rsa no school an island -suffolk inquiry - executive summary 05 13

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No schoolan islandSuffolk education inquiryexecutive summary

Louise Bamfeld, Joe Hallgarten and Matthew Taylor May 2013



The RSA inpartnership with



Executive summary 1

Foreword by Matthew Taylor:The Su olk Journey

The announcement by Su olk County Council in summer 2012 o the RSA’s Raising the Bar Inquiry marked a growing awareness among theSu olk educational community that things had to change. The Councilcommissioned this report on the explicit agreement that the RSA had the

nal say over its contents. This independence has been respected through-out and has enabled us to explore issues and proposals without constraint.

At the heart o this report is our belie in the power o collaboration.Our approach is to combine devolution o responsibility and resources toschools with an expectation that they commit to strong partnerships with:

• ‘Pyramids’ o secondary and their eeder primary schools andearly years settings where objectives and accountabilities are

ocused on the attainment and progression o every child; • Other neighbouring schools and organisations working with

young people and the wider community where the objectives andaccountabilities are ocused on the well-being o every child;

• Schools with a similar pro le to themselves in ‘ amilies’, wherethe objectives and accountabilities are ocused on the qualityo teaching and learning and school improvement.

For this collaboration to make a di erence it must be long term,substantive, ocused and based on measurable aims. We have called thisreport ‘no school an island’ to signal the importance that we attach tothe principle that publicly unded institutions must take both individualand shared responsibility or the interests o the children and youngpeople o Su olk. We believe that schools now need to open their doorsmore routinely and purpose ully to a wider range o partners, engagingwith employers to enable children and young people to have a richerunderstanding o , and engagement in, the world o work, and to involvethe wider community, especially parents, in valuing education and raisingchildren’s achievement.

The principle o collaboration has also guided the process o theInquiry. Instead o a conventional expert commission we opted or a moreopen, discursive and action- ocused approach. Nine Inquiry solutionsgroups involving stakeholders rom inside and outside the educationsystem have power ully shaped the conclusions o this report and – more importantly – they have started to turn their proposals into action.

A number o important insights gained rom this process shouldin orm next steps. There is the continued need or clarity and opennessabout per ormance, not just at the Local Authority level but in relationto every school. Being satis ed with existing standards is part o whatallowed Su olk to all so ar behind. We believe strong progress can bemade in the county, but at a time when all schools are striving to make

urther improvement, there can never be a return to complacency.



Progress cannot be made by imposing a quick x imported romelsewhere. A strength o the solution group process has come rom the op-portunity to discuss what has worked in other systems and to re ne thesesolutions so they t the speci c Su olk context. The way orward must bestamped ‘designed or Su olk, in Su olk’. In uture years other localitieslooking or ways to improve should be seeking to learn the lessons rom

Su olk’s success.When exploring success ul improvement strategies there is a tendencyto overlay a post hoc neatness on the process but, on closer inspectionthese success stories – rom Ontario to London Challenge – turn outto have been multi- aceted and emergent. Achieving a step-change inper ormance will require e ort and adaptation. Some ideas will workwell, others will need to be re ned. The work o the solutions groupshould not end with the publication o this report; indeed, their on-goingrole exempli es the call or Raising the Bar to be seen not as a one o process but as a continuing campaign.

Just about everyone we have met over the last ten months seeks thesame destination or Su olk; or every child and young person to havethe best possible chance to grow into success ul, ul lled and responsiblecitizens. We believe that our recommendations provide a strong anddistinctive ramework, but ultimately it is not urther deliberation thatSu olk needs, but action. We are con dent and excited about the progressthat Su olk’s schools and communities will be able to achieve in themonths and years to come.

No school an island2



Executive summary 3

Ten key acts about Su olk’schildren, young people and schools

Su olk is home to 166,900 children and young people, 22.9 percento the total population o 728,200.

The total population o Su olk is predicted to grow by 14.6 percentby 2032. During the same period, the population o 0 –19 year olds ispredicted to grow by 6.1 percent.

