work together to serve their communities.
Core offer - detail
The 4 core elements of the Church of England Vision for Education – explanation, theological underpinning and link to our core offerElement / Explanation
Theological underpinning / Link to our core offer / Outcomes for pupils
‘Ethos enhancing outcomes’
Educating for Wisdom, knowledge and skills / Nurture academic habits and skills, emotional intelligence and creativity across the whole range of school subjects. Foster confidence.
Delight and discipline in seeking wisdom, knowledge, truth and understanding. Develop the skills needed to shape life well.
Theological underpinning
The Bible is passionate about both wisdom-seeking and the importance of teaching. Its wisdom literature is substantial and diverse and includes Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, and much else. As part of that tradition, Jesus of Nazareth as a child ‘grew in wisdom’ ( Luke 2:52).
The wisdom literature that shaped much education in biblical times and later in Christianity and Judaism was by no means limited to what we would see as ‘religion’; it was about knowledge of and relationship to creation, about culture, economics, politics, the literary and artistic world. / -Quality teaching and learning in RE including through Understanding Christianity and LTLRE
-Promoting Christian distinctiveness through SIAMS ( CPD to include C/W, RE, ethos & values work, mid-term SIAMS health-checks, work with clergy, ) adviser visits
-Effective CPD programme delivered, facilitated, brokered to cover all aspects of church school distinctiveness
-Quality leadership development including Foundation for Educational Leadership, headteacher appointments , schools adviser visits, support for headteacher appointments
-Use of data and intelligence in order to know and support our schools well and to support vulnerable schools , including work with teaching schools and LAs
-Facilitation of sharing of good practice
-Character education programme and Values led approaches to teaching and learning
-Support & training for foundation governors / High standards of religious literacy; knowledge, understanding and skills
High standards of attainment in RE
A high degree of understanding and respect for diversity and difference within faith communities
A clear sense of Christian values and the difference they can make to our own lives and the lives of others
Opportunities to engage in high quality experiences that develop a personal spirituality
An experience of hearing and knowing the ‘Big Story’ of Jesus Christ
Access to inspirational and inclusive collective worship
An experience of a broad and balanced curriculum which allows for the gifts and talents of all children to be recognised and encouraged.
Access to high quality teaching resulting in high educational outcomes.
Access to clear learning to learn programmes including the ‘virtues’ of citizenship, morality and performance.
Effective governance in schools which maintains and promotes a distinctively Christian character
Educating for Hope and Aspiration / How we learn to approach the future. Open up horizons and guide pupils into ways of fulfilling them. Cope wisely when things go wrong. Resources for healing, repair, renewal, forgiveness, truth and reconciliation.
Theological underpinning
Hope in God’s future for the world, in God’s ongoing love and compassion for all people and for His promise of life in all its fullness. / -Compass project
-Chaplaincy support
-Christian values in schools
-Well-Being and pastoral support package
-Hope for pupils through developing their own voice – pupil voice
-Mediation and peace-making initiatives
-Role models and mentors
-Coaching
-Growth mindset
-Feedback
-Hope as inspired through networking and example of others
-Pilgrim Days / See above
Opportunities which encourage children to be ambitious for their own future
Opportunities for children to contribute to their own communities
Opportunities to learn a range of skills which promote high achievement and standards of behaviour
Specific opportunities which support the achievement and progress of the most vulnerable pupils
Educating for Community and Living Well Together / Our humanity is inextricably involved with others; it is about our shared life on a finite planet. We are called to contribute responsibly to our communities. Education needs to have a core focus on relationships and participation in our communities.
Theological underpinning
The conviction that we are created and sustained by God for living together in families and communities is at the root of our dedication to educating for life together.
Living before God, and living with and for others go together in Jesus. / -Effective partnership working between school, church and community to support outreach, mission and service to the community.
-Effective partnerships to support all families in both church and community schools.
-New schools in new communities.
-Character education – civic virtues
- Environmental projects / Access to opportunities such as social action projects which serve local and global communities
An understanding of what it means to be part of a welcoming and hospitable community
An understanding of their role in preserving our planet
Educating for Dignity and Respect / The ultimate worth of each person – human dignity – is central to good education. This includes vigilant safeguarding and the equal worth of those with SEND.
Theological underpinning
Our commitment to the dignity and ultimate worth of each person, rooted in each being created in the image of God and loved by God, is further shaped by the person, teaching and example of Jesus. / -Pupil voice
-Emotional and mental health support programme
-Approaches to Pupil Premium
-Vision and Ethos development
-Facilitate resources to support awareness of and outreach to refugees, homeless, vulnerable / Being part of a school community which fosters positive relationships based on distinctively Christian values
Being part of a school community which promotes personal self esteem
Our Services to Schools brochure and CPD brochure detailaspects of support as listed above, giving more detail of the offer and training opportunities and how these may be accessed. All information is available via our website.
The work of the school effectiveness team is planned, managed and monitored through the Education Departmental Plan.
School Effectiveness Team
- Education Department – currently Helen Fenn, Pauline Dodds, David Williams & Karen Sancto
- New Chaplaincy Devlepment Adviser joined the team as of Sept 2017
- School Effectiveness DBE committee
Key partnerships
- Multi-Academy Trusts
- Local authorities
- Local churches and community partners
- Teaching schools
- Ofsted, HMI
- DfE / RSC
- Diocesan departments and Cathedral
Monitoring and Review
The processes through which the strategy will be monitored and reviewed are as follows :
- School Effectiveness Working Group reporting to the full DBE
- Education Department Development Plan Review
- Appraisal links
- Schools Survey / headteacher advisory group - feedback from schools
- Chair of Governor and headteacher briefings
- Data analysis and reporting
- Monitoring against the Ten marks of an effective DBE
- A number of quantitative and qualitative indicators including % of schools achieving good or above in Ofsted terms, % of schools achieving good or above in SIAMS terms, annual meeting with MAT CEOs, local intelligence etc.
To be reviewed July 2018 in light of the new SIAMS Framework