Changing Lives in Collaboration Chorlton Park & Old Moat Federation Vision Document
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Changing Lives in Collaboration
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Contents
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Introduction from Dave Watson, Executive Principal The context About our schools, the federation and teaching school alliance The vision Where we want to be – anchored in values, driven by purpose Goal 1 Igniting learning and developing good citizens Goal 2 Developing excellent teachers and growing great leaders Goal 3 Providing public value
“ Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela
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Changing Lives in Collaboration
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You don’t have to be a teacher to know that education is going through a period of dramatic change. The education landscape has altered almost unrecognisably.
Federations, academies, free schools have all appeared (sometimes, it seems, from out of nowhere) and it can be hard to keep up. Schools and groups of schools have greater freedoms but also more accountability. We operate in a competitive environment where we are preparing children to compete locally, nationally and also internationally. We know that budgets will be tighter and educational expectations will be higher. Put simply, we have to achieve more with fewer resources. The evidence from the first few years of our federation has shown that by working with other schools, we are able to benefit from greater purchasing power and also use the best ideas to raise standards. There has been a rise in standards in both schools since the federation was formed in 2012. Each school is unique, and must be accountable to their local community, making effective use of public funds. In a climate of change, we must retain a strong ethos and sense of purpose while nourishing a truly collaborative spirit.
These rapidly developing times, with all the technical and cultural challenges we come across, offer our children (and staff) both exciting opportunities and tough challenges. We are in a good position to face these challenges with energy and optimism. Our governors have a strong track record of making the right changes to improve outcomes. We are a strong federation with an outstanding and a good school. We now lead our own Teaching School, the first in Manchester LEA and we have staff with the talent, expertise, and commitment to continue to succeed. Our teaching school alliance, Manchester TSA, is building on the unique strengths of each partner to deliver high quality training and professional development for teachers and leaders. We are an organisation that is open to change for the good of our children, not one that merely reacts passively to political, social and economic change. We promise to be agile, flexible and adaptable. We value our rich history and particular character
but also look to, and learn from, the most effective within the UK and across the world. As we plan for the introduction of the new National Curriculum we continue to focus on developing the whole child, presenting them with a broad and balanced curriculum, knowledge, skills and range of experiences. We know from evidence that success in life does not only depend on academic achievement. We want all our children to have a rewarding and enriching experience with us, and to leave us equipped to succeed in whatever they want to do. This document gives us an opportunity to reflect on what we have achieved, what we want to do and how we plan to go about it.
Dave Watson Executive Principal
“Consistently high
quality teaching meets the needs of all pupils. Pupils thrive in this very positive climate for learning.� OFSTED, JUNE 2013
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The context - about our schools
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We are an outward looking organisation that relishes working collaboratively – sharing expertise and great practice to keep our schools developing and getting better.
We have high academic expectations, and making sure that all our children reach their potential is key to everything we do. Our schools are is built on the belief that it is happy and secure children that achieve the most.
Chorlton Park Primary School Chorlton Park is a large primary school, but we’re proud of our caring and inclusive environment. The school is led by headteachers Meryl Blackburn and Stefanie Habershon. We became a teaching school in 2013 and were delighted to be judged by Ofsted to be ‘Outstanding’ for the second time in June 2013.
Old Moat Primary School Old Moat is a large, rapidly improving school. Our headteacher is Sally Lamb. We have a growing reputation for excellent teaching and leadership, a view which was supported by Ofsted’s 2013 inspection, which rated the school as ‘Good’.
The Chorlton Park and Old Moat Federation Successful schools of the 21st century need to look beyond the school gates to the wider community. If schools are to flourish and succeed they need to work together. Chorlton Park Primary School and Old Moat Primary School together form a federation. The schools share an executive headteacher, Dave Watson, and many other members of staff are now involved with the two schools. The board of governors represents and works across both schools, and the finances and management of the schools have also come together. Being a federation means that both schools benefit from shared expertise, shared resources and shared success. This is helping us ensure our pupils get the best from their learning environment, and is raising standards and aspirations at both schools. Having this type of partnership allows us to keep and nurture the individual identity and character of each school.
Some ways that our are children benefiting from being part of a federation • The ‘big question’ has been adopted at Old Moat
Old Moat pupils continuing to have access to Chorlton Park
• Children visit each other’s school, sharing their work and enjoying joint workshops
• The schools’ ICT teams are working together to improve ICT provision across the schools
• Football matches between the two schools have been a great success
• Healthy eating programmes have been adopted at both schools
• Plans are afoot to buy a minibus for joint events and activities
• Old Moat is working with Chorlton Park on some exciting green initiatives so that they too can aim for a gold Green Schools award.