5 percent o all primary aged children and 10 percent o all pupilsat secondary school in Su olk do not hold English as a rst language.

The average or England is 17 percent.

Approximately one in six children in Su olk is born into poverty,lower than the national average o nearly one in three.

There are 268 rst and primary schools, 17 middle schools and46 secondary schools in Su olk. Seven primary schools, two middleschools and 28 o the secondary schools are Academies. There are oursecondary Free Schools in Su olk.

There are 10 maintained schools with sixth orms, 13 Academies withsixth orms, one sixth orm college, 4 urther education colleges and one16 –19 school.

Su olk is ranked 148 out o 150 local authorities or attainment at age 11and 142 out o 150 at age 16.

57 percent o Disadvantaged* pupils and 79 percent o Other** pupils inSu olk achieved the expected level in both English and maths at age 11,compared with 68 percent and 84 percent nationally or each group.

27 percent o Disadvantaged* pupils and 56 percent o Other** pupils inSu olk achieved ve A*– C GCSEs or equivalent, including English andmaths, compared with 39 percent and 66 percent nationally.

Currently (April 2013) 2.3 percent (241) o 16 –17 year olds in Su olk arein employment without any training opportunities associated with theirjob, while 4.8 percent (509) are not in any kind o employment or training.

* Disadvantaged pupils are de ned as those in receipt o the Pupil Premium unds(Looked A ter Pupils and those who are FSM Ever6 – have ever been FSM in the past 6 years).

** Other pupils are those who are not in the Disadvantaged group

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Introduction

In July 2012, the RSA was invited by Su olk County Council to conduct

an independent Inquiry into how to achieve a signi cant and sustainedimprovement in pupil attainment and improved capabilities or youngpeople in the world o work.

Our goal over the ten months o the Inquiry has been to contributeto a undamental change in the way that education is discussed, perceivedand delivered across the county. We have involved stakeholders in theprocess o designing long-term solutions by orming Solutions Groups 1 to

ocus on particular issues and test new ideas. We have also have bene tedrom the contributions o hundreds o people to Shout Out Su olk 2 and

the Call or Ideas .3 The opportunity to take part in the conversation willcontinue beyond this report through continuing Raising the Bar activity.

Although the Inquiry has explored some issues relating to the earlyyears, and its work on employer engagement is connected to post-16learning opportunities, the central ocus has been on pupils aged 5–16,since this was where the data demonstrated particular underper ormance.

Background and contextA period o rapid change is underway in the English education system.The scale and pace o re orm presents new challenges, particularly indealing with potential isolation and polarisation in an increasinglydiversi ed school system. There is also the challenge o a di culteconomic climate. Nevertheless, the re orms present new opportunities

or schools to lead improvements together, exercising greaterresponsibility over how resources are spent.

The situation in Su olk The per ormance o Su olk’s schools has ollowed an erratic courseover the last decade. Despite recent improvements, Su olk is stillper orming poorly in comparison with national averages and its statisticalneighbours. Poor aggregate levels o pupil progress and attainmentare combined with wide gaps in educational achievement betweendisadvantaged groups and other pupils, leading to poor outcomes or

disadvantaged young people beyond schooling and in later li e. In thewords o the County Council, ‘Su olk is stuck’. Worrying too is thehigher than average proportion o young people who do not continuein education beyond age 16, and who ail to complete post-compulsorycourses in school or college. Su olk’s 2008 Community Strategy set theambition to be in the top quartile nationally or per ormance in learningand skills by 2028. It has made no progress so ar towards this goal.

