November 21, 2024

Developing a whole school culture and curriculum to improve outcomes

Supporting School Improvement – Case Study

School Snapshot

Location: Rural North Norfolk, NOR 116, 16.4% of the students are eligible for free school meals.
Ofsted: Good (March 2019)

Challenge

When the new Head was appointed in 2021 the school had no cohesive curriculum. There were no clear progression documents in place and children were taught in isolation with no regard to prior learning.

Timescale

Academic years, 21/22, 22/23 and 23/24

Solution

Over the course of the last 3 years, the school has taken advantage of the CPD offer from VNET and the bespoke support opportunities to both improve the expertise of staff, and provide a cohesive curriculum offer.

Strategies:

Staff training on cognitive science to enable a shared understanding and language to underpin curriculum development

Supporting the SLT to assess and reshape the curriculum

Enabling staff to assess the impact of the curriculum on learning

Supporting development subject leaders’ knowledge through bespoke visits

Staff attending VNET Professional Communities to support their work

VNET visits to monitor and evaluate curriculum implementation.

Outcomes

Data for 2024 has shown that the work that has been done is having an impact on results, with the work focused on maths and reading over the last year with VNET, including the KS2 writing project having the most impact.

KS2 outcomes:
Reading EXS 86% GDS 29%
Maths EXS 86% GDS 21%
Writing EXS 71%

Testimonial

“The work that we have done with VNET has been a springboard to our success. It is what has given us the vision for the future and impetus for our future development.” Helen Bearman, Headteacher, Aldborough Primary School