Impact case study database

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The underpinning research has conceptual and instrumental impact, developing a new shared, deep understanding that has influenced policy and practice of why schools in predominantly coastal, rural and ex-industrial areas have failed to thrive in England. Educational Isolation is a transformational concept that has reach and significance. It has changed policy and practice at a systems, school and individual level to benefit government agencies, schools, teachers and students by targeting schools for support that have limited access to resources caused by location:

Ofsted: Contextualised inspections

Ofsted’s more recent focus on educational underperformance of vulnerable children in coastal towns led to recognition of the underpinning research. Professor Ovenden-Hope was invited to present the keynote address to South West HMI (Her Majesties Inspectorate) in September 2018, to develop understanding of the concept of Educational Isolation across the Inspectorate. This, in turn, had instrumental impact as it ‘influenced how educationally isolated schools are perceived within Ofsted’, with the concept considered at ‘an early stage of the development of the new Education Inspection Framework (EIF) published in 2019’ [ 5.1]. The EIF increased the emphasis on curriculum quality, and Ofsted carried out ‘deep dives’ into subject areas, with ‘over 11,000 deep dives…in state-funded schools’ made so far [ 5.2, p.9], indicating the reach of the research. The significance of the research is shown as ‘HMI consider the context of educationally isolated schools and report according to the new Framework’ [ 5.1] . ‘Inspectors are often recognising the challenges that these schools face’; for example, ‘inspection outcomes show that schools with deprived intakes are more likely to be judged outstanding for the effectiveness of leadership and management than schools with less deprived intakes’ [ 5.3]. Thus, educationally Isolated schools’ non-traditional, creative approaches to planning and delivering a high-quality, rich curriculum are now positively recognised by Ofsted [ 5.1]. Further, Ofsted uses discussions with school leadership in schools found to be ‘Inadequate’ to enable headteachers to achieve this goal [ 5.1].

Thus, the underpinning research beneficiaries extend beyond Ofsted to reach every educationally isolated school, school leader, teacher and pupil in England, because Ofsted ‘ …enhanced their inspection work in such schools; by extension, it has also led to nuanced changes in how inspectors respond to underperformance in these schools in their communications with them and in the reports they produce’ [ 5.1] There were 21,100 Ofsted visits and inspections in 2019-20 (first year of new EIF), there will be more in 2020-21, demonstrating reach and enduring connectivity.

Multi-Academy Trust: Structural organisational change

The CEO of a 19-school Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) with coastal and rural primary schools spread across Cornwall was aware of the challenges for school improvement due to the combined effects of socio-economic disadvantage and rural/coastal isolation. This prompted interest among the leadership team in the underpinning research and led to conceptual and instrumental impact via an understanding of Educational Isolation applied to their schools. The research informed a structural organisational change, with reach throughout the MAT, via a new grouping of schools by ‘place’ to account for geographical remoteness, socio-economic disadvantage, and cultural isolation and ‘directly led to the adoption of our current hub model’ in 2019 [ 5.4].

The new hub school model demonstrates the significance of the research, enabling the MAT to achieve more for its students and staff [ 5.4] by improving efficiency, accountability, communication, and collaboration. The MAT’s CEO states this change ‘enabled effective monitoring across schools within the Trust’ and better opportunities to ‘discuss issues and concerns, share solutions locally, take significant concerns to the larger organisation’ [ 5.4]. It also enhanced staff’s access to resources. Sharing of staff development and physical resources across educationally isolated schools within the MAT both alleviated these schools’ limited access to them and ensured training was more successful and cost effective [ 5.4]. Sharing of teachers within hubs during lockdown allowed for a longer rotation pattern, resulting in increased wellbeing among teachers and students [ 5.4]. The underpinning research also led to an increased focus on teacher recruitment and retention within the MAT: they now understand how crucial developing, supporting and retaining teachers is to overcome Educational Isolation through school improvement. Thus, ‘from September 2020…we have at least one student [teacher] teaching in each school’ in order to develop a pathway for NQTs into the MAT [ 5.4]. The MAT, its 19 schools, the leaders, teachers and students are beneficiaries of the research through improvement in practice, of practitioners and in policies adopted.

