Routes to improvement:
There are no secrets to improvement whether it is of a school or your own skills. There are no silver bullets and no magic answers. Instead it a question of applying effort, ‘day in, day out’.
There may be different routes which you can take on your improvement journey. You may feel that in improving a school you have to change almost everything and you are starting a fresh. The key thing here is what do you start with? The same would be true if you are learning a new skill.
You may feel that the best route, is the idea of finding one hundred little things and improving them all by one per cent. This is the concept which is often referred to as the ‘aggregation of marginal gains. It could be equally be applied to a personal development when considering the tiny changes which you can make.
Whichever of these routes you take or perhaps somewhere in-between you cannot expect to take an action and not return to it for a while and expect it to have moved forwards, it could move backwards without regular attention. You have to keep working at things ‘day in, day out’.
‘No Silver Bullets: Day in, day out school improvement’
The philosophy above is captured in my latest book which is now available. I have worked with so many schools and Headteachers over the last six years as a system leader. I have developed a range of strategies which i use to help develop quality first teaching, raise external outcomes, improve behaviour and ensure high attendance. ‘No Silver Bullets’ captures these ideas so that school leaders can use them to help improve the systems and structures, that they already have in place.
How I can help you:
“I am an experienced MAT Education Director. I can help you plan your route to school improvement. I have considerable experience of building improvement systems in both schools and MATs. I will work with you to ensure that week after week you are focussing on the right aspects to help keep your school or MAT moving forwards. I can also coach and train your middle leaders, senior leaders, system leaders and governors so that everyone understand the plan and is able to be most effective in delivering improvement for the organisation.”
This Website:
This website captures a range of information, articles you can read, blogs you can reflect on, resources that you can use or books which you can study. All of which will help you on finding the route and then support you on your journey to improvement.
Good luck.
Post script: On a personal level, ‘Day in, day out’ is a refrain within the song, ‘Digital’ by the legendary Joy Division. The lyrics were written by the late genius Ian Curtis.
Paul K Ainsworth is an experienced system leader, facilitator and author of ‘No Silver Bullets: Day in, day out school improvement’.
He is the author of Bloomsbury’s, ‘CPD Library: Middle Leadership’ and is well versed in developing Middle leader and Senior Leaders.
Please contact him via LinkedIn or twitter for more information. He can also be commissioned through Infinity Academies Trust.
Day in, day out. Day in, day out. 