Appendix 2
Strategic action plan planning to improve school and LEA effectiveness
Context
This document proposes priorities and actions to address the core elements of the Secondary Schools’ Improvement Strategy:
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Developing leadership at all levels
Teaching and Learning
Intervention and multi-agency support
Improvement and accountability
The overall aim is that in each school and secondary department, learners achieve in line with potential through high quality
provision.
Developing leadership at all levels
Priorities
Form school and LEA effectiveness
steering group
Support for school leadership
Middle management
Action
 Produce strategy for school improvement
based on system leadership, high
aspirations and a sharp focus on raising
standards of achievement and quality of
learning.
 Agree leadership programme for senior
managers e.g. support, partnerships and
mentors; seminars and sharing good
practice from outside and within
Wrexham
 Provide sustained leadership training for
middle managers
1
Developments/desired outcomes
Raising standards and improving
effectiveness is a high priority
Clear planning and commitment to action
Leadership programmes 2009 -10
High quality training provided for middle
managers in secondary schools
2009 -10
Improve performance management so that
it is focused on achieving improvement
Improve the capacity of governing bodies
to focus on improvement and achievement
Resource management
 Review performance management
arrangements and investigate ways to
make a more consistent use of a
competency framework where
performance is slow to improve
 Develop the role of governing bodies in
challenging and supporting school
improvement and standards
 Ensure that leaders at all levels deploy
resources (human, financial and time)
effectively to focus on standards,
achievement and quality of provision,
based on evidence of need.
To be progressed in line with local
authority developments 2009 -11
Action
 Ensure a secure focus on pedagogy and
produce clear statement on
characteristics of effective teaching and
learning as part of a collective
professionalism
 Formalise arrangements to share good
practice (seminars, conference,
showcases, website)
 Provide training programme in effective
learning to include:
 Personalised learning
 Skills – basic, key and learning skills
 New curriculum orders
 Learning to Learn initiatives (with
national input)
Developments/desired outcomes
LEA guidance to be produced
Governing body training programme
planned for 2009 -10
Targeted support, challenge and
intervention programme prioritises
support where improvement in quality
and standards is needed most.
Teaching and Learning
Priorities
LEA and schools to have a clear policy
about how good quality learning is
secured
Implement the revised curriculum and
assessment arrangements
2
Effective learning programme to be
rolled out in consortia from January
2009
Good practice will be showcased
regularly
Effective learning programme to be
rolled out in consortia from January
2009
Learning initiatives to be developed
within consortia
Improve the quality, accuracy and
consistency of assessment
Improve continuity and progression
Ensure that needs of individual groups of
learners are met
Increase lesson observation with a focus
on improving quality and effectiveness as
a central part of improving learning
Give more attention to the non-core
subjects
 Provide training and guidance materials
for:
 Formative assessment, including
assessment for learning
 Standardisation and moderation
 Monitor and support transition plans to
ensure that they support continuity and
progression in line with requirements
 Develop consortium working with joint
working by practitioners and primary and
secondary advisers
 Progress the 14 – 19 learning pathways
to ensure provision according to meet
learners’ needs and entitlement
 focus on quality of provision and
outcomes of different groups of learners
to ensure all pupils have provision
according to needs and make progress in
line with potential, including
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More able and talented learners
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Boys and girls
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Disaffected learners
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LAC
 Provide and implement LEA and school
guidance and make lesson observation
by senior and middle managers, peers,
LTAs and officers part of the
improvement culture
 Provide lead practitioners in all non-core
subjects
3
Training and support programme for
standardisation and moderation to be
provided in consortia
Transition plans monitored and support
provided to consortia
Improved continuity and progression
from key stage 2 to key stage 3.
Improved access to wider range of
courses to improve standards at key
stage 4 and reduce the number of
NEETs.
At LEA and school level, the outcomes
of different groups of learners will be in
line with potential.
By 2010, 80% of lessons observed will
be Grade 2 or better
Improvement in standards and quality in
non-core subjects
Review work of quality circles
Review CPD arrangements
 Ensure that all quality circles have an
agenda that includes a review of
attainment, a focus on learning and the
use of data and other evidence to plan for
improvement
 Find a way to ensure that CPD focuses
more directly on school and consortia
priorities for improvement
Consistent focus of quality circles on
standards and quality of learning
Training for teachers provided in
consortia where appropriate to maximise
impact.
Intervention and Multi -agency support
Priorities
Improve performance in schools and
departments where attainment is below
the expected level
Improve behaviour and reduce exclusions
Action
 Target TSI funding to schools and
departments in lowest quartiles in key
indictors
 Schools and departments in these
categories to provide improvement/
recovery plans
 LTAs and other professionals to focus
support on these schools and
departments
Revised TSI policy
TSI funding in secondary phase
allocated according to need to reduce
variation in performance within schools
in 2008-09
Improvement plans in place and
monitored by LEA officers and school
managers 2008-09
Revised behaviour management policy
 Improve the procedures, at an early
stage, for identifying and responding to
Reduction in the number of fixed term
needs of learners at most risk of
exclusions
exclusion
 Provide high quality training and support
for effective behaviour management in
all schools and classrooms, giving priority
to schools with highest exclusion rates
and where exclusions are adversely
affecting the achievements and attitudes
of particular groups of learners
4
Improve provision in centrally-managed
provision for learning
 Ensure high quality assurance systems
are in place in centrally-managed
provision for learners, including LAC
 Take action to ensure that
recommendations from the last
inspections of PRUs are met consistently
in all the PRUs
Increased number of pupils achieving
recognised qualifications
Refine and revise the Targeted Support
and Intervention strategy
 Review the deployment of LTAs, officers
and resources in accordance with degree
of challenge needed and in inverse
proportion to success
 Consider extending the Team Around the
Child approach to developing a multiagency Team Around the Consortium
Support targeted in inverse proportion to
success
Develop cross phase working further
through consortium teams of officers and
advisers.
Improvement and accountability
Priorities
Tackle and remove variations in standards
of attainment within and across secondary
schools at both key stages
Action
 Refine Statements of Performance to
include priorities for improvement
 Schools to append improvement plans to
statements of performance showing
planned improvements to address areas
of underperformance
 Schools and LTAs to agree together
improvement plans for underperforming
departments
 Partnership agreements to formalise LEA
and school responsibilities
5
School Improvement Plans to prioritise
work to raise standards and improve
quality of learning and teaching where
there is evidence of the need for
improvement.
Partnership Agreements to be
formalised by May 2009
Improve the performance of schools and
departments in comparison with similar
schools in Wales and in line with
expectations
 Use data more rigorously to target
resources and support where
improvement is most needed
Year on year, performance in key
indicators will improve in comparison
with similar schools and be at least on a
par with estimates of performance
Improving the quality and rigour of selfevaluation and planning for improvement
at whole school and subject/aspect level
 Review and refine the SBR to focus
smartly on standards and quality of
teaching and learning, taking into
account Estyn’s plans for 2010 and
Estyn’s categorisation process
 Develop and share good practice in
whole school and departmental reviews.
 Provide guidance on the use of the range
of data available for self-evaluation and
the process of improvement planning and
target setting
 Adopt consistent target setting
approaches; all schools to set targets at
least at Fischer B for Key Stage 3 and
Key Stage 4.
 Provide training in interpretation of CATs,
Suffolk Reading test and PASS to plan
improvements at all levels
 Share best practice in monitoring and
tracking pupil progress
LEA and schools to have clear objectives
and criteria to measure effectiveness and
impact of all planned improvements.
Guidance and training on self-evaluation
and planning for improvement.
Improve the consistency and effectiveness
of use of data for evaluating performance,
target setting, planning improvement
interventions, and monitoring and tracking
department and pupil progress
Become more self-evaluative and
objective
6
Improved inspection grades for Key
Questions 5 and 6
All schools to achieve standards at least
in line with Fischer B estimates and to
plan to exceed Fischer B over time..
Effective self-evaluation and evidence of
improvement as a result. .