School Improvement Team celebrating a decade of progress
04 Nov 2024 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
A decade’s worth of hard work has seen the county’s schools’ performance sustain its highest ever level.
From a critical report back in 2013 which found too many schools were receiving poor Ofsted outcomes and pupils were not achieving their potential, the Council’s School Improvement Team has worked tirelessly to turn the situation around.
In a report being presented to the Council’s Family and Children's Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee, figures show Ofsted outcomes in the county are above the regional and national average – and the highest they’ve ever been in Northumberland.
The School Improvement team consists of five full-time staff (A Head of School Improvement, three School Improvement Leaders and an administrator) and three part time staff.
The team have experience of headship across a range of ages, phases and localities. The central team are supported by 12 School Improvement Partners, all of whom are experienced educators.
Councillor Guy Renner-Thompson, Cabinet Member for Inspiring Young People, said: “This is a glowing report which reflects years of hard work to improve our schools and give young people the best start in life.
“Ofsted gradings are at their highest on record and for the first time in memory there are no Inadequate schools in the county.
“This is down in no short measure to the work of the School Improvement Team - a group of skilled, experienced staff with a track record of supporting schools and improving outcomes.
“And while there are 30 Northumberland schools to be inspected in this cycle before next July, the team are fully focused on helping all those not yet inspected, or due reinspection, prepare fully.”
The report also highlights that over the past year, 108 of Northumberland’s schools utilised the support and challenge of a School Improvement Partner from the School Improvement Team and they have also supported three schools from neighbouring authorities.
Another area is the ongoing work to support the mental health of headteachers. Since 2022 72 headteachers have been helped. Feedback was 100% positive with one headteacher calling it “career-saving”.
A total of 24 teachers were supported through the induction process in their first years of teaching and 145 schools were helped to provide support at Key Stage 1 and 2.
Audrey Kingham, Executive Director of Children, Young People and Education at the County Council, added: “We are looking forward to presenting this report which gives another snapshot of the hard work and commitment that our teams show every single day in helping improve the lives of young people.”