• The facilities at Old Moat’s fabulous new building are being shared with Chorlton Park, with
The new national curriculum will be introduced in all primary schools in September 2014. What does this mean for us? Assessment levels are to be removed, with schools given the responsibility to develop their own ways of assessing pupils and informing their parents about their progress. We will concentrate not on ticking boxes of achievement, but on encouraging our children to find their strengths and gain mastery and confidence in all subjects. Our focus will be on making sure that all children are ready for secondary education and on track to achieve the their full potential at GCSE and beyond.
Manchester Teaching School Alliance Chorlton Park is proud be a designated teaching school. In the words of the Department for Education: “Teaching schools give outstanding schools a leading role in the training and professional development of teachers, support staff and headteachers, as well as contributing to the raising of standards through school-to-school support.” Having become a teaching school we were able to join with other schools (and the University and Council) to form the Manchester Teaching School Alliance. The alliance offers high quality training and professional development for teachers and leaders at all stages of their career. This puts us in a great position to develop our own staff and provide the best teaching and learning for our own pupils.
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The vision
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“We will change our children’s lives by nurturing and developing their achievement, their experiences and their skills.”
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Our aim, or vision, for the future is simple. We want all our children, irrespective of background or special need, to be prepared for success in their lives.
We will achieve this by nurturing and developing their achievement, their experiences and their skills.
Achievement Our schools will be consistently above the national average for attainment and progress and in the top 5% for all schools. We will enable all children to achieve their academic potential irrespective of their background or special need. There will be no ceiling on a child’s ambition as we will develop the academic skills of our most able children and build a culture where being smart is cool.
Experiences We will provide all children with experiences that are normally only achievable for affluent children. All children will have the opportunity to learn a foreign language, play a musical instrument, participate in high quality sport, visit places of local and national interest and become proficient in the use of technology.
Skills Our children will leave primary school with the skills to succeed in life. We want our children to have grit and determination. They will be confident and articulate thinkers, self-motivated, compassionate and active. To achieve this they need to be self aware, independent, able to make good decisions and able to manage relationships.
Anchored in values, driven by purpose In times of change, values are even more important. We must provide public value and be accountable and responsive to our local communities.
Purpose Our goals explain what we will do to implement our vision. We have devised these to help us achieve our aim to change children’s lives for the better.
We are educating children in Manchester, a diverse city with a history of innovation. Our children will have to compete globally, in an ever-changing world. The schools in our federation and those in our teaching school alliance are in many ways similar, but each has its own unique character. We do not want to create schools that are identical, but rather places where leaders are able to use their creativity to prepare our children for success in life.
We think that by keeping it simple and focusing on what we do for the children, the staff and the world beyond the school, we will be able to make the biggest difference.
As a quickly changing, evolving and growing group of schools, we need to be sure that we have a strong set of values to anchor our actions. These values guide us all – leaders, teachers, all staff and everyone working with the school – and drive home the strong ethos of the schools.
Goal 2 looks to the staff and organisation We will develop excellent teachers and grow great leaders
Values Trust keeping our promises
Goal 1 focuses on the children We will ignite learning and develop good citizens
Goal 3 highlights our place in the community We will provide public value
Empathy listening to children, staff and parents
Respect treating everyone with dignity
Fairness treating people justly and equitably
Courage taking accountability for results, being up front about mistakes and taking considered risks
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We will ignite learning and develop good citizens
We will provide our children with the best learning opportunities to ignite in them an enthusiasm and passion for learning. They will be prepared for success in life and have the skills to be responsible and valuable citizens.
