Medway Leaders Course 2014 A quick romp through the exciting world of School Self Evaluation – What is it? Why do it? Who does it? What does it look like? and School Improvement /Development Plans - Where do they come from? Why do we need them? What do we do with them? Can we help you find the answers? On occasion we do feel a bit like Mark Twain!

Many researchers have already cast much darkness upon this subject, and it is probable that if they continue, that we shall soon know nothing at all about it” Mark Twain

What on earth does SSE actually involve? Demystifying, defusing and sharing understanding: What is it and what is it for? Contributors & contributions. Who is involved in it? How do I fit in? What should I be doing? What can I use to help me to do it well? What critical information do I need to gather and analyse? How can I do what I have to do with no time to do it? How can I articulate and share my findings? Discuss. Speedy definitions and thoughts. In twos. Each pair takes a different question form above list. Allocate these. Feed back ...challenge and discuss. Write up on flip chart.

Key Point: As leaders you must be able to plan, prioritise & communicate important messages clearly. What is wrong with this communication?

You need to know what is important for your school and for your part / role in the school. You need to reflect constantly and plan carefully.

A leader engaging in ad hoc or unplanned monitoring activities is poor practice and of very limited value. It is akin to taking a quick snapshot- Often what you see by this may be interesting in itself – But it does not give you the full, detailed and true picture.

Process and Content The effectiveness of SSE is all about planning and process. What would help you to decide what you should plan to investigate or audit? How can you work smartly? Use your time wisely. Consider triangulating information from a range of monitoring activites to give a secure picture. Eg Lesson obs, planning review, book scrutiny...pupil discussions. Parent views. Pupil voice. Staff subject audit. Data of attainment and progress. Impact of interventions. If time and if needed.. Brain storm what you could look at/ use to find out about the quality of teaching and learning in Writing in your school. Write on flip chart.

How much detail and what do I need to include in the SSE? What is the key purpose of the SSE document(s)? What information should be included in your SSE? How do you use your evidence effectively?

Trawling for information for SSE What important information do you need to consider? Who should you question? Who are involved? Who must be given a voice? List key information sources on flip chart. Keep ensuring they know WHY specific information is important to take into account. List sources of data, monitoring that is evaluated. Trends spotted. Voice of every section of stakeholders must be gathered....eg. Pupils. How? Why?

& always understand what children are telling us? Pupil Voice Do we really listen & always understand what children are telling us? For example....

A five year old boy told his teacher he'd found a cat A five year old boy told his teacher he'd found a cat. She asked him if it was dead or alive. "Dead." She was informed. "How do you know?" she asked. "Because I pissed in its ear and it didn't move," answered the child innocently. "You did WHAT?!?“ the teacher exclaimed.

"You know," explained the boy, "I leaned over and went 'Pssst!‘ and it didn't move."

KEY MESSAGE: Find ways of listening to children…. They often have good ideas and hold very strong views!

Ideas ... And views

The SSE: what it can look like Contents Sections Shared headings How are judgements made? What if things look dire?

to the point, evaluative and very specific. Remember: Keep your final SSE document to the point, evaluative and very specific. Always follow the brief.

The content of SSE document Headings: Headings come from Ofsted framework for inspections: ...what schools have to provide, the quality required, judgements to measure against.

SSE Use it to show clearly that you know exactly where you are and how you are doing. Use the Ofsted criteria. Plot your outcomes and provision against these specific judgements. Say why you are where you are and what needs to be done next to move your school up to the next category. This is how it feeds directly into the SIP

The School Improvement Plan What is the relationship between SSE and SIP? What goes into the SIP? What criteria are used to prioritise and select the content for the SIP?

The School Improvement Plan. Key areas and contents.... Objectives need to be S M A R T

Short Task for Homework 1. Write a working definition (in the context of L&M) of the following terms: Observing Monitoring Evaluating Assessing Auditing Reviewing Analysing 2. Share this task with your staff: Do their definitions match yours in the context of L&M? Do you have a whole-school shared understanding of them? Write this up; include what you have learned and note down the implications for you as a leader and manager. Bring copies of your definitions to our next session. Bring notes to feedback to the group here about what you learned in doing the second part of this task with your colleagues. We will share them!