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School improvement consultancy and training for primary schools
Navigating school improvement
Freelance School Improvement Services for Headteachers and Senior Leadership Teams
Are you a headteacher or school leader looking for effective, practical support to improve your school? I offer freelance school improvement services tailored to your needs — including one-to-one leadership coaching, strategic planning, senior leadership development and teacher CPD.
As a highly experienced School Improvement Partner, I work with primary schools to deliver measurable progress. My approach is grounded, realistic, and designed to support staff at every level — from classroom teachers to SLT.
Whether you're seeking guidance on a specific issue or looking for someone for the longer journey, I provide high impact school improvement consultancy tailored to your objectives.
Let’s unlock what’s possible — together.
Training beyond leadership focuses on academic achievement, and particularly areas of oracy, metacognition, reading comprehension, removal of writing barriers, strategies for closing the gap. All of these areas support disadvantaged pupils which is the connecting thread to all my school improvement work.
The right school improvement partner?
Finding the right school improvement partner for you and your school is essential for achieving school excellence and thriving as a headteacher. School improvement partners all have unique strengths, experiences and areas of expertise, as well as having differing personalities, styles and philosophies.
You can book a free 60 minute consultation to discuss your needs and find out if I am a good match for your school.
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. Which is great, because these skills are needed in abundance for school improvement.
harness research
'Learner' is also in my top 5 which is an essential quality of any school improvement partner. The schools I work with appreciate my wide knowledge of research and best practice, and particularly how I can help them at a very practical level to turn theory into practice.
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. I have an excellent understanding of the challenges schools tackle every day.
COMMITMENT TO YOU
My approach is totally tailored to your needs. I make a commitment to understanding your school, your context and your team. I am generous with my time, flexible in the support I provide, and work as a true partner.
One of the most gratifying aspects of my role is celebrating the well-deserved successes of the schools I work with. It is a privilege to be part of their journey and to share in the joy of their accomplishments. The bringing together of different types of expertise from inside and outside the school ensures significant and sustainable change can be achieved.
You can book a discovery meeting to discuss how my services as a school improvement partner can be of benefit to you and to see if we are a good match for each other.
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
Over the past twenty years I have researched and developed knowledge related to academic achievement, and I am passionate about closing the gap for disadvantaged pupils and removing barriers to success. If you are particularly looking for expertise in improving academic performance, then my knowledge base is likely to a match to your needs.
I can accommodate both short term and long term projects. My skills at developing relationships between leaders across schools make me an ideal partner for MATs and family of schools' projects.
Areas of school improvement expertise:
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Supporting schools in their journey of improvement through regular meetings with the Headteacher / senior leaders;
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Data analysis and school improvement planning;
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Headteacher performance management;
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Senior and middle leadership training;
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Coaching, leadership conversations & on-going leadership support;
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Supporting leaders to analyse varying aspects of school / education;
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Curriculum - leadership for intent, implementation & impact;
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Book reviews / curriculum reviews;
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Developing teaching and learning;
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Seeking to remove barriers to academic progress;
Areas of training specialism
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Leadership development programmes
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Happiness at Work - a strategic approach to thriving
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Metacognition
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Developing expertise in reading comprehension
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Oracy
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Instructional coaching
Experience:
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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 and 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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Training, co-ordination, support and quality assurance for school improvement professionals, e.g. LA consultant team, Specialist Leaders of Education, Advanced Skills Teachers, school-based lead 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.
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, or can deliver sessions remotely.
Training beyond leadership focuses on academic achievement, and particularly areas of oracy, metacognition, reading comprehension, removal of writing barriers, strategies for closing the gap. All of these areas support disadvantaged pupils.
Multi-academy trust school improvement support
Having trained and managed 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, team facilitation or leading network meetings. I am able to work with central staff in multi-academy trusts whose remit is school improvement.
Contact me for supporting in creating courses and training programmes for MATs and groups of schools who wish to work more closely together. For example, perhaps you wish to develop reading leaders across an academy group through a mix of small group training and 1:1 support, or perhaps you have a group of deputy headteachers who would benefit from working together. Adding my flexible services to your MAT team can provide extra capacity for individual schools or groups of schools.
If you are a MAT CEO, primary director of education for a MAT or a headteacher of an individual school, get in touch to find out how I can be of service for school improvement.
Where am I based?
Whilst I am based in the Yorkshire region, I offer services to schools across England. By working remotely, you can be based anywhere and receive the support you need.
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 full day, and from planned support to responding as needed. Coaching, regular meetings, involvement in projects, providing support for teams and individuals are all possible.
Telephone, zoom and email support can be combined with on-site work, enabling you to select the right type of improvement activity and ensuring that you feel constantly supported in achieving your goals.
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