Our children will
We will
• achieve academic success and maximise their academic potential
• invest in the use of technology to deliver an engaging and relevant curriculum that encourages children to think
• be given a range of experiences for success in life, including learning a foreign language, playing a musical instrument, participating and achieving in sport, attending a residential visit and developing computing skills • develop the skills for success in life so that they are confident and articulate thinkers who are motivated, compassionate, and active. We understand that in order to be able to acquire these skills this the children need to be self aware, independent learners, able to make good decisions and manage relationships skilfully • develop cutting-edge technology skills, including learning to write code
• help children to acquire knowledge, skills and understanding • deliver a relevant curriculum that enhances community cohesion (posing big questions such as ‘what is freedom?’ and ‘what makes Britain great?’) • address the learning needs of children who have SEN and barriers to their learning. • have a strategy for inclusion, particularly behaviour needs and a staffing structure that ensures all children achieve • work together across our federation and teaching school alliance to share experiences, learn from each other and prepare for the new national curriculum
• set and work towards ambitious targets • be at the cutting edge of national educational policy • give parents clear and regular access to their child’s performance
Success We’ll know we’re getting there when • we are consistently above the national average for achievement • we achieve outstanding progress • we are in the top 5% of schools nationally for academic performance • all children are learning to play a musical instrument • all children can write code, to develop an app or website • all children are active and participate in sport • all children attend a residential
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we will be rated in the
TOP 5% OF SCHOOLS
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We will develop excellent teachers and grow great leaders
We want our teachers to nurture the skills for success in our children. They will have determination and self-awareness. Every teacher will be able to make good decisions and manage themselves and their relationships successfully.
Our teachers will have good subject knowledge, pedagogical skills and will use technology effectively. We will attract, reward and retain hard-working passionate, progressoriented professionals who are open to new learning and working collaboratively. We will produce the next generation of school leaders who are reflective and able to inspire others. These leaders will be committed to developing themselves and others and capable of leading and managing change. They will deliver impact with exceptional outcomes.
We will • attract, reward and retain the best teachers and most effective leaders • develop a career structure for outstanding teachers and leaders • develop a leadership and teacher growth model that is based on the development of teachers in the most effective systems in the world today
• develop subject groups or chapters across the alliance to support the implementation of the new national curriculum and to ensure that teachers have good subject knowledge • ensure that all CPD is evidence based • grow the federation to provide opportunities for the most effective teachers and leaders • generate teaching school income to employ more teachers and support other schools • develop links with schools in Singapore, London and other centres of excellence • ensure that the pay policy rewards, attracts and retains the most effective teachers and leaders • develop world-class teacher and leadership training
Success We’ll know we’re getting there when • the quality of teaching and leadership Is judged to be outstanding • children make outstanding progress and the achievement gap is eradicated. • we have successfully implemented the new national curriculum • teachers have excellent subject knowledge • we have implemented a leadership and teacher growth model • we have introduced subject chapters to research and develop subject knowledge • we have developed effective new leaders
OUTSTANDING
TEACHERS AND LEADERS
CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP
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We will provide public value
We will embrace and develop our position at the heart of our diverse community and will provide value for money, ensuring that public funds are used to achieve our vision of changing lives.
We will • have clarity of vision and strategic direction and be responsive to political, economic, technical and cultural changes • hold the school leaders accountable for standards against clear benchmarks • ensure solvency and probity • achieve our performance targets in attainment, progress, teaching, attendance and behaviour
• make a decision on school status based on our needs and communicate our plans clearly and effectively
Success
• build an effective business infrastructure befitting our organisation
• we deliver value for money and are financially sustainable
• develop our own governor training curriculum and ensure that school improvement policies are evidence based
We’ll know we’re getting there when
• our children are in the top 5% in the country for attainment • pupil and staff attendance is at or above the national average
• increase our income through the teaching school alliance activity
• stakeholder satisfaction surveys indicate that at least 90% of stakeholders are satisfied
• ensure transparency and openness in data that allow governors to hold the leadership to account.
• control expenditure by using benchmarking and ensuring that spending is focused on delivering our vision
• the children coming through the community hub are ready for school
• ensure that the leadership complies with statutory regulations
• develop a clear communications strategy
• engage with parents, staff, children and the wider community
• communicate clearly and with integrity with all stakeholders
• the quality of governance is outstanding • new websites are launched and maintained for Chorlton Park, Old Moat and Manchester Teaching School Alliance and a termly newsletter is published
FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
PUBLIC VALUE
CLEAR COMMUNICATION
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OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM Executive Principal Dave Watson
Chorlton Park Headteachers Meryl Blackburn Stefanie Habershon
Old Moat Headteacher Sally Lamb
Federation Chair of Governors Angela Keane
Federation Business Manager Jo Sands
Chorlton Park Primary School Mauldeth Road West Chorlton Manchester M21 7HH 0161 881 1621 head@chorltonpark.manchester.sch.uk www.chorltonpark.manchester.sch.uk
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