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School Improvement Model

Purpose

To ensure all schools within the Trust provide high-quality education, meet the diverse needs of all students, and achieve continuous improvement through targeted, tiered support.

Tiered System of Support Framework

PVAT operate a three-tier system to determine the level of support each school within the Trust will receive. It is designed to allocate resources, expertise, and interventions proportionately based on the identified needs of individual schools within the Trust.

New schools

When a school joins PVAT we will carry out a collaborative review with existing leaders in the school. These reviews will enable the central team to consider the quality of education being provided to the pupils, which in turn will help to inform the initial categorisation into the tiered model.

The number of colleagues involved in a collaborative review will vary according to school size. All activities done during the visit will take place alongside existing leaders to ensure that there is a shared understanding of the current position of the school prior to joining PVAT.

Collective responsibility

At PVAT, we understand that we are collectively responsible for the success of each of the schools within the Trust. There is a culture of sharing best practice and supporting each other professionally. Where there are concerns about a school in the Trust, the first action would be to look internally at where we have best practice that can be shared to enable improvements to be made.

However, where it is felt necessary the Trust will source external expertise to provide support and guidance to schools and individuals within them.

How will we know how schools are performing?

A range of information will be used to determine a school’s category. These include:

  • Information gathered from (at least) termly quality assurance visits by the CEO
  • Inspection outcomes
  • Attainment and progress data
  • Attendance data
  • Behaviour and exclusions data
  • Scrutiny of self-evaluation and school improvement plans
  • External validation, e.g. safeguarding audits

The information will be used to categorise schools as either Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3, and this will determine the levels of support and challenge provided.

Focus days

Any school categorised as Tier 1 or Tier 2 will have a focus day each academic year. This will be to review a specific area within the school, identified by the headteacher.

A colleague from the Trust will then visit the school to conduct a collaborative review of the identified area. The review could include discussions with leaders and staff, consideration of pupils’ work, visits to lessons, pupils voice, parental voice, and data analysis.

A written report will be produced following the focus day to identify strengths and development points.

School categorisation

The information below is provided as a guide on how a school’s tier may be determined. This includes potential indicators that would be used as part of the process, and an outline of what support would look like to enable schools to continually look to develop and improve.

 

 

Tier 1

Schools demonstrating strong performance with minimal need for external intervention. These schools will receive the universal support offer and will be expected to share best practice with other schools in the Trust.

 

Potential criteria for Tier 1 (not an exhaustive list):

    • Consistently strong academic outcomes above national averages.
    • Good or Outstanding Ofsted ratings.
    • Robust leadership and governance.
    • Evidence of sustainable self-improvement capacity.
    • High standards of teaching and behaviour evident throughout the school.
    • Financially sustainable.

 

PVAT Support for Tier 1 Schools

  • Light-touch quality assurance through termly school visits from the CEO to focus on latest data, school-improvement priorities and self-evaluation.
  • Focus days as outlined above

 

 

 

Tier 2

Schools needing moderate support to address specific weaknesses or challenges.

These schools will receive targeted support to help improve identified areas.

Where appropriate, Tier 2 schools may still have areas of best practice that they will be expected to share with other schools in the Trust.

 

Potential criteria for Tier 2 (not an exhaustive list):

    • Academic outcomes below national benchmarks, or declining, in specific areas.
    • Requires improvement in Ofsted ratings but with strong leadership potential.
    • Some concerns around leadership and/or governance.
    • Teaching quality or behaviour management is below the expectations in the Trust.
    • Some financial concerns.

 

 

Support for Tier 2 Schools:

  • Needs Analysis: Collaborative review with the CEO to agree areas for development through the school improvement strategy.
  • Action Plan: C-develop a targeted improvement plan with clear, time-bound objectives.
  • Support: Visits from identified internal and external colleagues to help improve the specific aspects identified in the plan.
  • Monitoring: Half-termly (r more frequently if required) CEO progress visits to check on the impact of actions taken in identified areas in the improvement plan.
  • Impact review: External review f provision at the end of the plan, with a focus on the identified areas.
  • Focus days as outlined above

 

Tier 3

Schools with significant and systemic weaknesses requiring immediate and comprehensive intervention.

These schools will receive intensive support to address issues rapidly.

Potential criteria for Tier 3:

    • Persistent underperformance (academic outcomes are a serious concern when compared to national data).
    • Inadequate Ofsted ratings.
    • Serious concerns around leadership or governance.
    • Serious financial concerns.
    • Concerns regarding safeguarding, behaviour, or student wellbeing.

Support for Tier 3 Schools:

  • Needs Analysis: CEO t conduct a review of the school, alongside an identified external colleague where required, to identify priorities for improvement.
  • Rapid Improvement Plan: CEO t create a rapid improvement plan to be delivered by the school, with support. The plan will have clear milestones to help ensure sufficient pace of change.
  • Internal monitoring and accountability: Fortnightly CEO visits to monitor progress against the plan and to hold senior leaders to account for their work.
  • Specialist support: Identified colleagues, internal and external to PVAT, will be commissioned to help provide support to enable the plan to be implemented within the required timeframe.
  • Leadership intervention: Where required, additional leaders may be deployed from other schools within the Trust. Additional governors may also be added to the governing body until the school moves from Tier 3 to Tier 2.
  • Impact review: External review f provision at the end of the plan, with a focus on the identified areas.

 

Evaluation and accountability of the school improvement model

  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):
    1. Pupil outcomes are consistently strong against national comparators.
    2. All schools are judged good or better by Ofsted.
    3. All schools are financially sustainable.
    4. Staff retention and satisfaction improvements.
  • Annual Review:
    The Trust will conduct an annual review of the tiered support system to refine strategies and reallocate resources based on emerging needs.

This plan ensures every school in the MAT has access to the right level of support, enabling sustainable improvement and excellence in education across the Trust.

 

A PDF of this model is available to download below.

  1. PVAT School Improvement Model
    PDF File
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