Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College

The PROGRESS Programme was incredibly valuable for us. Once staff could see the processes that were going on, they realised that there was a need for them to look after their own wellbeing. Working ridiculously hard and become stressed wasn't the way to solve problems. Students were picking it up and responding in ways that we didn't like. Adrienne Cluer, SEAL Co-ordinator

The PROGRESS surveys at Norbury Manor demonstrated that staff and students enjoyed feeling part of an innovative, creative and dynamic school. Staff valued being at the cutting edge of new developments in education, while students welcomed the knowledge that they attended a 'high-performing' school.

But underneath the buzz, there were some issues simmering. Staff said that the churn of new initiatives sometimes left them feeling deflated rather than energised. Students described the sense that staff had no time for them, leading to the feeling that they did not value their views.

The staff at Norbury Manor was shocked to discover that students could interpret their dedication and hard work as a lack of care. They also realised the adoption of more formal teaching styles in response to student misbehaviour stoked the resentment that the better-behaved students were already feeling because of the amount of attention being received by their more turbulent peers.

The PROGRESS Programme tackled these issues not as a series of discrete problems but as an inter-twined whole. Staff and students reaffirmed their commitment to the core values of innovation and creativity, while setting up better systems for monitoring the impact of change on the individuals and groups affected.

Staff set aside time to build stronger relationships with each other, to make people feel more engaged in discussions during staff meetings, and to use smaller groups to ensure all voices were heard and views expressed.

Students explored a wide range of ideas for shaping a more interesting experience of learning. They also set up a system for lesson observation that led to teachers having feedback on factors such as the:

• Level of student interest and involvement
• Pace and variety of activities
• Inclusion of different learning styles