International and national policy: Understanding conditions for a high-quality workforce

The research has had conceptual and instrumental impact at policy level internationally in how to retain teachers to sustain a high-quality workforce in educationally isolated schools. In December 2018, the University of Queensland made a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training, Australia, that cited the analysis of RETAIN [3.2] and recommended RETAIN as an effective Early Career Teacher Support Framework for policy change [ 5.5, p.2] in support of measures that were later introduced to improve conditions for recruiting and retaining a high-quality workforce for Australia. This demonstrates reach into Australian schools and significance to governments, schools and teachers internationally.

Further conceptual impact and national influence is demonstrated through the 2019 House of Lords Select Committee report for Seaside Town Regeneration (2019) [ 5.6, ch. 4, para. 154,156], which made the following recommendations to government citing evidence from the underpinning research [ 3.4] presented by Prof Ovenden-Hope: ‘the Government undertakes a bespoke review to examine what can be done ... to attract teachers to seaside towns and communities and to incentivise healthy levels of retention’,** and ‘launches a targeted investment and improvement programme for both primary and secondary schools in coastal communities’.

Further reach at local and regional school level is illustrated by the headteacher of two schools in Cornwall, Trenance and Foxhole, who came early to Educational Isolation research. The headteacher had participated in CPD delivered by Professor Ovenden-Hope based on the underpinning research, and her schools were selected for the RETAIN project. Following initial success in applying the research in practice, she asserts that Educational Isolation and the later RETAIN research led to conceptual impact, contributing to an understanding of how best to retain teachers and, when applied, capacity building impact resulting in significant benefit to the school and its pupils. ‘In the past, the school struggled to retain their teachers; now they stay’ [ 5.7]. Further, the underpinning research was used in Trenance’s successful application to become one of 34 national English Hubs in 2018 and has extended school reach through its use in enabling them to support 150 schools across Cornwall to improve the quality of their teaching. The research continues to have conceptual impact, informing practice and opportunities and ‘was fundamental’ to their current application to become the Teaching School for West Cornwall [5.7]. ‘This research has made a difference to me as a headteacher seeking to understand the challenges of my schools, my staff and my pupils and has allowed me to make changes that improve their experiences, opportunities and outcomes.’ [5.7]

Education organisations: Targeting resources for social equity

The Talent Tap, a London-based national charity working to close the social mobility gap through providing ‘access to work experience opportunities, support and networks’ to talented, disadvantaged school leavers [ 5.8], became aware of Education Isolation in 2019 through their own research. According to the CEO, understanding of the concept ‘[resulted] in the honing of our message, a policy shift to focus on coastal and rural social mobility coldspots in England and the development of a specific set of criteria to select the schools we work with , together with the associated work of raising awareness of disadvantage due to Educational Isolation and providing concrete opportunities to overcome it’ [ 5.9]. The Talent Tap have demonstrated the capacity building impact of the research by targeting their externally funded provision at educationally isolated schools, and this reach has provided opportunities for the benefit of young people that would not have been available otherwise.

In July 2020, four Cumbrian-based educational organisations jointly responded to a call for evidence by the Parliamentary Education Select Committee, bringing to their attention Educational Isolation and the role of place as a limiting factor in accessing resources. The conceptual impact of Educational Isolation is reflected in the organisations’ understanding of the underpinning research [3.2], which directly informed their response to the impact of COVID-19 on disadvantaged pupils in their communities [5.10, pp.1-2]. Many of their recommendations addressing current post-COVID-19 challenges target educationally isolated schools for specific training, networking opportunities and funding for outreach work [5.10, pp.7-8], directly benefitting schools, school leaders, students and their communities and shows regional school-level reach.