The issues
Tidemill School was in special measures for over two years having failed its Ofsted report at the end of 1999. We have 85 per cent ethnicity, 60 per cent free school meals, 65 per cent with English as a second language and very high mobility with a lot of refugees, asylum seekers and pupils in temporary housing - what would generally be considered a 'challenged' school. In late November 2001, the school was at risk of closure and was extremely vulnerable.
Our first move towards turning the school around was to make some key appointments, employing high-calibre teaching staff and teaching assistants (TAs). What we now have is a very dynamic working environment with a high level of expertise, cooperation and collaboration. Our TAs have made a significant contribution to our improvements.
Getting started
Because of the urgent need for change at
Tidemill, we took some fairly radical remodelling decisions before the government published the national agreement in January 2003.
- ICT support: all teachers were given laptops for record-keeping, assessment and planning. All plans are kept on laptops for easy access and sharing materials. The ICT room is next to the staff room.
- Administrative tasks: an admin assistant takes care of all non-teaching clerical tasks. A part-time attendance officer has made a big difference both to attendance levels and to teachers' workload.
- Cover: we use one of our best assets - our TAs. They are confident and intelligent; they know the kids and know what they have been working on. TAs deliver a pre-prepared lesson plan and if possible, they get another TA in to support them. We have in place good systems of induction and further training that support and challenge our TAs and we have run courses for new TAs from neighbouring schools.
- Work/life balance: staff can buy into an ironing service at a very good rate - a real winner! Parents cook a good healthy, subsidised lunch for staff twice a week. A primary helper cares for teachers' and TAs' children on INSET days.
Planning, preparation and assessment
10 per cent guaranteed release time is achieved through a combination of support staff undertaking specified work and enrichment afternoons involving outside specialists: an England women's international footballer, some great musicians and staff from the Laban Centre for dance.
Support staff include history, science and art graduates and a music specialist. Thorough ongoing training enables them to deliver high quality specified work supporting the curriculum.
The introduction of planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time over two years ago has reduced teacher stress in the school, improved lesson preparation and delivery and enabled staff to work more effectively as a whole-school team. Essentially, it has allowed teachers to concentrate on teaching, with a resultant improvement in teacher morale, performance and school standards. PPA means that teachers are teaching less, but better.
PPA activities include planning, preparation and assessment of individual performance, lessons and pupils' work on a regular weekly basis. Teachers are encouraged to use their PPA time to create a genuinely effective work/life balance. They share ideas and collaborate, developing areas where they aren't experts and planning together for core subjects. PPA time allows teachers to make more detailed, sophisticated assessment and analysis of pupils' and their own work. Personalised, targeted and differentiated learning is set and reviewed more regularly; this is critical to the particular needs of pupils at Tidemill.
Curriculum co-ordinators have time to set up whole-school reviews and monitor and observe curriculum delivery, supporting the work undertaken by classroom teachers during their PPA time.
There is now a very clear focus on marking work. Pupils write on the right-hand side of their exercise book and teachers put comments in the left-hand margin, asking for changes to be made specific to outcomes. PPA time allows time for this.
The benefits
It's no exaggeration to say that Tidemill's continued existence is a testament to remodelling. The benefits include:
- in December 2004, the full-section 10 Ofsted inspection rated Tidemill as "very good" with "excellent leadership"
- Tidemill was top of Lewisham's league table for value added for the second year in 2004, putting it in the top 5 per cent of schools in the country
- it is the fourth most improved school in the country in terms of standard assessment tests (SATs)
- in 2003 it had the 32nd highest value added figures of any school in the country
- parental involvement has dramatically improved, with almost 100 per cent turnout at the school's 'Inspire' workshops, where parents are taught to support their children's
- learning at home, parents attending computer and adult literacy classes, 90 per cent attendance at coffee mornings and parents coming into schools as volunteers in the classroom
- staff sickness has been significantly reduced, with the new high level of wellness being sustained. The school joined the wellbeing initiative in November 2004 as a means of further improving work/life balance. Teachers report that their job is now more manageable, staff morale is much improved and stress levels reduced
- the range of experience in the school has been extended with high quality teaching being the expected norm. A targeted recruitment policy has led to very high calibre staff. Professional development opportunities for all staff are enthusiastically taken up. Many support staff are working to become full-time teachers or higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs). Initial teacher training (ITT) is strong in the school
- behavioural incidents are now a "minor problem", with dramatic reductions in exclusions and a growing culture of mutual support between staff and pupils
- there is a very strong team ethos in the school; staff work closely and support each other.
On reflection
Remodelling at Tidemill has been all about enhancing the quality of life for our teachers and support staff. The simple truth is we wouldn't have been able to keep this great team together if we'd failed to take action. As things stood the role of the primary class teacher was stressful because it was almost impossible. Now we've given teachers the time they need to reconnect with their lives. Before remodelling, their job was almost impossible. Now it's still hard, but it's do-able. The key has been freeing up their time.
Dos and don'ts
- Do try the unthinkable - if only half the things are successful then it's worth it.
- Do share your ideas.
- Do think outside the box.
- Do have fun!
