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System leadership
e or different?
-11
ssion points
isits that other students have
ad to their new secondary
chool – what do they know
lready?
alk about and then fill in the
enn diagram with similarities and
ifferences that students know
o far between secondary and
rimary school.
hare/prompt with further ideas
ith the group and add any that
hey have missed out onto their
enn diagram.
It was particularly
powerful to be able to
explain to parents, ‘if you
wish to consider joining
another local school you
will find exactly the same
stance on unauthorised
absence there.’
successful three-year deficit recovery programme. These changes
also enabled senior teaching staff to concentrate on the core
function of raising student achievement. This was driven by the
financial expertise available at Norton Hill.
In Year 1 there were quick wins, visible to all. A major
refurbishment of the hall was funded through a capital loan from
Norton Hill’s contingency budget, paid back over time through a
rental agreement to provide a Sunday service for the local Baptist
church. Progress in maths had stalled and a maths teacher moved
for a year to Somervale from Norton Hill to teach some maths
classes, sharing best practice. Three levels of progress in maths
has gone up accordingly from 41% in 2010 to 73% A*/C in 2013.
Somervale Changing times had always Lunchtime found it difficult to recruit top quality new
p. 12-13
p. 14-15
entrant Discussion maths points teachers Discussion so in points the summer of 2011 the Federation
• What are form tutor groups? • An opportunity to revise healthy
What happens in form tutor time? foods and food groups.
agreed to advertise jointly for two maths teachers, one to work at
What’s the role of form tutors?
• Check that students know the
Student tasks
correct terminology for their new
each
•
school. The quality of the field attracted by the reputation of
Fill in missing words and names school and what the times are
on the Passport Reminder card. and procedure is.
our sister • Talk to a school current Year 7 student. astonished Student tasks us and when the candidates arrived
Find out what he/she likes and • With support, try out the new
doesn’t like doing in form tutor
school’s canteen.
many expressed a preference to teach at the smaller school and
time.
we were able to recruit an excellent candidate.
By Year 2 we had established that the future lay in a new
shared sixth form, re-branded as the Midsomer 7 Norton Sixth
Form. The roll out took two years but by the time students
at both schools were opting in 2011 students understood the
benefits of a shared sixth form with over 40 courses now available
and accepted moving between sites for different subjects as the
norm. Again money was secured to build a totemic new sixth
form space at the front of the school demonstrating to the local
community that post-16 teaching at Somervale was here to stay.
This investment has led to a 15% rise of those staying on the
study post-16 at Somervale.
We had developed a sophisticated menu of professional
development courses using the lead teachers from both schools
to run over 30 twilight training courses on the art of teaching run
by teachers for teachers across the partnership. The professional
shared dialogue across both schools about teaching and learning
energised the professional practice at both schools. By now,
teachers from Norton Hill and Somervale were attracted to the
idea of year secondments to experience leadership opportunities
in the smaller school such as in history and RE, or to work in a
larger team at Norton Hill for lone subject practitioners. This
has enabled us to hold on to talented staff and enrich their
experience.
Strong trust relationships were developing between the
senior teams at both schools. Senior leadership meeting time
was dedicated to joint sessions, particularly to agree and debate
strategic direction across the Federation. Norton Hill has
long had a strong reputation for data tracking and progress
monitoring and their systems were further developed and rolled
out across both schools. The shared governing body insisted on
the same quality assurance processes at both schools ensuring
that all reporting on school progress met the same rigorous
standards. The senior pastoral teams worked closely together
to agree shared policy and protocols over attendance. It was
particularly powerful to be able to explain to parents, ‘if you wish
to consider joining another local school you will find exactly
the same stance on unauthorised absence there.’ As a result
attendance has risen at Somervale from 91.3% in 2010 to 95.2%
in 2014.
It felt that by Year 3 the relationship between the two schools
had reached maturity. Peter Beaven, who had won hearts and
minds across both schools so skilfully, decided it was time for
a phase two of the academy relationship under new leadership.
Our own self-evaluation indicated that Somervale was now a
‘good school’ which was soon to be confirmed by Ofsted in
January 2013. The appointment of a new Headteacher, Alun
Williams, is significant as he was appointed by a new single
governing body to be the new Headteacher of both schools.
Naturally our ambitions under his leadership are extending.
The successful partnership between the two schools is seen by
the governing body as one that can be rolled out to the primary
phase and across the whole locality. There has been a renewed
focus on the quality of teaching. This had led to a great deal of
professional dialogue across schools and agreed actions closely
monitored. Again the journey is a common enterprise, with
paired leaders across both schools working on a shared agenda.
Middle leaders across both sites work very closely to make sure
that the quality of post 16 lessons has the same quality standards
wherever taught.
It is light outside, Spring five years on. Numbers have just
arrived for next year. In those dark days of winter in 2009 we
had projected that only 25 families would choose Somervale in
2014; we have 90 first preferences and a sustainable four form
entry model into the future. The roll is stable and the future
secure. Somervale has thrived due to its relationship with its
sister converter academy and, in my view, would no longer be in
existence without it.
Summer 2014 | 27