Hold High Standards

The challengeHolding every adult to one clear standard for how they spend continuous provision time, at children's level and talking with them, instead of walking past adults who stand at the edge, tidy or chat to each other.

What the leader is aiming forBy the end of February, children, especially those who started with spoken English well below their age, talk more with adults in continuous provision because every adult meets one clear standard: at their level and in conversation.

How they will know it is workingWeekly snapshot figures show at least 8 in 10 adults in conversation with longer exchanges, every missed standard is followed up, and the spring language check shows at least 40 of the 46 children making progress.

The challengeRaising the standard of writing in history, geography and science books in Years 5 and 6 to match what we already expect in English books.

What the leader is aiming forBy February half term, Year 5 and 6 children write in history, geography and science to the same standard we expect in English books, in full, punctuated sentences and independent extended pieces, rising further by Easter.

How they will know it is workingThe book sample rises from 11 to at least 28 of 36 meeting the standard, missing punctuation falls from 41% to 15%, and my twice-weekly learning walks show the in-the-moment prompt being used.

The challengeHolding a high standard for how interventions are delivered, after finding that many sessions were shorter than planned, did not follow the programme and were not recorded, so we could not tell whether children were being helped.

What the leader is aiming forBy mid-February, children at SEN support get the interventions their plans promise, delivered in full and recorded properly, with at least 90% of planned sessions happening, from 68% in the autumn.

How they will know it is workingFortnightly record checks and half-termly observations show the standard being held, and the session delivery rate, observation results and entry and exit data show whether children are getting better interventions.

The challengeHolding the same high standard of work and behaviour in my own Years 4, 5 and 6 class on the two days a week when I am out of class for leadership, after noticing that the quality of books and behaviour drops on Thursdays and Fridays.

What the leader is aiming forBy mid-February, at least 20 of 26 books in my class meet our standard on Thursday and Friday pages (from 9 of 26), and behaviour incidents on those days are no higher than on my days, so my children get the same high standard every day of the week.

How they will know it is workingPlans shared by Tuesday at 4pm, the weekly handover and one behaviour system every day (lead), and the three-weekly book look, the behaviour log and pupil voice (lag).

The challengeMaking sure every Key Stage 4 pupil with an agreed access arrangement gets it in every classroom assessment and mock, not only in the summer exams, so it is genuinely her normal way of working.

What the leader is aiming forBy mid-February, at least 95% of internal assessments for Key Stage 4 pupils with access arrangements have the arrangement in place and recorded, on the way to every one, from 56% in the September science audit.

How they will know it is workingThe live list is kept up to date and one department is audited every fortnight (lead), and arrangements in place, teachers recording and pupils using rest breaks in lessons show it is working (lag).

The challengeRaising the standard of the subject comments teachers write for university references, which arrive late and generic for students outside the early-deadline group.

What the leader is aiming forBy early January, every Year 13 university applicant outside the early-deadline group has a complete reference, with at least 95% of subject comments submitted on time and at least 90% meeting the three content points.

How they will know it is workingI will know it is working when the weekly tracker shows comments arriving on time and comments sent back are fixed within two days (lead), and when the December sample meets the standard for at least 90% of all comments and 80% of vocational students' comments while rewriting time falls (lag).

The challengeMaking the agreed start to lessons, a retrieval task on the board and pupils working within three minutes of the bell, the standard in every classroom rather than in a few.

What the leader is aiming forBy mid-February, the agreed start-of-lesson routine is met in at least 27 of 30 lessons in my drop-ins, including lessons taught by our newer staff, and behaviour incidents in the first ten minutes fall below 20% of classroom incidents.

How they will know it is workingI will know it is working when heads of department send their drop-in checklists every fortnight and newer teachers are getting coaching, and when my drop-in figures and the behaviour logs both move in the right direction.

The challengeGetting every teaching assistant to complete a short, useful support note on the same day for each pupil with an education, health and care plan they support, so the SENDCo, teachers and families have real evidence of what helps.

What the leader is aiming forBy the end of February, at least 90% of supported lessons with pupils who have education, health and care plans have a note on the support log by 4pm the same day, and at least 80% of notes have all four parts.

How they will know it is workingI will know it is working when my Friday checks show on-time and four-part notes rising every fortnight, and the SENDCo can use lesson notes as evidence in every annual review report this spring.

