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Moving beyond the floor target case study: Various primary schools, Bradford

Case study focusing on raising the attainment of school causing concern (SCC). Three schools took part in the programme and this case study details actions taken by each school and Bradford local authority (LA).

The school-based issues

Information about the challenges faced by each school, including issues with leadership, the quality of teaching and poor staff accountability.
What was done by each school?

Information about what each school did to tackle the issues, how the outcomes were monitored and evaluated and what the overall impact was.
Sustainability – what next?

Information about the next steps planned for each school to sustain the improvement.
LA support and challenge

Details of the local authority involvement, which identified that improvement was needed in the overall quality of teaching and the levels of attainment and overall underachievement.

Moving beyond the floor target case study: Colburn Primary School, North Yorkshire

Case study that focuses on tackling underachievement in schools causing concern.

The school-based issues

Details of the challenges faced by the school and how they planned to address them. Challenges included low attendance and attainment, poor punctuality and recruitment issues.
What was done by the school?

Information about what the school did, how it was monitored and evaluated and what the overall impact was.
What did the LA identify as the key areas for support/challenge?

Information about the LA involvement in areas such as the overall quality of leadership and management, standards of teaching, behaviour of pupils and Assessment for Learning (AfL).
Sustainability – what next?

Details of the next steps for the school and local authority.

Moving beyond the floor target case study: Middlefield Primary School, Liverpool

Middlefield Primary School is situated in an area of multiple deprivation with challenging social and economic circumstances. The case study assesses what needed to change to improve the school and the support given by the LA.

The school-based issues

Information about the challenges, which included declining standards at Key Stage 1, development of pupils being significantly below average and low attendance.
What was done by the school?

Information about what was done and what the overall impact was.
Local authority support and challenge

Information about the involvement of the local authority and how it impacted on attendance, attainment, leadership and the quality of teaching.
Sustainability – what next?

Information about the next steps, which include increasing the focus on Key Stage 1 and continuing with the Improving Schools Programme (ISP)and developments in the learning network.

Moving beyond the floor target: Christ Church C of E Primary School, Lambeth

Case study on a primary school in an urban area of high social deprivation. The focus of the work is tackling underachievement in schools causing concern.

Barriers to improvement

Lists the main problems the school faced in addressing the issues causing concern, including: leadership difficulties as a result of a period of acting headship arrangements; difficulties with administrative staffing and systems; no self-evaluation forms or school development plan in place. Also lists what needed to be done.
What was done

Details of what is being done to address the school's issues, including: a learning and teaching policy which set high expectations was introduced; joint planning with staff from the other school helped develop skills; a whole-school behaviour policy involving restorative justice was developed. Also explains the monitoring and evaluation provisions and the overall impact.
Local authority support and challenge

Details of the support and challenge provided by the LA and its overall impact, including: LA adviser and consultants jointly monitored teaching and learning at regular intervals to address weaknesses; leadership was improved by the secondment of another headteacher for a term; an action group, chaired by a LA adviser, met monthly and involved the headteacher and chair of governors. Also explains the monitoring and evaluation provisions and the overall impact.
Sustainability – what next?

Outline of how the school intends to maintain its success and improve other areas of concern, including: a new school building is planned for completion towards the end of 2009/early 2010; ensure that recruitment procedures select the right staff for the future; identify a suitable successor and transitional arrangements for when the soft federation comes to an end.

Moving beyond the floor target: Holway Park Community Primary School, Somerset

Case study on an average-sized primary school which serves a socially and economically disadvantaged area. The focus of the work is tackling underachievement in schools causing concern.

Barriers to improvement

Lists the main problems the school faced in addressing the issues causing concern, including: quality of teaching and learning; low aspirations; behaviour in and outside school. Also lists what needed to be done.
What was done

Details of what is being done to address the school's issues, including: engagment with the Intensifying Support Programme (ISP); appointment of parent support adviser; a focus on basic skills teaching and on how children learn, through strategic and rigorous planning, professional development and performance management. Also explains the monitoring and evaluation provisions and the overall impact.
Local authority support and challenge

Details of the support and challenge provided by the LA and its overall impact, including a range of strategies to support the teaching of phonics and reading. This included the development of a phonics action plan, clarification of phonics progression, and a full phonics screening for pupils from Years 1 to 5. LA consultants and advisers worked alongside staff in developing effective monitoring and evaluation procedures.
Sustainability – what next?

