Our Approach to
School Improvement
Our approach to school improvement is founded on collaboration, inclusion, and continuous development.
We work alongside our academies to provide the right balance of support and challenge, building leadership capacity, enhancing teaching, and learning, and strengthening communities. Through collective expertise and shared purpose, we create sustainable improvement that ensures every child can belong, thrive, and succeed.
Our Model is built around 4 fundamental principles that are informed by our visions and values.
Building cultures where everyone thrives
At Place Partnership, we believe that sustainable school improvement starts with people. When staff feel valued, supported and connected to a shared purpose, they create the conditions in which children can flourish.
Our approach therefore focuses on building individual capability, collective capacity, and strong professional cultures across every academy.
Growing people, strengthening schools
Attract and Retain Great People
We create environments where talented people want to join, remain and build their careers.
- Investing in staff wellbeing and keeping staff workload at the forefront of our thinking.
- Providing clear career pathways for all staff.
- Creating opportunities for progression across the partnership.
- Recognising and celebrating our people for the work they do.
- Building a culture of belonging, trust, and professional respect.
Develop Expertise at Every Level
Everyone is a learner, and everyone can improve.
- High-quality professional development through internally developed courses and through recognised local and national programmes.
- Instructional coaching both in person and through digital technologies.
- Dedicated Driver Groups that encourage the development of expertise through learning together.
- Leadership development pathways.
- Opportunities to learn from experts within and beyond the Trust.
Build Leadership Capacity
Strong academies require strong leadership at every level.
We intentionally develop:
Leadership development focuses not only on managing improvement but on creating the conditions in which others can succeed.
Create Networks of Collaboration
We believe the greatest expertise often exists within our schools.
We therefore create structures that enable colleagues to:
- Share best practice.
- Solve problems together.
- Undertake peer review.
- Learn from different contexts.
- Access specialist knowledge across the partnership.
Grow Future Leaders
School improvement is strongest when succession is planned.
We identify talent early and provide opportunities to:
Our aim is to ensure that leadership capacity exists not only for today but for the future.
Developing people to improve schools
We improve schools by developing people. Through belonging, professional growth, leadership development, and collaboration, we build the capacity within every academy to secure lasting improvement and deliver excellent outcomes for every child.
Improving academies through understanding context
At Place Partnership, we recognise that every academy exists within a unique community, serving children, families and stakeholders with different strengths, opportunities, and challenges.
While our vision, values and expectations are shared, our approach to improvement is never one-size-fits-all. We believe that effective school improvement begins with understanding place.
By appreciating the context of each academy and the community it serves, we can support improvement that is both ambitious and relevant. Every school benefits from being part of a larger partnership while retaining its own identity, character, and role within its local community.
Understanding place, strengthening communities
Start with Context
Improvement begins with a deep understanding of the school.
We seek to understand:
- The community the school serves.
- Pupil demographics and needs.
- Historical performance and current strengths.
- Workforce profile and capacity.
- Community aspirations and priorities.
- Opportunities and barriers to success.
Rather than applying generic solutions, we use contextual intelligence to identify the most effective improvement strategies for each academy.
Build Upon Existing Strengths
Every school has successful practice that can be leveraged and developed.
- Identifying what is already working well.
- Recognising local expertise.
- Celebrating success.
- Sharing effective practice more widely.
- Using strengths as foundations for further improvement.
We view schools through an asset-based lens, recognising that sustainable improvement comes from amplifying strengths alongside addressing areas for development.
Strengthen Community Connections
Our academies are at the heart of their communities.
We work with academies to:
- Build strong relationships with families.
- Understand local aspirations and concerns.
- Engage stakeholders in improvement journeys.
- Develop meaningful partnerships with local organisations.
- Create inclusive opportunities for participation and engagement.
School improvement is most successful when communities are active partners in the process.
Balance Trust Alignment and School Identity
Being part of Place Partnership means benefitting from collective strength while maintaining local distinctiveness.
We provide:
- Shared expectations and standards.
- Consistent improvement frameworks.
- Access to Trust-wide expertise.
- Respect for each academy's culture and context.
This balance allows schools to remain authentic to their communities while benefiting from the support, challenge and collaboration of the wider partnership.
Connect Schools Through Their Places
Every academy has something valuable to contribute.
- Learn from different contexts.
- Share solutions to familiar challenges.
- Broaden perspectives.
- Develop cross-school partnerships.
- Build collective expertise.
By connecting diverse communities across the partnership, schools gain access to wider experiences while remaining rooted in their own local context.
Deliver Equity Through Understanding
We recognise that equality does not always mean treating every school the same.
Some schools may require:
- Additional capacity.
- Targeted intervention.
- Specialist expertise.
- Enhanced leadership support.
- Different levels of challenge and resource.
Our goal is to provide the right support at the right time so that every academy can succeed.
Understanding place to improve schools
We improve schools by understanding place. Through contextual intelligence, community engagement, respect for local identity and equitable support, we ensure improvement is both ambitious and relevant, enabling every academy to thrive within its unique community while contributing to the success of the wider partnership.
Sustainable academy improvement that stands the test of time
At Place Partnership, we believe school improvement should leave a legacy that extends beyond individual initiatives, leaders, or inspection cycles.
