Driving school improvement through professional learning and collaboration

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1 Driving school improvement through professional learning and collaboration

raini ment Leadership ogress Reviews bservations ust 60 Evidence Online CPL Live Learning Needs Driving school improvement through professional learning and collaboration 80% Objectives Consistent

2 raini ment Leadership ogress Reviews bservations ust 60 Evidence Online CPL Live Learning Needs Driving school improvement through professional learning and collaboration 80% Objectives Consistent 80% of school leaders say BlueSky helps them make informed decisions. ks Progression Work Scru Solution Collaboration Accountability As a school leader, I learnt that change in schools is only possible with the engagement of the staff. Moreover, that robust performance management, linked to professional learning, enables this change and is the vehicle for school improvement. Realising this was a need in other schools, in 2001, I setup BlueSky. BlueSky Performance Management fficiency Clarity Seamless Today, my aim to create innovative, clean solutions to meet your ever-changing needs still holds true. The key driver behind the software is encouraging engagement and professional accountability at individual level. Ensuring everyone understands their role in supporting the school to achieve its key outcomes of performance and achievement. Talk to my team today about how BlueSky can support your school. Denise Inwood, Founder and Managing Director Call: +44 (0) Self-Evaluation Best practice Value A02Tel: +44 (0) info@blueskyeducation.co.uk Web:

3 Endorsed by leading organisations and trusted by over 1,200 schools worldwide You can be reassured by our long and successful relationships with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and the National Association of School Business Management (NASBM). For both associations, BlueSky is the only staff performance, professional development and school self-evaluation software they endorse. The improvements BlueSky brings to the appraisal process are helping us to raise standards. Brian Fisher, School Business Manager, Wade Deacon High School BlueSky saves me and my admin team a huge amount of time and is therefore very cost effective. Jim Fuller, Deputy Headteacher, Dallam School We work with schools of all types and sizes and all over the world. Many of our customers have been with us for several years and every year, the vast majority of our schools renew their contracts with us. Our schools like how flexible BlueSky is and how they can tailor it to their needs or use it off-the-shelf. It s also easy to use and because it is all online, there s no impact on your IT systems. Meetings are more informed and reports for governors are easier to create. Cherryl Thomas, Professional Mentor for CPL, Neston High School 03

4 raini ment Leadership ogress Reviews bservations ust 60 Evidence Online CPL Live Learning Needs Objectives Consistent ks Progression Work Scru Giving school leaders the tools you need to lead and support the professional development of your staff Throughout the year, colleagues will log progress towards meeting their professional standards and objectives and identify professional learning needs in BlueSky. This transparency ensures no surprises for individuals or your leadership team. 71% 71% of schools say BlueSky saves their headteacher up to five hours every week. Solution Collaboration Accountability How BlueSky supports your leadership September BlueSky Performance Management fficiency Clarity Upload the quality assurance calendar and link to self-evaluation templates. Add team and whole school priorities and reflect these in school quality assurance audit and lesson observation forms. Publish your professional learning programme and tailor provision to groups such as, ITTs, NQTs, new staff and leaders. Staff can book, track and evaluate their professional learning all in BlueSky. Seamless October Moderate appraisal statements and objectives for fairness, consistency and challenge. Match the needs and expertise colleagues identify to bring more of your professional learning in-house. Create BlueSky Projects so that staff can access ongoing professional learning. November Upload work scrutiny and observations and review for quality of teaching across teams and school. December Collate scrutinies and observations into a team evaluation and organisation evaluation to review impact of CPL and to plan for further, personalised CPL. Self-Evaluation Aggregate team information to see how staff are progressing and where they need support. Best practice Value A04Tel: +44 (0) info@blueskyeducation.co.uk Web:

5 Use information from lesson observations to measure the impact of professional learning. Triangulate with department or team self-evaluation audits. February Complete mid-year reviews for appraisal and moderate for fairness and consistency. Upload further scrutinies and observations and see trends of improvement, linked to effectiveness of leading teaching. Praise and support staff as information from the mid-year reviews is collated in BlueSky and assess middle leader consistency and rigour. Undertake your staffing review and determine future staffing needs. March and April Understand if teams are on track to meet their priorities. May and June Use scrutinies and observations to review quality of teaching for school, teams and individuals and collate into team and organisational evaluations. Create team and organisation improvement plans for the year. Review the year s professional learning programme, including BlueSky Projects, by analysing impact at individual, team and school level. Give interviewees a BlueSky account so they can review themselves against their standards. July Evaluate the impact of professional learning, the self-evaluation audits and lesson observations to undertake a full review of priorities. Begin to formulate next year s priorities and professional learning programme. 05

