School Improvement Support for Primary Schools
Empowering School Leaders to Drive Sustainable Improvement
As a dedicated School Improvement Partner, I collaborate with headteachers and senior leadership teams to navigate the challenges of school leadership and unlock each school’s full potential.
I support leaders in identifying development priorities, removing barriers to progress, and designing impactful, evidence-based strategies for improvement. Through strategic planning, leadership coaching, and solution-focused consultancy, I help schools move confidently toward excellence.
My school improvement services are particularly relevant to schools wishing to develop the quality of leadership and increase academic achievement. I focus on 'making a difference' and adding real value.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PARTNERSHIP
Analysis, review, problem solving, discussion, strategic thinking, planning, celebrating.
LEADERSHIP SUPPORT FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Training, coaching, professional dialogue, team development : maximising leadership impact.
BESPOKE TRAINING TO ACHIEVE GOALS
Leverage research & tap into expertise by providing high quality training focused on teaching & learning.
WORKING PARTY FACILITATION
Facilitating thinking and providing additional expertise for tackling a school priority.
What do the schools I work with say about my school improvement services?
HEADTEACHER: "Truly exceptional in tailoring to our school, my vision and also the staff rather than just being generic."
HEADTEACHER: "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."
HEADTEACHER: "I can’t tell you how much I have personally and professionally grown from my leadership coaching with Vicky. I cannot think of any other CPD that has had such an impact on me and as a result for my organisation."
PHASE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT "Thank you for a really useful day. I know the phase leaders, and myself, found it really inspiring." Headteacher.
DEPUTY HEADTEACHER SUPPORT “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.” 1:1 support for Deputy Headteacher.
CURRICULUM REVIEW: "I found the process on Friday so useful. It is some of the best CPD I've had for a long time and it helped me to be really clear about next steps etc. It was lovely to work with you as it is always." Headteacher following a review of pupil work and strategising on curriculum implementation.
PUPIL PREMIUM LEADERSHIP SUPPORT: “Thank you for all the support Vicky! All day you have been extremely knowledgeable in answering all my questions.” Deputy Headteacher related to pupil premium and closing the gap for disadvantaged pupils sessions.
SUBJECT LEADERSHIP TRAINING AND SUPPORT “I liked having time to really think about what I am doing well and what areas I still need to improve. I really enjoyed it.” Subject leader bespoke support. "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.
How can I support you? As a school improvement consultant with many years of experience, I am able to provide flexible training and support on a wide range of needs. As the majority of my work centres around leadership, it often cuts across different areas of school life, e.g. supporting a DHT with plans to close the gap for disadvantaged pupils, or working with senior leaders and subject leaders on curriculum implementation. The schools I support appreciate my wide ranging experience and knowledge base. I very much see school improvement work as a partnership which recognises and appreciates everyone's contributions, skills, talents and knowledge base.
I am particularly interested in how academic performance of pupils can be improved and how high-standards can be achieved in the classroom. I work with leaders to consider how whole school actions and leadership direction can bring about an improvement at a pupil level.
If you are unsure if my expertise in school improvement is a match for you, why not email me your support requirements, discuss your needs with me by telephone or book a discovery meeting.
School improvement support can be purchased in blocks, e.g. a whole day, half-day or twilights. Additional 1:1 professional dialogue and coaching sessions can be added: 90 minute sessions. Discounts are provided for schools booking multiple days.
Support can be for individuals, teams or larger groups.
Making a choice as to who to work with can be difficult. If you have not worked with me before, why not book a 'discovery meeting' to see how I can be of assistance. Choose a date and time to discuss your requirements, ask questions about the service you can expect and see if I am the right fit for your school.
Or, if you are a school who has worked with before but you have a new project in mind, book a 1 hour discovery meeting to map out the deliverables.
Leadership coaching
Ensure everyone can operate at their best through personalised coaching.
MIDDLE LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Ensure every leader in your school as the skills, knowledge and ability to be a great leader.
REMOVE Barriers
Oracy, reading comprehension, metacognition, curriculum - can all be barriers or enablers.