1. www.su olk.gov.uk/your-council/plans-and-policies/raising-the-bar-brie ng/raising-the-

bar-solution-groups/2. http://shoutoutsu olk.org/3. http://rtbsu olk.org/

http://http//www.suffolk.gov.uk/your-council/plans-and-policies/raising-the-bar-briefing/raising-the-bar-solution-groups/

http://shoutoutsuffolk.org/

http://rtbsuffolk.org/




http://shoutoutsuffolk.org/

http://http//www.suffolk.gov.uk/your-council/plans-and-policies/raising-the-bar-briefing/raising-the-bar-solution-groups/



Executive summary 5

Su olk’s poor student outcomes appear particularly disappointing whenjudged against its relative prosperity, although the headline gures concealsigni cant variations in rates o employment and living standards.

What is causing this poor per ormance? Within the county, there is stilla tendency to attribute this to individual actors, particularly ‘low aspira-tions’ by parents and young people. However, there is no evidence that pupil

or parental aspirations in Su olk are lower than anywhere else in England.In any case, research demonstrates that personal aspiration explains verylittle o the attainment gap. 4 Instead, we need to look at eatures o theorganisational culture in Su olk schools and the wider environment.

Our starting pointTurning around the per ormance in Su olk calls or an integrated strategyto trans orm school per ormance, narrow the socio-economic gap inchildren’s learning and broaden young people’s horizons or employmentand adult li e. Our proposals to achieve these goals are based on a modelo building collaborative capacity.

The power o collaboration is one o the key lessons to emerge romsuccess ul education re orm programmes. Strong partnership working canmake a signi cant di erence to the quality o teaching and learning. Thepractical experience o working with pupils and teachers in other settingscan help oster a stronger sense o moral purpose and shared responsibility

or children’s learning. It is the combination o these two important actorsthat gives collaboration ‘the power to make the ordinary extraordinary’.

1. Building a movement oreducational change

In the words o the County Council’s chie executive Deborah Cadman,Su olk requires not a series o piecemeal re orms but a concerted,community-wide ‘movement or educational change’. People in Su olkare at di erent places along this journey. Sustained action is needed toachieve deeper levels o engagement by all relevant groups.

To trans orm the culture o learning across the county, we believethat Su olk schools and local communities need to:

• Connect and collaborate more routinely and systematically withpeople, ideas and practices across and beyond the county,

ostering a culture that is outward looking and open-minded; • Challenge learners and teachers to set high expectations or

themselves and their peers, driving out complacency inper ormance and generating an organisational culturein which practices are not just shared but genuinely interrogatedand improved;

4. For all re erences, see the ull report at www.thersa.org/su olkinquiry

http://www.thersa.org/suffolkinquiry

http://www.thersa.org/suffolkinquiry




• Innovate and implement e ective practice , encouraging peopleto design their own solutions, building on the best availableevidence and contributing to a growing evidence base aboutwhat works to improve outcomes; and

• Create a more inclusive educational culture , which empowersindividuals and groups rom all social backgrounds and helps

create a sense o common purpose across di erent (and partiallycompeting) institutions.

In order to stimulate new thinking and create the impetus or more radicalchange, we propose that Su olk should negotiate a long-term strategicpartnership with an educationally improving east London Borough, to be jointly

unded by both local authorities and through external unding. Based upona programme o cultural and educational exchange and work-relatedlearning, a reciprocal arrangement would o er mutual bene ts at multiplelevels: enriching pupils’ learning through joint projects; broadening anddeepening teachers’ pro essional expertise; and strengthening leadershipcapacity at all levels, with a new uture leaders exchange programme orteachers with outstanding leadership potential.

Figure 1a : A model o how engagement is built

Knowledge,salience

Trust, belief

KEY AUDIENCES

Involvement and action,reward, recognition

Spontaneous involvement and sustained inuence

Whole-system leadershipand strategic direction

Systemleaders

Change makers

3. Are they committed totake action in every school?

2. Do people accept that thisis a problem in their school?

1. Are people in Suffolk aware ofsystemic underperformance in

their schools?

