Experience

Unlike many school improvement consultants who transition into consultancy roles after serving as headteachers, my expertise and leadership experience has been gained directly within the realm of school improvement itself.  I therefore bring to the role a deep and rich knowledge base gained over many years that enables me to work flexibly and effectively with schools. 

"Truly exceptional in tailoring to our school, my vision and also the staff rather than just being generic.” Headteacher.

“Vicky’s level of expertise, her level of reality, and her level of practicality sets her apart from other school improvement professionals.” Headteacher.

My top 5 Clifton Strengths are Learner, Achiever, Restorative, Futuristic and Strategic making me an ideal partner for those wishing to hone in on organisational improvement. The majority of my work takes place at a leadership level, e.g. supporting headteachers with performance management; delivering training for DHTs; working with phase leaders to develop leadership capacity; supporting leaders to develop and implement whole school solutions to challenging issues, such as closing the gap for disadvantaged pupils.   

"Thank you for being so generous in your support.  I have been inspired and energised to keep going.  Truly a well-timed and informative session that I can practically put into practice for IMPACT.”  Deputy Headteacher.

I have extensive experience of designing and delivering training, from single day courses to developing year-long programmes, and everything from large scale conference events to 1:1 training and development.

“The training was brilliantly constructed.  One of the best courses I have attended in years.  I wanted to be challenged and provoked, but also given some new ideas to work with and the day achieved all of this.” Headteacher.

In my previous LA roles, I was responsible for strategic leadership of school improvement traded services across the city and line management of primary consultants. This involved co-ordinating support for schools, organising large scale events, leading on city-wide initiatives, tracking finance, and creating school improvement programmes. Having trained and managed ASTs, SLEs and local authority consultants, and having extensive experience of supporting schools myself, I can provide training and development for a range of different school improvement personnel. I am able to work with central staff in multi-academy trusts whose remit is school improvement.

I also have experience of being a Chair of Governors for a large primary school. It was rewarding to support a new Headteacher and brilliant to see how much a school can improve when everyone works as a team. During this time we were able to move from an Ofsted judgement of requires improvement to good and grow the expertise and capacity of the governing body enabling a parent governor to take on the role after 12 months.  The role enabled me to experience school life from a different perspective on the day-to-day and strategic challenges of headship.

One of my strengths is having both primary and secondary experience, which has shaped my views on teaching and learning and resulted in a deep fascination of how we support children to become successful life long learners who love challenge, respond to feedback, are resilient and take ownership of their learning. I have supported city-wide networks for Secondary colleagues (Drama, Science, RE, Computing, Music) and have written materials on curriculum development for The Key. I have also developed packages of support materials for primary and secondary colleagues for a large local authority on metacognition and oracy.

I continue to gain enormously from every colleague I work with. I feel privileged to have supported teachers and leaders in schools across the Yorkshire region.

Areas of expertise

• Leadership coaching, leadership training, leadership mentoring.
  
  
• Team development for senior leadership teams.
  
  
• Training and development focused on visioning and strategic thinking.
  
  
• Train the trainer / coaching and professional dialogue for colleagues in school improvement roles.
  
  
• Data analysis - support for interpretation of data and school development planning
  
  
• Maximising the impact of the pupil premium and closing the gap for disadvantaged pupils.
  
  
• Supporting leaders on teaching and learning strategies and improving academic outcomes.
  
  
• Raising pupil aspiration through utilising research, such as 'growth and fixed mindsets', positive psychology and metacognition.
  
  
• Reading comprehension - particularly with a view to raising attainment.
  
  

"Vicky is a fantastic trainer - very inspirational and knowledgeable."

"Fabulous resources good themes for group discussion, lots of opportunities to share ideas and a variety of learning tools."

"I just wanted to say a huge than you for Friday - I am excited about getting my teeth into the curriculum and changing it for the better."

"Wow! Superb - brilliant ideas that I can use straight away in the classroom."

"You have inspired the whole staff and this is just what we needed to kick start the year."

"The journey I have been on is amazing. Thanks for everything. I would highly recommend this course (DHTs - key issues programme) to others."

"Research, quality of activities, engagement, reflection. This has been a confidence-building superb course."

"Excellent ideas and suggestions, especially when dealing with tricky issues."

"I feel I have a clear vision and know the steps I need to take next as a leader. Thank you for all your support."

"This (curriculum course) has been so useful! The day was so well structured and led us through the thought process clearly. We now have an action plan and know what we want to achieve and how to do it."

"I feel totally inspired and determined to improve reading."

"Fantastic resources. Very well explained. Lots of examples of good practice. Great ideas to use in the classroom."

"Useful resources and excellent activities that I have been able to use in twilight sessions in school. Really enjoyed the training. Vicky is a generous and engaging course leader."

Training / qualifications

Qualifications

Keeping up to date is important. I undertake a great deal of research and development work. In addition, here are examples of training courses I have attended recently: