Oxfordshire Quality Schools Association (OQSA)

OQSA is the long-standing arrangement with Oxfordshire schools for services to support school improvement.

Purpose

OQSA is the long-standing arrangement with Oxfordshire schools for services to support school improvement.

The main focus of OQSA continues to be in the area of school staff training and development, particularly to support effective curriculum delivery and to help improve teaching and learning, thus raising standards of achievement.

During the last year we have run more than 500 courses, delivered many hours of consultancy and met with hundreds of teachers and support staff in Oxfordshire schools. Evaluations show the positive experience of participants in OQSA activities and its place in helping to raise standards and provide effective professional development.

OQSA continues to provide an excellent service to schools throughout Oxfordshire.

Services provided

We offer training courses and consultancy in flexible forms to meet schools’ needs – from central courses to networks to tailored local training programmes. OQSA is committed to providing support and training for school improvement in ways that best meet the needs of teachers, support staff and schools. This might be through courses selected from the central programme, portfolio of network meetings, and training and support at local level, in any combinations that suit a school’s needs at a particular time.

The OQSA portfolio of courses will continue to develop and expand, and in future will include courses provided by the Children and Young People’s Service as well as those through the Raising Achievement Service. The ‘Every Child Matters’ agenda will be important alongside the raising achievement and improving quality focus of OQSA courses and consultancy.

The OQSA consultancy service offers a broad spectrum of consultancy and is delivered by advisers plus internal and external consultants or associates. This service offers schools the opportunity to work in a flexible way with ‘expert’ professionals. Our highly qualified and experienced consultants can work with either individuals, teams or the whole school and may include working with the Headteacher and staff, support staff, teacher groups, governors, parents and the local community.

The OQSA consultancy activities continue to diversify; giving schools access to a wider range of consultants and associates than ever before, alongside advisory staff. Every attempt will be made to ensure that all requests for assistance are successfully met. To ensure and enhance consultancy provision OQSA is working in partnership with Four S (Surrey) and BASS (Birmingham Advisory and Support Service) to widen the portfolio of consultants available to Oxfordshire schools, as well as with staff from schools in roles as providers and consultants.

The OQSA brokerage role expands as needed to help schools access as wide a range of good quality consultants and trainers as possible. This is especially important in relation to the increasing demands for both management and curriculum development opportunities and training. OQSA has been successful in brokering subsidised deals for schools with external trainers and we look to develop joint regional activities with other Local Authorities and Higher Education providers.

If an OQSA member school wants a service we will arrange it.

1. OQSA Membership

The OQSA membership is for those schools wishing to forward plan their investment in staff development. OQSA gives schools a high level of individual support provided by skilled advisers and consultants. For Oxfordshire schools this is informed by in-depth knowledge and understanding of your school, based upon the monitoring and review which the Raising Achievement Service (RAS) undertakes or oversees across all schools. RAS staff work closely with School Improvement Partners (SIPs) in looking at schools’ needs. We can then provide or broker an increasingly flexible package of consultancy and training, so that the services we provide are clearly focused and matched to your identified needs.

As a member you are entitled to the following:

• advice on planning Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and professional learning focused on meeting self-evaluation and school improvement needs , through courses or consultancy, particularly from CPD advisers.
• access to professional development and advice from experienced professionals.
• reduced rates for consultancy and published courses.
• priority service delivery.
• brokerage advice and consultancy services information.
• OQSA publications at a reduced rate.
• OQSA course prospectus ( which can also be downloaded from the intranet).
• telephone and email advice (up to 15 minutes on a given item).
• access to a confidential career development helpline for staff.
• one or more consultancy days as part of the membership fee (to be used within the subscription period).

 Member schools are encouraged to ask for and to access the support they need in a flexible way, enabling headteachers, staff and governors to consider the level and focus of their investment, how they want to invest in staff development and curriculum development, and if they wish to work in partnership with other schools.

Please note that any request for a change in a school’s commitment made for a given year must be submitted in writing to the OQSA Board, to be considered at their next meeting.

Partnerships of schools are encouraged to pool some OQSA consultancy credits for shared use.

2. OQSA optional 'pay as you use' service

Some schools wish to access support as and when a specific need is identified. Schools can therefore opt for the OQSA ‘pay-as-you-use’ route, which allows the purchase of individual components from the overall service. Examples of costs are as follows:

• consultancy from OQSA staff/associates: £550 per day or £300 per half day
• other services and support by negotiation
• access to all OQSA courses at non-member rates (see below)

The full range of consultancy services is available at the higher rate for schools to purchase as needed. These might include:

• Pre & post OFSTED support
• SEF review and advice
• Supported self-evaluation for coordinators and departments
• School reviews
• Performance data analysis
• Action-planning, monitoring and evaluation
• General staffing and personnel advice
• Support for interviews and appointments
• NQT support (non-statutory elements)
• INSET for partnerships
• Support staff training and development
• OQSA publications (full cost)

Performance standards & monitoring quality

In order to provide the highest quality service to schools, OQSA ensures that QA processes and procedures are strictly adhered to. Quality is assured by:

• The purpose and principles of OQSA being known, understood and monitored.
• Appraisal of centrally employed staff and regular external consultants working for OQSA against OQSA published standards.
• The monitoring and evaluation of provision through the OQSA Management Board.
• An explicit complaints procedure.
• Evaluation of all forms of provision by both providers and purchasers.
• Ensuring that the OQSA provision and providers have demonstrable regard to the Code of Practice for good value CPD, issued by the DfES (reference 0059/2001) and agreed by the OQSA Management Board.
• Continuous improvement in line with Chartermark standards for customer service.
• The work and activities being provided by:
  • School improvement advisers, advisory teachers and associate staff.
  • Seconded or leading teachers from member schools.
  • Member schools.
  • External associates and consultants working with OQSA.

Charges

The basis for OQSA charges and costings was agreed through consultation with headteachers and stakeholder groups when OQSA was set up. It is kept under review by the OQSA Board, plus the QuEST Business Board and the Schools’ Forum. The model, including the school size bandings, is based upon enabling and encouraging schools to be members of OQSA, thus ensuring some continuity and stability in provision and providers of the service. In 2008 the OQSA Board members have agreed the minimal increases in costs.

OQSA membership subscription

 (NB consultancy time to be taken in units of at least ½ day)

Course fees

• OQSA Members (subsidised course fee rate) - £80 per day, £45 per half day, £20 twilight
• Pay-as-you-use service course fees - £130 per day, £80 per half day, £40 twilight
• Early Years Courses – these are now mostly grant funded and entitlement training, often separately advertised through the ‘Step into Training’ web address, www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/earlyyearstraining.

Consultancy costs

• OQSA Members - £400 per day, £200 per half day
• Pay-as-you-use service - £550 per day, £300 per half day

Alternative providers of this type of service

Use the link below for an extensive, updated in 2007, Directory of Training and Consultancy Providers (for curriculum and management and leadership).

• Directory of Providers (.pdf format, 704Kb)

Some hard copy Directories (with the original entries) are also available on request to OQSA member schools.

A one-page summary leaflet (.pdf format, 90Kb) is also available.

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