Leadership

Awareness

Acceptance

Commitment

Advocacy

D e e p e

n g a g e m e n t

S u p e r c i a l e n g a g e m

e n t

Employers & business communityTeachers & educatorsPupils, parents & local community

Source: Adapted from the Ipsos-Mori model of engagement, in Castell and Thompson (2007)‘Understanding attitudes to poverty in the UK’, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Su olk’s education leaders need to move rom ocusing overwhelm-ingly on their particular school or community, to leading action across thewhole county. With some exceptions, there is still a tendency or schoolsto look to the Local Authority to set the strategic priorities and providethe resources to und them. Although the County Council’s schoolimprovement strategy is already partly built on school to school supportapproaches, these are very much led through the Local Authority. TheCounty Council may still be sustaining a kind o compliant dependency

Recommendation 1

Stimulate new thinking andways of working through a newstrategic partnership betweenSuffolk and a London Borough



Executive summary 7

where many schools (including Academies) welcome the cushion o LocalAuthority ‘bailout’, but lack genuine commitment to shared accountabil-ity and cross-county educational success.

We believe that the County Council’s current plan or a newlearning partnership could be the oundation o a more radical shi tin responsibilities to schools. It is time or schools to accept that they

cannot keep looking to the Local Authority to drive change or provide theresources to make it happen. Schools now need to take collective and sharedresponsibility or raising the achievements o every pupil across the county.

To oster a county-wide change in leadership, we recommend that a newSu olk Partnership or Excellence in Learning (SPEL) be established byApril 2014. With a broad membership, this would provide a orum or allschools, regardless o status, to come together and agree a shared visionand strategic priorities or the whole system. To achieve a genuinelysel -improving school system, we recommend that activities and resources

or school improvement (including sta resources) be devolved over time tothe SPEL, with the aim o making services more responsive to the needs o schools, whilst strengthening the oversight unction o the Local Authority.

SPEL leadership andintervention role• creating and reviewing education

strategy, priorities and targets• driving system-wide improvement• creating a culture of purposeful

collaboration

Local Authority supportand challenge role• convening partnerships• making and shaping effective

commissioning• champion of children, parents

and the community

A key rst step or the SPEL will be to develop a compelling visionand identi y longer-term strategic priorities. Whilst it would run againstthe spirit o the Inquiry’s approach to set speci c targets or improvement,we believe that the longer-term educational aspirations could include the

ollowing range o qualitative but measurable goals. By 2016:

• Su olk will have created a highly e ective ‘sel -improving schoolsystem’ which is infuencing the approaches o other localities inEngland and internationally;

• Pupils in Su olk will be more engaged in their learning,

as reported by pupils themselves through an annual surveywhich captures the voice o children and young people;

• Children and young people will demonstrate signi cantimprovements in their well-being;

• Every school will have evidence to show how robustpartnerships with at least one other school have contributedto improved outcomes;

• Su olk will have nationally regarded collaborative practiceocused on closing the gap in attainment between disadvantaged

and other pupils; • Su olk will have a national reputation or the quality and depth

o its partnerships between employers and educators.

Recommendation 2

Foster a county-wide changein leadership through a newschool-led Suffolk Partnershipfor Excellence in Learning




At the same time, the SPEL will need to work with its schools to setsome ambitious improvement goals. For illustration, these could includethe ollowing:

Accountability measure Current per ormance 2016 aspiration

Percent of Y6 pupils

achieving L4 Englishand Maths

74 percent; 5 percent lower

than national average

At least 85 percent and

above national average

Percent of disadvantaged Y6pupils achieving L4 Englishand Maths

57 percent;11 percent lowerthan national average

At least 70 percent andabove national average

Percent of Y11 pupilsachieving 5 A*-Cs includingEnglish and Maths

51 percent; 8 percent lowerthan national average

At least 65 percent, andabove national average

Percent of disadvantagedY11 pupils achieving 5A*-Cs including English andMaths

27 percent; 12 percentlower than national average


Percent of schools currentlyrated at least ‘good’ byOFSTED



Percent of schools currentlyrated ‘outstanding’ byOFSTED



2. Strengthen capacity or leadership

and collaboration

Headteachers, governors and senior leaders all have a vital role to playas system leaders in a more devolved and collaborative school system. Thechallenge or Su olk is two- old: rst, to build capacity or leadership andgovernance at all levels in order to drive school improvement; and second,to deploy this capacity to ensure that every school partnership is ocusedon achieving its core purpose and improving outcomes or children.

