Silverwood School Strategic Development Plan

​September 2021 - August 2026

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Foreword

At a meeting of Cabinet on 19th November 2019 a decision was made to approve the establishment of a new maintained special school with a single leadership team for the existing St Nicholas, Rowdeford and Larkrise schools. Approval was also given to a £33 million capital investment which would lead to an expansion on the Rowde site to accommodate up to four hundred pupils.
In September 2020, these three special schools came together and opened their doors as one school: Silverwood.
Silverwood School sits at the very heart of Wiltshire’s System of Excellence, delivering a high quality outreach service across the county to ensure that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities have access to a first class education.
I am delighted to present the first Silverwood Five Year Strategic Plan, outlining the framework and direction for our school from September 2021 to July 2026, building on the vision, mission and values which are central to all our work. This Strategic Plan outlines our ambitions, aspirant aims and goals for Silverwood over the next five years.
Silverwood’s Five Year Strategic Plan is complemented by the School Development and Improvement Plan (SDIP), a shorter term operational plan extending over a period of one to two years. The SDIP is developed by the Executive Team and sets out in operational terms how the long-term strategy of the school is to be achieved.

Sean McKeown
Executive Headteacher

Aileen Bates
Chair of Governors 

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Our Vision: ‘Building Community, Inspiring Learning’

Mission:

​We will enhance opportunities, enjoyment, and outcomes for Silverwood pupils by:

• Providing each pupil with a first class education in a safe, supportive environment that promotes integrity, motivation, and excellence in learning.
• Providing pupils with an inclusive, broad, balanced, and appropriate curriculum to reach their full potential.
• Teaching every pupil as an individual, providing learning journeys that cater for their different needs and abilities.
• Welcoming and encouraging the interest and participation of parents/carers, Governors, and other members of the community into Silverwood.
• Providing equality of opportunity for all pupils by promoting tolerance and respect for individual differences, abilities, needs and beliefs.
• Encouraging pupils to care for themselves, each other, their community, their environment, and to develop self-esteem and positive values.
• Providing a programme of first rate professional development that enables staff to enhance their skills to meet the individual needs of all pupils.

Our vision is supported through our deeply held school values:

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Silverwood 5 Year Strategic Objective

• Education - Further improve outcomes for children and young people through effective safeguarding and excellence in the quality of education.
• People and Team Development- Recruit, retain and develop high quality staff.
• Community - Develop a thriving and inclusive school community that fully engages with families as well as local and wider communities.
• System of Excellence - Support and advance the Wiltshire System of Excellence.
• Finance and Resources - Maintain and improve a financially viable, sustainable, and ethically driven school.

Strategic Objective 1: Education

To further improve outcomes for children and young people through effective safeguarding and excellence in the quality of education

• .Embed a culture of curriculum ambition, first-rate teaching, and high expectations for every individual, within a safe and nurturing environment.
• Provide a diverse and innovative curriculum to ensure consistency, stretch, breadth and progress.
• Provide opportunities to inspire pupils to experience and develop interests outside the classroom.
• Provide pupils with meaningful opportunities to understand how to be responsible, respectful, active citizens who contribute positively to society.
• Curriculum leaders lead a subject network capturing the strands of subject knowledge and pedagogical development.
• Embed a consistent approach to assessment for all levels of need underpinned by a common assessment cycle.
• Create a forward-thinking culture of digital innovation to empower, enrich and extend learning and communication.
• Celebrate personal development by inspiring pupils to demonstrate school values.

Strategic Objective 2: People and Team Development

Recruit, retain and develop high quality staff

• Become the school of choice for highly qualified, talented, and forward thinking staff capable of inspiring pupils in their respective fields.
• Support staff will benefit from a comprehensive induction programme followed by professional development via the relevant professional body or provider.
• Coach and develop new and existing leaders to support them in leading their teams and people in pursuit of educational and business excellence.
• School defined academic, finance and business leadership roles ensure there is a clear structure and alignment of development and performance criteria.
• Continue to establish a programme committed to the well-being of all staff, supporting a positive, healthy, and motivated team.

Strategic Objective 3: Community

Develop a thriving and inclusive school community that fully engages with families as well as local and wider communities

• Become a strong platform for collaboration and innovation nationally. Provide opportunities to share and debate best practice as well as the national challenge of priorities within special educational needs.
• Provide co-ordinated approaches to supporting local school needs and meeting challenges such as joint recruitment campaigns with other schools.
• Develop a culture conducive to the positive mental health of the wider community.
• Supporting agencies are based at Silverwood and provide a seamless service to pupils and families.
• Engage employers and build relationships which result in pathway opportunities for our leaving pupils.
• Develop opportunities for our pupils while they are at school and after they leave by bringing together members of the Silverwood community.
• Engage with and contribute to social responsibility and sustainability throughout the school and beyond.

Strategic Objective 4: System of Excellence

To support and advance the Wiltshire System of Excellence

• Work as a centre of excellence to support Wiltshire’s SEND and Inclusion Strategy.
• Cultivate a leading reputation for offering high quality out-reach and training programmes, supporting pupils with SEND in mainstream settings to promote inclusion and improve outcomes.
• Provide high quality alternative provision to support mainstream schools, promoting educational excellence for vulnerable learners.
• Present expertise and experience on a local and national platform, at conferences, universities, and schools 

Strategic Objective 5: Finance and Resources

To maintain and improve a financially viable, sustainable, and ethically driven school

• Critically evaluate the leadership, management, and governance of the school to ensure exceptional outcomes.
• Maintain a compliant school that is financially viable and sustainable in every sense.
• Strengthen the financial health of the school to facilitate continuous investment in the learning environment and staff.
• Consider curriculum and finance together, so that they work in synergy, to provide the absolute best for the pupils of Silverwood.
• The school estate is an exemplary, innovative learning environment, safe and secure for all pupils, staff, and visitors.