SOUTHEND BOROUGH COUNCIL
Improving Learning
Together
Phase Two:
Southend-on-Sea’s
School
Improvement Strategy
A three year plan for improving schools in
partnership
September 2014 – July 2017
This document sets out the framework through which the Local Authority in
partnership with schools will discharge its duties to address underperformance and
ensure continuous improvement in all Southend’s schools.
IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3
The 'Big Four': Southend Challenge Projects.................................................................. 4
A Three Year Plan .......................................................................................................... 5
Our Principles ................................................................................................................. 5
Annual cycle of review, evaluation, support and challenge ............................................. 5
Our Approach to Intervention in Schools Causing Concern ............................................ 7
School Support and Improvement Board - Process for Risk Assessment ...................... 8
Dataset to inform the evaluation of schools .................................................................... 9
Self evaluation and judgement grading ......................................................................... 10
Models of Support ......................................................................................................... 11
Consideration of Structural Solutions ............................................................................ 12
Sustainable Solutions ................................................................................................... 13
Different Players, Complementary Roles ...................................................................... 13
Acronym Glossary......................................................................................................... 14
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
Introduction
School Improvement is about ensuring that high quality learning is pupils’ consistent
experience. Schools are responsible for school improvement and the Local Authority Learning
and Improvement Service, in partnership with other teams across the Department for People,
is the team that fulfils the Council’s statutory school improvement duties.
The duties are:
 to promote early action to tackle school underperformance so that it does not become
entrenched and lead to formal school failure;
 to ensure that effective support and challenge is provided immediately when an
unacceptable standard of education is identified, so that improvements can be made
quickly;
 to secure decisive action if a school in special measures fails to make sufficient
improvements, so that the education and life chances of pupils are protected.
Southend is about to commence the first year of phase two - Improving Learning Together (ILT)
the School Improvement Strategy. Phase One of the strategy was revised in September 2012
and in June 2013. The revisions took account of the new Ofsted Framework and the
accountability of the Local Authority to deploy formal powers of intervention where
appropriate and to advise of amendments to the annual cycle of review, evaluation, support
and challenge.
The Education Act confirms the role of Local Authorities in promoting educational excellence
and there is an expectation that schools themselves will play a greater role in school
improvement, with ‘school to school support’ being the preferred model. The Local Authority
has formed a strong partnership with the South Essex Teaching School Alliance to implement
this model of school support and networking and the System Leadership Strategy acts as an
addendum to ILT. In September 2013 the latest augmentation to the plan, The Southend
Challenge, went to consultation and was approved by the Children and Learning Departmental
Management Team (DMT); the final version was published in January 2014. The aims and
objectives of the Southend Challenge complement and strengthen the overall aim of Improving
Learning Together:
Aim: Every child in Southend will attend a good or outstanding school, as defined within the
Three Year Plan (below)
Objectives:


