| PART 1: Self-evaluation
using performance indicators |
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| For information on the terminology
and structure of the performance indicators and advice on how to use them,
refer to pages 11-13 of How good is our school?. When working with
the staff development materials in Part 4 of this package for the first
time, it might be helpful to participants if the relevant pages of How
good is our school? (11-13) were photocopied for use during the activities. |
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| 1. Taking a broad view of equality and fairness |
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How good is our school? (page
14) indicates that an overview of issues should take place on a regular
basis. This overview should draw information, as appropriate, from the following:
- the headteacher
- groups of staff
- senior promoted staff
- staff giving an individual response
- individual departments or stages
- external agencies
- learning support and guidance staff
- pupils
- language support staff for bilingual pupils
- parents
- external agencies.
|
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| The overview will provide information
for a progress report on standards and quality. When taking a broad view,
concentrate on giving an overall answer to the question: How are we doing?. |
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| For example, when evaluating
ethos you might summarise your responses as follows: |
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| No. |
PI |
Themes |
How are we doing? |
| 5.1 |
Ethos |
- sense of identity and pride; equality
and fairness
|
Some progress has been made in creating a sense of fairness
and equal opportunity. |
|
|
The school's relationships with some groups in its community
inhibits the development of a positive and welcoming atmosphere for all. |
- pupil and staff morale and pupil/staff
relationships
|
The atmosphere in the school has strengths in a number of
respects but is not always relaxed and purposeful for some pupils. |
- pupil and staff expectations and use of
praise
|
The importance of praise as a motivating aspect of school
life is well understood and used appropriately with the whole school community. |
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| When you have finished, agree
an overall level for each performance indicator. You will be able to see
which indicators are assigned a level 2 or 1. You then need to ask if these
are, or should be, your priorities for developing better provision for equality
and fairness. You can take a closer look at these areas using the method
outlined in the following pages. You will then be able to formulate specific
targets for development, drawing on support as appropriate from the education
authority. |
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| 2. A Route to Equality and Fairness
- a step-by-step guide |
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| Thirty-three performance indicators
are outlined in How good is our school?. These PIs and their associated
themes are listed on pages 34 and 35 of that document. To help you move
from a broad view to the sharper focus of a closer look, below is a selection
of performance indicators and themes which are particularly relevant to
equality and fairness. |
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| You may wish to choose a subset
of these performance indicators and themes. Alternatively, should you wish
to apply different or additional performance indicators to evaluate equality
and fairness, please refer to How good is our school? |
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| No. Performance Indicator |
Selected themes |
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|
| 1.1 Structure
of the curriculum |
- breadth and balance across elements
of the curriculum
- integration and permeation
|
| 1.2 Quality of
courses or programmes |
- breadth, balance and choice
|
| 3.1 Quality of
the teaching process |
- quality of teacher-pupil dialogue
|
| 3.2 Quality of
pupils' learning |
|
| 3.3 Meeting pupils'
needs |
- relevance of the purposes and contexts
of teaching to pupils' experiences and interests
|
| 4.1 Pastoral care |
- provision for the emotional, physical
and social needs of individual pupils
|
| 4.2 Personal and
social development |
- development in pupils of positive attitudes
and personal and social skills
|
| 4.5 Effectiveness
of learning support |
- quality of learning support programmes
|
| 5.1 Ethos |
- sense of identity and pride in the
school; equality and fairness
- welcoming environment
- pupil and staff morale and pupil/staff
relationships
- pupil and staff expectations and use
of praise
|
| 6.1 Provision
of accommodation and facilities |
- sufficiency, range and appropriateness
|
| 6.2 Provision
of resources |
- sufficiency, range and suitability
of resources
|
| 7.4 Effectiveness
of leadership |
- professional competence and commitment
- leadership qualities
- relationships with people and development
of teamwork
|
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| In coming to a decision on your
choice of indicators, you may wish also to consider the following: |
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3.4 Assessment as part of
teaching
- for bilingual and less able pupils, to
consider the language used and the knowledge necessary.
|
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3.5 Communication with parents
(relating to learning and teaching)
- the themes here look at the quality of
procedures for communication, the quality of information about pupil
progress and about the work of the school. These would be important
for those parents who cannot understand English and require translations
of key documents and letters.
|
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4.3 Quality of curricular
and vocational guidance
- this could be used when considering and
countering stereotypical decisions, for example, of boys and girls,
of Asian and white pupils, emphasising positive images such as girls
in technology. The focus would be on the quality of guidance in preparation
for choice in education, training or employment.
|
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4.6 Implementation of SEN
legislation
- the focus here is on knowledge and understanding
of the legislation and related procedures and what these would mean
in practice.
|
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4.7 Placement of pupils with
special educational needs
- this would be important in the light of
the Commission for Racial Equality's report on bilingual pupils being
wrongly placed.
|
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5.2 Partnership
with parents and the School Board
- for schools with ethnic minority parents
or in areas of disadvantage, the focus here would be on responsiveness
of the school to parents' views, the efforts made to promote social
inclusion, links with community relations councils and racial equality
councils.
|
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6.6 Staff development and
appraisal
- the emphasis would be on the effectiveness
of staff development focused on social inclusion, for all staff, related
to cultural differences and tackling racism. Do staff have the understanding
and confidence to deal with harassment and oppressive behaviour as well
as being able to contribute positively to the richness of diversity?
|
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| In working with the 12 performance
indicators to be used in this pack, the issues raised above have been incorporated
within the 'features to look for' (How good is our school?
Part 4) which set the good practice we would look for (major strengths). |
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In the development
of an overall school approach to equality and fairness, there is
a need for:
- the incorporation of equality issues
in all areas of the curriculum
- a proactive approach to ensuring social
inclusion
- each school to play its part in an integrated
approach to tackling social exclusion
- equality issues to be discussed
and debated openly and constructively among and between staff and young
people
- the creation of avenues of 'safe' discussion
before a crisis builds up
- a recognition of the widespread nature
of racial harassment for all black and ethnic minority young people
- a whole-school approach to discussion
about racial harassment and discrimination, as well as sexual harassment
and sex discrimination, for example, use of assemblies for discussion
about racial bullying and name calling
- the removal of the 'suffer in silence'
taboo of racial and sexual harassment or discrimination
- the provision of positive support for
young people experiencing harassment.
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