Around six months ago, I was appointed one of the Department for Education’s (DfE) first Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) advisers.

It’s a role I was very proud to take up, and I have already been busy getting into schools to begin this work, initially with two schools and then, in my second cohort, with three - all far apart geographically, all facing different challenges. Here’s how it all works:

Getting together

Once a school is assigned its adviser, a virtual meeting is set up for the adviser, the head and other senior leaders, such as the chair of governors and responsible bodies.

One of the priorities in these meetings has been assuring senior leadership teams and responsible bodies that my first job is to listen to them, before trying to support their school-improvement plans.

By explaining the structure of the programme and its processes before setting foot on the premises, I can help reassure the school and its responsible body.

I also make it clear that I can help them with a fresh set of eyes and, if required, resources - £100,000 per year for up to two years is the maximum amount of additional funding available for schools within the programme.

In-school observations

Following this, I organise a visit to undertake a “diagnostic”. This includes meeting the head, the chair of governors and the responsible body (RB). I can hear what they need and want, and what they feel is blocking progress.

I also speak to relevant leaders separately, including the SENDCO or subject leads, and look at documentation, including school-improvement plans.

Typically, visits include two “learning walks” with school leaders at different times of the day, so I can make my own observations. After that, I sit down with the head and the responsible body to discuss the advice I will share with the team at the DfE.

Where I believe additional support through RISE may be beneficial, I ask the school and RB’s thoughts on the organisations they think might be suitable sources of support if we decide to proceed.

Collaborative support

After a visit, I share reflections with my regional RISE team to help decide if extra support might be helpful. We’re part of the DfE, so it’s a joined-up approach - my role is to offer insight and advice as part of a collaborative approach to supporting schools.

Once support has been agreed in principle, officials share a list of potential supporting organisations, such as MATs and local authorities. I’ll then contact these organisations to assess their capacity and willingness, in order to help identify the most appropriate match.

Once a supporting organisation has been chosen, it will undertake a full, in-depth diagnostic and work with the school and responsible body to create a costed school-improvement plan.

RISE requires our strongest organisations to be willing to release capacity (with grant funding from the DfE) to undertake work at short notice, and I’ve been delighted with the quality of organisations I’ve been able to match to date.

RISE advisers also share insights and expertise with each other regularly. Individually, meanwhile, we make daily contact with our regional RISE leader and have a monthly catch-up with our deputy director and regional director, ensuring that knowledge and best practice are shared across the programme.

Real-world impact

The range of support schools receive varies. In one of the schools I support, the head had a clear vision and strategy for school improvement, but implementation was hampered by capacity constraints in the form of staff shortages and absences.

Thanks to RISE funding, an assistant headteacher can be seconded to the school to help bring about these changes. 

Another school knew its resources to support literacy were not sufficient and, as our assessment agreed with this need, high-quality new resources will now be purchased, enabling teachers to have a greater impact.

Moving faster

This is not to say that everything has always been smooth.

With the first schools, the communication and pace of school reviews - from initial diagnostic reviews to getting a supporting organisation involved - was not as quick as it could have been. However, refining our processes to speed this up has meant we can now get support in place in as little as two to three weeks.

This is the pace those schools need, and it has been pleasing to see RISE advisers’ feedback being acted on so quickly.

Although it is early days, I am optimistic about the progress made and, with sustainable funding, we can create lasting change across schools.

We know that 99.9 per cent of teachers and headteachers are there because they want to do the right thing and make a difference, and we need to continue to work better as a sector to enable every leader to be as successful as they can.

Lee Mason-Ellis OBE is CEO at The Pioneer Academy