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When a Leeds school was caned by Ofsted and then its head teacher quit, it could have been time to press the panic button. Instead, Education Reporter Ian Rosser found a quiet confidence at Crawshaw School.
Neil Clephan hates the term "superhead". "This isn't about me," said the man who has been asked to take charge of Crawshaw School in Pudsey.
"This is about the school. One person can't make the difference. It needs to be a team effort."
As he speaks, a workman is scratching on the outside of the door to his new office. Upon inspection, it turns out he was putting up a new sign: "N Clephan. Executive Headteacher." Not a "super" in sight.
Despite his modesty, Mr Clephan has been called upon to steady the ship at Crawshaw, which earlier this year was given a poor inspection report by Ofsted.
After claiming that standards were too low in areas including teaching, achievement and management, inspectors gave the school an official Notice To Improve – one step away from being classed as failing.
Following disappointing exam results this summer, the 1,200-pupil school suffered a further blow when head teacher Nigel Turner resigned for personal reasons on the eve of the new school year.
Although Ofsted had criticised the school's leadership – giving it the bottom grade of 4 for inadequate, they noted that Mr Turner had "successfully led the school" and there was "much to be proud of".
A month ago, Mr Clephan agreed to a request from Education Leeds, which runs the local education authority, to be seconded from Roundhay School, where he has been head for 10 years, to fill the gap left by the previous head.
His name has already replaced Mr Turner's on the main school sign which greets pupils, staff and visitors.
But he balks at the suggestion that he has been flown in to rescue a failing school whose logo, aptly, is a bird. The main reason for his presence, he says, is to guide a relatively inexperienced senior management team.
"I not kidding when I say this is a good school," said Mr Clephan. "There are many good staff here, the pupils are well behaved and the atmosphere is really welcoming.
"Obviously there are areas of concern and they have been outlined by Ofsted. But I'm optimistic and I'm sure the staff are optimistic about the future of this school."
If things go to plan, Mr Clephan expects to be involved with Crawshaw over the school year. He currently splits his working week between both schools, but expects to spend more time in Pudsey this term before gradually reducing his role there.
The project is a more formal arrangement of one Mr Clephan took part in four years ago, when he was seconded for a term by Education Leeds to work in other schools in the city.
It is also similar to a scheme in which Otley Prince Henry Grammar School's head John Steel spent a year at Intake High in Bramley, helping the school out of special measures.
Next Easter, Crawshaw's governors plan to appoint a permanent head teacher with Mr Clephan eventually returning to Roundhay.
In the meantime, he does a decent job of talking the school up, and himself down.
"There is a lot of good work going on already, and a lot of potential to improve further. I see my role as helping people to help themselves. I'm not going to make all the improvements that Ofsted wants – they are.
"If a school just relies on one or two people, then it's built on sand. The education of children is far too important for that."
Mr Clephan is obviously excited and enthusiastic about his new temporary role, to which he will bring a wealth of experience. During his time as Roundhay, the percentage of pupils gaining five or more good GCSE grades has jumped from the 40s to the 70s.
The school's sixth form has been even more successful, and has one of highest points-per-pupil ratio in the country.
"I think everyone benefits from this arrangement," he said. "I have a great team at Roundhay and they are quite capable of looking after things. They've already done it in the past and it's good experience for them.
"At Crawshaw, the staff here will be looking at making some changes and seeing where we can improve things.
"And I benefit personally because I'm able to go to another school for a significant period of time, take on board all the good things that are already going on, and maybe use them in the future myself."
As the head walks the corridors of his new school, there's not that mild sense of panic that sometimes grips an institution under the gaze of Ofsted inspectors.
Instead, staff and students are relaxed, and it's very much a typical day in a typical school.
Assistant head Claire Studd, who has been at Crawshaw for two years, is in a buoyant mood.
"This is my fifth school and it's an excellent school. I don't agree with the Ofsted report."
David Chapman, the school's PSHE and citizenship coordinator, has spent 24 years at Crawshaw, which underwent years of rebuilding following a blaze which gutted half the school in 2001.
"The rebuilding of the school after the fire seemed to take forever," he said. "Despite the difficulties they have had, the staff here have worked very hard to get the best out of the students."
Welcoming school
Phil Jackson has been at the school for 31 years, and co-ordinates the school's special needs provision. One of his jobs is to help new Year 7 pupils settle into the school by arranging schemes such as week-long residentials where the youngsters take part in activities such as canoeing and caving.
"We try and make sure the children who arrive from primary school settle in really quickly," said Mr Jackson. "It must be working because everyone who comes here always says what a welcoming school it is."
The school's chair of governors Jackie Goodall, said it was vital Crawshaw built on recent developments, such as gaining specialist humanities college status.
"There's a lot of potential at the school and there's no doubt Mr Clephan has the ability to take the school forward," she said. "We have a fairly inexperienced senior leadership team and his guidance will be of great value to the school in the longer term."
Often, schools that have felt the wrath of Ofsted experience a fall in numbers as parents choose alternative schools for their children. But Crawshaw, despite its difficulties, has remained popular and continues to be oversubscribed, with on-going appeals by parents trying to secure places.
The school has another reason to be optimistic: the completion of the rebuild, probably in 2010, is in the pipeline as part of a city-wide 400m scheme being overseen by Education Leeds.
In the shorter term, one of the first changes introduced by the new head may seem slight, but it's highly symbolic: Mr Clephan has brought forward plans to change the school's logo of a standing bird. Instead, the bird will be in full flight.
He has also made changes to the way pupils are now be tracked through their school career. As Mr Clephan discovered at Roundhay, making sure pupils were on target and knew exactly was expected of them can make enormous difference to what they finally achieved.
As usual with schools given poor Ofsted reports, Crawshaw now faces regular monitoring visits from inspectors, followed by another full inspection. Schools with notices to improve generally have 12 months to show they have begin to turn things around.
"We will be working flat out to give the students the best deal possible, building on what is already here," said Mr Clephan. "By working hard together as a team, fully supported by our community, many areas will have been addressed and the school will be even better.
"In the limited time available we are in the hands of Ofsted as to how they will judge the progress. Real, sustainable change for the better takes time to embed but in the longer term the outlook is very optimistic.
"There are lots of good things here. Everyone is committed to working as a team to improve what we offer the students. What I have seen in the last two weeks leaves me optimistic.
"This is not about me coming here as a quick fix. It isn't about one person making the difference. To a large degree, it won't be up to me. It will be up to the staff and the students. Real improvements are made by people working together. I think the staff and the pupils are up for it."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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