The Improvement Process

Abstract

In this chapter, we explore the processes enacted by the newly appointed headteacher and the senior leadership team to regain adult control of the school and to create an effective learning environment. The initial stage of these moves in 1997 is legendary, with some 35% of students (a figure in the hundreds) being excluded until such time as their parents/guardians met with the school to discuss their children’s future. This was the largest number of student exclusions ever recorded and was followed up by a huge number of meetings with parents/guardians which were extremely demanding on staff and governors. Eventually only eight students were permanently excluded, with only two more ever being permanently excluded in the following 20 years, a tribute to a desire to serve all children in the community. Adult control of the school was re-established in 1997, however, and sustained through a relentless focus on student behaviour within the classroom, school and in the wider community. The second stage of the improvement process was to enhance teaching to support student learning and ensure their engagement through the development and implementation of the Robert Clack Good Lesson, a requirement that was still evident 20 years later. The pedagogy that evolved is subjected to critical evaluation, with the discussion subsequently moving on to explore how a culture of success that matched both the standard expectations of school outcomes and the comprehensive ideal was established and sustained. Finally, questions are posed as to whether this improvement was a phenomenon or evidence of a continued pattern of achievement that would allow successive generations of students to be successful in examinations and life to transcend prescripted expectations.