The challengeGetting every budget holder to submit an accurate monthly budget return on time, so the forecast can be trusted and money reaches pupils while it can still make a difference

What the leader is aiming forBy the February return, every budget holder sends an accurate return on time, so our forecast can be trusted and identified underspend reaches agreed priorities for pupils before Easter, while it can still make a difference.

How they will know it is workingAt least 21 of 22 returns arrive by the fifth working day and 95% of lines need no correction by February, and my monthly summary to the headteacher shows the forecast within £5,000.

The challengeCorridors and displays look tired and minor repairs stall, but raising it risks staff hearing that displays matter more than teaching.

What the leader doesThe headteacher frames the standard around the children who use the corridors, names an owner for every shared space, splits the work between staff, premises and senior leaders, and introduces a five-minute Friday check.

What success looks likeBy day 30 every repair should be acknowledged or updated promptly; by day 60 at least 90% of shared zones should meet the visual standard; by day 90 more staff, pupils and families should describe the school as cared for and welcoming.

The challengeLine-up times range from two to seven minutes and zones are briefly left unsupervised, while staff use different signals and are unsure who leads when a colleague is absent.

What the leader doesThe deputy headteacher places the fault in the system rather than the people, then resets one routine: named zones staffed before pupils arrive, one whistle, a two-minute line-up and explicit cover for absence.

What success looks likeBy day 30 all duty zones should be covered in at least 95% of checks; by day 60 at least 90% of classes should line up within two minutes; by day 90 transition incidents should have halved.

The challengeMonitoring shows three classes losing reading time and holding irregular reading conversations, and a small phase meeting could easily turn into colleagues guessing who is being criticised.

What the leader doesThe phase leader describes the reading routine precisely enough for anyone to run it tomorrow, models it before monitoring it, invites practical barriers and agrees two brief routine checks each week.

What success looks likeBy day 30 at least 90% of sampled sessions should start within two minutes; by day 60 every class should hold four reading conversations on most days; by day 90 at least five of six focus pupils should improve their fluency.

The challengeStandards have drifted gradually rather than failed dramatically: only 68% of lesson starts meet the three-minute standard and leaders are unevenly visible at changeover.

What the leader doesThe headteacher personally takes a corridor zone every day, publishes leaders' changeover duties and sets one clear standard: doors staffed, calm movement and pupils starting the retrieval task within three minutes of the bell.

What success looks likeBy day 30 leaders should complete at least 95% of their zone duties; by day 60 at least 85% of lessons should meet the three-minute start; by day 90 at least 95% should, with fewer changeover incidents.

The challengeThe behaviour policy is clear but unevenly enacted: removal rates vary sixfold between similar departments and pupils describe different rules in different classrooms.

What the leader doesThe deputy headteacher has middle leaders rehearse the entry routine, correction language and consequence sequence in threes, so they can model it themselves, and makes same-day follow-up their responsibility.

What success looks likeBy day 30 at least 90% of sampled lessons should use the entry routine; by day 60 at least 85% should use correction and escalation accurately; by day 90 at least 80% of pupils should say expectations are the same everywhere.

The challengeLate marks have risen from 74 to 113 in four weeks, and pupils believe the follow-up depends on which adult they happen to meet.

What the leader doesThe head of year sets one standard for every pupil, gives tutors the same recording and same-day response, strengthens supervision on problem routes and offers a private way to raise genuine barriers.

What success looks likeBy day 30 register coding should be at least 95% accurate; by day 60 late marks should fall by 30%; by day 90 they should halve without disadvantaging pupils with agreed adjustments.

The challengeHomework submission ranges from 61% to 94% across similar classes, and colleagues hold different views, so a common routine could feel like losing control of the mathematics.

What the leader doesThe head of mathematics leaves the mathematics with colleagues but agrees a common minimum: homework set on the agreed day, due within seven days, recorded on the platform and followed up the same way.

What success looks likeBy day 30 every Key Stage 3 class should use the common routine; by day 60 each class should reach 85% submission; by day 90 submission should reach 90%, with at least 90% of sampled work showing method and correction.

The challengeSome headteachers want a single trust policy while others fear losing autonomy, and only three of the six schools define their core classroom routines observably.

What the leader doesThe director separates a common entitlement from local choices: every school defines and teaches routines for entry, attention, independent work and exit, rehearses them with staff and takes part in reciprocal peer review.

What success looks likeBy day 30 all schools should agree the four principles and their local mapping; by day 60 every school should train and rehearse its routines; by day 90 peer review should find the entitlement secure or improving everywhere.