Kevin Riley, Headteacher at Bretforton Village School, spoke to us about his experience of the Quality Assurance Review, both as a reviewer of Victoria Primary Academy, and as a host for his own school’s review.
Bretforton Village School is located in Worcestershire and is part of our West Shires Hub, having been with Challenge Partners since 2018.
Tell us about yourself, your school, and its context
I'm Head of School at Bretforton Village School, which is a very small school in the Cotswolds. Challenge Partners have been part of our journey of improvement and we achieved Good in Ofsted in 2022. We joined in 2018 and never looked back. I've recommended it to other schools.
You recently reviewed Victoria Primary Academy, what was your experience?
Because of the nature of my school, every school I've been to on a QAR has been very different. It was urban and considerably larger than Bretforton. They had almost an entirely new senior leadership team who were keen to use the QAR to steer the school in the right direction.
We had a fantastic Lead Reviewer who set the tone for the review right from the start, emphasising it was to be done with, not done to. The timetable was arranged during the pre-review assessment, allowing a focused overview of the school. They wanted to ensure subject leads were focused on key points for improvement. We had a laser-sharp focus. The strength of Challenge Partners is bringing fresh eyes with no preconceptions. It provides deep professional conversations that benefit everyone. From my point of view, I've always brought something back, even from schools in very different contexts.
What has been the impact on your professional development since going out to review other schools?
I've gone out on review to six QARs now. As a small school, we have our own review every two years, but I do a review every year. I try to go as far afield as possible to see something different. If you're tied only to your local authority, you don't see everything else going on. Every school I've been to has been different, usually larger. Coming from a large London primary school to a small first school like ours can be a culture shock. Sharing our different assessment models is good. The QAR process shows how different schools are, but how similar we are in our values.
Have there been any elements of best practice that you or your team have taken from reviewed schools and implemented in your own school?
Yes, the biggest one was at least three reviews ago now. One of the schools had changed the way that it was doing its success criteria. They had done it in a hierarchical way so that the skills that would be needed in order to access the lesson were laid out in advance. We felt at Bretforton it was a bit too regimented for our model and also, because we don't work in teams, we don't have three people working on the same planning, everyone has to do their own. We needed to simplify it so that we could make the model work better for a small school. As a result of that, it helped staff to identify the key things that needed to be known or the attitudes that needed to be shown by the end of the session, and it broke it down in a much more structured way. As it was hierarchical, it showed that if they can do that they might be able to do this and hopefully they will be able to do that - you can actually see different levels of understanding for different children.
Can you talk us through your most recent experience hosting a QAR at Bretforton Village School?
The Lead Reviewer was fantastic and we had a very experienced review team that really understood how Challenge Partners worked and how to get the best out of people. The experience with the staff was positive - one hesitant staff member appreciated the professionalism and courtesy of the review team. Ground rules were laid out perfectly, ensuring everyone knew where they stood. The tone was set during the Pre-review Assessment, fostering collaboration.
Could you tell us what you value from your involvement with West Shires Hub?
One project we did was ‘Exceptional Lunchtimes.’ Schools in the hub identified lunchtimes as a pinch point for behavior. We visited each other’s schools with children, improving pupil voice and behavior management. It gave us a second pair of eyes to see what worked well. We've improved staff induction for midday supervisors, enhancing lunchtime experiences. Relationships with other schools in the hub have been solid, led well by Kirsty, the hub manager.
Anything else that you’d like to add?
It's the relentless positivity and the relentless drive towards improving standards, and people who are genuinely passionate about education on a multitude of different levels coming together and finding ways to make schools better.
We thank Kevin Riley for taking the time to talk to us. If you are a partner with Challenge Partners and would like to share your story, contact partnershipsteam@challengepartners.org and we would love to talk to you!