3 SEF's in five years,
then no SEF, then 3 SEF's in a year!
No wonder Headteachers are frustrated.
So, the challenge is how to produce the necessary 'two page SEF', deemed most desirable by some Ofsted inspectors, that contains everything you want (or need) to say about your school. It is highly appropriate that inspections should focus on the educational capability of the school rather than a documentary synopsis, but Headteachers can be forgiven for thinking that a two page SEF might leave them short changed.
Of course, not all Headteachers are pressurised into producing this rather brief overview of such a complex, dynamic and unique establishment; but some are and many are rightly concerned about how they can be expected to dance to several tunes at any one time.
Our approach to supporting schools therefore attempts to meet the challenge head-on.
If the first stage of engagement is to present a two page synopsis then so be it; but that same synopsis must be 'expandable' in order that when questioned, the Headteacher can drill down into the detail and provide as much evidence-driven evaluation as may be necessary. Essentially, we enable schools (and that means everyone within a school community) to record all of their contributions to school improvement in such a way that the detail builds the bigger picture. Once a school achieves this, the bigger (two page) picture can be produced, secure in the knowledge that it is built upon solid foundations - foundations which are accessible at the click of a button and which demonstrate whole school contribution and robust, evidence-based evaluation at all levels.
Of course, this can all be done on paper; but paper based systems aren't sustainable, they don't support sound succession planning and ultimately they cost a lot more in terms of finance and stress.
In these times of knee-jerk changes in regulation, doesn't it make sense to have one, all-encompassing system that is driven by the need to lessen the impact of those changes?
