Kelly Bentley, Principal of Cottingley Primary Academy, shares insights into the journey of a 'repair' school. This is the second in a series from school leaders in each quadrant of AET’s network improvement framework.
On a school improvement journey, I’ll be honest and say that some days, it can feel like there are no solutions.
Now, we are in the ‘repair’ quadrant of our trust’s network improvement model, looking to move into ‘improve’. We know the criteria defining an ‘improve’ school, but how do we achieve it? What will it actually take?
Firstly, we must recognise that this is a marathon, not a sprint. That allows us to identify which parts of the distance still need some work.
When I think about the journey from ‘stabilise’ to ‘repair’, I feel slightly overwhelmed by what we have already achieved. We have grown a team with emotional resilience - those who can face stepping foot in the building at the start of each day with a smile on their face and boundless optimism, regardless of what they have faced the day before.
Working in a deprived area of Leeds, whose community faces many challenges, is not for everyone. It isn’t easy. It can be emotionally draining. But not for the staff who stay at Cottingley Primary Academy. They continue to believe that they’ll be the ones to make a difference - they’re a team to be truly treasured.
With the right people in place, we can begin on the nitty-gritty of developing teaching and learning - the thing we come to work to do.
In the ‘stabilise’ phase, I feel that perhaps not enough time was given consistently to this aspect. Yes, improvements were always being made, but perhaps not with as much drive and determination as was needed. Time did not allow for it.
We focused most of our efforts on behaviour, culture, procedures, processes, and staffing to steady the ship.
Capacity, as in all public services at present, is limited, especially when there are so many priorities. Sharpening our focus on key objectives during this 'repair' phase will have a significant impact - the development of teaching and leadership at all levels is at the top of the list.
We want one hundred per cent of our pupils to have the very best teacher in front of them every day - not seventy per cent, two or three days a week. One hundred per cent, one hundred per cent of the time.
We will only achieve this by shifting the balance of what we spend our time on. We have to invest more time in the classrooms and upskill all leaders so that they have a shared language and understanding of excellent teaching.
With that additional capacity built, we should ensure that each staff member has the development they need to become the greatest teacher they can be.
No gaps in provision. No, "well, they had a dreadful Year X".
Only with consistently great teaching from the outset, will children with low baselines have any chance of achieving in line with their peers around the country by the time they leave us.
But there will still be many other balls to juggle.
We must continue our multifaceted work to support families who face ever-more challenging circumstances.
We must continue to refine procedures and processes in response to the changes in education.
We must continue to build a broad and ambitious curriculum.
We must continue to retain and train our priceless team.
We must continue to set high expectations for our pupils.
Most of all, we must allow time for our changes to bed in.
Though, one of the most important things I have learnt is that there are no silver bullets or magic formulas in a school like ours, however much we crave one. Time and relentless focus on the things that matter will make the difference.
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Explore the rest of this series to learn more about the improvement priorities of schools at AET. Written by leaders from different quadrants - stabilise, repair, improve and sustain - of the trust's network improvement model, this series reveals the diversity and similarities of school improvement journeys.