Improvement is most effective when it is purposeful, sustainable, and rooted in a shared moral commitment to improving the life chances of children and young people.
Our approach focuses on building the conditions for long-term success. Rather than relying on short-term interventions, we strengthen systems, develop capacity, and create cultures that enable improvement to endure.
Building improvement that lasts
Start with a Shared Vision
Lasting improvement begins with clarity about what we are trying to achieve.
- Improvement is aligned to the Trust vision, mission, and values.
- Academies have a clear and compelling direction.
- Leaders communicate purpose consistently.
- Decision-making remains focused on what matters most for children.
When people understand the "why" behind improvement, they are more likely to commit to it and sustain it over time.
Prioritise What Matters Most
Sustainable improvement requires disciplined focus.
We concentrate our efforts on the areas that have the greatest impact on outcomes, including:
- High-quality teaching and learning.
- Leadership development.
- Curriculum quality.
- Inclusion and belonging.
- Attendance and engagement.
- Staff development and wellbeing.
By avoiding initiative overload and maintaining focus on key priorities, schools can achieve deeper and more sustained change.
Build Systems That Outlast Individuals
Strong academies should not depend on a small number of people.
- Effective improvement planning.
- Robust quality assurance processes.
- Clear accountability structures.
- Consistent operational systems.
- Sustainable leadership structures.
Our aim is to ensure that success can be maintained through leadership transitions and organisational change.
Develop Self-Improving Academies
The goal of school improvement is not dependency on external support but increasing self-sufficiency.
- Evaluate their own performance accurately.
- Use evidence to inform decisions.
- Identify priorities for improvement.
- Lead change effectively.
- Develop expertise from within.
As academies grow in confidence and capability, they become increasingly able to drive their own improvement journeys.
Create a Legacy Through Leadership
Purposeful improvement requires a long-term view of leadership.
- Develop future leaders.
- Plan for succession.
- Create opportunities for leadership growth.
- Share leadership across teams and schools.
- Build leadership capacity at every level.
This ensures that improvement is embedded within the organisation rather than residing in individuals.
Measure Impact, Not Activity
We focus on the difference improvement makes rather than the number of actions completed.
We evaluate success through:
- Improved outcomes for learners.
- Increased inclusion and belonging.
- Stronger teaching and learning.
- Enhanced staff expertise and retention.
- Positive experiences for families and communities.
Our focus is always on whether improvement is making a meaningful and lasting difference to children's lives.
Building sustainable improvement
We improve our academies through purpose-driven, sustainable change. By focusing on what matters most, strengthening systems, developing leadership, and building self-improving organisations, we create lasting impact for children, colleagues, and communities.
A Partnership Approach
At Place Partnership, we believe that schools improve best when they work together. Our very inception is based on the premise that as two successful trusts, Maltby Learning Trust and Accord Multi Academy Trust, we will be ‘better together.’
Every academy brings unique strengths, expertise and experiences, and by connecting these through purposeful collaboration we create a partnership that is greater than the sum of its parts.
School improvement is not the responsibility of one leader, one school or one team—it is a collective endeavour built on shared responsibility, mutual support, and a commitment to excellence for every child.
The strength of the whole partnership
Collective Responsibility for Every Child
We see every child in every academy across our trust as our child.
- Sharing responsibility for outcomes across the partnership.
- Supporting academies facing challenges.
- Celebrating success collectively.
- Maintaining high expectations for all learners.
By looking beyond individual schools, we ensure that expertise and resource are directed where they are needed most.
Harness Collective Expertise
No single academy holds all the answers.
- Share best practice.
- Learn from one another's success.
- Access specialist expertise.
- Collaborate on common priorities.
- Solve challenges together.
This allows innovation and effective practice to spread quickly across the Trust.
Learn Through Professional Networks
Collaboration is most effective when it is systematic rather than incidental.
We facilitate:
- Driver Groups and networking opportunities.
- Leadership communities.
- Practitioner groups.
- Cross-phase collaboration.
These networks create opportunities for professional dialogue, reflection, and shared learning.
Support Through Peer Review and Partnership
Schools often gain the most valuable insights from trusted colleagues.
- Peer review.
- Collaborative evaluation.
- School-to-school support.
- Joint problem-solving.
- Shared improvement planning.
This allows schools to benefit from constructive challenge within a culture of trust and mutual respect.
Share Leadership Across the Partnership
Leadership is strengthened when it extends beyond individual schools.
- Contribute to Trust-wide priorities.
- Lead improvement across multiple academies.
- Support colleagues in different settings.
- Share expertise and innovation.
- Influence wider organisational development.
This creates a distributed leadership model where leadership capacity grows across the organisation.
Achieve More Together Than Alone
Partnership creates opportunities that individual schools could not easily achieve independently.
By working together, we can:
- Develop shared solutions.
- Maximise resources.
- Access wider expertise.
- Deliver stronger professional development.
- Increase opportunities for staff and pupils.
Collaboration therefore becomes a strategic advantage that accelerates improvement and enriches experiences for everyone involved.
Purposeful partnership, greater impact
We improve schools through purposeful partnership. By sharing expertise, learning together, and taking collective responsibility for success, we harness the strength of the whole organisation to achieve more for children, staff, and communities than any school could achieve alone.