Hazel Wood High School has undertaken a radical transformation since joining the trust and is one of our biggest success stories to date. In terms of impact the school has seen:
- Outcomes move from the bottom 10% of schools nationally to above average
- 10% increase in students achieving 4 and 5
- Student numbers almost double due to the improved quality of education and reputation
- A move from an Ofsted ‘special measures’ rating to ‘good
- Outcomes move from the bottom of the local league table to the top five
How did we achieve this?
With the support of the entire community, we successfully rebranded the school, fostering a sense of ownership and pride amongst students, staff and families. This included renaming the school, introducing a new uniform and making significant investments in the school buildings and classrooms. We ran workshops where staff, students and families co-developed key policies and practices, including those focused on anti-bullying and behaviour.
We implemented a robust behaviour policy to ensure classrooms remained focused on learning. Alongside this, we aligned whole-school routines and classroom practices to provide daily routines and structure to the school day. To this day, these routines are still consistently reinforced to embed them deeply within the school culture.
Curriculum overhaul
We completely rewrote and restructured the curriculum, developing long, medium and short term plans to form a well-sequenced and high quality curriculum.
We completely rewrote and restructured the curriculum, developing long, medium and short term plans to form a well-sequenced and high quality curriculum.
We maintained a strong insistence on non-negotiables and key consistent practices in the classroom with a semi-structured lesson, supported by robust professional development and a rigorous quality assurance framework. We also ensured that behaviour expectations were explicitly taught to students and continually reinforced.
We actively engaged with other schools and trusts, took inspiration from great ideas and adapted them to suit our context. We believe in learning from others while maintaining authenticity.
The senior leadership team maintained a strong and visible presence throughout school. They prioritised simple, clear systems that were applied consistently, and they leveraged technology to support work and streamline processes.