Governors have an increasingly important role to play as system leaders

and change makers in a more devolved and collaborative school system.Our analysis here indicates that there is much room or improvement ineach core area o governance de ned in statute: giving strategic direction;acting as a critical riend; and ensuring accountability. To address theseissues, we recommend that all governing bodies be encouraged and expectedto build capacity through processes o peer review and mutual challenge. 5

Now, more than ever, schools need to work together to make best useo the knowledge and resources that are available in the system. However,teaching and learning will not improve i partnerships are allowed to

5. The recommendations in this executive summary are in a slightly di erent order rom theull report. For ease o re erence, the recommendations’ numbering has remained the same as in

the ull report.

Recommendation 4

More challenging and strategicgoverning bodies

Recommendation 5

Critical review and audit ofpartnership arrangements



Executive summary 9

dri t without clear strategic ocus. To ensure that all partnerships are ‘ft orpurpose’, we propose that all schools should undertake a process o criticalsel -evaluation and partnership review. This will enable schools to makein ormed decisions about the uture o existing partnerships.

One o the most important partnerships is the ‘pyramid’ relationshipbetween eeder primary schools and receiving secondary schools. To

ensure that pupils make success ul transitions across phases o learning, werecommend that secondary schools agree to monitor pupil outcomes in theirfrst term o Year Seven and produce a report or governors in all schools inthe pyramid, which highlights any di culties that individuals or groupso pupils have in settling in and progressing. By studying the evidencetogether in this way, schools will be enabled to agree joint processes toimprove coordination and support.

Partners need to be prepared to work together in a constructive butcritical way, being ready to give and receive challenging eedback ratherthan simply o ering ‘so t’ orms o support and advice. To help schoolslook a resh at what they do, we recommend that Su olk adopts the ‘ amilies

o schools’ model developed in the City Challenge. This groups schoolstogether in di erent areas but with similar pupil intakes, allowing schoolsto elicit best practice through interrogation o data and practices rompartner schools outside their locality. Building on the solution group’s ini-tial trialling, this model should look to include schools rom neighbouringcounties and the East London borough partnership.

Finally, more needs to be done to end isolation and break downbarriers to collaboration at the local level. To this end, we recommend thatany small school with a roll lower than 100 pupils should enter a ederation.

Schools should begin the process as early as possible, to allow orgreater time to nd appropriate school partners and work together toestablish strong relationships, maximise resources and ensure a smoothtransition to the new partnership.

In addition we suggest that every school should establish a parents’council, with representatives rom the local community , which should begiven speci c responsibility or engaging with the school leadership to‘support pupils’ achievement, behaviour and safety and their spiritual,moral, social and cultural development’. A council would be especiallybene cial or schools which enter a ormal Federation or Multi-AcademyTrust, as it will help promote community voice and protect the distinctiveidenti y o each ederated school.

Recommendation 6

Support every child’s journeythrough effective cross-phasepartnerships and sharedaccountability for outcomes

Recommendation 7

Foster challenge and peerreview through ‘families

of schools’

Recommendation 8

Federation for Small Schools

Recommendation 9

Promote parental voicethrough a parent andcommunity council for everyschool, especially those ina trust or federation




3. Enhance and enrich the qualityo teaching and learning

Achieving a step-change in school per ormance depends above allon improving the quality o teaching. Drawing on a sub-sample o O sted inspection reports, our analysis identi ed a number o commonissues around inconsistent quality, lack o di erentiation, inadequateuse o in ormation to meet pupils’ needs and poor use o markingto provide eedback.

