Stage 3: Review
Review
It is open. Is it doing what it was built to do, and what do we change?
Cohorts shift, expectations change and staff teams grow, and a provision designed for one group of children is often running for another within two years. A review looks at what has actually happened, what is working, and what you should change now.
Review
Specialist base
Is the base doing what it was built to do?
Before the visit I read your records and register. On the day I spend a day watching the base run and talking to staff. Then the review: what has changed in the cohort, the expectations and the staff team, what is working, the challenges, and where to change course.
This is the easiest piece of work to say yes to, and it is often where a longer piece of work starts.
Scope and limits
Not coaching and not an inspection. No grades and no scores. I do not advise on where an individual child is placed, though I do help you decide who a provision is for and its entry and exit criteria. I give no architectural, structural, fire safety or door hardware advice: the brief says what the provision has to do, and your architect, fire safety adviser and estates team decide how to meet it.
What it covers
- The records and register, read beforehand
- A day watching it run and talking to staff
- What has changed, and what is working
- Whether it is still the provision the brief described
- The challenges, and where to change course
- The decisions in front of you now
What you will have at the end
- A short note with three priorities
- A follow up call
- A clear view of whether the base is doing its job
Review
Special school or alternative provision
Is the school growing the way it was meant to?
The same review for a school rather than a base, looking at the roll, the staff team and the cohort against the growth plan, and at what must be true before the next step. Most useful in the first two or three years, when the roll and the cohort change fastest.
If you want someone alongside you after the review, we scope that as days at the same rate. That is a conversation for when the review is done.
What it covers
- The roll, staffing and cohort against the growth plan
- A day or more watching it run
- Where the cohort is more complex than forecast, and what that means
- What must be true before the next step
- The decisions in front of you now
What you will have at the end
- A short note with three priorities
- A growth plan brought up to date
- A follow up call
Questions
Questions people ask.
Is this coaching or an inspection?
Neither. It is a review of a provision that is already running: what has changed, what is working, what is hard, and what you decide now. No grades, no scores, and nothing that imitates an inspection.
What happens on the day?
Before the visit I read your records and register. On the day I spend a day watching the provision run and talking to staff. Then we review it together. You get a short note with three priorities and a follow up call.
Our base opened last term. Is it too early?
No. The first year is when a provision drifts fastest, because the cohort arriving is rarely the cohort that was planned for. A review in the first year is often the most useful one.
Can you keep working with us afterwards?
Yes, if it would help. That is a conversation once the review is done and we both know what the provision needs, scoped as days at the same rate. It is not something to buy up front.
What if the review says the provision is in the wrong place?
Then I will say so, in writing, with what I would do about it. That is the point of asking someone from outside.
Let's talk
Twenty minutes is usually enough to know whether this would help.
If it would not, I will say so, and point you to free support instead.
Book a 20 minute call (opens booking page in a new tab)