Leading System Improvement
within & beyond the MAT
Sir David Carter
March 2017
National Schools Commissioner
The challenges to meet if we
want more good school places
• What are the generic principles that will
underpin the creation of more good school
places?
– Ensuring that structural change and collaboration are
focused on raising standards
– Build leadership cultures and teams across the
system
– Focus on every year in a child’s education as a
destination not just on the end point of compulsory
education
– See the true value of outstanding early years
teaching as an underpinning of long term
achievement from pre school to pre university
How do we get schools that
work for everyone?
• What kind of schools led education
system should we be aiming to create?
• 4 Priorities;
– Every school is a giver and receiver of support
– Create a MAT led system with a TSA in every
MAT
– Collaboration will be hard wired into the system
through MATS and intra MAT partnerships
– Governance will be the best it has ever been
How do we build a sustainable
improvement system?
Improving our Weaker
Schools
• Analysis (What do we
do first?) +
• Evidence (Who has
done this better?) +
• Capacity (Internal or
External)
leads to Improvement
Sustaining Improvement
• Improvement
(Maintaining what
already works) +
• Consistency (Strategy
and Delivery)
• Research (How the
best schools
internationally succeed)
leads to Sustained
Performance
Improving and
sustaining our schools
• Improving the system
(Effective Practice)
– Leading school
improvement
– Sustaining improvement
when a school has got
better
– Building leadership
capacity
– Leading a better
understanding of the Early
years to University journey
of a child
• Growing the capacity of
the system (Next
Practice)
– Looking at global education
models that could be
helpful in England
– Developing new models of
Curriculum, Assessment
and Pedagogy
– Building the evidence base
of what works (R and D)
– Learning from other sectors
to influence the Social
Mobility agenda
Leadership
Impact
Where the
Leader
Influences
Where the
Leader builds
Confidence
Staff
Children
Where the
Leader
builds
Engagement
Parents
Where the
Leader
Delivers
Impact
Community
Leadership begins
in the classroom
Leaders of learning in
the classroom
demonstrate..
– Consistently good
teaching that delivers
strong outcomes for
children
– Alignment and
understanding of the
school vision & ethos
– Ownership of personal
development
Classroom Practitioners
can learn the skills of
collaborative leadership
through…
– Being part of MAT and
TSA networks
– Leading action
research groups
– Mentoring ITT and NQT
Middle Leaders drive
improvement in teams
Middle Leaders
demonstrate…
– The ability to improve
the teaching of their
team members
– The ability to translate
the MAT and School
Vision to the team
action plan
– The ability to hold their
team to account for the
priorities they are
responsible for
Middle Leaders can
learn the skills of
collaborative leadership
through…
– Leading MAT priorities
– Working in more than
one school by leading
subjects or curriculum
foci across more than
one school
Senior Leaders drive improvement
beyond their own school
Senior Leaders
demonstrate…
– Their ability to improve
the performance of the
school they lead in
– The ability to transmit
effective strategies
from one school to
another
– The ability to identify
and develop talent and
see potential where
others do not
Senior Leaders learn
the skills of
collaborative leadership
through…
– Leading across more
than one school
– Contributing to the
leadership brain of the
wider organisation
– Being held to account
for a MAT performance
target as one of their
objectives
Executive Leaders are
accountable for the outcomes
of all children in their care
Executive Leaders
work at the Micro Level
in their organisation
by….
Executive Leaders work
at the Macro Level
beyond their organisation
by…
‒ Being the Guardian of the
trust’s moral purpose
‒ Leading at scale &
understanding complex
change management
‒ Leading seamlessly from
Vision to Strategy to Action
and taking responsibility for
outcomes in multiple settings
‒ Ensuring all staff feel part of
the whole
– Taking decisions that do not
dis-advantage other schools
in their community
– Growing capacity for
communities beyond their
own
– Supporting the wider
educational strategy for
their region
The Autonomy Debate in
Collaborations
• Culture, Values and
Beliefs
– How we behave
– How we relate to our
communities
– How we build
relationships
– How we look beyond
our schools and trust
– How we celebrate
success
• Educational Quality
– How we employ our
staff
– How we develop our
staff
– How we design the
curriculum
– How we develop
teaching capacity
– How we plan to
improve standards
What Happens Where?
TRUST
CLUSTER
SCHOOL
Defining the Strategy at the different
levels of the MAT structure
• What decisions might
take place at the Trust
level?
– The Ethos, Values and
Vision that underpin the
social capital of the trust
– The Policies that ensure
people are treated the same
– The shape and structure of
the Curriculum
– Exam Boards and Syllabi
– The workforce needed
across the trust and where
they are deployed
• What decisions might
take place at the Cluster
level?
– Training and Collaboration
– Staff deployment across
more than one school
– Student interactions
• What decisions might
take place at the school
level?
– Student interventions (QA by
Trust)
– Enrichment
– Parental Engagement
– Staff Induction to the school
The Performance Challenge
Building a cohesive
relationship between leadership
and school improvement
Building a School Improvement
Strategy
DIAGNOSIS
Data Handling,
Analysis, Peer
Review,
Accountability
Predictions,
Quality
Assurance
Monitoring
Delivery
In the intersect is where
Improvement takes place
IMPROVEMENT
CPD, Coaching,
StSS, R and D,
Leadership
Development
Talent Mgt,
Subject
Networks, Staff
Deployment
8 Questions Leaders need to ask
themselves in the next 6 months
• Q1-Are we delivering on the promise we
made to raise standards in our school(s)?
• Q2-What does our current performance
suggest are the areas we need to focus
upon?
• Q3-Does everyone understand what it is we
need to do next and what their role in it is?
• Q4-Can we improve our school ourselves or
do we really need some external help?
8 Questions Leaders need to
pose in the next six months
• Q5-What is it like to be a student in our school who finds
learning difficult & what are we doing about it?
• Q6-What is it like to be a member of staff who finds
working in our school difficult and what are we doing
about it?
• Q7-As leaders, do we spend our time effectively? How
much time do we spend on non-improvement tasks and
how much time are we working with people?
• Q8-How “honest” are we with each other about where
we are on our improvement journey? Where are the
skeletons being hidden?