The Local Authority's (LA's) Schools and Learning Service combines the work of the School Improvement Team (SIT) and the Governor Support Team (GST). 

The division brings together the work of School Improvement Officers, National Strategy Consultants, Advisory Teachers, Governor Development Officers and Statisticians whose common agenda with schools is the raising of standards and school improvement.

A major commitment of the division is to help schools in particular, and the Children's Services Directorate more generally, to meet the priorities and targets agreed in the Education Development Plan in the three key areas of:

• standards of achievement;
• the quality of teaching and learning; and
• the quality of leadership and management.           

All schools are equally involved, with the LA, in setting targets for improvement and all share a common interest in the dissemination of good practice.  However, another very important part of the responsibilities of the division is to work closely with those schools who, for one reason or another, are experiencing difficulties.  In other words, the duty of the LA is to intervene in inverse proportion to the success of schools. 

In addition the division offers advice and training to individual schools, teachers and governors through the DATA in-service programme  (use CCPD menu link to view), the Local Learning Network  (use CCPD menu link to view) and the Governor Development Programme.  Increasingly, we also offer tailor-made consultancy services and school-commissioned, school-based professional development programmes.  We are not, nor do we seek to be, monopoly providers of advice and support to Cumbrian schools.  We work in partnership with other organisations and providers - examples being headteacher conferences organised jointly with CASH and PHA; and management development programmes organised with St Martin's College.