All Age Schools Forum – Research Questionnaire Submission

Participating School or Schools:

Ysgol Nantgwyn

Local authority and / or Consortia?

Rhondda Cynon Taf

Participating Staff researchers:

Laura Morris
Tracey Mein
Miriam Morse

Theme:

Developing All Age leadership skills.

If “other” please state:

Other

Rationale for the choice of theme:

All age leadership roles in Ysgol Nantgwyn tend to span the full thirteen year continuum which means, for many, that they are working with different year groups to their initial teaching education and any roles held to date. It is important to develop leadership skills as well as knowledge to ensure that all pupils progress well in terms of both their attainment and achievement and their well-being. Identifying actions that

What was the research question?

How do we best broaden the range of information that leaders use to evaluate and plan effectively across the full through continuum?

What research design was used?

Organisational Research. (Analysing and interpreting the school)., Policy Research. (Understanding how policy goals are achieved)., Programme Research. (How a programme achieves its goals).

If “other” please state.

N/A

Research methods used.

Focus Groups., Case Studies.

If “other” please state.

Documentary analysis

How was the funding used to resource the design?

Staff cover., Staff visits.

If “other” please state.

Other

What were the research objectives?

To support leadership development across the 3-16 continuum.
To support knowledge about effective development mechanisms for 3-16 leaders.

What were the research outcomes?

That using multiple sources of information strengthened the accuracy of evaluation.
That having an immersive experience in different year groups strengthened the ability of leaders to plan.
That case studies enabled particularly effective discussions about pupils as it used a range of sources of information.
That enabling leaders to facilitate enquiry into questions meant that they felt that they had agency and were able to effect change.

How has the research process impacted the school?

It has been fed into our evaluation and learning processes during professional learning sessions and monitoring processes.
It has been embedded into our school improvement plan.

What, if any, are the potential areas for follow-up research?

How to enable the next tier of leadership to broaden their use of information for evaluation and learning.
How to increasingly develop the understanding of effective practices.
How to implement a cyclical process for reviewing all pupils in a sustainable way.

How have any changes resulting from the research been implemented?

Yes – changes to our planning, evaluation and learning calendar. Changes also to our professional learning to include others in this process that would not ordinarily be involved. Changes to our school improvement plan and the way that we work with other stakeholders, focusing on governor and parent development this school year and next.

Can the school make recommendations to other schools based upon the research?

To ward against the overuse of data in reviewing attainment and achievement.

Ethical research practice

The school confirms that the enquiry detailed above was carried out in accordance with the 2018 British Educational Research Association’s Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research. These guidelines include participant consent, transparency, the right to withdraw, incentives, avoidance of harm, privacy and data storage, and disclosure.

Report Author:

Laura Morris

Report Date:

29-01-2024