More about the SDSA


Formed in 2000 by central government as a school improvement organisation to support Leicester local authority, the SDSA has since broadened its remit to become a highly regarded leader of projects and partnerships across children’s services.

 

The SDSA is now a small but disproportionately effective organisation organised around a core team and a range of associate consultants. This combination of a project-managing core team and a flexible group of high quality associates secures good project outcomes for children, young people and our partner organisations every time.

 

These company arrangements provide SDSA with the necessary flexibility and capacity (both volume and quality) to deliver large projects rapidly. Although our turnover and employment data reflect our status as a small organisation, the company’s expanding work portfolio over ten years as an un-funded, not-for-profit organisation provides clear evidence of the capacity to deliver large scale activities. Recent contracts include local, regional and national work.

 

The strong SDSA company ethos as a no-nonsense, outcomes-focussed organisation is fundamentally important. A strong conviction for enterprising public service runs through all of our work to secure efficient, practical solutions.

Corporate status and values

 

The SDSA’s corporate status contains both trading and charitable divisions which enable us to serve support public services effectively. We operate on a not-for-profit basis and our charitable is able to re-invest back into the schools sector to support young peoples’ bright ideas.

 

The full company name, School Development Support Agency, is used less frequently nowadays as the company remit has broadened - but it still warrants explanation:

 

SCHOOL The SDSA was created as a school support organisation and this work still sits at the heart of the company. However we now have experience and expertise in work across the border range of children's services.

 

DEVELOPMENT The SDSA’s work is always focused upon improving future outcomes. We always seek to create conditions for the improvements of services for young people within the organisations that serve them.

 

SUPPORT The SDSA’s only endeavour is to operate in a supportive manner. We recognise that the success of work with children and young people lies in the hands of those close to the ‘front-line’ and we always developed our role with this in mind

 

AGENCY The SDSA is an agent of change and we aspire to re-create yeast-like properties where our role within the system, although at times imperceptible, leads to significant transformation.

Supporting self-improvement

 

The SDSA’s expertise and corporate values make us an ideal partner to support self-improvement within public service. Our ready acceptance that most improvement solutions are to be found within the interaction between organisations, leads us to develop a role within partnership working that is always seeking to build capacity for sector-led improvement.

 

Contracts and commissions: We are often successful in obtaining local, regional and national contracts for a range of improvement projects, or is directly commissioned to undertake specified work.

 

Networks and partnerships: We provide sensitive facilitation for a range of networks. The driving principle behind our approach is the acknowledgment that the expertise for quality and improvement almost always exists within organisations, but that leaders often lack the time to organise collaboration with their peers to extend learning between organisations. The SDSA’s work is to bring the right people together for an agreed purpose and to support their meetings to deliver specified outcomes.

 

Training and workforce development: A major area of SDSA’s expertise is our organisation of training and development, not only for those working in schools, but also for the wider children's workforce.

 

Contracts and commissions: We are often successful in obtaining local, regional and national contracts for a range of improvement projects, or is directly commissioned to undertake specified work.

 

Publications and products: We have created several significant publications and products in the course of our work. Many of these have been publicly-funded project outcomes and are made available through this website. 

What we stand for

 

The following principles and values are crucial to all of the SDSA's work:

 

Collaboration - because new possibilities emerge when ideas come together

 

Creativity - because experience improves when personal expression matters

 

Equality - because potential is wasted when unnecessary barriers remain

 

Participation - because life improves when people are shaping their own future

 

Conviction - because life has integrity when both hearts and minds are engaged

Who's in the SDSA team

 

To follow soon

Work with the SDSA

 

To follow soon

 
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