How we work

Knowing why we are here

Yorkshire Causeway Schools Trust exists so that our schools improve and keep improving. The aim is for every teacher to be as good as they can be, enabled through excellent professional development, and supported by strong structures for collaboration.

“This means the flourishing of all children and adults in institutions that themselves work together in a vibrant ecology focused on the flourishing of all”

Knowing where we are going

Our vision and values help us define our purposes and goals. We have specified our concept of high-quality education in our Flourishing Schools Framework. This provides the basis for us to identify priorities, build capacity, deploy resources, provide access to effective practice, and monitor improvements in the quality of education at each of our schools.

We have agreed models of excellent practice which are detailed in our principles for Teaching and Learning; Assessment; Curriculum Design; SEND and EYFS. Using these, we have a shared understanding and common language, based on strong evidence. This enables us to strive towards an equitable offer in each of our schools.

Within each school, leaders and practitioners retain the autonomy to interpret the principles according to their context.

Enabling deep and purposeful collaboration

Our capacity to improve is based on our collective strengths, with each school contributing to sharing expertise for the benefit of all.

We believe that establishing effective professional relationships, at all levels of our organisation, is a prerequisite for sustainable change. There are systems in place for staff from schools to connect in-person and online to offer support and challenge and to work on shared initiatives. All staff meet annually on the Trust conference day.

We seek to empower headteachers to lead school improvement in their own school. Headteachers meet weekly with the CEO and School Improvement Lead as the Trust Leaders Group. This group also looks at best practice on current issues e.g. attendance. Headteachers collaborate with colleagues in peer trios.

Prioritising professional learning

We have developed performance management procedures ensuring that professional learning is at the heart of school improvement. Our aim is to develop motivated, reflective, research-informed practitioners. Through leveraging our collective expertise, we can provide levels of support and collective learning that would not be achievable for a school on its own.

CPD is provided through:

• Regular network groups for school subject leaders; school leaders; governors; senior leaders; DSLs and school business managers
• Access to the National College online platform
• Investing in leadership development programmes e.g. NPQs
• Setting shared improvement priorities across the Trust.

Staff are also encouraged to join professional networks beyond the Trust, including opportunities accessed through the local authority, diocese and local hubs.

Our core professional learning offer for each year is detailed in the Directory of Professional Learning.

Providing specialist support

We build capacity for supporting schools through developing school staff and deploying the expertise of the central team.

We also engage specialists from beyond the Trust so that we have an external view of how we are doing. These include scheduled visits from external education advisers, diocesan advisers and periodic Trust-wide audits.

The School Improvement Lead and external advisers work flexibly according to the identified priorities for improvement for the school. Visits are typically for a half-day or combined for full day reviews. Themes of visits include subject leadership, inspection readiness, data analysis, pedagogy and quality assurance.

Checking how we are doing

We have agreed procedures for the collection and analysis of information, including qualitative and quantitative data. We gather this information systematically to make better decisions, based on accurate knowledge about each school’s strengths and areas for improvement.

All schools use the ARBOR management information system which allows live data to be collected and consistent data flows for local governing committees and the Board of Trustees.

We are cautious about what can be inferred, especially from one data source, and ensure that the type and amount of data collected is proportionate to its usefulness.

Headteachers and Local Governing Bodies lead monitoring and implementation work within their own schools. The work of governors is supported through the Trust network groups for Chairs and Safeguarding governors, an annual Governance Conference, an online governance portal (GovernorHub) and an online platform for governor training (Modern Governor).

Points of reference

The following documents have particularly informed our thinking: 

Our Hope for a Flourishing Schools System: Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good