School Improvement Plans

What is a School Improvement Plan (SIP)?

A School Improvement Plan (SIP) defines the actions the school will take to raise achievement for all of its pupils. School leaders need to justify their judgements to a variety of different professionals, alongside the Governing Body, and present focused plans for development and improvement. This should be individually addressed in each school’s SIP in order to support leaders in communicating what the school is doing effectively and the impact this has over time.

When should a School Improvement Plan be written?

The SIP can only be written after the school has evaluated its performance for the previous year and, most importantly, thoroughly analysed the outcomes which pupils have achieved. Usually that happens in late July or early September. When analysing outcomes, data about attendance and behaviour must also be considered, alongside the performance of pupils in different groups, eg Pupil Premium or Boys/Girls. Critically, the analysis of data must focus on the outcomes of statutory assessments, examination and test results for all pupils and then for groups of pupils.