1. Every School a Good School: A Policy for school Improvement
Governors Programme
April 2012

2. Where has the need for ESaGS come from?
Every School a Good School
Launched April 2009
Where has the need for ESaGS come from?

3. The challenges we face
High performance at the top end – but huge tail of underachievement, particularly affecting those from disadvantaged backgrounds
Position slipping in international context
Significant variations between schools that appear to share similar characteristics
Increasing evidence of differential outcomes between boys and girls and some evidence of worrying differentials between young people in controlled v maintained schools.

4. The challenges...continued
A fifth of children moving from primary to post-primary without achieving the expected levels of literacy and numeracy
Just over a quarter of young people in non-selective post-primaries achieving 5 good GCSEs inc English and Maths
Quality of provision not good enough in a third of primary schools
Room for improvement in a third of lessons in post-primary schools
Leadership and management unsatisfactory in 10% of post-primary schools

5. The Context for Belfast
Huge variations in performance across similar schools
Pockets of high social disadvantage
Population continuing to shrink
The grammar factor in post-primary
40% of non-selective post-primary schools in city have fewer than 500 pupils
BELB schools have higher than average performance against core GCSE measure but BELB residents have lower than average performance

6. Performance in Mathematical Literacy (top 30 OECD countries)
Iceland 506
Scotland 506
Austria 505
Slovenia 504
Germany 504
Sweden 502
Republic of Ireland 501
OECD AVERAGE 498
France 496
Poland 495
England 495
Northern Ireland 494
Slovak Republic 492
Hungary 491
Luxembourg
Chinese Taipei 549
Finland 548
Hong Kong-China 547
Korea 547
Netherlands 531
Switzerland 530
Canada 527
Macao-China 525
Liechtenstein 525
Japan 523
New Zealand 522
Belgium 520
Australia 520
Estonia 515
Denmark 513
Czech-Republic 510

7. Performance in Reading (top 30 OECD countries)
Korea 556
Finland 547
Hong Kong-China 536
Canada 527
New Zealand 521
Republic of Ireland 517
Australia 513
Liechtenstein 510
Poland 508
Sweden 507
Netherlands 507
Belgium 501
Estonia 501
Scotland 499
Switzerland 499
Japan 498
England 496
Chinese Taipei 496
Northern Ireland 495
Germany 495
Denmark 494
Slovenia 494
Macao-China 492
OECD AVERAGE 492
Austria 490
France 488
Iceland 484
Norway 484
Czech-Republic 483
Hungary 482
Wales 481

8. Characteristics of a successful School (ESAGS)
Child- centred provision
High quality Teaching and Learning
Effective leadership
A school connected to its local community

9. Child-centred provision
A school culture of achievement, improvement and ambition exists – with clear expectations that all pupils can and will achieve to the very best of their ability
There is a commitment to involve young people in discussions and decisions on school life that directly affect them and to their views

10. High quality teaching and learning
A broad and relevant curriculum is provided for the pupils
An emphasis on literacy and numeracy exists across the curriculum
Assessment and other data is used to effectively inform teaching and learning
Rigorous self-evaluation is carried out by teachers and the whole school
Teacher reflect on their own work and the outcomes of individual pupils
Education outcomes compare well when benchmarked with other schools

11. Effective leadership
An effective SDP in place, providing clear and realistic targets for improvement
School leaders demonstrate a commitment to providing professional development opportunities for staff
Teachers are given the opportunity to share in leadership of the school
School leaders monitor and evaluate effectively school outcomes, policies, practice and procedures and the SDP itself

12. Community Links
Good relationships between the school, parents and the wider community that it serves
The school and its teachers are held in respect by parents and the local community
The school uses its involvement in particular programmes (eg Extended Schools) effectively in meeting the needs of the community and nearby schools
The school works closely with other relevant statutory and voluntary agencies whose work impacts on education

13. Quality of teaching and learning
In the most effective lessons, the main enabling factors are:
Teaching which is challenging, interesting and engaging and focuses on making the learning real and relevant for the pupils
Effective linkages across the curriculum which build on the learners’ experiences,
The effective and skilful use of questioning and discussion between teacher and learners

14. What underpins ESAGS?
Improvement driven from within the school - leadership
Centrality of high quality teaching and need to support this (McKinsey report)
Focus on schools as part of their communities
Intervene where provision is unsatisfactory (provide support)
More direct interventions if there is no evidence of improvement (hope this will be rare)

15. The future under ESAGS is
now

16. What does ESaGS mean for the school

17. about School Self Evaluation
Big Messages
about School Self Evaluation
HIGHLY important!
It’s all about feedback informing action
Child-centred
Active data
Keep it simple
Ask the right questions, in the right way
Select the best information
Without action it’s expensive hot air
New NI policy (April 2009)
According to the evidence, how are we doing…and what’s next?
Securing better outcomes
Easy to collect lots of inert data
Minimum data with maximum impact
It boils down to using critical questions to investigate practice (and outcomes),
…selecting the information which will best help you answer these questions,
…and planning/implementing actions

18. School Self-Evaluation leading to Improvement
The Process….. and the Critical Issues:
Focus on essentials first, and most often…
Classroom practice
Leadership & Management
How are we doing?
How do we know?
What’s next?
Asking the right questions - not dodging the critical ones
Selecting and capturing the information needed to answer them!
Prioritised, stepped changes in a shared plan
Clear focus on learning
Checkable outcomes
Implementation timeline

19. School Self-Evaluation leading to Improvement
The Process….. and the Critical Issues:
Action!
Bringing plans to life
Keeping priorities uppermost
Monitoring, problem solving, adapting
Summative review against predicted outcomes

20. ‘School self-evaluation and self-improvement… are at the heart of the policy. We believe that schools themselves, through honest and open engagement in self-evaluation, using effectively the wide range of data and information available to them, are best placed to identify areas for improvement and to implement changes that can bring about better outcomes for pupils.’
(ESaGS 2009)

21. Expectations of schools
Governors understand their role as critical friend, with focus on standards and improvement
Principal and management team work effectively with BoG to ensure effective performance against indicators in ESaGS
Culture of self-evaluation and self-improvement throughout the school, with focus on using performance and other data to identify areas for improvement
Teachers supported in their work to raise standards
High expectations set for every pupil
Parents and community welcomed into school

22. The role of ELBs
Accountable for effective use of resources by schools they fund
Expected to monitor performance of all schools in their area
Providing support to ensure sustained focus on improvement
Lead role in signing off and supporting action plans in cases where inspection finds provision to be less than satisfactory
Can request inspections if they have concerns
Partnerships key – must work with CCMS and also involve CnaG, NICIE and DE as appropriate

23. Expectations of ESA
Setting targets for improvements in educational outcomes – but maintaining a focus on other characteristics
Clear focus on high quality, responsive support for schools – what they need, when they need it
Working with schools to ensure a focus on self-improvement, encouraging self-evaluation and providing access to data and resources to support that process
Acting on the basis of inspection evidence to support schools where provision is unsatisfactory and to ensure that action is taken
Working with schools, with ETI and with DE to ensure that the actions set out in Every School a Good School are delivered

24. School Development Planning
Evaluation and Next Steps
Self Evaluation
School Development Planning
Learning & Teaching
Establishing procedure cycle
Track pupil progress through use of data
Collect, collate and analyse data
Whole school assessment strategy
Coordinator’s roles and resps
Prioritised 3 year plan
BoG role
Staff Devt and Deployment
Consulting with pupils & parents
Outcomes focussed

25. What sources of data do you have in the school at present? Workshop one
People’s views
Direct observation
Quantitative data

26. Sources of Rich Data Quantitative Data: Direct Observation:
Test results
Profiling responses to tests
Benchmarking
Baselining
Pupil Tracking
Value Added measures
Progress on prior levels
Individual pupil progress on meeting targets
School progress re the Literacy/Numeracy targets
Attendance
Exclusions/suspensions
Destination records
Direct Observation:
HOW
Pupil Shadowing
Lesson Observation
Videoing lessons
Exchange classes
Observe in pairs/threes
Team Teaching
WHAT
Pupils’ work
Reports to parents
Profiling pupils’ response to challenge
Teachers’ plans
Evaluations of plans
SDP/AP progress report
People’s Views:
Individual interviews
Staff
Parents
Group discussions
Working Parties/Teams
Key Stage reviews
Full staff reviews
Pupil Forum
Q’nnaires/Surveys
Written responses

27. What is the school’s current provision? Workshop two
Area
Evidence
Next Steps
Establishing a procedure cycle
Collect, collate and analyse the data
Coordinator's roles and responsibilities
BoG role
Consulting with parents and pupils
Outcomes focused
Staff development and deployment
SDP
Whole school assessment strategy
Tracking pupil progress
Evaluation and next steps

28. Implications and next steps