Post Ofsted comment from C Egerton Chesney, Headmaster

"Thanks for your most exceptional support, help and belief. You would have been proud at the really good number of lessons graded 2 with teachers using techniques and ideas you taught them. We are out of category, satisfactory overall with some good stuff. I look forward to our continued work together." 

Foxborough is a large primary school in Langley, Berks. Slough is just up the road; the M4 a stone's throw off. It's a school on the up.  I've worked with staff and children since 2009 and Mr Egerton Chesney (Ches) since 2002. 

It has a diverse and nurturing community under thoughtful and creative leadership. You'll find a great mix of strengths and challenges (not least over half of Slough's most deprived primary age children - yes, all in one building). It's a pleasure to be a small part of their team.

Designing specifically for school needs I've provided 2 levels of support: Whole school staff training and Leadership training. I'm now integrating and embedding this work through sustainable coaching (2012-2013)

Developing the learning community	Leadership SCRUM chart first draft

Whole School Training

• A series of single, linked closure days providing inspiration and practical classroom tools to raise teaching standards and enrich pupil progress
• Follow up observations and feedback sessions related to closure day themes
• A three-day closure programme developing the professional learning community and creative classroom techniques
• Themes have included: Quality Communication; Thinking Skills; Talent Management; Leadership, Lesson Design and Inclusion

SCRUM chart used to accelerate and manage leadership tasks and school improvement

Leadership Development

Working with the LT I provided an expanded 9-day version of my Creating Extraordinary Leaders programme:

• Day 1 - Understanding Leadership: exploring diverse definitions of leadership in educational and non educational domains then agreeing a set of leadership skills, attitudes and values that are right for Foxborough

• Day 2 - Leading Others: trying out 'Foxborough Leadership' with teams and in class then honing the definition 

• Day 3 - Leading Others Through Change: Applying our evolving leadership skills to changes in school, locality and nationally 
   
• Day 4 - You: Reviewing progress and then creating personal leadership profiles
   
• Day 5 - Relationships: Developing a more effective understanding of others through greater self-awareness
   
• Day 6 - Leadership Backlog: Applying innovative progress techniques from business to help meet Ofsted deadlines
   
• Day 7 - Talent Leadership: Initiating a whole-school talent management programme and applying leadership skills to its development
   
• Day 8 - Talent Progress: Developing the talent management programme to put the spotlight on progress (teaching skills and minute by minute learning)
   
• Day 9 - Talent +1: Embedding a talent culture for all children and all staff

Talent embedded through Multiple Intelligences	Real, raw learning in progress
Success criteria learning line

Coaching

I am currently using traditional and innovative coaching to embed and fine tune teaching and leadership techniques. I recently co-observed lessons with an Ofsted inspector and found a strong correlation between his grades and my philosophy: the more creative and pupil-led a lesson is, the higher its grade. Small tweaks will easily raise grades and these tweaks are the coaching focus.

The programme is my  usual 'done with' not 'done to' approach where staff can choose the type of coaching that works best for them. This can be anything from "observe with a clipboard and tell me what to do" to "use icoaching then ask me the right questions".