Subject Leadership

Finding Inspiration in Every Turn

"In primary schools, particularly small ones, we know that staff wear lots of hats. In small schools, it may be the headteacher who oversees all subjects. It often isn’t possible or realistic to develop detailed expertise in multiple subject areas – neither do we expect you to. What is important is that, as a collective, staff give careful thought to the content they want pupils to be taught and to remember."

Heather Fearn and Jonathan Keay, Her Majesty’s Inspectors 2022

To overcome the challenges of expertise in multiple curriculum areas, since January 2022 we have been collaborating with the Limestone Peak Federation and with other local schools to design and refine our curriculum. We also make use of schemes of work that are developed by subject specialists and we have created our own bespoke curriculum drivers ensuring that our curriculum is relevant, ambitious and coherent. Our subject leaders are arranged into teams matched to their skills, knowledge and interests across the three schools in the Federation/ collaboration. This ensures shared accountability through shared responsibility and ensures that we 'never mark our own homework'. Additional release time is planned for all staff to carry out monitoring, quality assurance, and to engage in continuous professional development for the greater good of their subject and for all of the schools within our close partnership. The below information outlines how our curriculum teams are organised.

Mr J. Handley Executive Headteacher

"Our inspectors will be aware of the impact of an inspection visit on teachers in a small school. Right from the first contact with the school, our lead inspectors will work with the headteacher to organise the inspection to manage the demands on each teacher."

"We also know that small schools won’t necessarily have the capacity to provide the same resources and experiences as larger schools. That is why the deep dive will focus on what matters most for the quality of each pupil’s education: whether pupils are learning the knowledge they need to achieve the goals of their education."

To read more from His Majesty's Inspectors Heather Fearn and Jonathan Keay, you may find the Ofsted: schools and further education & skills (FES) blog post useful.

Subject Leader Action Plans ( Live documents NB final plans in school )