The SEF is Dead - Long Live the SEF ADVICE TO SENIOR LEADERS ON THE FUTURE OF SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION

The Proposed Ofsted Inspection Schedule Four main elements  Achievement  Teaching  Behaviour and safety  Leadership and Management + SMSC – integral to all judgements It is necessary and important for schools to recognise this in their self-evaluation

Task A Discuss with a partner (5 minutes)  How long is your SEF?  Who wrote it?  When did you last use it? Refer to it?  When did a teacher/T.A./governor/crossing patrol...refer to it?

Task A Group discussion to establish overall picture (and the reason why so many SEFs remain as ‘archive’ than active/dynamic working documents) - 10 minutes One of the key messages of the course is to render ‘SEF stress’ redundant

The SEF The government have requested Ofsted to ‘ditch’ the SEF To reduce the bureaucratic burden on schools  Schools are now more familiar with self- evaluation  SSE has become a very effective aspect of reviewing performance

Timescales  Lack of clarity for the timescale for the new direction for SSE and review  The intention is that schools will develop systems tailored to individual needs and circumstances.  The SEF will on line for the remainder of the 2011 school year

SSE Review Policies/Procedures  Schools should develop individual SSE review policies and procedures  The focus for the schools should be on school improvement – not as preparation for inspection, but with this as a consideration  The SEF could be used to assist this process – although the SEF has never been mandatory

A Suggested SSE Format 1.Introduction – School Achievements and Context 2.Areas for Whole School Development 3.Progress in Previous Inspection Key Issues 4.Achievement – Attainment and Progress 5.Teaching – Key Strengths / Areas for Development 6.Behaviour and Safety 7.Leadership – Key Strengths / Areas for Development 8.Overall Effectiveness – A School Summary

Section 1: Introduction Summary of the school’s achievements A few words capturing strengths and weaknesses and, where appropriate, taking account of the school’s context

An example  Mugshot is a good school and has many strengths, that offer a firm basis for future improvements towards its stated aim of excellence. The recent 2010 inspection identified an improving trend that is moving the school towards outstanding However, writing has been identified as an area for particular focus

Introduction (2)  Relationships throughout the school are very positive.  All pupils enjoy coming to school and this is reflected in the very high levels of attendance.  The leadership team has made realistic evaluation of the school and what needs to be done to improve it further.  Pupils are happy, safe and well motivated – Year 6 talk enthusiastically about their time at school

Introduction (3)  The large majority of teaching is at least consistently “Good”, and there are examples of excellent practice.  Whilst pupils find the curriculum engaging, the school is introducing a rich thematic curriculum to inspire, motivate and enthuse the pupils to higher levels of achievement.

Section 2 Areas for Whole School Development

1. Improve standards in writing across the school to equal those standards in Reading and Mathematics.  Introduce rigorous strategies to monitor the quality of writing both in KS1 and KS2.  Provide greater opportunities to practice and extend writing across the broader curriculum (eg other subjects)  Monitoring writing standards  Enhance staff confidence in teaching writing through appropriate CPD

2. Ensure that pupils are given challenging targets in English and mathematics and understand their next steps in learning.  Ensure that all staff understand what makes “Outstanding” teaching, and its impact on successful learning.  Use “Outstanding” teachers within the school to coach and mentor other staff towards ambitious targets.  Place improving teaching at the heart of Performance Management that allows the SLT to measure improvement in teaching through clearly identified steps.

3. Ensure the curriculum is creative and engaging, whilst supporting the development and acquisition of core skills in English, Maths and ICT.  Introduce a rich, creative, thematic, curriculum in Autumn 2011 that enthuses and motivates pupils and staff, whilst ensuring that the core skills in Literacy, Numeracy and ICT are practised and applied in other subjects.

Section 3: Progress in Previous Inspection Key Issues  Add some detail showing the impact made since the previous inspection on the key issues  It is most likely that issues raised in the previous inspection report would dovetail with the new framework headings  Tell the story convincingly with evidence of improvement

Section 4: Achievement Present a summary picture of school attainment and progress:- Attainment  Historic and current attainment – Y2 and Y6 in English, Maths, across a range of subjects and for different groups, particularly SEND  Support with evidence from RAISE, FFT, and internal data – identify trends etc. Evaluate concisely – do not repeat RAISE data

Achievement Progress  Historic and current progress data – For Y2 and Y6  In-year progress for other age groups.  Quantity and quality of current year work – what progress does this show (all year groups)? E.g. Do pupils have challenging targets for English and maths and are these evident and annotated in their books – do they know their targets and are they being met?  Future progress – Sound, robust and accurate current data allows the school to predict reliable future progress.

Section 5: Teaching Example Our latest monitoring showed that of the 20 lessons/parts of lessons observed  20% were outstanding,  70% were good  10% were satisfactory.  (Of those that were judged satisfactory two were close to the boundary for good and two close to inadequate). Followed by Strengths and Development areas in Teaching

Section 6: Behaviour and Safety Introduction (example): ‘ Behaviour is close to outstanding through the school because pupils see learning as exciting and challenging’ Include following aspects in commentary:-  Exclusions  Disruptions  Understanding rules etc  Taking responsibility  Awareness of being safe  Results of surveys etc

Section 7: Leadership Introduction: (example) ‘Leadership is outstanding because of the sustained impact on standards and improvements made to teaching and the impact this has had on learning and improved standards’’ Followed by Strengths and Development Areas in Leadership Strengths: (examples)  The leadership team offers a good blend of experience and expertise  Staff morale is high as evidenced in our surveys

Leadership Area(s) for Development: (example)  Drive up the proportion of good, to outstanding teaching  Ensure that the areas for improvement, identified in the consistency of assessment, tracking and challenging targets in one or two year groups, are addressed and monitored by SLT and MLT.  Sustaining and monitoring the drive for improving standards in writing.

Section 8: Overall Effectiveness Information from Sections 1 – 7 can be used to provide Ofsted with a succinct oversight of the quality of education in the school through an evaluation of overall effectiveness This could be updated twice a year (and shared with parents)

Overall Effectiveness This evaluation sets out the ‘big picture’ and points to additional evidence available at the school. Precise grades for each of the inspection schedule judgements are attached at the end of the report (see example of Overall Effectiveness report and the Ofsted Inspection Schedule judgement sheet– included as a separate document)

TASK B Read section 2 and 3 of each document – SSE summary and New SEF for Mugshot Primary To what extent do the school’s priorities for improvement (2), reflect those of the previous inspection (3)?

New SEF The SSE Summary Sheet provides the framework for your SEF The judgements and evaluations identified on the summary can then be developed with greater, relevant detail and translated into the New SEF template designed by Prospects This will include the summary of Overall Effectiveness As Section 8

NEXT STEPS Linking the NEW SEF to the SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

School Improvement Plan This should be succinct Focused on key areas for development identified in the SEF Translates the key evaluations from the SEF into the School Improvement Plan (SIP) Template

SIP Introduction The Overall Effectiveness (Section 8) of the SEF provides the Introduction to the School Improvement Plan (SIP Section 1) A seamless link between SEF and SIP

Task C Using the blank template provided, record an issue about achievement at your school and then develop this across each strand of the evaluation schedule Compare your draft with a partner.  What works well?  What is difficult to record? Group discussion.....

The PIB Remember that the PIB will summarise very concisely the strengths and areas for development in your school It will identify between 3 and 5 key areas which are either strengths or in need of development. It will allow you to provide a clear, robust account of your school

Task D Use the PIB (Guidance) and PIB (Example) to complete one aspect in the PIB (Blank Template)