A thread on self evaluation

Every summer term the wider SMT get together to self evaluate our provision. For the last few years we have used this toolkit from Eire. https://assets.gov.ie/25262/f4a6f2a21e1c4c26a55234511085d5a3.pdf
It takes us a couple of meetings to really get into how things are in our school 1/

2/ we are honest & it is surprising sometimes how one person or one situation can change our judgements on ourselves. This framework is great, it does cover all the OfSTED criteria, but not using their awful headings or broad, and imo secondary based, statements. I take this,

3/ and turn the weaker points into our school development plan. In an ideal world I’d do this around March time so we could link our budget to it, and then tweak for any SATs issues (but tbh we should know what those will be and have planned for them anyway). But our LA,

4/ and therefor our governors want the SDP done in September. If I’d this painful and always have, but it’s not a battle I’m prepared to pick. The LA do a categorisation visit in term 1 and if you’re not deemed good enough, or of concern (because you haven’t done your SDP for eg)

5/ then you get LA visits all year through. I picked the assessment data battle, refusing to give data for all year groups and targets for all year groups all through the year. I just refused and asked for the statutory instrument that says I had to do it. That was 5 years ago,

6/ and they have changed ALL their assessment data practices now. But this practice is one that keeps the wolf from the door, so I comply.
Now last year, I kept on top of my SDP, some things will roll on, some things will be put on hold some things were completed. But I feel

7/ there’s more to it this year. There’s so many issues thrown up from the pandemic and lockdown that I don’t want to bolt them to my SDP from last year. Some of those priorities have now changed, staffing as changed. We’ve chatted as an SMT about how we did in lockdown and what

8/ we’d do differently next time, or what will cath or practice now. But I want that documented, for governors to see, yes for the LA, and we’ll be in the drafted window soon so yes, for them too.but most improbably for our community. We didn’t get it totally right, and I want

9/ them to know that if this happens again, we’ll do it better. Or that what we’ve learned from this is that thing else is a priority for their children.
I need to self evaluate in a great big SMT meeting with my great SMT what happened, and what implications that has for us

10/ moving forward. So self evaluation for me is not a form for ofsted. It is a process of self discovery leading to self evolution and self improvement. It is looking at your naked body in front of the mirror and deciding to lose a few pounds, or have your hair cut differently

11/ and not because someone else says you have to, but because you want to do it for yourself.
It’s just that this year, our mirror has been replaced with one of those wobbly ones from the house of fun, so our usually process does not apply.
The lack of response to my tweet

12/ yesterday asking if anyone had anything they could share, made me think “ oh shit, I’m just making work for myself here, everyone else is doing a bolt on”. And the import syndrome set in.
But bugger that. My school needs a long hard look in the mirror to determine exactly

13/ what is what, what’s brilliant and what’s not. And I can’t do that on my own, I need the SMT round me: HoS, SBM, phase leaders, SENDCo. And we need a structure to our conversations so I’ll be de Simon it myself.
And yes, I’ll share it. But please read this thread first,