If you're in a multi-academy trust (MAT)
You're likely to have 2 versions of this document: a trust-wide trust improvement plan (TIP) and an individual school improvement plan (SIP).
Trustees: you'll tend to focus on your TIP (which will be drafted by your CEO and trust central team).
Local governors: you may have delegated responsibility for your school's SIP (double check your scheme of delegation).
We'll refer to this document as the SIP from now on. Just bear in mind that your document name and responsibilities may differ to this article.
Flowchart: governors' role in school improvement through the year
What's a SIP?
Your school improvement plan (SIP) is a document that sets out:
- What specific actions your school will take to meet its objectives
- When those actions will be carried out
- Who is responsible for carrying out each action
- How progress will be monitored
- How you'll measure success
It should focus on those significant strategic challenges facing your school – usually for the next academic year. It's also referred to as a strategic plan or a school development plan.
Your headteacher and the senior leadership team (SLT) will draft the actual document.
Use it as a way of holding your school leaders to account. It's meant to be a practical tool for driving improvement and advancing your school's long-term strategy.
Read more about the purpose and structure of SIPs in section 2.2 of the maintained schools governance guide. Find an overview of how trust boards set the strategy for the trust in section 3 of the academy trust governance guide.
How does my school's strategy relate to the SIP?
Your role in school improvement planning starts before the SIP is drafted. It starts with setting a strategy for the school, which is 1 of the governing board's 3 core functions, or the trust board's 3 core purposes. The strategy should set out where you want to be as a school in 3 to 5 years, and provide a robust framework for:
- Setting priorities
- Creating accountability
- Monitoring progress
The objectives in your school's SIP should align with the school's strategy.
What role do I have in its creation, and when is it done?
You should set the high-level objectives – usually in the summer term
As the strategic leaders of the school, it's your role to move the school forward in a way that aligns with your vision and strategy. That's why you should tell the SLT where you expect it to be and when – i.e. the high-level objectives.
Meet with the SLT (usually before the end of the academic year) to discuss school information and data that'll feed into these objectives, such as:
- Pupil performance data
- Financial data
- Results of staff, parent and pupil surveys
- Previous SIPs and their outcomes
- The self-evaluation form (SEF)
- Your last Ofsted inspection report
This meeting should determine the key areas for improvement and the objectives to set for the next year.
Your headteacher and SLT draft the actual SIP document – they usually present this to your board in the autumn term
The draft SIP explains how the headteacher and SLT intend to achieve the objectives – i.e. the actions they'll take and those responsible for each.
Setting the high-level objectives yourselves will also empower your headteacher to deliver real improvement. If you let the leaders tell you how they want to lead, then you can't effectively hold them to account.
What's in it?
SIPs will differ from school to school, but many include:
Pupil information |
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School performance information |
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Budget and staffing information |
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For each objective |
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Do I have to approve it?
Yes, you should.
There's no formal requirement for the governing board to approve the SIP, though the Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that this should be a key part of your strategic function.
Read about the SIP approval process.
How do I monitor it?
Effective governing boards:
- Link teams of staff and governors to each priority in the SIP
- Have ‘monitoring progress’ as a regular item on committee meeting agendas
- Have ‘review of the SIP' as a standing agenda item for committees, the full governing board or both
- Receive reports from the headteacher and staff on progress towards priorities in the SIP
- Delegate specific responsibilities for monitoring and evaluating the work of the school to working groups and individual governors, aligning this with the school’s improvement priorities
- Ask for more information where it's needed, e.g. before agreeing to a proposal presented by senior leaders
Read about monitoring progress for a deeper understanding of the process.
This is according to Ofsted's report on effective school governance (this report was published in 2011, but you may still find it a useful reference – see pages 6 and 8 to 9).
Examples of SIPs from other schools
Community primary school
Risley Avenue Primary School, Haringey sets out its key priorities for the year in its SIP (find it in in the 'Our school' section of the menu at the top).
Each of the priorities has its own strategic plan which outlines 'where we are now' and 'where do we want to be'.
Secondary academy
East Bergholt High School, Suffolk, part of the Penrose Learning Trust, has published its school improvement plan. The school identifies it as a 'live' document that is amended throughout the year.
It also explains that the local governing body (LGB) monitors progress and works with the SLT to set priorities for the coming year.
In the plan, each area for improvement sets out key priority areas, which are linked to key actions and their intended outcomes. What success will look like, and by when, are clearly identified.