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RICHMOND SCHOOLREVIEW FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS15-16 October 2014

Context and Background:North Yorkshire Local Authority issued a warning notice to the school's governingbody in February 2014 in order to resolve a breakdown in relations between theheadteacher and Governing Body. An Interim Executive Board (IEB) replaced theGoverning Body at Easter 2014. The Local Authority and the IEB commissioned anindependent external review to evaluate progress.

Agreed Focus:1. The impact of leadership and management, including the Interim Executive Board

on the culture and ethos of the school, since Easter 2014.

2. The effectiveness of leadership within the school, including the Interim ExecutiveBoard, and its impact on driving forward improvement.

Sources of Evidence:Meetings were held with: the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, teacherswithout specific responsibilities, support staff, the business manager, the Chair of theInterim Executive Board and four representatives, two representatives from the LocalAuthority, three groups of students, and two groups of parents. The review teamconsidered the responses to 95 confidential questionnaires and five additionalwritten submissions from staff.

The review team looked at key documents linked to achievement, teaching,behaviour and safety, and leadership and management. The students selected fordiscussions were chosen by the review team, and informal discussions were heldwith a number of students around the school site.

An open session was available for staff to give their views during the review.

Review Findings:The actions taken by the Local Authority, school leaders and the IEB have helped tobring key partners together to support improvement. The IEB has been well-receivedby senior leaders and the staff. It has provided much needed stability to the school.Staff have appreciated the opportunity to meet with members of the board. Theheadteacher and senior leaders are positive about the opportunity to discuss theirareas of responsibility with board members. It is still early days in the development ofthe IEB. Relationships are developing strongly and board members are building theirknowledge and understanding of the school. Reports from the school are not yet

sufficiently detailed or evaluative to allow the IEB to fully support, challenge andmonitoring progress.

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The review team noted a strong loyalty to the school on the part of students, most ofwhom were exceptionally polite and well behaved when in the presence of teammembers. There was no evidence that any of the staff spoken with were interested inanything but ensuring the success of the school and the best outcomes for students.

The majority of staff who responded to the questionnaire confirmed that they wereproud to be a member of the school.

The headteacher was aware that the parents involved in the review were not fullyrepresentative of all parents. Those who attended meetings were extremely positiveabout the school and their childrens experiences. The extent of the extra-curricularprovision was viewed as a significant strength. These parents were aware that someparents held different views of the school.

Many staff made reference to significant changes that had taken place since theheadteacher was appointed; a staffing restructure, relocation to one site and

changes to accountability systems. There is recognition by most staff that these earlychanges were necessary to tackle some long-standing weaknesses. It is theperception of many staff that the approach to managing change adopted at that timehas continued.

A high proportion of staff feel that changes and new initiatives are introduced withoutsufficient consultation, or a proper impact assessment to review workload, theimplications for training, and the timeline for implementation. This can lead to a lackof clarity in the minds of staff about the strategic direction of the school.

The quality of the schools self-evaluation is developing. Sources of evidence aredrawn together for achievement, teaching, behaviour and leadership andmanagement. The analysis and evaluation of evidence is not completed in sufficientdepth to provide an open, honest and realistic picture. Robust analysis is required toidentify the progress of cohorts, subjects and different groups of students from Year7.

This would lead to more precise objectives in the schools improvement plan, toaccelerate progress.

Whole school self-evaluation is currently undertaken by the senior leadership team.

There is scope to involve staff and the IEB in this process to ensure that judgementsare understood and agreed. The misuse of the word outstanding in publicationsmay provide misleading messages, as it does not necessarily equate to the definitionin the Ofsted Handbook.

In response to the staff stress survey a focus in the improvement plan was toencourage a culture of transparency, collaboration, trust and confidence across theschool. Leaders and staff involved in discussions were unclear about how progresswas to be measured. A new stress management action plan has been devised soeveryone feels safe to learn and teach. This is set to evaluate the effectiveness ofactions over time. A staff welfare group has also been formed.

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Discussions with the headteacher and senior leaders demonstrated an awareness ofstaff unease about the management of change. Changes to the school day remain acause of concern for many teachers. Improvements are being made to systems fortracking and reviewing progress, and the monitoring of subjects involving seniorleaders and lead teachers. Middle leaders who met with the review team were clear

about their role. They agreed that the paperwork demands from senior leaders hadbecome more streamlined in recent years. They saw the value of the recentlyintroduced raising achievement meetings. The positive impact of these changes isnot yet showing in staff views.

The headteacher and senior leaders are highly committed to the improvement of theschool. The recommendations are designed to accelerate the schools improvement.

Recommendations:

For the IEB to agree on the information required from the headteacher and seniorleaders to enable them to contribute to the evaluation of all aspects of the

schools work.

Involve staff more fully in the management of change to generate a sharedapproach to improvement. Establish an impact assessment group from a cross-section of staff to consider the implications for workload, the timeline forimplementation and training needs.

Ensure a high priority for the work linked to stress management action plan.

Strengthen the quality of data analysis and evaluation for all cohorts, subjects

and groups to ensure a strong focus on progress, to inform priorities forimprovement.

Ensure that the schools self-evaluation provides an open, accurate and agreedview of achievement, teaching, behaviour and safety, and leadership andmanagement linked to the descriptors provided in the Ofsted Handbook.

Utilise findings from the schools self-evaluation process to identify preciseobjectives in the school improvement plan. Ensure that the objectives havemeasurable milestones to track progress over time. Set out clearly who willmonitor, evaluate and report on progress, and how the IEB will be involved.