Professional Development
Get the robust challenge & support you need to help your school flourish
Embrace the transformative power of high-quality teaching, and enhance children’s educational outcomes through effective school improvement services.
Research has underscored the importance of professional development in narrowing the educational gap and uplifting classroom practices – and, with that, improved pupil achievements. To support schools in this, the external expertise Transform Your School brings adds capacity and drives up standards, helping:
Improve strategic planning and implementation of school improvement
Strengthen strategic leadership & add capacity to the overall quality of education your school
Establish robust monitoring and evaluation systems to raise standards in your school
Provide the challenge & accountability needed to keep your school ahead
The service caters to school leaders seeking to balance the demands of rigorous whole school improvement and strategic change management with well-designed, impactful personal development of staff – tailored to current educational trends, and requirements matched to their school context.
Our experts constantly monitor the changes that are coming from the Department for Education and Ofsted so that they can support you every step of the way on your school improvement journey, no matter how much the education climate shifts.
Transform Your School’s professional development is normally delivered through acting as a School Improvement Advisor, or through Headteacher/SLT coaching.
Charlotte’s approachability and realism leaves you feeling you really are getting the best advice and information designed to move the school forward with no agenda other than that of promoting a fantastic learning experience for children.
We are very pleased at TCAT to continue to secure the support and knowledge that Charlotte brings to our organisation and I have no doubt our schools are all the better for her insight and reflection.
Executive Headteacher, Three Counties Academy Trust
School Improvement Advisor
Your expert School Improvement Advisor will visit your school on an agreed basis, normally one day a term, to provide bespoke challenge and support to senior leaders, middle leaders and governors. This has been proven to help drive accurate and robust self-evaluation and improve the overall quality of education.
- Each termly visit will have an agreed focus and series of activities designed to meet your brief, such as learning walks, work scrutiny, leadership meetings, curriculum scrutiny and discussion with pupils.
- Every visit will normally last five hours and conclude with detailed verbal feedback presented to the headteacher, and other senior leaders as needed at the end of the day.
- Notes of visit with specific recommendations for action will then follow within 48 hours, so that leaders and governors have a record of the external monitoring.
- This service can be adapted for more frequent visits every term, if preferred.
- Your improvement adviser can also act as the education adviser to governors when completing the annual appraisal of the headteacher/principal.
- Your improvement adviser for the governing body. They can also support your leaders through an Ofsted inspection, should one occur during the duration of our support. If possible, they will be available to speak to the lead inspector and their notes of visit will provide important external evaluation for the inspectors to see.
- Should you require a more in-depth examination of your school’s current position, for example for a specific area such as Pupil Premium, we would advise one of our Developmental School Reviews.
What is a School Improvement Advisor?
A School Improvement Advisor is an independent role that provides support, advice and challenge for headteachers and governors.
They’re focussed on understanding the context, challenges and opportunities of the school and supporting headteachers and their senior teams to improve practice and develop strategic skills.
As a School Improvement Advisor is not responsible for monitoring performance, schools are not accountable to them for outcomes. This allows open and honest conversations with school leaders about performance and issues that may need to be addressed.
Headteacher and SLT Coaching
Quality coaches helps secure ambitious leadership at all levels, challenging existing leaders to continue grow and nurturing future leaders as they begin to emerge.
Coaching is a unique and personal form of support that is increasingly valuable – helping support school leaders to sustain high levels of personal performance, stay motivated and connected with their passion and values, and deliver the best possible outcomes for their pupils.
What are the benefits?
Performance coaching is focused entirely on the individual and is bespoke. For the leader, the clear and measurable benefits of 1-2-1 Performance Coaching include:
- deeper connection with your core values and ability to make accountable decisions
- improved ability to plan strategically and implement school improvement
- ability to fully motivate teams and communicate effectively
- increased levels of emotional resilience
- greater confidence in your own ability to deliver the best possible outcomes for your school
- greater sense of personal and professional worth – leading to more job and life satisfaction
What can you expect?
Through our 1-2-1 coaching processes, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how to be guided by yourself, and develop your own personal strategies for leading and succeeding as a school leader.
There is no single approach: coaching is always personalised – meeting where you are and tailoring every session to focus on the issues and areas that matter most to you. Throughout, you’ll get a knowledgeable, objective, supportive and an engaging partner, who focuses on individual strengths to drive reflection and sustained development.
Performance Coaching is proven to complement the suite of NPQs school leaders engage with and provides them with personalised support to help to solve problems relevant in your school context.
The impact of Charlie’s 1 – 1 coaching with my team is tangible. The growth I have seen in my senior leaders, supported by the coaching that they are getting, is really impacting on my leaders individually but very importantly as a team and this is having a marked impact on the teams ability to drive the improvements that we want to see in our school.
Principal, Babington Academy
Effective Toolkits
Transform Your School have a range of materials that enhance its coaching. These include:
The Leadership Competences Framework
A key instrument in the leadership development process, this toolkit articulates a set of behavioural expectations to assist personal reflection. It is where leaders will identify and reflect on their leadership strengths and weaknesses to tailor their own professional development needs. The framework has been created through detailed research of profiling from the private and public sector and is applicable to leadership roles at any level.
Courageous Leadership
A suite of tools that leaders can use to support how they approach 3 levels of leadership – leading self, leading others, and leading the school
Want to get started?
Each school is different. So every engagement bespoke – tailored to suit your needs and current priorities.
Our initial consultation allows us to establish your key objectives, the level of engagement required, and the outcomes you’re looking for, and the most appropriate activities to meet your brief, such as learning walks, work scrutiny, leadership meetings, curriculum scrutiny and discussion with pupils.
