Ofsted's 'Improving City Schools'

Extracts and Résumés

There are a number of key characteristics in the survey schools, including our two. The report emphasises the fact that there is not one particular set of ingredients for improvement. However, there is a group of ingredients from which success is likely to be made.

The ingredients are:

• positive leadership, exercised by key people throughout the school
• a well-organised and focussed curriculum
• good teaching
• close monitoring
• effective personal support of students
• good links with parents.

  These ingredients, in the most effective schools, are combined with a high expectation for all aspects of the schools’ work. The most effective schools operate with clarity, intensity of purpose, persistence and rigour.

  Leadership and Management – Key Features

  • A determination – despite the wide range of issues calling for attention – to concentrate on changes most likely to contribute positively to the work of the school
  • High visibility and accessibility of the senior team in the school and its local community
  • Simple and pertinent management systems, including well-focussed arrangements for professional development of staff and monitoring of their performance
  • Good use of data on students’ participation and performance as the basis for target setting
  • Skills in managing and harnessing resources from a range of sources
  • The ability to establish effective partnerships with external agencies
  Teaching – Key Features
  • A high degree of consistency across the school
  • High expectations of students, matched by well-planned support to help them meet the challenge of the work
  • Skilful management of students in the classroom and effective use of time and resources
  • Motivating teaching methods and materials, planned with improvement of basic skills in mind
  Teaching – Additional Key Features Identified from Lesson Observations
  • Clear and uncomplicated classroom routines, for example in the use of equipment and materials and in the ways in which students record and present their work
  • Good use of time and learning resources
  • An insistence that students do their best, combined with help which enables students to meet a challenge set, for example in finding information, analysing a task and organising their work.
  • Sustained interaction by teachers with students, including the skilled use of questioning and the call for students to articulate their thinking.
  Curriculum Organisation – Key Features
  • The development of an effective approach to literacy at key stage 3, associated with careful planning and support of SEN students
  • The clear communication to staff and parents of the setting and review of academic targets
  • Curriculum organisation at key stage 4 that meets specific needs and aspirations, for example through vocational elements that make links with further education
  • Structured support for homework and coursework outside normal school hours, particularly at key stage 4
  • A range of curricular and extra-curricular activities, for example in the arts and physical education, to extend students’ interest, capture their imagination and allow them to demonstrate skills at a high level
  • Opportunities for students to take responsibility and to develop personal qualities in adult environments
  • The carefully organised use of trained mentors to help with the planning of students’ work and to broaden their perspective
  Curriculum Organisation – Key Features
  • The development of an effective approach to literacy at key stage 3, associated with careful planning and support of SEN students
  • The clear communication to staff and parents of the setting and review of academic targets
  • Curriculum organisation at key stage 4 that meets specific needs and aspirations, for example through vocational elements that make links with further education
  • Structured support for homework and coursework outside normal school hours, particularly at key stage 4
  • A range of curricular and extra-curricular activities, for example in the arts and physical education, to extend students’ interest, capture their imagination and allow them to demonstrate skills at a high level
  • Opportunities for students to take responsibility and to develop personal qualities in adult environments
  • The carefully organised use of trained mentors to help with the planning of students’ work and to broaden their perspective
  Improved Attitudes, Behaviour and Attendance
  • Attention to improving students’ behaviour aligned with efforts to improve their commitment to learning
  • A definite school policy on behaviour embodying clear expectations understood and supported by all, implemented consistently and underpinned by good systems and training
  • A short list of rules backed by a forthright procedure for dealing with poor behaviour, especially bullying and harassment
  • Deliberate steps to develop students’ belief in themselves, including respect for others and a sense of responsibility and active involvement in the school
  • Clear lines of communication linking teachers with external agencies and parents to improve students’ attendance and attitude