15^th September 2006

DfES sets out expectations of School Improvement Partners

Following CES representations to the DfES regarding School Improvement Partners (SIPs), the CES has received a useful summary from the DfES of their expectations of SIPs.

“The roll out of the SIP function is now complete for secondary, and for primary, all local authorities will be introducing primary SIPs in one of four waves – January 2007, april 2007, September 2007 or April 2008.  Following a trial, Ministers have agreed that SIPs will be introduced to special schools nationally in three waves – September 2007, January 2008 and April 2008.  We are currently liaising with local authorities to determine what wave they will be in.

There is a clause in the Education and Inspections Bill to require each authority to appoint an accredited SIP to each school it maintains.  We anticipate that the Bill will receive Royal Assent in November.

Local authorities select accredited SIPs, contract with them and allocate them to the schools they maintain.  That said, when deploying SIPs, we expect the local authority to pay attention to the preferences, needs and characteristics – including religious characteristics – of individual schools and their governing bodies.  We also expect SIPs to be responsive to the individual circumstances and characteristics of the schools they work with, including their religious characteristics.  The national assessment for people seeking accreditation to be SIPs stresses this expectation.  It is designed to withold accreditation from anybody who might work with a school without taking account of the ethos and other features of the school.”

The CES welcomes these assurances from the DfES.

Headteachers are encouraged to let their dioceses and the CES know if, despite express requests for a suitable SIP who is understanding of the particular ethos of the school, these principles are not being implemented  properly.

We would equally like to hear of any successful partnerships with SIPs, as negotiations with the Government on such matters can only take place in light of concrete examples; it is always helpful to be able to cite examples of good practice! 

Email general@cesew.org.uk with your comments.