Every Southend school will have outstanding leadership and governance
There will be no inequalities in attainment between children eligible for Pupil Premium
and those not eligible.
ILT provides the Framework for this new partnership approach, designed to draw on the best
of Southend School practice in order to secure continuous improvement for all Southend’s
schools.
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
The ‘Big Four’: Southend Challenge Projects
Fundamental to the Southend Challenge aim (Every child in Southend will attend a good or
outstanding school) are four projects that have been developed to be delivered over a period
of two years:
1. ‘Raising the Bar’ (infant school project) is led by a National Leader of Education (NLE).
A specialist in the infant phase who will work with the seven infant schools in
Southend to secure and/or sustain better outcomes for children
2. ‘Going for Good or Better’ is a project to move leadership and governance to good or
outstanding. Three School Support Partners, two of whom are practicing Lead Ofsted
Inspectors, will work with Headteachers and Chairs of Governors to secure at least
good in all four Ofsted judgements
3. The ‘Good to Great’ project comprises the largest cohort of schools who are already
good and aiming for outstanding through the development of the schools’ vision and
learning culture. The project is led by a London-based NLE and includes input from
experienced leadership coaches and facilitators
4. The ‘Special Schools’ project develops and extends the work of the schools’ Southend
Challenge bid and includes the commissioning of experts to meet common training
needs across all special schools and the services of special school Ofsted inspectors to
support with assessment across the group of schools.
This strategy should be read alongside the following documents:
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The Southend Challenge (Appendix A)
System Leadership Strategy (Appendix B)
Early Help, Partnership, Choice and Ambition Strategy (Appendix C)
The Early Help Toolkit (under development – to be circulated)
Governor Services Strategy (currently under review – to be circulated)
Early Years Strategy (under development – to be circulated)
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
A Three Year Plan
By July 2017 we aspire to:
1. ensure all Southend’s children and young people attend a good or outstanding school
2. ensure all Southend schools have good or outstanding leadership, management and
governance
3. ensure all achievement gaps reduce to a level no greater than the national average
4. place Southend in the upper quartile for Pupil Premium performance by closing the
attainment gap between pupils in receipt of pupil premium and others at each key stage
detailed as below:
Our Principles

We use an evidence based approach, drawing on the school’s self evaluation, the
performance data and our knowledge of each school in order to identify which
schools are underperforming and which are vulnerable.

We make use of the OfSTED framework to evaluate on each of the key judgements.
This is a process designed to support not impede improvement.

We plan for improvement in an open and transparent way in partnership with
headteachers and chairs of governors.

We risk assess all schools 4 times per year so that no school is left unsupported, no
school is risk assessed inappropriately and improvements are acknowledged and
celebrated.
Annual cycle of review, evaluation, support and challenge


The annual school improvement cycle is governed through the School Support and
Improvement Board (SSIB)
The SSIB replaces the School Review Group and includes the reporting of safer recruitment
and safeguarding practice. The overarching purpose of the SSIB is to monitor and evaluate
schools’ performance and to identify risks which could lead to them failing to achieve at
least good when measured against the Ofsted grade criteria. The Board is chaired by the
Head of Learning and comprises members from Learning, Human Resources, Finance,
Governor Services, Attendance, Safeguarding and the South Essex Teaching School Alliance
(SETSA). School Support Partners (SSPs) are required to attend meetings and report to the
Board.
The Board risk assesses schools using:
o uncontestable progress and attainment data from RAISE
o intelligence from Local Authority departments including Learning and Improvement,
HR, Finance and Audit
o SSP reports
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
Approach:
All schools will be considered at each termly meeting using the framework of:
o Achievement
o Quality of leadership and governance
o Behaviour and safety
o Finance
o Human Resources
Evidence produced by the Southend Challenge groups will be scrutinised by the Board and
actions will be agreed applying the principle of intervention in inverse proportion to success.
Actions agreed will be communicated to individual schools (Head and Chair) by the Head of
the Learning Service within 10 working days of the meeting. For 2014-15 the dates for the
SSIB meetings are published on the Southend Learning Network (SLN).
Evidence:
1. Ofsted report or monitoring letter
2. School Support Partner reports including recommendations for intervention
3. Southend Challenge Groups’ reports and minutes
4. LA School Improvement Adviser reports
5. School Improvement Partnership notes
6. Performance data
7. Parent View
8. Staff surveys
9. School websites
10. HR reports
11. Finance reports
12. Audit reports
13. Attendance reports
14. Safeguarding reports
15. Special Educational Needs (SEN) reports

The School Support and Improvement Advisory Group (SSIAG) has been established to
advise the Board on the effectiveness and impact of its approach. Membership
comprises representatives from each Southend Challenge group, the South Essex
Academy Trust (SEAT) and the Consortium of Selective Secondary Education (CSSE). The
SSIAG will meet termly to review the operation of the SSIB.
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
Our Approach to Intervention in Schools Causing Concern
In May 2013, the Department for Education (DfE) published new guidance on Schools Causing
Concern. This guidance requires Local Authorities to take action in respect of maintained
schools in accordance with the 2006 Education and Inspections Act. The Local Authority
continues to hold a democratic accountability for securing good outcomes for all children and
young people in the local area (including those children in academies and free schools), and a
statutory duty in exercising their education and training functions with a view to promote
high standards and promote the fulfillment of learning potential.


