School improvement as a holistic term involves leaders, teachers, other education staff and professionals, culture, resources, pedagogy and the broader school community all working together to change school practices in ways that lead to better outcomes for our children and young people. It is mainly concerned with the processes through which schools can raise standards: the changes they can make and the strategies they can use to improve pupil outcomes.
School improvement is not just about when schools are performing less effectively or have low standards, it is the practice of continuous improvement for all learners.
Over the last five years there has been a significant improvement in the Ofsted inspection grades for schools and academies in the city, improving at a faster rate than nationally. The quality of early years settings in the city as judged by Ofsted is also encouraging. 92% of inspected schools and 98.5% of early years settings in Portsmouth are currently judged by Ofsted to be Good or better.
At the same time while school leaders, teachers and practitioners in the city work hard and many go the extra mile for children, as Ofsted inspections testify, the city has seen its position in rankings for local authority areas decline across a number of key indicators, to the point where many are significantly out of line with those of comparable areas. This undoubtedly affects the life chances of children in the city.
To make the step change that is needed to improve standards and accelerate the progress of our pupils, will require a collaborative approach whereby all schools (irrespective of whether they are part of a multi academy trust or remain as a LA maintained school) continue to work together under the auspices of the Portsmouth Education Partnership (PEP) to maximise the resources available, draw on system leadership capacity across the city, and share best practice and pool expertise, embodying ‘pulling together ~ achieving more’.
Assessment and moderation
Moderation is a statutory summative assessment, which enables schools to understand pupil performance in relation to national expectations. If your school is selected then moderators will come and validate your assessment judgements in writing, maths and reading at KS1 and just writing at KS2.
More information about KS1 and KS2 moderation services in Portsmouth is available on the Traded Services website.