Read about the benefits of rigorous self-evaluation, and how the termly cycle of school improvement based on the elements of Primary Stronger Management Systems (SMS) supports effective self-evaluation.
Benefits of self-evaluation
Rigorous self-evaluation makes sure that your leadership team and governors have a clear overview of your school, based on an accurate and evidence-based understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses.
The findings from your self-evaluation will identify next step priorities and inform your strategic development planning as part of your cycle of continuous improvement.
Self-evaluation using the school improvement cycle
The elements of SMS provide a framework for your school to undertake a termly cycle of school improvement. The cycle of analysis, action, evaluation and review helps your school to stay focused on those things that make the difference to outcomes for your children and achieve sustainable improvement. Each Element is as important as the other – only together do they support robust whole-school self-evaluation.
Annual review of attainment and progress
Once a year a review of attainment and progress takes place to inform the school self-evaluation process. This analysis helps identify strengths and key priorities to support pupil progress. Your analysis can include:
- transitional assessments
- attendance data
- whole-school tracking and mapping of attainment.
The single plan
The termly operational single plan is the mechanism to help you put your school's identified priorities into action. It details the next steps for the term including key actions, monitoring arrangements, success criteria and key milestones. The plan is reviewed termly to help your school evaluate the impact on all learners through analysis of tracking, mapping provision and resources.
Whole-school continuing professional development (CPD)
The single plan provides key opportunities for whole-school systematic CPD. This will include developing leadership for learning as well as teacher professional learning through classroom-based collaborative CPD. Identifying priorities for whole-school professional development is very powerful and helps to develop consistency of practice and learning and teaching.
Improving learning and teaching
The learning and teaching cycle of plan, teach, apply, assess and review is designed to meet the needs of all your children. Making sure this cycle is highly effective is key to school improvement. CPD helps staff reflect on current practice and make changes that support the progress of all learners. This can include focusing on:
- pedagogy for progression
- day-to-day assessment
- Quality First teaching plus Wave 2 and Wave 3 interventions
- curriculum, conditions, motivation and skills for learning
- the Primary Framework
- putting tracking into action in the classroom.
While CPD improves learning and teaching, monitoring the learning and teaching cycle also informs next step priorities, creating a two-way process.
Monitoring and evaluation and the review of attainment and progress
At the end of the term the school takes stock. Using evidence from monitoring it evaluates the impact of school improvement activity on attainment and pupil progress. This informs the review of the termly single plan. It helps identify strengths and next step priorities to start the termly cycle again.
An annual review of attainment and progress takes place to support the longer-term self-evaluation process.
