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Primary school Improvement Consultant
I am a primary school improvement consultant with more than 15 years of experience. My education sector work focuses on two core areas:
Pillar 1: Developing strong and effective school leadership
I provide targeted leadership training to create strong workforces and strategic facilitation to ensure sustainable school improvement. I am a Level 7 Executive Coach and Mentor. My training programs are designed to empower headteachers, senior leaders, and middle management. School leaders can access open courses or we can work together to create a bespoke training package for one or more schools. I also provide training for leaders on developing work place culture, team effectiveness and change management.
Pillar 2: High-Impact, EEF-Informed Strategies for Disadvantaged Pupils
Over 20 years, I have gained deep knowledge and developed practical systems that can help you turn research-based strategies into school solutions that will dramatically improve academic achievement. My focus is on closing the attainment gap using proven, effective teaching and learning methods. I support schools to baseline current practice, work with leaders on strategy, provide training and advice to increase levels of expertise, provide on-going support to aid implementation and keep everyone focused on responsive, reflective and evaluative practices.
Specialist Training and Consultancy Areas
I offer expertise, leadership advice, and practical training in the following high-leverage areas:
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Strategic Literacy Development: Understanding core barriers and creating improvement plans.
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Deepening Reading Comprehension: Building expertise across the team to increase pupil performance.
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Effective Oracy Strategy: Enabling leaders to embed a whole-school approach to developing verbal communication skills.
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Metacognition and Self-Regulation: Equipping leaders to harness the power of pupil-led learning in the classroom.
And running through all these areas is an emphasis on assessment for learning.
Let’s unlock what’s possible — together. Book a free consultation today,
STRATEGISE
In my top 5 Clifton Strengths are strategic, futuristic and problem solving.
I am a good person to strategise with. I enjoy grappling with complex problems, spotting patterns, working out solutions, digging into data, and analysing systems and processes.
harness research
'Learner' is also in my top 5.
School leaders appreciate my wide knowledge of research and my ability to turn this into practical solutions.
REAL
My feet are firmly planted in reality.
The leaders I work with appreciate this, and quickly feel able to be very open and honest, which is essential for a great partnership.
COMMITMENT TO YOU
My approach is totally tailored to your needs.
I am generous with my time, flexible in the support I provide, and work as a true partner.
TESTIMONIALS
Quality of school improvement service:
Confidence in the person providing external support is paramount. I work with passion and integrity, but don't just take my word for the quality of support I provide. Hear from people just like you who have used my services:
"Vicky is an excellent trainer and has worked with us at Allerton CE Primary, for several years; both in developing individual leaders but also the work outlined here. Truly exceptional in tailoring to our school, my vision and also the staff rather than just being generic. Love her!“ Helen Stott, Headteacher, Allerton CE primary.
"Working with Vicky Crane on all areas of school improvement is a dream. Bespoke packages backed up with up to date thinking and research means that schools can be at the forefront to drive positive outcomes for their children. Vicky’s style is a combination of information sharing, enquiry based questions and a coaching model that provides both challenge and support to all leaders and staff in school. I thoroughly enjoy working with Vicky, it supports and challenges me to be a proactive leader." Rupa Barson, Headteacher, Churwell Primary.
"Thank you for being so generous in your support. I have been inspired and energised to keep going. Truly a well timed and informative session that I can practically put into practice for IMPACT.” Deputy Headteacher.
"We are really pleased with how well the inspection went - lots of hard work has been put in over the last few years, so great to get the report we received. Thank you for your part in it - the subject leaders were confident and knew their subjects inside out!" Headteacher (a mix of HT conversations, subject leader training, and 1:1 sessions across the year).
“The training was brilliantly constructed. One of the best courses I have attended in years. I wanted to be challenged and provoked, but also given some new ideas to work with and the day achieved all of this.” Headteacher
Experience:
I have run my own consultancy and training business for more than 10 years, with the majority of my clients being in the education sector. I fully understand the challenges school leaders face and keep fully up to date with sector changes.
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25 years of expertise and knowledge of schools & education;
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15+ years of experience in school improvement;
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Leadership posts in schools;
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Leadership posts in a large local authority;
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Substantial experience in designing and delivering training;
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Experience of headteacher performance management;
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Train the trainer : training, co-ordination, support and quality assurance for school improvement professionals - helping others to make a difference in school improvement.
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Leading & quality assuring city-wide networks;
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Creation and development of online learning;
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Chair of governor experience;
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Secondary and primary experience.
I have completed several leadership qualifications and have recently added to this Level 7 Executive Coaching and Mentoring with the Institute of Leadership and Management, and I am an affiliate member of Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Training courses
I design and deliver leadership programmes, e.g. DHT training, phase leader training, subject leader training. These can be bespoke, and designed for an individual school or for a group of schools. I also offer a suite of central courses each year. I'm based in the Yorkshire region for face-to-face training.
Multi-academy trust school improvement support
Do you have a central school improvement team in your MAT? Would they benefit from coaching and training? Having lead teams of ASTs, SLEs and local authority consultants, and having extensive experience of supporting schools myself, I can provide training and development for a range of different school improvement personnel. This can be direct training, coaching, or team facilitation.
Contact me for supporting in creating courses and training programmes for MATs and groups of schools who wish to work more closely together, or to contribute to an existing programme.
Yorkshire and England
If you are in Yorkshire, you can access face-to-face training and consultancy. In addition, I offer 1:1 and small group services remotely to schools across England.
By not always travelling to physical sites, I can provide more responsive, flexible support for schools. Headteachers find it useful to book sessions from just an hour to a half day, and from planned support to responding as needed. Coaching, regular meetings, involvement in projects, providing support for teams and individuals are all possible.
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