Focus on attainment: Regent House

Regent House is a co-educational grammar school, situated in the town of Newtownards.  

The school’s investment in staff development and the strengthening of monitoring and evaluation strategies has resulted in improvements in educational outcomes.  

A number of approaches were utilised: 

1.Developing a leadership team 

Management structures at the school have become more efficient with clearly defined levels of accountability and authority. Job descriptions have moved away from task-centred administration towards developmental approaches with a focus on learning. 

2.Building capacity

Alongside clearer structures at senior leadership level came revised roles and responsibilities for subject teachers and pastoral staff. Pastoral staff now have a responsibility to link with subject staff to oversee pupil performance.  

3.Using data to improve outcomes 

The school has improved its use of data to enable targeted intervention and support for underachievers. Assessment tasks are tightly linked to pupil outcomes and comparative data, encouraging not only review and evaluation of pupil performance but also the development of teaching resources and assessment tasks.

4.Celebrating achievement 

The celebration of positive achievement at key stages three and four is rewarded with lunch passes, cinema vouchers and celebration days for whole classes. With an increased focus on data analysis, it has been necessary to have a co-ordinated approach.  

5.Improved governor communication 

Governors are heavily involved and aware of their role in supporting the school’s development.  

Each governor is linked to a particular strand of the School Development Plan and there is devolved responsibility here also.

To read the full Regent House case study click here.

15 June 2018