View from the classroom View from the classroom
How The Polesworth School used performance management software to help meet the challenge of an impending inspection
M
aura Favell, Head of School at The Polesworth School discusses how performance management software helps her school meet the challenge of an impending inspection and assists others within its Community Academies Trust. The Polesworth School is a larger than average phase-two academy in Tamworth, Staffordshire, with approximately 1500 students aged 11-18, over 100 teaching staff and over 130 non-teaching staff. In 2007 it was rated Outstanding by Ofsted. Pupils gaining five or more GCSEs, including English and Maths, reached an all-time high of 65% in 2013. We were concerned that the next visit by Ofsted was imminent so we implemented an online performance management solution called BlueSky Education to ensure the school is ‘inspection ready’ when notification arrives.
The Community Academies Trust In a drive to share best practice and address local pockets of under-performance, Polesworth joined forces with neighbouring primary school Birchwood to create The Community Academies Trust (CAT) which now includes Dordon Primary School and Wood End Primary School. Further schools are set to join the CAT within the next few months and the plan is to implement BlueSky across them all to enhance consistency and ensure that they too are ‘inspection ready’. Each school will nominate a member of the leadership management team (LMT) to take responsibility for BlueSky and together will ensure that the process of evaluation is consistent across the Trust. Secondary Executive Head Teacher, Philip Hamilton, working alongside Primary Executive Head, Ed May, play an active role in the Trust. My remit is to ensure standards are maintained at Polesworth.
20
www.education-today.co.uk
Challenges
Upon joining Polesworth as Deputy Head (School Self-Evaluation) one of my first challenges was to update the paper-based Performance Management procedures. The process in place was not consistent and did not allow staff or line managers to easily track progress in relations to targets set. I realised that keeping track of the progress made by the school’s 245 staff would present a significant challenge. I discovered the solution when I attended the Association of School and College Leaders’ Annual Conference and saw a live demonstration of BlueSky Education, an online performance management and CPD tool for schools.
I needed a system that could manage staff performance, empower individuals to take ownership of their progress, support whole staff analysis and provide detailed evidence for Ofsted.
January 2015
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44