While the new national Teacher Standards provide a use ul baselineo expectations, we believe that schools in Su olk could go urther tode ne what good and outstanding teaching looks like in the Su olkcontext, recognising the demands that come rom working in a large,rural and coastal county, and responding to the particular culturaland organisational challenges identi ed through this Inquiry.

We recommend that a new set o ‘Su olk core teacher competences’should be developed by the teaching schools and wider partners. These willset out the speci c knowledge, skills and experiences that Su olk teachersshould be able to demonstrate at di erent stages o their career, as part o a new ‘Su olk Teacher’ identity. These competences should then orm thebasis o a new ramework o pro essional development, which incorporatesthe principles o joint practice development (JPD). The SPEL should set anaspiration or all teachers to pursue a Masters level quali cation.

Conversations with headteachers and governors in Su olk haverevealed two common rustrations: rst, the di culty in attracting highquality teachers to apply to Su olk schools, especially in secondary sub-jects; and second, the perception that too many teachers in Su olk haveonly ever taught in the county, leading to an inward looking pro essionalculture. A combination o incentives is needed to attract high qualityrecruits to the county and develop outstanding leaders. Building onexisting recruitment strategies, we recommend that Su olk schools widenthe pool o talent by investing in the salaried element o the School Directprogramme , as a way o encouraging outstanding recent graduates andcareer-changers to consider teaching in Su olk schools. At the same time,the County Council should take advantage o opportunities to promote

the attractiveness o Su olk as a place to live and work, looking to attractdynamic leaders, mid-career teachers and subject specialists to the county.

To encourage e ective, evidence-based partnerships across Su olk andbeyond, the SPEL should establish a Challenge Fund to provide seed unding

or innovative joint working with a strong research component. With supportrom experienced researchers, applicants will need to show that they have

developed a robust methodology and evaluation ramework, demonstrat-ing that their idea has the potential to contribute to the evidence base onschool improvement and help build lasting change.

As part o a coordinated drive to create a more inclusive and collabora-tive culture in Su olk schools, we recommend that school partnershipsexplore options to ‘pool’ a percentage o their pupil premium to design jointapproaches to narrowing the achievement gap .

Recommendation 10

Promote and celebrateprofessional expertise througha new Suffolk Teacher identityand annual Suffolk Excellencein Teaching awards

Recommendation 3

Widen the pool of talentby investing in teacherrecruitment and School Direct

Recommendation 11

Establish a new ChallengeFund to provide seed fundingfor innovative, evidence-basedpractice

Recommendation 12

Effective, collaborative useof the pupil premium



Executive summary 11

Although the new slimmed down national curriculum is ocused onthe ‘core knowledge’ to which all young people should be guaranteedaccess, this core entitlement should orm just one part o a locally-generated curriculum which has equal status to the national curriculum.We propose that all schools should be encouraged to participate in aprogramme o innovative curriculum design, in partnership with individuals

and institutions in a school’s community. This approach can build a highquality curriculum that is outward acing, fexible and responsive to theparticular needs and aspirations o students and their communities.

Figure 3a: Enriching learning through innovative curriculum design

Parentalinput

CommunityPartners

Employers

Enrich pupil learning

Build professional capacity

Curriculumdesign

Increaserelevance to

world of work

Identify core

capabilities

Co-designwith local partne rs

Encourage parental

involvement

A Su olk Baccalaureate could bridge the gap between theoreticalknow ledge and practical experience and provide young people with avaluable record o their achievements in all areas o learning. Building onthe encouraging early progress with a 9–14 Baccalaureate, we recommend thatpilot schools should be empowered to act as lead developers or a 9–19 Su olk Baccalaureate.

4. Broaden horizons or growth,enterprise and well-being

As the most important ‘educators’ o children, parents have a responsibilityto do as much as they can to support their child’s learning and development,as well as having the right to be treated airly by schools and the educationsystem and have their voices valued and respected. We propose that Su olk County Council, as champions o children and amilies, should lead a campaignto make Raising the Bar every parent’s business, which shows how parents,schools and early years providers can work together to meet the needs o children and promote their well-being.

