Camberwell Park Note of Visit; March 2013
EXTERNAL CONSULTANT NOTE OF VISIT
CAMBERWELL PARK SPECIALIST SUPPORT SCHOOL
DATE OF VISIT: 26 March 2013 TIME OF VISIT: 9.30am – 3.00pm (including writing of note of visit)
STAFF INVOLVED: Mary Isherwood
OTHERS INVOLVED: Joy Selley (Parent Governor) for the morning session
EXTERNAL CONSULTANT: Chris Beswick
THE SHAPE AND PURPOSE OF THE VISIT
The agenda for the day was agreed beforehand with the headteacher. The morning session was used to:
- review and discuss the school’s arrangements for school self-evaluation in terms of their robustness and fitness for purpose, drawing on consideration of key documents, practices and policies as the starting point;
- explore a governor’s perspective on the school’s self-evaluation arrangements, including the helpfulness of reports and evaluations presented to the governing body in enabling governors to offer challenge to school leaders, based on useful knowledge of the school’s work.
In the afternoon, the external consultant reviewed with the headteacher the latest draft of the self-evaluation summary document. Although this is primarily a tool for the school designed to identify future priorities, on this occasion the focus was on agreeing the best wording for a shortened version of this document that will be made available to Ofsted inspectors at the time of the school’s next inspection. In the last hour or so of the visit, the external consultant drafted this note of visit.
SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS AND POINTS FROM DISCUSSION
RECOMMENDATIONS
- To continue to keep the scope and breadth of self-evaluation activities under review. At the moment the arrangements seem manageable but it will be important, if more are added in the future, that consideration is given to activities that might need to cease. The important, ‘acid’ test will remain, “Does this activity yield evidence that is important and are we convinced that undertaking the self-evaluation activity over time is resulting in tangible and measurable improvement?”
- To work with governors on developing some short cameos or mini case studies that illustrate the impact of their work. Governing body minutes provide useful documentary evidence of ways in which governors operate, offer challenge and hold school leaders to account. It is worth considering whether some further illustrations of the impact of the governors’ work could be put together. The case studies in the Ofsted national report on governance, Learning from the Best, published in 2011, provide some example of how these could be written. The case studies for Camberwell Park could then be published on the school’s website and also shared – and ideally swapped – with other governing bodies amongst the school’s partners.
- To consider how the school’s improvement plan format might be modified in order to facilitate questioning by governors on the impact of the activities in the plan. The parent governor, who very helpfully contributed to discussions for the morning session of this visit, made the point that her current focus tended towards asking questions around completion of the scheduled activities in the plan rather than questions in relation to the impact of those activities. To a large extent, this is facilitated by the headteacher’s clear reports to governors that have a sharp focus on standards, quality and impact. However, there is merit in re-visiting the school improvement plan format, as well as in considering how best to demonstrate – for governors and others – the links between that plan and the school’s self-evaluation summary document. At the headteacher’s request, this will be one aspect of the summer term session with the external consultant, when the next set of school improvement priorities will be discussed.
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