Since becoming Headteacher, there have been many changes within the Trust and I have found these changes to be of absolute benefit to St. Cedd’s. In particular, the support that I receive.
When I joined St. Cedd’s as Headteacher, staff and parent morale was incredibly low. The staff were unhappy. Behaviour had deteriorated and they felt there was no support from leaders to help them manage this nor in their day-to-day roles.
Year on year, there had been a large staff turnover which had led to inconsistencies in teaching and learning. There were significant gaps in learning due to this and staff in the upper school were feeling the pressure of filling gaps in learning.
Parents were no longer recommending our school and were very unhappy with the school’s leadership. Parents were removing their children and taking them to other local schools.
Trustees were concerned and positive communication with the school had broken down.
I needed to build the trust of staff. Without them onside, the journey of improvement would be incredibly difficult. Parents needed to see us as a united team, there to support the development of their children and to bring out the best in them.
A review of the curriculum was needed, to ensure all areas of the curriculum were taught. It needed to be progressive and build on prior learning. Minimum standards for teaching and learning needed to be in place to ensure consistency across the school and to share my expectations. CPD was needed to ensure that changes would be upheld and staff had the tools needed to be successful.
Weekly support from the Trust SLE supported us to develop a curriculum that met the needs of our learners and gave us the confidence to know that all areas of the curriculum were being taught and there were no gaps in learning. Rigorous assessment systems were needed to ensure accuracy of assessments and to track that teaching and learning was improving. The sharing of resources, ideas and model policies meant that our journey of improvement could be developed at a quicker pace.
The support of an Improvement Leader developed my confidence to lead whole school improvement, with their expertise guiding my decision making and enabling me to develop whole school documents that clearly identified the journey we were on.
The school was already within the Trust when I started my role as Headteacher, however, I did work at the school when we did convert to academy status.
Since becoming Headteacher, there have been many changes within the Trust and I have found these changes to be of absolute benefit to St. Cedd’s, in particular, the support that I receive. Staff working within the Trust have every child’s best interest at heart and do what they can to support leaders with whole school improvement. I feel valued and appreciated.
Since being Headteacher, I have had endless support and encouragement from Trust staff, including Improvement Leaders and SLEs. Having the support of an Improvement Leader has been invaluable, enabling me to develop my own role as a leader and drive school improvement. SLE support with developing teaching and learning has also been invaluable and has enabled us to develop our curriculum, create consistency in teaching, assessment and routines. I appreciate regular contact with other Trust headteachers and they have, particularly during the pandemic, been a wealth of support. Being able to share resources and ideas saves so much time and effort.
St. Cedd’s is very isolated in Bradwell-on-Sea. Being a part of a family of schools has enabled us to create links with Trust schools locally and beyond. We have been able to share expertise and good practise as well as having access to a range of CPD opportunities, moderation and more. As a teaching Head with no Deputy, it is incredibly important to have a wider network of support, which is the benefit of being part of a Trust.
Our aim is to continue to improve pupil numbers so we can build staff capacity and opportunities for our children. We hope to improve the number of classes within school. We will continue to develop and refine teaching and learning, having supported new staff, so that children are given the best opportunity to be successful and ready for the next stage in their education. Our aim is for St. Cedd’s to be the local school of choice.
JOHN 15:5
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