When Nigel Wright took up the headship at Oakmoor School, part of the University of Chichester Academy Trust, in Bordon, Hampshire, he wanted to find another head, leading a school in a similar context, that he could learn from.
His data crunching led him to a school in the South East and to a partnership that, a year on, has benefitted staff and students in both schools. Nigel takes up the story:
As a school leader, you can often go to conferences and events and hear people talking about all the great things they are doing in their schools and think: “That sounds great - but how would that work in my school, which is very different?”
Finding a match
When the Department for Education released key stage 4 data last October, I downloaded the dataset for the whole of England and trimmed this huge spreadsheet down to key metrics - English as an additional language, pupil premium, progress and attainment - in line with Oakmoor’s.
Then I ranked by Progress 8 scores and a school in the South East came top. So I dropped the head there an email, asking if I could come and visit his school to see what I could take back to Oakmoor.
The head was pleased to get my email and that someone was taking an interest in his school, so I arranged a visit. I spent a day there a few weeks later and again in June and from those visits took home several new initiatives.
For example, one of the first things that struck me when I visited was the presence of adults in the corridors in between lessons.
All the staff, down to the finance team, came out into the corridor at lesson change and it had such a calming effect. I brought this idea back to Oakmoor and we now have all adults out of their rooms between every lesson, every day.
I was also very taken with the school’s Microsoft Teams chat system, which they use to manage students’ classroom breaks effectively.
Rather than using email or a walkie-talkie, teachers summon the senior leadership team member on duty via Teams to accompany students who need a toilet break or a timeout. It’s quick, easy and means teachers can focus on delivering their lessons. Again, I have introduced this at Oakmoor and it’s been a great success.
On an academic level, the curriculum reviews at this school were excellent and fitted really well with our academy trust’s focus on curriculum development. I’ve lifted everything from them to be honest - with just a few tweaks.
Real-world proof
Our subject leads are happy because these frameworks have been tried and tested in a school just like ours and this has lifted a whole layer of stress and anxiety off staff.
They also feel less threatened because the frameworks have come from subject teachers just like them, rather than being imposed by SLT.
As a school leader, it can be hard to introduce new things, but it’s much easier to implement something when it has been done somewhere else that is very similar.
It really helps with staff buy-in for new initiatives, because we can say: “Here’s an example - this school, which is very similar to us, did it and it worked”. It also means we don’t waste time on something that someone else has tried and found didn’t work.
This is not an accidental partnership because I actively sought a school with very similar data to ours. My academy trust, the University of Chichester Academy Trust, has backed me all the way in building this partnership because our responsibilities as educators should never be isolated to one group of schools.
Growing together
We’ve been working together for a year now and it has been a very positive experience, both for us as heads and for our SLTs. The head of the other school visited Oakmoor in January and has taken ideas from us back to his school, such as how we manage core routines both in and out of the classroom.
When we visit each other’s schools, we jot down what we notice and give that feedback to staff - it’s really motivating for them to hear positive feedback from a head in a similar school.
Overall, the collaboration has been powerful in helping us to bring in changes that benefit the children and shows the power we have as schools and leaders to support one another for the benefit of both students and teachers.
Nigel Wright is headteacher of Oakmoor School in Bordon, part of the University of Chichester Academy Trust
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