CPD in association with
As the end of
the school year
approaches,
thoughts Time for
are turning to your
performance management
targets for the year – and
what targets you will be
reflection
set next year. Deputy head
Jo Smith offers her advice
T’S THAT time of the year again. Already.
I
You cannot quite believe year 12 are already
embarking on their AS exams, or that study
leave season for years 11 and 13 is upon us.
The old SATs slot has come and gone and
you probably feel like you are just pausing
for breath.
If you feel you have done almost all you can for
your exam groups and are looking to redress the
balance of your attentions on your lower school groups,
then you also probably realise it is about time to revisit
your performance management targets for the year.
Many schools these days use the early INSET
days of the academic year to both review last year’s
performance and to set new targets for the up and
coming year. Even though we all swear to avoid it
each year, we still let the spring term pass in a flurry
of coursework completion, intervention initiatives,
and assessment without even a glance back at our
performance management targets.
Perhaps I do you and your colleagues a disservice.
Perhaps you read this feeling understandably pleased
because you know your targets and those of the people
you line manage were so focused on whole-school
development there is no way you have been able to
avoid them.
The best targets of course are those which focus
on success in identified priorities, and now is a good
time to see if the seeds you sowed at the start of the
academic year have germinated nicely and will flourish
into healthy successes.
If like many of us you are struggling to remember
just exactly what you agreed to way back in September
and need to put this article and your coffee cup down
and dig that document out of your file, here is a quick
guide to making the most of this term to make sure your
next performance management meeting leaves you
smelling of roses.
An interim review
Maybe make performance management the topic
Perhaps you work in a school where an interim review of a department meeting. Of course you cannot discuss
meeting with your line manager is scheduled as part of individual or personal targets, but it is a good way of
the process. focusing colleagues on your department improvement
Trying to capture
This is designed simply to provide you with time and plan or key priorities. Look especially for CPD requests
space to look back at your targets, see how close they that were made by reviewees.
are to being met, and see if there are any interventions Again you do not want to get to September and
that need to be made. realise that a tightening of the CPD budget has prevented
A data-related target, for example, might depend on a hard-working colleague from reaching a performance
hearts and minds
the success of a few key students in one of your classes. management target.
Are they on track? Is there anything you can still do to
ensure they are as well prepared as possible for final
The observation
assessments? Do you need to wrack your brains for the It is highly likely that the performance management
Dot Struthers
your staff to achieve your School Improvement
Plans, Curriculum Plans, and Year Group Plans.
final push before it is all entirely up to them and you process in your school will necessitate an observation
can do no more? of one of your lessons. shares her
How to create a personal vision
Perhaps you have a pastoral target. Have you been I remember getting frustrated each year as by the First, imagine you are in the future, say July 2010,
meaning to get round to this one, or does it look like time I remembered to invite my reviewer in, or arrange
thoughts on
and you are doing a presentation to your staff on the
things are going well? Perhaps it is now that you can observations of those I line managed, the exciting and performance of your school, or key stage, or year
collect some evidence to support your gut feeling that innovative teaching of my exam classes was done
your target will be met. Perhaps reminding yourself and some of my best practice of the year had gone
the importance
group, and reflecting back on what happened.
Second, write down in one sentence what your
of a continual personal development target means that unnoticed.
you now have some time and space to cascade what Pre-empt this by looking ahead to a lesson that
of creating a personal
personal intention or mission statement was for the
school. For example, to create an environment where
you learnt at that day’s INSET you said you needed you have spent lots of time planning and which will our teachers felt proud of their work and our children
to go on. demonstrate quite clearly to your reviewer that you
vision that will inspire and
were hungry to learn.
Avoid getting to September before you remember are working hard on those skills you highlighted at the Then complete the following sentences:
that you always meant to turn the information you beginning of the year.
motivate your team
• We had a reputation for…
gleaned into a contribution to the staff teaching and If your target was to work on effective plenaries, • Our lessons were…
learning newsletter. then perhaps you might like to invite your reviewer • Parents thought…
What if your school does not operate a schedule of into several shorter lesson sections, or ensure they come
Creating a sense of purpose
• Our children felt…
interim reviews? There is nothing stopping you from into a lesson that acts as plenary for a whole module Put simply, it is about knowing what you want to • Our curriculum was…
informally running your own. Dig out your targets and of work. achieve and how you will achieve it. And it is about • The attitude was…
consider what needs to be done in order for you to be By making the invitation yourself you already have sensing what success looks and feels like. Equally • Our teaching skills…
prepared for your next annual review. the chance to let your reviewer see you at your most though, it is about identifying the challenges you will • We encountered a few problems and…
A quick look back through your mark book will organised best. face and knowing how you will deal with them. • We believed that we…
reveal the evidence you need to collate for a data target. A good (or outstanding!) observation at this point A vision provides clarity and focus and when it is • We achieved…
Jot down a list of where you can collect evidence of of the year can stand you in good stead for any written down it seems to act like a magnet aligning You will be able to formulate a clear vision from
success and put some PPA (planning, preparation and opportunities that arise in school, and believe me you your energy and actions and demonstrating how all this process, but remember creating it is not enough.
assessment) time aside over the next week or so to can dine out on your success for a while with your the bits fit together. It needs to be owned by your team – not just you.
collect it. senior leadership team. You will get a sense of ownership, pride and Spend time sharing this and building on it,
If you are a line manager, you might like to check You could of course bury your head in the sand satisfaction if people can measure their progress as they ensuring it is challenging, exciting and flexible.
not only your targets but those of the colleagues you and wait until next year to hastily gather your go along, and because people like to win, it is a healthy
are a reviewer for. A gently nudge in the right direction evidence. I would suggest you will have enough to thing to create a small amount of competitiveness. • Dot Struthers is a management development
will be enough for some, while others might appreciate do next September! SecEd A vision also provides a platform for thinking consultant. If you want to get a free copy of her
your flagging up targets and making suggestions on about where next, and identifying a future focus. It monthly CPD newsletter go to www.merechats.co.uk
how to reach them while they still have some time to • Jo Smith is deputy headteacher at Long Field School is your personal vision that will inspire and motivate and register
do something proactive. in Melton Mowbray.
SecEd • May 14 2009 13
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