School improvement plans: special schools

Last reviewed on 14 April 2022
School types: Special · School phases: All
Ref: 1598

Having an effective school improvement plan (SIP) will support you in achieving your priorities. See how other special schools have structured their SIPs to get inspiration for creating your own.

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Contents

  1. Primary example
  2. Secondary example
  3. All-through example
  4. Further reading on SIPs

Schools use a variety of terms for whole-school plans, including ‘strategic plan' and 'school development plan'. Here, we use 'school improvement plan' (SIP).

Primary example

Walworth School, County Durham, is a community special school for pupils aged 4 to 11 with social, emotional, mental health (SEMH) difficulties.

Its SIP for 2021/22:

  • Highlights 4 key priorities based on the Ofsted judgement areas
  • Includes a summary of targets for each priority

The school then purple, red, amber, green (PRAG) rates each improvement under a key priority, 3 times a year, to show the level of progress being made.

You can find evaluated examples for previous school years.

Secondary example

Kingsley High School, Harrow, has pupils aged 11 to 19 with severe learning difficulties.

The plan shows the intent, implementation, timescales, impact, lead,

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