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The Local Authority will deploy its formal powers of intervention promptly and
decisively where a school has been placed in a category, is underperforming in one or
more of the key Ofsted judgement areas or has been judged as requiring
improvement.
The progress of schools causing concern will be kept under review by the School
Support and Improvement Board (SSIB) chaired by the Head of Learning. Robust
action will be taken where progress is judged to be insufficient and/or where schools
have met the threshold for intervention.
For those schools whose results show performance below the floor levels the Director
for People and the Head of Learning will meet with the Headteacher and Chair of
Governors to challenge and review the situation in more detail, taking account of any
new evidence to determine whether the intervention threshold has been met
(Challenge and Review Meeting)
The Director for People will make the final decision regarding intervention which may involve:



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The issuing of a warning notice
The appointment of additional governors
The appointment of an Interim Executive Board (IEB)
The suspension of delegated authority for the governing body to manage a school’s
budget
The Director will meet with the Head and Chair of Governors to inform them of his decision
and record the decision in writing. The improvement plan will be monitored through the
School Improvement Partnership Board (SIPB) and the intervention strategy and its impact
will be monitored through the School Support and Improvement Board. The timescale for
improvement will be no more than two full academic terms and the Director will sign off any
de-escalation once he is assured that the necessary actions have taken place and the impact
is being felt.
This process is described in more detail below.
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
School Support and Improvement Board - Process for Risk Assessment
July:


A congratulatory letter will be sent to primary schools reporting good results
The Head and Chairs of Governors from primary schools with below floor standards
results will attend a Challenge and Review meeting with the Director and Head of
Learning
 Outcomes will include a Local Authority Review (to include Governance), the
development of an Action Plan and 6-weekly School Improvement and Partnership
Board (SIPB) meetings
September:
 A congratulatory letter will be sent to secondary schools reporting good results
 The Head and Chairs of Governors from secondary schools with below floor standards
results will attend a Challenge and Review meeting with the Director of People and
Head of Learning
 Outcomes will include a Local Authority Review (to include Governance), the
development of an Action Plan and 6-weekly School Improvement and Partnership
Board (SIPB) meetings
October – SSIB meeting 1:
 Initial risk assessment based on unvalidated data and other factors considered on a
termly basis by SSIB e.g. HR
 LA School Improvement Advisers to visit all schools risk assessed as amber or red to
meet with the Headteacher and Chair of Governors to validate the risk assessment
judgement, review the school’s action plan, confirm half-termly submission of data and
agree a SIPB date where necessary
November:
 School Support Partner – Visit 1
December:
 SIPB - meeting 1
January:
 Warning Notice issued to schools with below floor results if evidence identifies the
school as one causing concern
January – SSIB meeting 2:
 Risk assessment based on Ofsted inspection judgements, LA Link Officers’ reports, SIPB
minutes, SSP report and data
 Letter sent from the Head of Learning to schools advising them of their risk assessment
outcome
 The Head and Chair of Governors from schools assessed red or amber will attend a
Challenge and Review meeting with the Director and the Head of Learning
 Outcomes will include a Local Authority Review (to include Governance), the
development of an Action Plan and 6-weekly School Improvement and Partnership
Board (SIPB) meetings
 LA School Improvement Advisers will continue to meet with the Head and Chair of
Governors to monitor all schools
March:
 School Support Partner Review Group meeting
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
April – SSIB meeting 3:
 Risk assessment based on projected Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and Pupil
Premium results alongside other factors considered on a termly basis by SSIB e.g. HR
June:
 SSP – Visit 2
July – SSIB meeting 4
 Risk assessment based on early, unvalidated end of Key Stage results, LA School
Improvement Advisers’ reports and SSP reports
School Support Partner (SSP) Programme
The programme has been revised for 2014-15 to reflect the changes to the Strategy and the
aims and objectives of the Southend Challenge:
 3 SSPs will be retained to manage 1 or 2 of the primary Southend Challenge groups.
 Each school in a group will receive 2 individual visits from the SSP and 1 whole group
meeting will be held.
 The SSPs will challenge and support Heads and Chairs of Governors to meet the aims
and objectives of the Southend Challenge
 The SSPs will present their reports at the SSIB meetings
 The reports will inform the risk assessment outcomes
 A SSP will work with the 3 non-academy secondary schools and will carry out individual
and group visits
 The academies will continue to receive 1 visit from a SSP
Dataset to inform the evaluation of schools
August: Analysis of results, preparation of School Data Profiles
The Dataset will include:
 Ofsted Inspection outcomes

