The school improvement specialists

Leadership development

Here at B11 we understand the pressure that leaders at all levels are under to drive school improvement. We have a range of exceptionally skilled school improvement advisers who are experienced at working alongside school leaders to support their professional development and to help them to maximise the impact of their roles. We can support aspiring or newly appointed leaders, as well as those who are established in their roles but require an external eye to enhance their practice. Our services are flexible to suit your needs, but examples of what we provide include:

For headteachers:

Whether you are new to headship, or an experienced head facing the challenges of a new setting, we can provide an experienced colleague who will:

Act as a sounding board
Act as a coach
Provide practical advice and guidance on a range of issues including staffing, finance, governance, community, behaviour and safeguarding
Offer solutions based on their own experience of how to tackle complex situations

For senior leaders:

Support with:

The development of a robust quality assurance system: the creation of monitoring and evaluation systems that work
Using outcomes of monitoring to write an accurate self-evaluation
Using outcomes of quality assurance to develop clear action plans with measurable success criteria in all subjects and aspects
Developing line managers who are skilled at holding colleagues to account through asking probing questions and evaluating evidence in constructive and challenging line management meetings
Developing a curriculum that meets the needs of pupils in the school and the community and evaluating the impact at both whole school and departmental level
Using data, both external and internal, to drive improvement
Effective leadership of a whole school aspect: working collaboratively to create a shared vision; supporting staff to deliver goals; effective delegation; building capacity
Using the outcomes of quality assurance to identify and meet the bespoke professional development needs of staff, including pedagogy and subject knowledge
Presenting the strengths, areas for development, issues, actions and impact in a way that will convince an accountability body

For middle leaders:

Support with:

The development of a robust quality assurance system: the creation of monitoring and evaluation systems that work
Using outcomes of quality assurance to develop clear action plans with measurable success criteria
Developing and articulating a well-balanced and challenging subject curriculum, based on a deep understanding of what pupils need to know and are able to do
Evaluating the impact of a subject curriculum through a deep dive: checking through lesson visits and through work scrutiny that all teachers are delivering the curriculum in a consistent and coherent way which is having definite impact on enhancing pupils’ understanding of the subject
Using data, both external and internal, to drive improvement
Effective leadership of a whole school aspect: working collaboratively to create a shared vision for the subject/area; supporting staff to deliver agreed departmental goals and schemes of learning; effective delegation; building capacity
Using the outcomes of quality assurance to identify the bespoke professional development needs of staff, including pedagogy and subject knowledge
Presenting the strengths, areas for development, issues, actions and impact in a way that will convince an accountability body
Holding staff to account for the work in their area through constructive line management meetings

For governors:

Support with:

Understanding their statutory roles and how to be effective in fulfilling them
Support for undertaking governor skills audits, self-evaluation and identification of development needs
The Ofsted framework – understanding the evaluation schedule so that it can be used as a tool to support and challenge leaders
How to interpret external data