Envisioning a Better Future for Our Pupils

Manuden Primary School is proud to be part of the Envision Partnership, a collaborative group of primary schools in and around the Bishop’s Stortford area, including schools across the Hertfordshire and Essex border.

The partnership was originally formed in 2019 and is built on a simple principle: schools can improve more effectively when they work together, share expertise and provide constructive challenge to one another.

Its shared commitment is:

“Envisioning a better future for our pupils.”

For Manuden, being part of Envision gives us access to a strong local professional network while allowing us to contribute our own experience and expertise to the improvement of other schools.

Why Are We Part of Envision?

School improvement should not happen in isolation.

Working with other schools gives leaders and teachers opportunities to:

• see effective practice beyond their own setting;
• test their own evaluation against the views of other experienced professionals;
• share successful approaches;
• identify areas that could be strengthened;
• access expertise from colleagues across the partnership;
• develop leadership at different levels; and
• build professional relationships that benefit pupils across the local area.

The purpose is not to compare schools competitively. It is to create a culture in which schools can be open, reflective and ambitious about improving practice.

The Schools Partnership Programme

Schools within Envision take part in the Schools Partnership Programme, a collaborative school-improvement model centred on rigorous peer review and school-to-school support.

The model is designed to build leaders’ capacity to evaluate their schools accurately, learn from one another and turn review findings into practical improvement.

At its simplest, the process can be thought of as:

Self-evaluation → Peer review → Reflection → Improvement action → Review of impact

This means that peer review is not intended to be a one-off visit. It is part of an ongoing cycle of evaluation and improvement.

What Is Peer Review?

Peer review involves trained leaders from partner schools visiting another school to explore an agreed area of its work.

The host school identifies an aspect of provision it wants to examine closely. Visiting leaders then work alongside the school to consider evidence, test assumptions and provide professional feedback.

Depending on the focus, a review may involve activities such as:

• discussions with leaders and staff;
• visiting lessons or learning;
• looking at pupils’ work;
• speaking with pupils;
• reviewing curriculum or school-improvement information;
• considering how consistently agreed approaches are being implemented; and
• exploring the impact of the school’s work on pupils.

The purpose is not to conduct an inspection or assign a judgement.

It is to provide constructive professional challenge, help the school see its own practice through an external lens and identify useful next steps.

A recent Northgate account of an Envision review describes visiting headteachers reviewing teaching and learning, providing external feedback and helping the school reflect on further development.

A Different Process From Ofsted

Envision peer review is not an Ofsted inspection.

Peer reviewers do not arrive to grade the school or replicate an inspection framework.

Instead, the process is collaborative. Schools choose an area where external professional scrutiny would be useful and invite colleagues to examine it carefully.

This allows schools to be open about areas they are developing rather than feeling that they must only present strengths.

That distinction is important because effective improvement depends on leaders being willing to ask:

What is working well?
How do we know?
Is it working consistently?
What could be even better?

From Review to Improvement

The value of peer review comes from what happens after the review.

Feedback is considered by the school’s leadership team and used alongside the school’s own evidence, priorities and improvement planning.

This may lead to:

• refining an existing improvement priority;
• identifying professional development for staff;
• sharing particularly effective practice;
• strengthening consistency;
• changing an aspect of curriculum or provision;
• seeking support or expertise from another school; or
• reviewing the impact of actions already underway.

The aim is for review findings to lead to sustained improvement, rather than simply producing a report.

School-to-School Support

One of the strengths of Envision is that expertise already exists across the partnership.

Different schools and leaders have particular strengths and experience in areas such as:

• curriculum leadership;
• teaching and learning;
• SEND and inclusion;
• assessment;
• early years;
• subject leadership;
• safeguarding;
• behaviour and attendance; and
• leadership and school improvement.

Where appropriate, schools can therefore support one another following review.

This might include leaders visiting another school, sharing resources, discussing practice, providing coaching or working together on a particular area of development.

The wider Envision model explicitly combines peer review with school-to-school support as part of a sustainable approach to improvement.

Developing Leadership

Envision also provides valuable professional development for school leaders.

Peer reviewers receive training so that they can contribute effectively to reviews in other schools.

At Manuden, Phil Molyneux, Headteacher, is participating as a Peer Reviewer.

Taking part in reviews elsewhere is itself an important development opportunity. It allows leaders to:

• observe practice in different contexts;
• examine evidence carefully;
• develop questioning and evaluation skills;
• reflect on their own school's practice;
• share ideas with other experienced leaders; and
• bring useful learning back to Manuden.

This helps ensure that collaboration benefits both the school being reviewed and the reviewers themselves.

Professional Networks

Envision is about more than formal peer-review visits.

Being part of a local partnership creates opportunities for staff and leaders to develop professional networks beyond their own school.

For a small school such as Manuden, this is particularly valuable.

It means that subject leaders and senior leaders can draw on expertise from a much wider professional community, while still retaining Manuden's own identity and approach.

Collaboration can also reduce professional isolation and create opportunities to discuss common challenges with colleagues working in similar contexts.

What Does This Mean for Manuden Pupils?

Although much of the work happens between adults, the purpose of Envision is ultimately to improve pupils’ experience of school.

The partnership can benefit Manuden pupils by helping us:

• strengthen the quality and consistency of teaching;
• improve curriculum provision;
• identify areas for development more accurately;
• learn from effective practice elsewhere;
• develop the expertise of our staff and leaders;
• challenge ourselves to maintain high expectations; and
• evaluate whether changes are actually making a difference for children.

This aligns closely with our school vision:

Growing Hearts • Growing Minds • Growing Dreams

External collaboration helps us remain outward-looking and ensures that being a small school never means limiting our ambition.

Envision and School Improvement at Manuden

Manuden uses a range of evidence to understand how well the school is performing and what needs to improve.

This includes:

• pupil outcomes and assessment information;
• attendance and behaviour information;
• safeguarding and SEND monitoring;
• curriculum and teaching evaluation;
• pupil voice;
• parent voice;
• staff feedback;
• governor monitoring; and
• external professional review.

Envision peer review forms one part of this wider self-evaluation process.

Findings from peer review are considered alongside our own monitoring and contribute, where appropriate, to leadership decisions and school-improvement planning.

Our specific peer-review priorities are part of the school’s internal improvement process and are therefore not routinely published in advance.

An Outward-Looking School

We want Manuden to be a school that is confident enough to celebrate what it does well and reflective enough to recognise where it can improve.

Being part of Envision supports that culture.

By opening our practice to professional scrutiny, learning from other schools and contributing to the development of colleagues elsewhere, we help create a stronger local education community.

The central principle remains simple:

Schools working together can achieve more for children than schools working alone.

Envisioning a better future for our pupils.

Growing Hearts • Growing Minds • Growing Dreams