Peer Reviews
“A shared moral purpose to work together to improve the learning and achievement of all the young people in their schools”
The peer review is a core part of being an Alliance member and over the years, working with Headteachers/Principals and our external experts, we have developed a system that really supports our schools to improve.
The great thing about the peer review is that it is up to you to decide how it can best serve your school. You may choose to use the peer review as an opportunity to evaluate a specific aspect or key stage in your school. Alternatively, you may choose to use the peer review to assess more generally your school’s curriculum. We encourage all Alliance schools to give sufficient time to plan for the review, integrate it within your school improvement cycle and engage early with the review lead to ensure the special time is used effectively.
What is the peer review for?
The peer review should fulfil several roles:
- Provide an external commentary on the school’s own self-evaluation processes
- Help identify areas of strength and expertise that can be shared across the Alliance and beyond
- Support the school in its improvement activities by identifying areas for development and suggesting options for improvement, including brokered support from within or beyond the Alliance
- Provide evidence of how the school’s involvement in Red Kite Teacher Training (SCITT) and other Red Kite Teaching School Hub activities contributes to school improvement
- Ensure that every school in the Alliance is subject to the kind of informed challenge that can be a positive force in improving progress and outcomes for all children in our schools
- The reviews from all the schools will inform decision making at Steering Group to ensure the needs of schools are clearly identified and provision matched to these needs
Which schools take part?
There is an expectation that all schools in the RKA will take part, both in being reviewed and providing capacity to deliver the reviews. The cost of the review is included within the annual membership of the RKA and therefore cost should not be a barrier to participation. Account will be taken of a school’s inspection history; it would clearly not be appropriate to undertake a review immediately after a section 5 or section 8 inspection, for example.
There is also an option for all RKA schools to pay for additional days or half days to, for example, enable more subject ‘Deep Dives’.
However, the review is not about Ofsted. It is about the process of continual improvement that all schools are part of, whether they are in Special Measures or Outstanding. We hope that all RKA schools will strive to be ‘outstanding’ in Ofsted terms but also have wider ambitions for their schools that the review can help support.