Belfast Education and Library
Board
Governors’ Programme
School Development Planning
Northern Ireland Educational Change
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Performance Review Staff Development
Statutory School Development Planning
Self-evaluation
Entitlement Framework
SENDO
NI Curriculum
Teaching and Learning
ICT (Learning NI)
Demographic Trends
Every School a Good School
School Development Planning
Themes for the session
What is it?
Why do it?
What is the role of Governors?
The School Development Plan
Should answer these questions –
Where are we now?
Where do we want to be in 3 years time?
How are we going to get there?
How will we know if and when we get there?
The School Development Plan
 Sets out the school`s curricular and other intentions
 Is a good way to recognise the school`s achievements
 Provides a context and a framework within which the school
can plan for improvement
 Helps direct change rather than react to it
 Assists the school in identifying its strengths and
weaknesses
 Enables the school to harness the collective expertise of the
staff and promote team working
Why A School Development Plan?
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To make change manageable
To direct change rather than react to it
To give structure to the process
A central mechanism for coordinating planning
To establish where the issue is going
A means of establishing priorities
To focus energies specifically
To ensure progression and continuity
Aids effective teamwork
Procedure for identifying roles and responsibilities
To give all the opportunity for involvement and ownership
A method of recognizing achievements
Purpose
• To outline the process that a school would
undertake to produce a School Development
Plan
• The process is embedded within DE’s ESaGS
Policy and supported by DE School
Development Planning Guidance, 2010 and
ETI’s Together Towards Improvement
• The School Development Plan should reflect
the language of school improvement
An Inclusive Process
• “The principal encourages others to undertake
a leadership role and supports a culture of
self-evaluation in which there is a sharing of
responsibility for monitoring and evaluating,
from classroom teacher level to senior
management level”
• “There is appropriate consultation and
involvement of others in the SDP process,
including governors, pupils and parents”
DE School Development Planning Guidance, 2010 p3
The role of the Board of Governors
Actively involved with the school professionals who
will have drawn up the draft plan
Bring an objective view to the discussion of the
plan
Ask the questions which others have not asked
Keep an overview of the process as it rolls out
Contribute to the evaluation stage
Department of Education Regulations
• Publication of plan – a copy of the plan will be provided
for each member of the Board of Governors, the principal,
teachers and non-teaching staff.
• A copy of the plan will be provided for the Education and
Library Boards for the area or in the case of Catholic
Maintained Schools (CCMS)
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Revision of School Development Plan
The Board of Governors will revise the plan every 3 years
Or no later than 6 months after an inspection
The School Development Planning Cycle
Stage 1: What is our
vision for our school?
Stage 5: Take action
and review progress
Improving
outcomes
for all
pupils
Stage 4: What must
we do to make it
happen?
Stage 2: How well,
based on evidence,
are we doing?
Stage 3: What more do
we want to achieve in 1
to 3 years?
Requirement 6
Every School a Good School
Requirement 6
Embedded within a consultative process...
• 6. The arrangements made by the Board of
Governors to consult and take account of the
views of pupils, parents, staff and other
persons or bodies in the preparation of the
plan
Every School a Good School
Requirement 6
Self-evaluation should be informed by the effective use of performance and other
data, including inspection evidence, and by consultation with pupils, parents and
staff, to identify those aspects of school life that are successful, and those where
improvement is required. (Ref: DE School Development Planning – Regulation &
Guidance Circular 2010/22)
• SDP guidance pg 3 it is extremely important that the individual/group leading the
preparation of the SDP involves teaching and other staff and consults with pupils
and parents, and any others involved in the life and work of the school.
• Pg 3 pt 3 There is appropriate consultation and involvement of others in the SDP
process, including governors, pupils and parents.
• Pg 7 Stage 2 How well are we doing? Qualitative data will include … input from
teachers as reflective professionals and feedback obtained from consultation with
pupils, parents, staff …
Every School a Good School
 Pg 25 … it is a reflective process, involving all the
staff (and, in the best practice pupils, parents and
the community)…
 Are procedures in place to facilitate meaningful
dialogue between BOG, staff, parents and pupils?
 Are parents and pupils consulted – e.g.
surveys/questionnaires.
 Is there an effective school/pupil council? Do
members of the pupil council report to the BOG
and vice versa? Are parents represented on the
BOG – are their views and opinions take on board?
ETI Perspective
January 2012
SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING 2010:
Key points:
Key requirements of the Mandatory “Regulations”:
 setting a school’s priorities and aligning resources (human and financial)
over a 3 year period,
 annual review of SDP
 raising standards in literacy, numeracy and ICT
 emphasising the importance of ethos and context
 emphasising the importance of self-evaluation and evidence of and for
improvement
 outlining an improvement process and cycle - consultation, publication,
monitoring, review
 emphasising the key role of governors
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“…and evaluation”
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A statement and evaluation of the ethos of the school.
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A summary and evaluation, including through the use of
performance and other data, of the school’s approach to—
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learning, teaching, assessment, and the raising of standards of attainment
among all pupils;
providing for the special, additional or other individual educational needs of
pupils;
promoting the health and well-being, attendance, good behaviour and
discipline of pupils;
providing for the professional development of staff;
managing the attendance and promoting the health and well-being of staff;
promoting links with the parents of pupils at the school and the local
community, including other schools, the business community and voluntary
and statutory bodies; and
promoting the effective use of ICT, including its use to support learning and
teaching, continuing professional development and school leadership and
management.
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…school’s self-evaluation”
Identification of the areas for development, which
shall be informed by the school’s self-evaluation
and include –
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the school’s key targets for the period of the plan;
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the planned outcomes, including planned outcomes in learning,
teaching and raising standards of attainment,
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the actions to be taken to achieve the outcomes and final dates for
completion;
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the financial and other resources available to the school; and
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the arrangements for the Board of Governors, in consultation with
the principal, to monitor, review and evaluate progress made against
the school development plan.
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Action plans and indicators (of success)
• Action plans need to be specific, precise, address the cause
directly
• “The work of improvement is learning” – first hand evidence
• linked to a measurable indicator – “how do you know”?
• Consistent flow – not just annual
“Data allows you to check if you were right”
Plans – both slim and SMART
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Evaluate, don’t (just) describe
• Much less descriptive language – too long-winded
• Much more evaluative language – short executive
commentary
• Refer to your evidence sources (rather than including
in the SDP file)
• Give the evaluation headline: did it show cause?
“Why”?
• Be precise and specific – What did it tell you?
• Data raises questions: evaluation should answer
questions raised.
• Vague language gives away poor evaluation
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An enabling action isn’t an outcome
• Distinguish between an enabling action and
an outcome
• Doing the enabling action is not an outcome
– minutes of meetings/photos are not evidence of
an outcome
• What was the purpose of the enabling action
• “So what”?
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Strategic planning and evaluation
• Actions and causes group strategically
• Many of the enabling actions aim to a
common purpose
– But most are reported in isolation
– Rather than showing the strategic relationship
• Related actions in Literacy Plan, the SEN plan,
the Extended Schools plan, the ICT plan….
– But are hardly ever connected
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Summary - FLOW
• Slim, SMART plans
• Follow the data: ask and answer the question
• Evaluate, don’t just describe
– Why?
• Refer to the evidence
– How do you know?
• Enabling actions aren’t outcomes
– So what?
• Group causes/actions strategically
• Report historically.
• Be open, frank, specific and precise
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Why?
So what?
How do you know?
• Self-evaluation belongs to the individual school
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