6 raini ment Leadership ogress Reviews bservations ust 60 Evidence Online CPL Live Learning Needs Objectives Consistent ks Progression Work Scru Giving individuals the tools you need to take control of your professional growth and career progression As a teacher or member of associate or support staff, your BlueSky portfolio is an electronic and secure record of your entire career development. Throughout the year Use your BlueSky portfolio to reflect on your professional practice. Track progress and evidence towards meeting your professional objectives and record engagement and the impact of professional learning and collaboration. 90% 90% of schools say BlueSky engages staff in the appraisal process. How BlueSky supports you Solution Collaboration Accountability BlueSky Performance Management fficiency Clarity Evidence your practice and performance Reflect on your practice against relevant professional standards to prepare for setting objectives and planning your professional learning for the year. Record and manage your annual professional objectives. Build a portfolio of evidence, including observations and other self-evaluation records to demonstrate your practice and impact on pupils, colleagues and your organisation. Take a lead in your mid-year and annual reviews. Use your portfolio to support review conversations with your line manager and inform their recommendations for pay progression. Seamless Manage your professional learning and career moves Build your own professional learning plan to support you in meeting your professional standards and objectives. Record your professional learning to show the impact of each of the activities you have engaged in. Use your BlueSky records to exemplify your practice and support applications for new roles and promotions. Take your portfolio with you when you move schools and share relevant information with your new line manager to support your induction. Self-Evaluation Best practice Value A06Tel: +44 (0) info@blueskyeducation.co.uk Web:

7 Share, collaborate and connect Share your BlueSky profile and make yourself visible to colleagues in your own or other schools so you can work together in collaborative BlueSky Projects. Join Projects across the network of BlueSky schools locally, nationally and internationally to share ideas and resources to develop your knowledge and practice. Record and evidence the impact of collaborations such as coaching, action research and professional learning communities. 07

8 raini ment Leadership ogress Reviews bservations ust 60 Evidence Online CPL Live Learning Needs Objectives Consistent ks Progression Work Scru Helping middle leaders and appraisers to support and engage in the performance of your staff throughout the year BlueSky helps you to manage the complete picture of performance and ensure your team s targets and objectives support the team and whole school priorities. Throughout the appraisal cycle, BlueSky will show you how your team is progressing. You will be able to record, view and comment on performance information such as, lesson observations, work scrutiny exercises and learning walks. 77% 77% of middle leaders save up to five hours every week with BlueSky. Solution Collaboration Accountability How BlueSky supports your year September BlueSky Performance Management fficiency Clarity Review your appraisees BlueSky portfolios for the previous year and the evidence they have added to support meeting their professional standards and objectives. Review your appraisees self-reviews against their professional standards for this academic year. Seamless October Meet with your appraisee s and, if applicable, complete an annual overview statement in BlueSky for their performance over the previous appraisal cycle. Agree their professional objectives for this appraisal cycle and discuss their professional learning needs, ensuring they log them in BlueSky. Record pay recommendations for the previous appraisal cycle. December Record lesson observations and comment on any made by other people for the people you appraise. Review the progress of your appraisees towards meeting their professional objectives and ensure they are logging and recording the impact of their professional learning. Run needs analysis reports to identify strengths and areas for development within your team. Use this to develop collaborative professional learning within the team. Self-Evaluation Best practice Value A08Tel: +44 (0) info@blueskyeducation.co.uk Web:

9 January Prepare for the mid-year reviews by analysing the information within your appraisees BlueSky portfolios. Report on the professional learning your team is engaged in and ensure they are measuring its impact. February Formally meet with the colleagues you appraise to review and record their progress towards meeting their professional objectives and any additional support they need. June Review the progress of your staff and the impact of the additional support they are receiving. July Meet with your appraisees to review their year and consider their development for next academic year. 09

10 raini ment Leadership ogress Reviews bservations ust 60 Evidence Online CPL Live Learning Needs Objectives Consistent ks Progression Work Scru BlueSky simplifies collaboration and cross school working, enabling you to support schools across your alliance, trust or federation Teaching schools, academy chains, trusts and federations can support individuals and their network of schools through BlueSky. 85% 85% of schools say BlueSky saves their school leaders up to five hours every week. Solution Collaboration Accountability How BlueSky supports groups of schools BlueSky Performance Management fficiency Clarity Have a single view of staff progress Using BlueSky across a group of schools means you can analyse staff progress at individual school and whole group level. Perhaps you d like to compare one subject or key stage in one school with that of another? Seamless Ensure rigour and transparency BlueSky reporting reassures you that your staff development processes are being implemented across the group. It can also highlight where there might be issues or staff need additional support. Support Initial Teacher Training Offering your trainees a support tool like BlueSky, demonstrates your commitment to their development and will aid recruitment. BlueSky then supports trainees to understand their development needs and work with their mentor more effectively. They can review their progress against relevant teacher standards and add evidence towards meeting their objectives. Self-Evaluation Best practice Value A10Tel: +44 (0) info@blueskyeducation.co.uk Web:

