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“Everybody should be working in this way, working collaboratively. We work closely as a cluster and beyond as well. It is really important. Some were reluctant initially but we were excited from the start, not criticising but being constructive with different things. As the years, months, weeks went by we built on it. It would just be part of our meeting on a Friday morning. It is definitely the way everyone should work. So valuable, really, really important.”Head Teacher at Ysgol Penmorfa
This school is a large coastal primary by the sea serving 400 children. The school is situated in a large town, and is one of three primary schools serving the area, and two other smaller schools operating just outside of the town. The primaries all work closely with the local high school, and ensuring consistency between schools in preparing students to enter secondary education is a feature of the school cluster activities.
A high proportion of the students in the school receive free school meals (40%), with lots of vulnerable children and families with high levels of need. A big focus of the school is in holistic learning and life skills, including building, cookery, forest school etc. These different activities are designed to engage students who have less academic interests to provide a well-rounded learning environment for children in the setting.
The headteacher started their role in 2018 and had always had a strong relationship with the local primary schools. COVID-19 school closures and the uncertainties surrounding education continuity brought the schools even close together, with headteachers meetings at least once weekly via Teams to support one another and share learning and challenges. SPP was considered as a natural next step in their journey as a cluster. This school group commenced SPP in summer 2021, with their first review taking place in April 2022.
SPP helped in the school’s journey by further formalising their relationship with other schools in their cluster. Although all the schools in the cluster are busy, and have at times struggled to keep to agreed dates for peer review, the group committed to continuing with peer review due to finding it beneficial.
You can’t knock the approach, it was the journey we were already on and it helped us continue on that journey. We found the benefits of helping each other, supporting each other…We’ve used it as a guide.”Headteacher at Ysgol Penmorfa
As a result of SPP, teachers in cluster schools now meet every half term to work together on planning, professional development and providing mutual support. Teachers meet by year group, with all year 1 teachers meeting each half term etc. Year group planning meetings are also scheduled once every term to meet and to share ideas between cluster schools. At first there were questions around the value of this type of working, as it takes a lot of coordination but now all teachers and headteachers view it as very beneficial.
Since SPP, as part of performance management, teachers visit other schools to observe good practice and apply learning to their own practice. Some teachers have also started to visit schools outside the cluster to gain broader perspective and learning. Teachers explore what is happening in other schools, share good practice during visits and during staff meetings.
Sometimes teachers will also identify that even though they are doing things a different way to other schools, they can see the benefit of their approach for their pupils, so it can build a sense of confidence. As a cluster the school also organises INSET days for all staff to work together on the school development plan priorities. There are overall high levels of collaboration within and between schools within this cluster.
The school found it positive having a team to come in and explore school focus areas. The first time the headteacher acknowledged that they stayed within their comfort zones and needed to select a topic that would have provided more challenge, though this was something the schools did during their second round of self- and peer-review.
The first round provided a level of comfort with understanding SPP and the experience of being under review by other schools. There were concerns over having others come into the school and criticise, and a sense that other headteachers were also concerned about offending with their critique. But the headteacher commented that “once you see the value you don’t see any of it as offending, you just see the value”.
“We’ve been reviewed and I took a member of SLT from my school to do a review and they found that quite an eye opener. I’m a peer inspector so was used to that, but my staff weren’t. My staff found it to be very valuable.
In another school I sent a member of staff to be part of the team. I have had 4 or 5 members of staff who have been involved from school here and found it valuable.
When we’re doing our SDP in schools, we include teachers, within the SDP group I have teachers not on SLT so they all have an opportunity to see what we’re doing. Sometimes teachers can’t see the value in what we’re doing and the changes we’re trying to make, but when they’re involved in it they can see what/why.”
Headteacher at Ysgol Penmorfa
As a group, this school cluster decided behaviour to be a major concern across all schools, identifying this as a priority going forwards. Three members of staff from each school in the cluster and one from the high school, received training in restorative trauma therapeutic approaches, to be facilitators of training within their respective schools.
All school staff are planned to participate in this training early in the next school year. Action plans will be developed based on this training, with some the same as others in the cluster, and others bespoke to individual school needs. This is something that is constantly reviewed and evaluated.
The headteacher noted that the school is “constantly evaluating” the effect of their practice, whether this is around behaviour, marking schemes or another area of development. An evaluation is produced at the end of every term, with additions made to action planning where areas have not been addressed.
Time was cited as the biggest inhibiting factor. Once schools have done it and see the value in it they are more likely to find the time, but it is reportedly “easy” for schools to delay.
Another barrier cited related to the amount of preparation required, and the 30-day review windows, which may or may not be beneficial depending on the nature of the area under review. This particular school cluster has weekly meetings amongst their headteachers, so the focus areas for SPP are constantly discussed.