Recommendation 13

Innovative CurriculumDesign to enrich pupil andprofessional learning

Recommendation 14

Develop and expand theSuffolk Baccalaureate to fostera broader set of competencesand wider educationalengagement

Recommendation 15

Campaign to makeRaising the Bar everyparent’s business




Furthermore, we suggest that new children and young people’s boardsto support achievement and well-being should be established in eachlocality in Su olk, to provide a orum or sharing knowledge and enhancingcommunication at a local level. With support rom District and BoroughCouncils where appropriate, the boards would provide a regularopportunity or schools to take part in a structured conversation with

other groups and organisations in the local area, as well as creatinga ‘match making’ space or networking, which will oster deeperengagement between organisations.

One o the core aims o education in the twenty- rst century is tosupport students to become independent learners, equipping them withthe ormal quali cations and fexible li e skills that will be vital or adultli e and an ever-changing world o work. We believe that children need –and are entitled to receive – earlier, richer and more empowering engagementwith the world o work. Building progressively rom the primary years, thisentitlement should be based on a new learning ramework or citizenship,enterprise and employability. We urther recommend that Su olk schoolsand County Council support the development o a new brokerage serviceto connect business and education, consisting o a small team supportedby an online acility, which would provide a single and personal contactpoint or educators, employers and young people.

We also believe that urther action is needed to broaden young people’shorizons and make sure they have the practical knowledge, advice andsupport they need to make wise choices about their career, and achievesuccess ul transitions to urther education and employment. We suggestthat young people themselves should be in the driving seat o designing anddeveloping a coherent, targeted approach to mentoring across the wholecounty and all age groups. To be genuinely empowering, students them-selves should assume the role o commissioner, holding a (delegated)budget and control over resources to ensure that the types o mentoringavailable meet their needs.

5. Celebrate success and sustainmomentum over time

Trans orming education outcomes is not a goal that can be achievedovernight. Experience shows that many education re orms ail or alterbecause they are not given the time to succeed. Thus, the process o ‘raising the bar’ in Su olk will not end either with the publishing o this report, or the response rom Su olk County Council that will ollow.Instead, the capacity or continued improvement must be embeddedwithin the new structures proposed here, but above all in a new seto cultural attitudes, belie s and expectations about what is possibleand what can be achieved.

Just as people need the right incentives to become involved at theoutset, so too do they need reward and recognition or their e orts

Recommendation 16

Children and young people’sboard to support achievementand well-being in every locality

Recommendation 17

An entitlement to earlier,richer and more empoweringengagement with the worldof work

Recommendation 18

Empower young people todesign and commissionan effective cross-countyapproach to mentoring



Executive summary 13

and contribution. Acknowledging and celebrating success has a realand tangible impact on people’s motivations and hence on sustainingmomentum and progress over time. To provide a chance to celebrate andpublicise the county’s achievements, we recommend that, in partnershipwith community, corporate and media partners, Su olk County Council andthe SPEL should host an annual Su olk Change Makers event or pupils,

parents, sta and teachers, school governors, employers and other partnersin the local community. With input rom pupils themselves in designing theawards, the event would provide a chance to showcase innovative practiceand e ective partnerships and celebrate schools’ successes in rapidlyimproving per ormance.

Needless to say, the process o refection and renewal will notbe wholly celebratory. Openness and candour are needed about thechallenges that have yet to be overcome. To renew and re resh the county-wide strategy or school improvement, the SPEL should undertake an annualreview and evaluation o progress. Led by schools rather than the LocalAuthority, the annual review should be seen as a genuine opportunity

or renewal and refection, based on honest and critical appraisal.

Recommendation 19

Annual ‘change makers’awards to celebrateoutstanding educationalachievement and collaboration

Recommendation 20

Annual review andself-evaluation to renewand refresh the strategyfor school improvement



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rsa no school an island -suffolk inquiry - executive summary 05 13

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