Introduction

The Mercian Educational Trust School-to-School Support Service (STSS) provides settings with a significant and extensive level of expertise. We have experience of successfully supporting a number of schools and pre schools in the past few years. We strongly believe that the best way of improvement is through school-to-school support. Our track record demonstrates that the support we can offer can support schools in an ‘Ofsted category’ and set them on a journey towards Outstanding. Our STSS is available to all MET schools and is regularly purchased by external settings.

Our School to School Support Offer

All MET schools access our 'Tiers' of School improvement:

Tier 1 - This comprises of a balance of School Directed Support (SDS) and Trust Directed Support (TDS). SDS provides leaders with external support for their school development plans. It includes activities such as work with subject leaders, to highlight the impact of their work, and work on self evaluation. TDS includes joint moderation, network groups (Deputies, SENCOs, Governors, Computing and EYFS Leads), monitoring the impact of external Pupil Premium, school reviews and Trust around the school meetings.

Tier 2 - This support is directed to address areas for development in schools which have been identified by school reviews. It includes aspects such as deep dives in specific curriculum areas, mentoring and a range of CPD.

Tier 3 - Our schools can request support with key projects, such as bid writing to support areas such as global education and heritage projects. During the last three years this support has allowed our schools to purchase a significant amount of resources to further develop the breadth of their curriculums.

Who are we?

Our STSS service is led by Stuart Busby, an experienced National Leader of Education who has led Ofsted inspections and is  a lead Challenge Partners reviewer. He is supported by Specialist Leaders of Education (SLEs) and Mercian Leaders of Education (MLEs), who are lead professionals who have NPQs in their areas of expertise.  

Testimonies

During the last three years we have gained significant experience of working with a range of settings to secure significant improvements, which have been recognised by Ofsted.

'Leaders have received effective support from the school’s external consultant and from a national leader of education. This has enabled leaders to validate their judgements, check the accuracy of teachers’ assessments and provide high-quality training for staff.'

We have also worked with a range of stakeholders to secure Emergency School Improvement Funding to support settings currently in, or at risk of being in,  an Ofsted Category. The positive impact of this work has recently been recognised by HMI:

'The school has engaged with a range of external support. This has been provided through the Diocese of Worcester, an NLE from the Mercian Education Trust and support commissioned through the local authority. For example, the coaching provided through the NLE has developed the leadership skills of the SENCO and the deputy headteacher. Teachers have received training that has improved their subject knowledge of what pupils in each year group should be learning in reading, writing and mathematics. Each aspect of this support has been effective but much of it has only recently begun to have any impact on progress towards the removal of special measures.'

'The SEND coordinator (SENCo) and the deputy headteacher have benefited from the support provided by a national leader of education (NLE). This has enabled them to shape improvements in aspects of their roles. For example, the SENCo has sharpened the process for identifying pupils with additional needs. She has provided appropriate training for teachers and support staff and has raised teachers’ expectations of what pupils with SEND can achieve. The deputy headteacher has responsibility for the impact of the pupil premium grant, the additional funding the school receives to support disadvantaged pupils. She has acted upon the recommendations from the pupil premium review which was carried out five months after the inspection. For example, leaders have recently introduced a system that ensures they are able to make termly checks on the progress that disadvantaged pupils make. This means that leaders are beginning to have a better understanding of the value of the additional interventions that are put into place to support this group of pupils.'

How to request School to School Support

The best way to enquire about our School to School Support offer is to contact Stuart Busby via email sbusby@metacademies.org.uk or by telephone on (01684) 574497

Quality Assurance and testaments for previous work and schools worked with are also available by contacting Stuart Busby on teh email above