Journey to become an 'outstanding' school: case studies

Get advice and inspiration from other schools about how they turned the dial to push school improvement, and to go on to be rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.

Last reviewed on 10 May 2023
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Contents
  1. Consider your school’s practice in these 3 areas
  2. Case study school: Lea Forest Primary Academy in Birmingham
  3. Secure a knock-out curriculum that focuses on reading
  4. Create a positive school culture
  5. Gain access to external, professional support

There’s no blueprint to becoming an ‘outstanding’ school – each school will have its own unique journey, context and practices that made it happen for them.

So don’t be disheartened if the school featured in this article has a different set-up or context to your school. Instead, use our case study:

  • As inspiration for developing your school’s approach to improving its practice
  • To identify individual ideas, concepts or practices that you can adapt to your school’s context and needs

Please note that the mention of commercial products in this article does not constitute an endorsement by The Key.

Consider your school’s practice in these 3 areas

Although there’s no exact recipe to an ‘outstanding’ judgement, the school we spoke to identified 3 factors that it says were important for its school’s development:

Read about these