Within any organisation, implementation matters. Leaders may be generating inspired, ground-breaking ideas, but without effective implementation, they will remain only that, an idea. Implementing change in schools is complex, requiring every member of staff to play their part.
Last term, we began the co-development of Implementing Effective Change, working with a group of teachers and leaders from across the network. Following the EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) implementation cycle, part one of Implementing Effective Change considered the ‘Explore’ phase, building on the excellent guidance provided by EEF to consider exactly what should and can be done as schools prepare for implementation.
Working in partnership with the EEF and the Research Schools Network, Implementing Effective Change aims to consider the ‘how’ of implementation – exploring the practical actions taken by schools to ensure that change is successful and sustainable.
Implementing Effective Change does not set out to tell anyone how they should be doing things. Rather, it explores the practical steps leaders might use to make decisions which suit their context. The pilot enables school leaders to gain practical insights from each other; the resource packs support in-school training and discussion for staff at all levels.
Corinne Settle, Senior Education Lead and leader of the Embedding Formative Assessment programme, brings her extensive experience in supporting sustainable and impactful change to this project. The Implementing Effective Change resource packs follow the Teacher Learning Community signature pedagogy which is used to great effect in Embedding Formative Assessment, providing fully resourced sessions to support the engagement of staff at all levels.
Many of the sessions prompted considerable discussion – for example considering how participants assess the validity of research evidence for their setting and the techniques used by different schools to assess the positive and negative forces affecting implementation. It was great to hear the reflections of school leaders on current plans, previous successes and occasions when things did not go to plan.
The pilot has been invaluable in supporting the team at SSAT to refine the Implementing Effective Change packs, identifying key areas of interest and providing examples of how different approaches work in practice.
If you are interested in joining us to unpick the ‘Prepare’ phase of the EEF implementation cycle, you can find details and sign-up here.
If you missed pilot group 1, don’t worry – you can still join in. On Wednesday 5 February 2025, 15:45-16:45 we will be providing a recap of the learning and an overview of the resource pack materials for the Explore phase.
We hope to see you there.