11 BlueSky ends the need to copy lesson observation and performance management records as well as saving time on filing. Linda Ford, BlueSky Administrator, Haydon School Share professional and leadership development BlueSky reports identify skilled practitioners and those requiring support within individual and across groups of schools. From these reports, you can develop needs based peerto-peer programmes led by your experts and monitor their impact within BlueSky. Offer school-to-school support BlueSky Projects aid colleagues from different schools to collaborate and engage in action research and share best practice and expertise. Colleagues can mentor and support each other and individuals can then track their progress within the software, enabling you to monitor and report on their development. Broker specialists Through BlueSky, you can identify and broker your skilled subject leaders and track and report on their impact. Use BlueSky to identify budding specialists and develop relevant training across the alliance. Engage and lead educational research Use BlueSky to identify areas for research and development across your group of schools through reporting and gathering ideas from colleagues. Once defined, engage staff in action research projects that are managed in BlueSky. BlueSky gives us more time to focus on school improvement rather than administrative tasks. Lyndsay Watterson, Headteacher, Queens Park High School BlueSky allows staff to manage their own eportfolio and therefore their professional development over time and against the standards. Christina Bennett, Principal, Model Farms High School, Australia 11

12 raini ment Leadership ogress Reviews bservations ust 60 Evidence Online CPL Live Learning Needs Objectives Consistent ks Progression Work Scru Helping you to be more efficient and reduce Workload BlueSky customers tell us that BlueSky saves them time, helps them to make more informed decisions and helps them to be more efficient. 80% 73% 80% of school leaders say BlueSky helps them to make informed decisions. 73% of school leaders say that BlueSky helps their school to be more efficient. How much time could BlueSky save you? Solution Collaboration Accountability The percentage of BlueSky customers saving up to five hours every week with BlueSky BlueSky Performance Management fficiency Clarity Headteacher or Principal 71% Seamless School Leadership Team 85% Middle Leaders 77% Appraisers 77% Administrators 50% BlueSky streamlines processes across your school and supports you to collaborate more effectively with other schools. Here s how. Gathering staff progress information BlueSky saves you time in collating progress information and arranging, and conducting progress meetings. No longer is information spread around the school in different folders and systems, it is at the touch of a button in BlueSky. Reporting on staff progress BlueSky reports bring all the information you need into flexible and informative reports and removes the need for periodical or bespoke reports. Self-Evaluation Best practice Value A12Tel: +44 (0) info@blueskyeducation.co.uk Web:

13 Report on staff development needs and strengths A key BlueSky report is the staff needs analysis report. This pulls together the wealth of information about staff performance so that you can analyse staff strengths and areas for development. From this, you can develop an internal professional learning programme that targets people s strengths to actual need and save money on external training. The performance management process is much quicker and all the evidence can be saved in one place. This means nothing has to be found before a meeting and past performance is quickly identifiable. Andrew Sale, Headteacher, Ermine Primary Academy Advertise the training you organise through BlueSky s website Once you have developed your internal professional learning programme, you can promote and manage it all on BlueSky. If you work with other schools, you can promote relevant training to them via the BlueSky website, whether they use BlueSky or not. To generate income, you can also charge for the training you promote to others. Staff measure the impact of any professional learning they engage in As staff engage in professional learning, at set intervals, BlueSky will ask them to review its impact on their practice. You can then analyse this information to truly understand its impact and save time and money on professional learning that doesn t have the impact you need. Connect professionals through BlueSky Projects BlueSky projects bring staff together from your own and other schools to collaborate in a secure environment. Through action research, mentoring and best practice sharing, you can offer staff ongoing and bespoke professional learning. The performance management meetings we hold are happening in advance. This is because individuals are collecting evidence, attaching it and making impact statements before the actual meeting, making those meetings much more focussed. Cherryl Thomas, Professional Mentor for CPL, Neston High School Deploy staff efficiently The information entered into BlueSky enables you to shape future staffing structures and job descriptions, further supporting effective performance management. 13

14 96% 96% of school leaders are either satisfied or very satisfied with BlueSky 96% 96% of school leaders say our customer support is highly or very effective I am 100% happy with how BlueSky supports my role in moving my school forward. Christina Bennett, Principal, Model Farms High School, Australia The collation of performance data, observations and SEF all in one place enables me to spend time strategically working on the data, instead of chasing it. Nat Parnell, Vice Principal, Camborne Science and International Academy 90% 90% of schools say BlueSky engages staff in the appraisal process 71% 71% of schools say BlueSky saves their headteacher up to five hours every week 14 Tel: +44 (0) info@blueskyeducation.co.uk Web:

15 The leading provider of software to support staff performance, professional development and school self-evaluation. Talk to us today about how we can support your school. Tel: +44 (0) Web:

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