Strategic Development Plan
SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
2017 - 2022
Year 1 (2017 - 18)
Exemplary Learning
By August 2022 we commit to having EXEMPLARY LEARNING
This is our vision.
At The Elms Academy we want to ‘be exceptional’. We will be uncompromising in supporting ‘exemplary learning’. A relentless focus on what will help our students become ‘compelling individuals’ who are exceeding their academic potential and are positive influencers of social change, especially for the communities they live in.
Exemplary learning at The Elms Academy means there are ‘no excuses’ to achieving exceptional academic success. Positive relationships are used to remove barriers, motivate and challenge our students. The culture and ethos of the academy is based on the belief that traditional basic standards form the basis of ‘exemplary learning’: positive behaviours to learning, attitude, uniform, attendance and punctuality – ‘the little things matter’. What lies at the heart of ‘exemplary learning’ is consistency with all stakeholders being fully committed and uncompromising – ‘exemplary learning’ is everyone’s business at The Elms Academy.
Exemplary learning is not just about achieving the ‘outstanding’ Ofsted judgement – it is about teaching and learning being at the forefront of practice and liberating the potential of the students we teach.
Our SDP is a five academic year commitment from September 2017 until July 2022. It has been developed following discussions with our stakeholders including staff, students, parents and governors over a period of time and following a time of reflection and ‘visioning’. The plan is underpinned by our commitment to ‘be exceptional’ and to live our core values, every day. That is to be:
United Ambitious Confident Enthusiastic Creative Empowering
Our visioning of the future has enabled us to define what The Elms Academy will be when our 2017 Year 7 cohort finish their year 11. Central to this is the commitment to ‘exemplary learning’ as we believe that all other objectives can be achieved through this.
We know:
- what exemplary learning looks like at The Elms Academy and
- what we need to achieve in the short, medium and long term to deliver this vision?
We have set ourselves specific objectives for year 1, 3 and 5 of our plan, which we will achieve from the following drivers (underpinned by United Learnings’ Excellence Framework):
- Powerful Knowledge: To teach young people concepts, which free them to think and act more powerfully in their lives.
- Leadership in every role: To be leaders who help create leaders of the future.
- Continuous improvement: To always strive to do better with pace.
- The best from everyone: For every adult and every child to consistently have the highest of expectations of themselves and of others
- Education with character: To inspire and challenge our young people to be resilient; courageous, respectful and caring; to lead.
Our Strategic Development Plan is in three parts – a strategic map (which defines our vision, our objectives and our journey), our school development plan (SDP - which is an operational plan detailing the actions to be taken in the current year - in this case year 1) and our dashboard (which enables us to assess progress through the year against our objectives). Each of our senior and middle leaders have their own development plans, which provide further details and full costings.
Our SDP is reviewed 6 times a year by the Principal and at local governing body meetings to assess progress being made towards our objectives and to review actions. Other identified objectives are reviewed at line management meetings.
We acknowledge our partners who will support us in achieving our vision. These include:
- United Learning and our family of schools
- Lambeth Authority
- United Teaching
- Clapham and Larkhall Collaborative and other partner schools
- Chime Communications and other business partners
NB: where we refer to ALL students we recognise the importance placed on pupil premium and vulnerable students as well as HAP. These groups will be closely monitored. However, we believe that by ensuring that ALL students achieve better than expected progress no one will be left behind.
Leon Wilson
Executive Principal