(oral report)
Minutes:
GwE’s Managing Director explained the background of the following presentation, noting that there were
high expectations on GwE’s teams
which had led to developing
the development programme for Challenge Advisers.
GwE’s Assistant Director (Support and Brokerage) explained that practitioners / headteachers
placed emphasis on staff development to ensure quality and standards,
and that GwE had a responsibility to develop its own staff.
A presentation was given by GwE’s Assistant
Director (Standards), who noted that
the Challenge Adviser’s role was changing in order to develop
and formalise a programme which would focus on
national standards. He provided further detail on developments
to date:
·
Developing coaching and mentoring
·
Sharing effective practice and lessons learned
·
Workshops focusing on key
skills e.g. how to work effectively
with underachieving schools
·
Statutory safeguarding training for each Challenge
Adviser
·
Presentations on effective practice
by colleagues from other consortia e.g. effective techniques
·
Providing opportunities to share good practice between
the hubs for Challenge Advisers working with secondary
schools in the red and amber categories
·
Train the trainers for two
Challenge Advisers working with the primary sector
·
Developing Challenge Advisers’ knowledge, understanding and skills to the level required to satisfy the national standards
·
Improving quality
·
Framework – ensure that Challenge
Advisers work with schools / senior leaders / governors
·
Ensuring a robust self-evaluation and improvement plan
·
Arranging effective support and intervention
·
Developing school leaders
·
Focus on the quality and outcomes of teaching and learning
·
Termly formal meetings for monitoring and evaluating improvements
Members’ attention was drawn to
the fact that the programme is currently under development and being piloted
for the secondary sector, with the hope of expanding the programme to the primary sector. Individuals within GwE’s team
are encouraged to develop their own
staff.
It was further reported that advertisements
for new Challenge
Advisers had recently appeared in the press and following
appointments an induction programme will be developed for them.
Members were given
the opportunity to ask questions, and the following main points were highlighted:
(i)
No mention
was made to how Challenge Advisers would keep in
contact with the local authorities, who are ultimately
responsible for the standards of teaching and learning
In response, GwE’s Managing Director noted that a meeting
was to be held on 15 March
2016 where extended discussions on the above matter would
take place.
(ii)
Current inconsistencies in terms of quality were perhaps not necessarily related to training but rather more to do with organisation.
In response, it was explained that GwE had specific duties to provide a development programme as well as to manage the performance of individuals. It was noted that
processes would have to intertwine and current inconsistencies
were acknowledged, but this was identified
as a matter for collaboration.
(i)
In response
to an enquiry with regards to training and collaboration
with other consortia, GwE’s Assistant Director for Standards
explained that the intention was to provide a national package for sharing expertise.
(ii)
The test for the development programmes will be how to measure their impact and
their influence on individual schools,
groups of schools, and summer examination
results.
In response, it was acknowledged that these were long term developments and that it would
prove difficult to measure their impact
on this year’s
summer results.
(iii)
GwE’s Assistant Director for Standards added
that strengths needed to be disseminated across the schools, and that the above
programme should successfully raise standards and ensure
improvements for individuals. In response to a further enquiry with regards
to Challenge Advisers’ failure to achieve in accordance with
the expected standards, it was noted that
guidance on capability procedures would be provided from the host authority.
(iv)
There is a tendency to focus on schools in
the red / amber categories and it needs
to be ensured that schools in the green and yellow
categories are not disregarded.
It was decided to: Accept, note and thank
for the presentation.