How can we create a culture of excellence in schools?

Pressures on schools to do have never been higher, with a persistent focus on data, several different league table measures and exam results. These might not feel so burdensome if they weren’t also happening against the backdrop of severe real-term budget cuts to schools, a retention and recruitment crisis that have left schools scrabbling to keep up.

In this climate, there is a temptation to simply try to get through the changes unscathed, to focus on the data and getting the best possible place in league tables. But this short-term outlook is a barrier to genuine improvement as each action becomes a response to the latest crisis or government diktat.

What is needed instead is a culture of excellence that permeates every classroom, department and catholic middle school; a focus not on simply getting the best grade, but on getting the best education and creating a lifelong passion for learning. This shift in focus matters.

The following are the steps through which you can create this culture of excellence.

Raise your standard high

The first step is to agree on what excellence actually looks like in your subject. What can an excellent year 7 geography student do? What are your expectations of the quality of work for a year 12 student in chemistry? Then plan a new unit of work by coming up with a checklist of what you expect students to know and be able to do. You can then use this to plan the learning and create knowledge organisers for pupils to use at home. This approach means that you are always thinking about the purpose of our subject and considering the best it has to offer.

Lead the way

Once high standards have been set, you can start ensuring that all students know how to meet them. The bank of excellent work is one way to do this; it can be annotated to explain the criteria it meets and then displayed and discussed.

One of the most powerful ways to support a culture of excellence is through live modelling, where the teacher answers a question themselves and explains their thought process in front of the class. The technique can be adapted so that a piece of work is produced as a class and developed through carefully planned questioning.

These are some of the ways through which you can create a culture of excellence in your school.