Achieving excellence

Remembering what it was like before is a powerful incentive for sustaining improvement. This is particularly true for the headteachers who had to turn a school around, usually having been appointed to do so. This section first highlights some of the important features of highly effective primary schools. It then illustrates some dimensions of transformational leadership through a number of schools which needed urgently to improve.

Continues in the 'Achieving excellence' section available from the report's page.

Sustaining excellence

The leaders of outstanding schools are intrinsically motivated to sustain excellence. As one school reported: ‘All the leaders of the school are strongly focused on maintaining and developing further the high standards and achievement across the school.’ Typically, the staff of these exceptional schools are very conscious of the high expectations of them. They feel secure, committed to the school and its pupils, share the high expectations of the leadership team and are keen to ensure these are delivered.

Continues in the 'Sustaining excellence' section available from the report's page.

Sharing excellence

Outstanding schools have much to offer other schools. By virtue of overcoming their contextual challenges so magnificently, these schools are resources for school improvement which need to be not only treasured and admired but also used to help others. This section considers some of the mechanisms through which the expertise and good practice of these schools are disseminated.

Continues in the 'Sharing excellence' section available from the report's page.

Return to page 1