Regional Lead for Closing the Gap

The Central South Consortium (CSC) is a school improvement service which operates on behalf of five local authorities: Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

This region is the most populous in Wales.  It includes over 400 schools and serves 135,000 learners - a third of the country’s school-age children. The region is home to the highest number and the largest proportion of children living in poverty; it is also home to the capital city and the economic, financial, creative and media industries of Wales.

Our ambition as a region is that, by 2018:

• Our learners achieve the best educational  outcomes in Wales, rivalling similar parts of the United Kingdom;
• The poverty-related attainment gap is closing faster here than anywhere else in Wales;
• That the region is known and recognised for its high-quality school-led professional learning.

To do this, the Consortium:

• Provide challenge advisers to schools across the region, with more time allocated to the schools most in need
• Provides timely data analyses to support schools’ self evaluation and improvement planning (including school categorisation judgements);
• Supports and funds school-to-school improvement partnerships. These enable schools to share good practice and learn from each other to improve teaching and leadership practice and improve outcomes for learners;
• Works with the Welsh Government to deliver its priorities in the region;
• Allocates grant funding (e.g. the pupil deprivation grant - PDG) to schools in the region along with guidance and advice on how grant funding can be used to drive improvement.

Building a Self Improving School System

We are moving increasingly from a school improvement model dependent on central support to a more sustainable by-schools-for-schools model which builds capacity for collective improvement across the system. This is a system where all schools care as much about the improvement of other schools as they do about their own.  This strategy is built on what is known about successful school systems worldwide.

Our model: The Central South Wales Challenge

In January 2014, backed by the five authorities and drawing on international research, schools across the region led the way in launching a strategy to develop a ‘self-improving’ school system.  The strategy is based on six principles commonly found in successful school systems: 

• Schools are communities where collaborative enquiry is used to improve practice.
• Groupings of schools engage in joint practice development.
• Where necessary, more intensive partnerships are formed to support schools facing difficulties.
• Families and Community organisations support the work of schools and reinforce community aspiration.
• Coordination of the system is provided by school leaders themselves.
• Local authorities work together to act as the ‘conscience’ of the system. 

This work is led by the Central South Wales Strategy group. The strategy group is largely made up of headteachers but also draws on the expertise of universities and external experts in school-improvement.   

Aspects of the model

• All schools are part of School Improvement Groups (SIGs) which determine improvement priorities and work together to secure progress on these.
• Pathfinder Pairs - brokered partnerships between two schools where one school supports another to improve. Improvement impact on both schools is measured. 
• School Improvement Hubs provide professional learning and support to all schools in line with regional improvement priorities. 
• Peer Enquiry - usually a grouping of three schools working together. Schools’ leaders conduct an enquiry into an aspect of another school’s practice with the leadership of the other school in order to identify areas of good practice and improvement

How to Find Out More

Please refer to www.cscjes.org.uk and www.cscjes-cronfa.co.uk for further information about the Consortium.  Please also follow us on Twitter for updates as they happen!

We also publish a weekly school bulletin and a half termly newsletter which provide key updates about education in the region and further afield.  

For any queries please do not hesitate to contact communications@cscjes.org.uk / 01443 827500.