“Within the next 3-5 years the South West will be the best region to lead, teach and educate a child” Sir David Carter RSC for the South West

What Attracted me to the role of the Regional Schools Commissioner? Sir David Carter RSC for the South West

What is System Leadership? System Leadership is….. – Overarching leadership that is regionally centred delivering nationally driven expectations – Leadership that focus more on the collective performance of a cohort of children from a community, town, city, region or partnership – Focused on holding the “front line” school leaders to account for outcomes that are as good as any school delivers from similar starting points

Core Aims of the RSC Role Monitoring the performance and intervening to secure improvement in underperforming academies Taking decisions on the creation of new academies Ensuring that the sponsor market meets local need by authorising new sponsors and challenging those that exist to perform even better

The Challenges in leading the new System Shift of accountability from Whitehall to the Regions – London to Regions – Regions to Sub Regions – Building the RSC team to be one of the most important educational teams in academy delivery and performance Balance of Autonomy in proportion to Accountability – Post 2010-Maximum Autonomy with Limited Accountability-”Autonomy from the centre was given to the system” – Post 2015-Maximum Autonomy with Enhanced Accountability-”Accountability will be provided for the centre by the system”

What does this mean for Academies and Free Schools? A different model of regional accountability Schools who were above the bar in a centralist model of accountability will be less secure in a regionalised model Best practice identification and transmission will become more closely aligned between the originators of the practice and those seeking to implement it

What does this mean for Parents and Children? Every family needs access to a “good” or “outstanding” school within reasonable distance of their home If achieved, the choice of school and provider will be richer as quality will be defined by specialism & ethos rather than by results The best schools will play a bigger role in helping weaker schools become great quicker than before – Could an indication of sustained outstanding performance involve how well a school supports another? When a school gets into difficulties or is in decline it will take less time to intervene and improve it – Prevention or Cure?

Priorities for Day Aim 1-Visibility & Communication across the region Aim 2-Understand the profile of the performance of academies and free schools following the 2014 outcomes and plan interventions that are needed Aim 3-Start to approve academy convertors, MAT applications and broker sponsorship arrangements Aim 4-Work with existing sponsors to deliver improvement and support new MAT and sponsors entering the SW Academy arena Aim 5-Building of the “Education South West” vision and strategy

The SW Academy Performance Challenge Challenge 1-The performance of Pupil Premium students Challenge 2-The “coasting” school that needs to move forward Challenge 3-Improving the percentage of outstanding schools in the region Challenge 4-Rebrokering Academies and finding new sponsors Challenge 5-The performance of our most able students in the region Challenge 6-The performance of academies in seaside locations Challenge 7-The challenge of the SW rural poverty contexts which is different to the urban challenge Challenge 8-Ensuring there are enough groups and individuals able to deliver effective school support in the areas of greatest need

The HT Board Monitoring the performance and intervening to secure improvement in underperforming academies Taking decisions on the creation of new academies Ensuring that the sponsor market meets local need by authorising new sponsors and challenging those that exist to perform even better

Support new sponsor groups who want to enter the Academy arena to add capacity to the SW Region What we will do – Meet with existing sponsors and MAT to understand their context and challenges – Work with approved sponsors who do not have a project – Make sure pipeline projects are delivered smoothly – Develop a Self Assessment Tool that MAT can use to measure themselves against the strongest groups in the system Work with new groups and trusts who want to gain approval to sponsor new academies and FS – Good and Outstanding Schools – Teaching School Alliances – HE and FE – Diocese – Business and Industry

Sponsor Improvement and Sponsor Development Get the best from existing sponsors – Partner existing groups with new groups in a mentoring relationship – Create sub regional sponsor network groups – Work with approved sponsors who do not have a project – Make sure pipeline projects are delivered smoothly Set the expectation for new sponsors Work with new groups and trusts who want to gain approval to sponsor new academies and FS – Good and Outstanding Schools – Teaching School Alliances – HE and FE – Diocese – Business and Industry

Understanding the Dynamics of school to school Collaboration First have to decide the family relationship – Twins – Siblings – Distant cousins who meet once a year – Estranged Recognise that some “family” decisions have to be taken by the “elders” Share the same DNA – Beliefs and Values – What is Non-Negotiable and what is Negotiable? Recognise that all families have members who grow at different speeds, have different interests and new priorities

Working out what is non negotiable and negotiable Core-Fixed-NON NEGOTIABLE – Priority to close the gap between dis-advantage and achievement – OFSTED Framework – Tracking and Data Drops – The accountability of Principals to the Board and their LGB – Single Employer Responsibilities – Financial Management processes and systems Variable and Not Fixed- NEGOTIABLE – How we teach? – The staff we need to get great outcomes – Staffing structures – Student numbers on roll – Curriculum – “Intervention in inverse proportion to success” – Every academy a giver and receiver of support from another member of the “family”

Building an “Education South West” strategy What we will do – Engage the system to support the building of the SW improvement identity – Invite Academy Principals to high quality seminars on key performance themes and reinforce their role as system leaders – Build a cadre of potential Principals for the region by working with schools delivering NCTL Leadership suite – Work with Teaching Schools and HE to ensure there is a pipeline of good teachers entering the profession – Work with OFSTED to share the vision and accountability for the performance of academies across the region – Work with business groups to build a “Pool” of trained trustees to join MAT Boards

What have I Learned? This is a strategic leadership role that calls upon all my knowledge of school and federation leadership The challenge is about consistent practice- schools with the same challenges and contexts perform better than each other The concept of dis- advantage across the SW is different and varies between urban and rural settings Great Teaching + Great Leadership = GREAT SCHOOLS