Attainment

Attendance

Phonics – Year 1 and Year 2

EYFSP (where applicable)

Progress for two and three levels at KS2 and KS4 respectively

Attainment and progress of vulnerable groups – Pupil Premium (FSM. CLA and Forces
Children), SEN
The Data for each school will be compared with the performance of:
 All Local Authority maintained schools

Those with similar contexts

National
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
This data will then form an overall Local Authority Profile which together with each school’s
self-evaluation will be used to support school performance review and overall effectiveness
grade.
Self evaluation and judgement grading
The judgements schools make through their own self-evaluation should be the starting point
for risk assessment. The judgement grading should then be used to facilitate discussion with
the School Support Partner about where a school places itself and where appropriate to seek
the evidence to substantiate this. The Southend Challenge Groups will be the forum for
supporting and challenging schools within each Group.
Schools are expected to self-evaluate to inform themselves about how well they are doing.
The newly revised process will provide:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
External validation of that self-evaluation from an experienced professional School
Support Partner, the school’s LA School Improvement Adviser and the Heads of the
schools within each Southend Challenge Group
An opportunity to celebrate strengths and use those areas of strength to further
improvement in-house as well as for support to other schools
A termly review of concerns and risks for schools to act on and where appropriate for
the Local Authority and other schools to work in partnership to address
External audit of each school’s improvement journey (School Support and
Improvement Board)
A strong indication of how each school will be judged through the Ofsted inspection
process
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
Models of Support
JUDGEMENT STRAND
TEAM DEPLOYING
SUPPORT
DETAIL OF SUPPORT
Achievement of Pupils
at the School
Learning and Improvement
SETSA
Quality of Teaching at
the School
Learning and Improvement
SETSA
Behaviour and Safety
of Pupils at the School
Integrated Locality Services
Learning and Improvement Advisers
Learning and Improvement Advisory
Teachers
SLE (support of middle leaders)
SSP
TLP
School-to-School Support
School Support and Review Groups
Learning and Improvement Advisers
Learning and Improvement Advisory
Teachers
SLE (support of middle leaders)
SSP
TLP
School-to-School Support
School Support and Review Groups
Early Intervention (CAF)
Child and Family Early Intervention
Team (Attendance)
SSP
Governor Services
Inclusion Services
Quality of Leadership
and Management of
the School
Learning and Improvement
Behaviour Support Team
Seabrook College
School-to-School Support
School Support and Review Groups
NLE/LLE/SLE
Learning and Improvement Advisers
SSP
GSP
Governor Services
Associate Head
Associate Deputy Head
Federation/Amalgamation
School-to-School Support
School Support and Review Groups
NB:


LA Statement of Action to be developed for all schools RAG(ed) red or amber
LA School Improvement Adviser to monitor school’s Action Plan on a 6-weekly basis, via the
School Improvement Partnership Board, for schools RAG(ed) amber
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
Consideration of Structural Solutions
Our approach to the consideration of structural solutions is underpinned by our principles of:




An evidence based approach
Support for improvement
Openness and transparency
Continuous review
Structural solutions are considered as a matter of course for both vulnerable and
underperforming schools. Building on our successful track record of implementing structural
solutions, we have devised a framework within which dialogue takes place.
Structural solutions
Securing improvement through formal schoolto- school partnership agreement
Factors to consider
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Securing improvement through a hard
federation

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Securing improvement through conversion to
Trust or Academy status

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Invoking the power to establish an Interim
Executive Board (IEB)


Identification of partner school
Appointment of executive headteacher
Appointment of executive deputy
headteacher
Clarification and agreement of activities
supported by the partnership
Clarification of accountabilities in respect of
each school’s governing body
Identification of federation partner
Appointment of executive headteacher
(headteacher of partner school)
Clarification and agreement of activities
supported through the federation
Management and oversight of the legal
process for federation
Identification of Trust partners or Academy
sponsor
Confirmation of existing leadership or
appointment of executive headteacher
Clarification and agreement of aims and
objectives of proposed new status
Clarification of accountabilities for
governance
Management and oversight of legal
processes for conversion
Evaluation of overall effectiveness of
school’s governing body (including external
verification)
Management and oversight of legal process
for removal of governing body and transfer
of accountable body status to the LA
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
Sustainable Solutions
We are committed to finding sustainable solutions to securing school improvement and we
are achieving this through the following approaches.
Working in collaboration with the South Essex Teaching School Alliance, we are:

building a culture of zero tolerance for long held assumptions linking social
disadvantage with underachievement

brokering school-to-school collaboration wherever and whenever possible

building headteacher skills and expertise through positive engagement with the LLE
and NLE programmes

promoting and supporting partnerships across phases and geographical localities

delivering a thriving NQT programme and good track record for recruitment and
retention of strong senior school leaders

committed to the use of data to inform school improvement conversations
achieving comparator information locally and nationally
Different Players, Complementary Roles
The responsibilities of different partnership groups
1. School Support and Improvement Board
2. The School Support and Improvement Advisory Group
3. Pupil Premium Strategy Group
4. Southend Challenge Groups
5. Southend Secondary Headteachers’ Association
6. Southend Primary Headteachers’ Association
7. Southend Special School Headteachers’ Group
8. System Leaders
9. Departmental Management Team
10. School Support Partners
NB:


The School Support Partners’ role is to provide support and challenge and where
appropriate recommend intervention and to act as an enabler for schools to provide access
to their good practice
The Local Authority School Improvement Advisers role is to provide strategic leadership for
teaching and learning, achievement, leadership and management, early years and schools
causing concern alongside acting as lead officer for individual schools and Southend
Challenge groups
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IMPROVING LEARNING TOGETHER
Acronym Glossary
DfE
Department for Education
DMT
Departmental Management Team
EYFS
Early Years Foundation Stage
EYFSP
Early Years Foundation Stage Profile
FSM
Free School Meals
ILT
Improving Learning Together
KS1/2/3/4/5
Key Stage 1/2/3/4/5
LA
Local Authority
LAC
Looked After Children
LLE
Local Leader of Education
NLE
National Leader of Education
PP
Pupil Premium
PRU
Pupil Referral Unit
SEN
Special Educational Needs
SETSA
South Essex Teaching School Alliance
SLE
Specialist Leader of Education
SSIB
School Support and Improvement Board
SSP
School Support Partner
TLP
Teaching and Learning Practitioner
NQT
Newly Qualified Teacher
SOSHA
Southend Secondary Heads Association
SOPHA
Southend Primary Heads Association
SSSHG
Southend Special Schools’ Headteachers’ Group
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