1. school self-evaluation and improvement toolkit
Developing a national
school self-evaluation
and improvement
toolkit
An update for inspectors

2. Developing a national school self-evaluation and improvement toolkit
estyn.llyw.cyru
estyn.gov.wales
Developing a national school self-evaluation and improvement toolkit
Outline of this session:
Context for this project
Structure of this project
Key messages
Emerging findings, definitions and principles
Implications for inspection work
Thematic focus summer term
Way forward

4. Structure of the project
Steering group
Working group
Stakeholder group

5. Provisional timeline & activity to date
Summer 2018
Steering group set out strategic course for the project
Establish working and stakeholder groups
Ongoing consultation
Additional thematic focus
Purpose, principles and definition
Begin to shape the toolkit
Autumn/Spring – trying out and further consultation
– training and roll out

6. Progress so far

7. The working group
The working group met for the first time on May 17th The following slides summarise the views in relation to:
the strengths and areas for improvement within school improvement processes
the roles of external agencies in supporting school improvement

8. Things to stop doing Working for an external audience
Focussing on the quality of paperwork
Making self-evaluation an event (rather than an ongoing process)
Focussing on a narrow range of data
Measuring everything and trying to measure the unmeasurable
Analysing all aspects of a school’s work at all times
Separating self-evaluation from other school improvement processes
Making self-evaluation the domain of senior leaders only
Rushing activities and making ‘snap’ judgements
Judging everything
Making things appear better than they are
Feeling inferior as a part of the peer review process

9. Things to start doing Change the culture around school improvement
Evaluate for your school and your learners
Be frank, open and honest
Allow time for processes
Attach importance to wider measures to reflect learners’ progress and the school’s journey over time
Improve continuity between schools
Develop a robust and constructive regime of peer review

10. The role of external agencies
All external agencies should:
Communicate effectively
Improve collaboration to support a national culture of improvement
Provide consistent messages
Have consistent expectations
Provide clarity regarding strategic direction and initiatives
Provide clarity regarding accountability measures and their use
Contribute to re-branding school improvement processes

11. Produce an overarching purpose for the development of effective school improvement processes:
To ensure that pupil opportunities and outcomes - in line with the 4 purposes - are at the heart of all processes
To secure consistency and alignment with all other layers of educational reform (e.g. National Mission, SLO, inspection, LA/RC support) and develop a shared understanding and common language
To develop processes that are sustainable and manageable
To establish a culture of openness, honesty and reflection, where processes are for support and improvement rather than to label or condemn
To measure what we value rather than just valuing what we can measure
To enable all schools to build capacity and share good practice within and between schools

12. Create a definition for effective school improvement processes
The involvement of the whole school community in gaining a thorough understanding and knowledge of the school in order to maximise the learning journey for all.
A series of continuous activities used to reflect fairly and accurately on existing provision and performance in order to identify next steps for improvement and secure the best life chances for learners in Wales.
A constructive and inclusive process of listening that ensures a shared understanding of where a school is, in order to prioritise actions that have a positive effect on the progress and wellbeing of each child.
Powerful, honest, manageable processes based on the views of all stakeholders that has learner experience at its heart and enables a school to know what needs to be done to improve and what support is available.

13. Focused on achieving the best for all pupils
Create a set of principles to guide our work in creating a national toolkit for effective school improvement processes
Focused on achieving the best for all pupils
Aligned with the work of all other institutions/initiatives
Flexibility and responsiveness to school context
Clearly linked to professional learning
An ongoing process and not a ‘snapshot’
Sustainability and manageability
Transparency and honesty
Useful and worthwhile
Bilingual approach throughout
The process should be created by those who use it.

14. Implications for inspection
NIA mindset and principles
Stakeholder engagement
Modelling effective evaluation
Focus on processes
Documentation

15. Report writing Processes not paper
Impact of processes on improving leadership, provision standards and wellbeing

16. The self-evaluation report, which was prepared before the inspection, provides a clear judgement on standards, wellbeing and attitudes towards learning.
The school’s self-evaluation report provides an open and honest evaluation of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement.
The self-evaluation document provides an honest picture of the school’s current situation, although it is too descriptive at times.
However, school priorities do not have specific enough timescales and responsibilities for actions and funding arrangements are not clear. This limits their potential impact.
Lesson observation records do not give a clear enough indication of the impact that teaching makes on pupils’ progress.
Records of work scrutiny focus too much on compliance with the school assessment policy and do not provide enough detail about the standards of pupils’ work.

17. Self-evaluation processes are developing well
Self-evaluation processes are developing well. The analysis of information about pupils’ performance is rigorous. Leaders make good use of this information to identify important whole-school improvement priorities and to keep progress against these priorities under review. Self-evaluation processes draw on a good range of first-hand evidence, such as observations of lessons and the scrutiny of pupils’ books. Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Middle leaders often check whether other staff comply with recent initiatives, but they do not evaluate enough the difference that these strategies make to pupils’ progress.
Improvement planning arrangements are effective. Leaders implement improvement initiatives and manage change successfully. For example, effective staff training and the sensible re-organisation of arrangements for grouping pupils have led to improved progress in developing pupils’ reading and writing skills.

18. The challenge of opportunity