Sabrina Lawson, Assistant Headteacher at The Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, spoke to us about her experience of the Quality Assurance Review, both as a reviewer of Marylebone Boys’ School, and as a host for her own school’s review.
The Royal Grammar School is located in Buckinghamshire and is part of our Aylesbury Vale hub. The school joined Challenge Partners in 2021.
Tell us about yourself, your school, and its context.
I am the Assistant Headteacher in charge of Teaching & Learning and CPD. This is my second year in the role. The Royal Grammar School is a boys’ state school with about 1400 students. We also have a boarding element with around 70 students who pay for their accommodation but not their education. As a grammar school, we are a selective school, taking in the country’s top 30% academically.
When did you first hear about Challenge Partners, and why did you join?
I first heard of Challenge Partners about four years ago. Our new Deputy Headteacher had been part of Challenge Partners in their previous school so we looked into the organisation as a whole senior team and decided it was definitely something we wanted to join. I also contacted colleagues in local schools who had benefited from Challenge Partners, so we joined through word of mouth.
You reviewed Marylebone Boys’ School, what is their context?
I chose Marylebone Boys’ School because I was interested in a boys school which had a co-ed sixth form to see what it was like and how that impacted the school. It was a similar sized school and after looking at their website I could see they were doing some great things with teaching and learning. I am also an Induction Tutor (ITTCO) and I saw they had 17 early career teachers (ECTs) which made me really interested to see how they managed and divided the workload.
What was your experience of the Quality Assurance Review and how it was led?
I really enjoyed attending the Marylebone Boys School review. We had a great Lead Reviewer, Adam Lowing, and the first thing he said was that as much as we were working with the school in collaboration, he wanted to make sure we gained CPD out of the experience. We were asked what our particular interest was, and the areas we would like to look into and he made sure that we were all able to do so. I personally found this really helpful, as I looked into areas I am currently focused on such as subject and middle leaders in my school and looking into leadership at all levels. As a result of this, I was able to take away some really good ideas. I also found it useful meeting the other reviewers on the team and swapping ideas with them about what they were doing. I came away with lots of ideas, resources and contacts which I have since drawn upon, so it was definitely beneficial for me.
What has been the impact on your professional development since going out to review other schools? How did the Lead Reviewer support your CPD?
I have had the opportunity to reflect on what I have done this year, in terms of working with subject leaders and our own internal quality assurance process. Through reflecting on the last two years of my role and planning for the future, listening to what other schools are doing and looking at schools that have had a rigorous QA process embedded for years, I have taken these ideas back to my school and integrated them into what we are doing at our school. I would definitely say that has been the biggest impact, and it will come into fruition with next academic year as we are currently in the planning stage for September. The Lead Reviewer enabled me to get the information which was helpful for that.
Were there any activities in the Marylebone School QAR visit that worked particularly well?
We had quite a big team of seven people so we paired up to focus on certain areas. There were two of us working on leadership across all levels, two people working on quality of education and two people working on SEND provision. It was really helpful to have another person to bounce ideas off of. At the previous Challenge Partners review I joined, I worked on my own area so at the Marylebone review I found it helpful to have a second opinion. In open forum discussions at the beginning, during and at the end of the day, I really liked that the room was not divided between Challenge Partners reviewers and the school staff, it was a very open door policy. There was no time in which the hosts were not welcome in the room, it felt very collaborative.
Can you talk us through your experience hosting a QAR at The Royal Grammar School?
Interestingly and coincidentally the Lead Reviewer here at The Royal Grammar School was the same Lead Reviewer I had worked with at the Marylebone School. He conducted it in the exact same way, with an open door policy. As a senior team, our initial meeting with him allayed any concerns and the way he presented how the next two and a half days were going to go was really reassuring. He was very much in it from the point of view of ‘what do you want to get out of it, how do you want this to be conducted, how do you want this to go, and have you got any areas you would like to highlight?’. We were also going for an Area of Excellence in careers – and we were accredited – so this was a big focus for us, with our Careers Lead having done so much work towards it.
In terms of what worked well, there were three of us who looked into the whole running of the event, putting together the timetable. I can’t pinpoint one thing as the organisation and communication with the school staff was very clear and everyone was on the same page. This is our second review and it is still new to staff – especially as we have a lot of new staff that joined us this year – so it was very much focused on making sure that they were clear on the purpose of Challenge Partners and the benefit that it brings to us as a school. That was our key message to staff.
We really wanted Challenge Partners to come in and scrutinise as much as possible, giving us feedback on any areas - we didn’t want there to be any blind spots for us. We were very open to feedback and advice which we were happy to take on board. What was nice was that there weren’t any surprises for us - that's not to say there won’t be any in the future! But where we thought our weaker areas were, they were highlighted and we had some really good advice from the other reviewers.They were able to share things that they do in their school, giving us food for thought moving forward. The areas we thought we would do really well in were recognised as well, so it gives you another layer of external eyes validating what you think.
Do you have an example of an action that you have taken as a result of hosting a QAR in your school? What was the result of this for your staff/students?
An ‘even better if’ in our quality provision and outcomes was adaptive teaching, including the enhanced use of assessment information. This was embedded to facilitate excellent progress for students. Since the review we have had an inset day which was entirely focused on outcomes for disadvantaged and SEND pupils. I delivered a session on adaptive teaching and what that means and the subsequent staff bulletin gave more information on adaptive teaching. Our Assistant Headteacher in charge of data and assessment also gave a presentation to staff on the changes we are going to be making to next year's assessments. We knew this was one of the areas to work on and so it was highlighted in the report and we are making active changes for next year.
Could you tell us what you value from your involvement with Aylesbury Vale Hub?
What we have accessed more than anything are the leadership courses that the hub runs. We had four members of staff go on the emotional intelligent leadership course last year and all four got promotions. The course helped them to gain understanding and they have since been promoted into middle leadership roles, which is fantastic. This year we have another four members of staff doing that course who are all new middle leaders or aspiring ones, and so far the feedback which we have received has been incredibly positive. One member of staff is already a middle leader and he has told me it has given him real food for thought in terms of how he interacts with his department. I think that it is really important when staff get moved up into a management position, to give them that support. Just because they’re a very good teacher, they don’t automatically have the skills to become a great middle leader, so those courses have been invaluable to us.
Our Head of Year seven attended the hub’s Primary to Secondary Transition Conference. They found it really helpful and all the information came from the hub meetings which I and the deputy head attend each term. It is also really beneficial to attend those hub meetings - the opportunity to attend in person and meet other leaders who are part of Challenge Partners to swap ideas and share concerns and issues– ‘this is happening in my school, how are you dealing with that, is that happening in your school? ’– it helps us reassure each other. The meetings, leadership course and secondary school conference are valuable and I would really like to move into the residency programmes, although that necessitates another school also having someone available as it is in partnership. We did host someone from a local school’s senior team who looked into our communication strategy a couple of years ago. She found that really helpful and it was good for us again to get external eyes on something.
Every interaction and experience that I or someone else in the school have had has been really beneficial and impactful.
We thank Sabrina Lawson 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!