School standards

The School Improvement Service (SIS) monitors and evaluates the performance of all schools across a range of indicators.

Working practices fully reflect the spirit of and recommendations contained in the DfES Code of Conduct for LEA/School Relations which emphasises that the prime responsibility for improvement lies with schools.

All our work is therefore intended to help schools become self-managing, autonomous institutions, through building their capacity to sustain their own improvement. In all cases, work is carried out through the headteacher.

Curriculum
The curriculum is the sum of everything your child experiences in school. All pupils aged five to 16 follow the National Curriculum.

Performance of schools
Schools performances are now monitored by Ofsted.

PANDA stands for Performance AND Assessment report. The PANDA puts data about a school into a series of tables and charts so that schools can see how effective they are compared with other schools. The PANDA presents comparisons with all schools in England, and also with similar schools.

The information helps schools to look at their strengths and weaknesses, and is designed to help them develop plans to raise standards. It uses data from DfES alongside information from inspections and is sent to headteachers every autumn. It is also sent to Ofsted to external website inspectors before they inspect a school.

The format of the PANDA is standard but the data in each one is specific to a particular school. They are widely used because schools can see at a glance how they compare with others, and do not have to calculate their own figures.

For more information regarding attainments and performance, please visit the Qualifications Curriculum Authority.