HAPPINESS AT WORK
Use proven Happiness at Work tools to help your staff thrive — building a stronger, more positive school culture that’s equipped to handle today’s educational pressures.
Have you thought about support for...
Design your own middle leadership support package
Subject leader training and phase leadership training can be designed for your school. You can also add coaching to the programme, helping to blend together theory and practice. Having worked with many subject leaders, colleagues really appreciate the time to discuss their vision and action plans and to reflect on developments that are specific to their subject or phase. Phase leaders value considering how they fit into the bigger picture and examining how their contributions can make a significant difference to how it feels to work in a school, how they can maximise the impact of resources, and how they can help to achieve whole school goals. Create a subject leader training programme by selecting from a range of leadership modules, or set your own leadership objectives and Vicky will design a course to match your needs.
Curriculum Development
Vicky has significant knowledge regarding curriculum design, curriculum review and curriculum development. Vicky has worked with a variety of schools through face-to-face courses and bespoke support. Audits and development materials produced by Vicky have been published by 'The Key' and these have helped a number of school leaders and governors set out their vision and intent. Schools currently tend to be focused on the challenge of implementation and impact. Vicky can provide strategic leadership for senior leaders and more direct support for subject leaders depending on the needs of the school. Why not get in touch to discuss how Vicky can support the school in the goal to make the ambitions of the curriculum a reality.
Strategic leadership for teams
There are two types of strategic leadership training and support that can be provided. 1) a kick-start facilitation package (usually summer term) to help leaders assess the current situation and priorities. Schools often appreciate an external person being involved in strategic planning to provide a fresh perspective and find the 'facilitation' aspect of it enables everyone to fully participate in high-quality discussion. Or 2) support / training over a series of half-days to work on developing the SLT's strategic skill set (delivered any time in the year). Not everyone in SLT will have future orientation, strategic thinking, and problem solving in their top strengths and training can help colleagues harness tools that will help them think more strategically. Get in touch to discuss your requirements.
Coaching, mentoring & professional dialogue
There are different types of one-to-one leadership sessions that can be provided in blocks of 90 minutes.
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Journey Coaching: Providing much needed headspace on a regular basis for issues important to you.
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Strengths coaching & Performance impact dialogue: An incredible coaching programme that focuses on positive change by 'naming, aiming and actioning' your strengths as a leader. Achieve performance management targets and leadership development goals and thrive in your role. Even seasoned leaders are amazed at how their personal impact improves through strengths coaching.
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Leadership development coaching: A mix of training, professional dialogue and coaching linked to leadership skills. Leaders choose one or more aspects of their practice to develop, e.g. emotional intelligence, communication, developing teams, challenging conversations.
Reviews
It is possible to book onsite support at various points in the year. These include curriculum implementation reviews, pupil premium reviews, teaching and learning reviews. I can provide support for leaders in data analysis and work with leaders on action planning. A variety of audits and evaluation resources can aid leaders in reflecting on the current position. School improvement can often be complex and multifaceted and therefore it is beneficial to have someone to work alongside to untangle the issues. Reviews can be an excellent way to validate excellent practice and identify next steps for development.
Reading comprehension
Vicky has spent several years researching, creating resources, writing think pieces and creating live and self-paced training courses for the development of reading comprehension. You can book leadership support or enable all colleagues to develop their reading expertise via an online self-paced course. This year, colleagues can also undertake a one-year 'building expertise in comprehension' programme.
Reading comprehension is essential for academic success, as well as equipping pupils with skills they need for the rest of their lives. It is particularly important to support pupils who are struggling in the classroom, and is an essential piece of the jigsaw in raising attainment for disadvantaged pupils. It is this latter element that kick-started Vicky's interest in resolving reading issues.
Developing oracy (and thinking!)
Oracy is vital for academic and life-long success. Vicky can work with a senior leader or group of teachers to design and implement a school-wide approach to oracy. From oracy frameworks to practical resources, Vicky can help you turn theory into reality. Improving oracy is a key strategy in supporting disadvantaged pupils to thrive in the classroom.
Vicky can offer you some amazing tools that are proven to help schools shift oracy into a strong position.