Self Evaluation Made Simple
Albert Einstein is reported to have said, “If you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it well enough.” I love this statement, as it drives at the heart of good teaching and leadership. However, all too often, in education, we tend to try to overcomplicate things. At this point, I would refer to the secondary school development plan that I read. It had twenty-six school improvement priorities, with the twenty-six stating: “Ensure we achieve all twenty-five action points previously mentioned”!
In the words of the late Kelly Johnson, the lead engineer at the Lockheed Skunk Works (a place responsible for the S-71 Blackbird spy plane amongst many other notable designs), “Keep it Simple Stupid.”
(KISS) This design principle states that the best designs and or systems should be as simple as possible for the user. Apple, for example, was a big advocate of this in all their products. When writing your self-evaluation, the same should be true: use the KISS methodology. Keep it simple, and don’t overcomplicate it. If you want to ‘KISS” it, then consider the following:
State your judgement using the Estyn writing guide and describe how you know it. Define what is next; for example, ‘Most pupils respond positively and purposefully to feedback. These pupils can communicate and effectively explain how they have made progress and the next steps in their learning. This results in solid progress. Evidence of this can be seen in their books and as a result of learning conferences. To further improve, we must ensure that this good practice is seen in all the AoLE, not just LLCs.
The length of your self-evaluation will vary depending on the complexities within your school. Remember, it is a self-evaluation summary, not a self-evaluation story. Keep to the point. Again, think KISS, and always write evaluatively. The simplest way to keep your summary short is to signpost to other sources of evidence, such as detailed evaluations of teaching, evaluation of pupil outcomes, CPD records, analysis of pupil groups, etc.
When looking at a self-evaluation summary, ask yourself the following questions:
Is it concise, clearly signposting evidence?
Is it evaluative rather than descriptive or repetitive? Use Estyn speak... “Nearly all are 90% plus.”
Is it a working document that is updated regularly?
Is it constructed collaboratively?
Is it closely linked to the Estyn inspection criteria?
Is it linked to the improvement plan?
Is it realistic?
Does it include Cameos as in the New Estyn Framework?
Where do I start?
Starting your SEF with an overview of your school's context is helpful. This will impact curriculum design, teaching, and assessment. It is also beneficial to provide information over time to indicate how the school's nature and context are changing. For example, what is the trend for eFSM pupils? Is this number increasing or decreasing? Or what are the delegated budget rates? If appropriate, the context should include the sentence: the school is a lead school for initial teacher education.
How do I make it collaborative and Collaborative?
There is no right or wrong way to write a SEF, but perhaps the best is to start with success criteria or rubrics of the requirements that schools will be judged against. Then what is required most is big sheets of paper, highlighter pens, post-it notes, and lots of post notes! Having a quality dialogue about where we are and the reality of our position in the Estyn framework is at the heart of great self-evaluation. Leadership teams can use the Estyn inspection criteria to identify their best fit, identify their evidence base to support their judgements and define their next steps in terms of improvement. At RLC, we have developed the following criteria, which are available In the self-evaluation made simple, as seen below. It enables school leaders to compare the relevant descriptors for the four grades where applicable and organise the grade descriptors against clear headings. In our latest programme, “Self-evaluation Made Simple”, Huw Duggan gives several ways that, as a head, you can workshop meetings with staff and governors to make your SEF writing process much more engaging and collaborative. Having undertaken this task as a leadership team or staff member, you can be sure that all staff will better understand where the school is on its journey and will have greater clarity about the new common inspection framework.
Remember your SEF's key message and self-evaluation process: Keep it Simple, Stupid. (KISS) At RLC, we support you through all your schools' self-evaluation processes.
Continue the Conversation
If you would like to hear more about Huw’s upcoming training, please get in touch. We still have limited access to our Autumn term two programmes. We are developing online training, which will be available by the spring term. You can purchase a copy of the digital book Self-evaluation Mande Saimple for 60 pounds and make your Sef writing a breeze. To buy this, follow the link. Alternatively, Huw can run SEF writing workshops with your staff and governors.