Outline of how the school and LA intend to maintain their success and improve other areas of concern. Ofsted judged the capacity to improve to be ‘good’. The model of distributed leadership which the school is developing will support this. The LA will continue to provide support, advice and challenge for the school, through the residence model and bespoke support.

Moving beyond the floor target: All Saints Church of England Primary School, South Tyneside

Case study looks into how the school was placed into the 'notice to improve' category and what was done to improve it.

Barriers to improvement

Details the barriers to improvement that the primary school encountered when trying to improve the school and the support given by the LA to All Saints C of E school.
The school-based issues – what needed to change?

Information about the challenges, which included declining standards and low attendance.
Local authority support and challenge

Information about the support from S Tyneside LA for the school improvement process.
Sustainability – what next?

Details of the next steps for the school and local authority.

Moving beyond the floor target case study: Thornhill Primary School, Rotherham

Case study of Thornhill Primary School, Rotherham – a School Causing Concern and on the Intensifying Support Programme. The case study contains information on areas for improvement and what needed to change to raise attainment.

What was done by the school?

Information about what the school did, how they monitored and evaluated the outcome and what the overall impact was.
Sustainability – what next?

Details of the next steps, which included work to gain an Enterprise Award and remaining in the Improving Schools Programme (ISP) for a further 12 months depending on attainment and the results of continued monitoring.

Moving beyond the floor target case study: Grange Community Primary School, Suffolk

Grange Community Primary School serves an area of high social deprivation. The school has a turbulent recent history and has moved from an Ofsted category of serious weaknesses in 2004 to a judgement of good with outstanding features by 2007.

The school-based issues

Information about the identified areas of improvement, which included teaching and learning, attendance and behaviour, and the knowledge and use of pupil tracking data.
What was done by the school?

Information about what the school did, how the outcomes were monitored and evaluated and what the overall impact was.
Local authority support and challenge

Details of the involvement of the local authority, what the impact was and how the outcomes were monitored and evaluated.
Sustainability – what next?

Details of the proposed next steps, which included integrating the Raising Attainment Plan (RAP) into the School Improvement Plan, implementing new monitoring and evaluation systems and continuing the professional development of staff.

Moving beyond the floor target: Sinclair Primary School, Southampton

Case study on a school which serves an area with a high level of social deprivation. The focus of the work is tackling underachievement in schools causing concern.

Barriers to improvement

Lists the main problems the school faced in addressing the issues causing concern, including an unsettled period of leadership, combined with the amalgamation of two schools, one of which was failing. Also lists what needed to be done.
What was done

Details of what is being done to address the school's issues, including: addressing at every level the quality of teaching; behaviour policy was introduced along with training; intervention logs provide systematic addressing of learning needs. Also explains the monitoring and evaluation provisions and the overall impact.
Local authority support and challenge

Details of the support and challenge provided by the LA and its overall impact, including: the LA inspector carried out monitoring of the quality of teaching; competency procedures were used in the case of some staff; consultants for English and mathematics provided much input for inexperienced staff. Also explains the monitoring and evaluation provisions and the overall impact.
Sustainability – what next?

Outline of how the school and LA intend to maintain their success and improve other areas of concern, including: continuing to raise expectations of parents for their children's learning; future LA support will be strongly focused on building further capacity; school self-evaluation evidence will be drawn from the whole senior management team and phase leaders so that the judgments and impact of all leaders can be evaluated.

Moving beyond the floor target case study: Leagrave Primary School, Luton

Assessment of what needed to change to improve the school and the support given by the LA.

The school-based issues

A description of the challenges faced by the school, which included a low quality of teaching and learning, problems with behaviour and attendance, issues around recruitment and retention of staf, and a poor tracking system.
What was done by the school?

Information about what was done, how the outcomes were monitored and evaluated and what the overall impact was.
Local authority support and challenge

Information about the involvement of the local authority, how it impacted on the school and how the outcomes were monitored and evaluated.
Sustainability – what next?

Details of the proposed next steps, which include implementation of procedures for succession planning, clarification of roles and responsibilitie and integrating SEAL into all aspects of the school.

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