Despite praise from Ofsted for its support to schools, West Sussex wants to refine its back-up .

“The traditional model of support is not all it could be,” says Penny Gaunt, No 2 to Ken Pritchard in the advisory and inspection service.

“We must hang on to the notion of empowering headteachers. You must help them identify the barriers to improvement. What people have done is indulge in a flurry of activity but not ask what is getting in the way.”

She is concerned that too many people going into schools to advise is confusing heads. She also sees a greater role for the consultant head who can spend more time in schools instead of a link adviser and other support workers who may be offering mixed messages.

The county has a complicated grading system which details the amount of support each school needs. She recognises that at any time 10 per cent of schools are causing concern at county hall, but she is against what she calls desktop monitoring.

“There is no substitute for advisers being out there regularly visiting schools to get a feel for the place and picking up any problems.”

WILLING AND ABLE

Another area picked out for praise by Ofsted was the support for able and gifted pupils. “Exemplary,” said the inspectors.

Meet Ann Bridgland, the West Sussex co-ordinator, and you know why. Every school has a very able pupils co-ordinator (Vapco). She sent circulars to schools addressed to the Vapco. When puzzled heads enquired, they were told they had to appoint one. The bluff worked and has paid dividends.

“As soon as you start looking at able-pupil issues, you’re raising the expectations of all pupils,” she says.

We’re not talking about Ruth Lawrence types, but the top 10 per cent in different areas. It’s not confined to academic matters: sport, music, social and leadership skills are all ripe for development.

As well as producing a termly magazine, Able Times, special events for the gifted are organised. It was 10 a term to start with; now it’s 70.

One big knock-on effect is the boost to teachers’ questioning techniques. “Teachers don’t just concern themselves with knowledge and understanding,” she says. “They cover conjecture, evaluation, creative thinking, problem solving, analysis and reasoning. They’re real Heineken questioners - reaching parts of the brain that other teachers don’t reach.”

One school where the policy has had unexpected benefits is St Peter’s primary in the village of Cowfold.

“It’s made us target all the children,” says Alyson Heath, the head. “So it’s had an impact across the whole school. One mother with learning difficulties did some stunning drawing when her child took home the Barnaby Bear book as part of a project. Now we’ve brought her in to do art with the children.”

DRIVING IT HOME

Of course, we’re a four by four school now,” says Roz Lewis, head of William Penn school, in Coolham.

“What does that mean exactly?” asks our reporter, who prides himself on his knowledge of school matters. “That seems to be a piece of educational jargon that’s passed me by.”

“It means parents drive kids to school in big cars with wheels stuck on the back,” comes the deflating reply.

This is a Quaker school which commemorates the founder and first governor of the American state and is named after him. Penn lived at nearby Coneyhurst in the 17th century. It is the only Quaker state school in the country, but declining numbers mean that it has been maintained by West Sussex since 1952.

There is a small Quaker community using the local friends’ meeting house, but only three of the 95 pupils on roll are practising Quakers.

West Sussex has 60 schools with rolls of under 120 and has set up a small schools network to support them. Roz Lewis is chair of the Weald family group, the 12 schools feeding the secondary school in Billingshurst. The group harmonises paperwork, finds solutions to common problems and employs an ICT technician to service schools.

“It’s a real force for good,” says Mrs Lewis.

REACHING OUT

There are eight specialist schools in West Sussex. The authority is anxious that they should not be seen as elitist, so they belong to networks that share expertise with neighbouring schools.

Angmering school does outreach work in PE as part of its sports college status.

“It is a very helpful model for what we could be doing in any area of the curriculum,” says the head, Richard Evea.

“A lot of primary teachers welcome help. We have a KS2KS3 specialist. He spends three and a half days working in our family group.

“He demonstrates good practice, conducts team teaching and observes primary staff. His work is tailor made to what each school wants. He’ll go in to teach while the primary teacher does other development work.

“Kids love having someone who knows what they’re doing. Primary heads are thrilled with it and want more. Our man tells us about what we need to be changing in response to what’s happening in the primaries.”

“Next year, we want to do something similar in music. And there are also possibilities for science and the arts.”