The School Development Plan (SDP) element #5

Moving on with the SDP.

SDP element #5	The curriculum and standards moderation inclusive of NAPLAN testing.
Aligned SE criterion	Criterion #5:  My school makes sure that as I progress I don’t develop gaps in my English language, mathematics and digital skills learning.
Current school documentation	·       Currently there is clear documentation about the chosen curriculum, being the Australian National Curriculum; about the standards moderation processes in the specified subjects (English, mathematics and digital skills for primary schools;  all subjects for secondary schools) for teachers. ·       New teachers are inducted by a teacher peer mentor in the standards moderation processes. ·       All the necessary subjects have been standards moderated. ·       There is detailed policy on the NAPLAN testing program. ·       Our school mentors two small 2 teacher schools with regard to  the standards moderation process, sharing with them the outcomes of our standards moderation discussions.
Development objectives for 2016	Induct new teachers in the outcomes of the standards moderation processes already completed and NAPLAN expectations.
Resources needed ·       people, ·       money ·       time ·       location ·       stationery ·       IT	·       Mentor teachers. ·       Time slots for the induction. ·       A school site process
Timeline to achieve the objective(s)	2016
Process for achieving the objectives	Mentoring
Outcome(s) of the assessment of the attainment of the objective(s)	Feedback from mentors and inductees.

The standards moderation process in which teachers sit together and go through the learning outcomes of the selected syllabuses is vital and has been described in detail in the School Development Criteria.

I see some interest from viewers in the USA.  This is heartening but if possible a comment or two on various posts would provide me with more detailed feedback.  Become part of this offering of Tom's thoughts and help me as the writer to edit more effectively. I received a comment from a poetic person from England.  Interesting as writing poetry is one of my hobbies.


May the Force be with you!


GD

The School Development Plan (SDP) element #4

Moving on with the SDP.  Not much action here but not all elements require action every year.

SDP element #4	The school organisation for learning – staff/student configurations.
Aligned SE criterion	Criterion #5 My school makes sure that as I progress I don’t develop gaps In my English Language, mathematics and digital skills learning.
Current school documentation	Currently the organisation is clearly documented and is serving the purpose as is.  The classes K-6 for each age are grouped by alphabetic application of the surname first letter and thus represent heterogeneous general ability.  Some students are placed individually based on special knowledge of their circumstances.  Gender balance is taken into consideration.  There is no cross setting for particular subjects (… for a secondary school there would likely be cross setting according to learning skills competence.)   Each class has its main teacher with specialist assistance in science, Indonesian, music and physical education.
Development objectives for 2016	NA 2016
Resources needed ·       people, ·       money ·       time ·       location ·       stationery ·       IT	NA 2016
Timeline to achieve the objective(s)	NA 2016
Process for achieving the objectives	NA 2016
Outcome(s) of the assessment of the attainment of the objective(s)	NA 2016

Note the aligned School Effectiveness criterion #5.

May the Force be with you!


GD

The School Development Plan (SDP) and the Mission Statement and School Goals

I was going to post SDP element #4 but decided to add a bit more explanation to my previous post.

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Tom was always a bit sceptical about Mission Statements but conceded that they were worth creating.

A Primary (elementary) School Mission Statement might be:

Our School is totally focused in all that it does on facilitating the academic learning and the development of a positive self image for each student.


The goals of that school might be as follows:

• Students feel safe and secure in our school environment.
• Students feel respected in our school environment
• Our students have a positive self image.

• Our students achieve academically taking into account all the factors that are daily affecting their lives in-school and out-of-school.
• There are no gaps in the learning of our students in the vital areas of literacy and numeracy.
• In all other learning areas our students cover the prescribed curriculum for their year level being stimulated and excited about the learnings therein and being ready for the more rigorous demands of middle and secondary schooling.
• Our teachers are the very best that we can attract and our selection practices are rigorous.
• Our teachers are professionals who take responsibility for being up to date in the knowledge and skills required for their vocation.
• Our school utilises the skills and knowledge of its teachers to provide leadership that is distributive and not bound to come from within the administrative hierarchy of the school.
• Our school cares for its staff members as whole people who have lives within and outside our school community.
• Our school is in partnership with the parents in the education of their student offspring.

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Tom wanted each of the Goals to be stated in a way that they could be assessed as to whether they were being achieved or not.  This assessment would occur as part of ensuring that the School was effective in terms of its Effectiveness criteria.

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May the Force be with you!


GD

The School Development Plan (SDP)

I've been on a trip to see my grandchildren who live on the east coast of Australia.  As you would understand this gave me no time for blogging.

It's useful at this point to check the introduction to the SDP in the preceding post.

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Tom created this Primary (Elementary) sample School Development Plan with some comments for Secondary (High) schools.  It was to cover development period from 2016-2018.

Some SDP elements have embedded within them School Effectiveness Criteria and the reader can see how this works in assessing the effectiveness of a school through the dynamics of the SDP.

SDP element #1	The Mission statement
Aligned SE criterion	NA
Current school documentation and situation	The Mission Statement is clearly documented and is serving the purpose as is.
Development objectives for 2016	NA 2016
Resources needed ·       people, ·       money ·       time ·       location ·       stationery ·       IT	NA 2016
Timeline to achieve the objective(s)	NA 2016
Process for achieving the objectives	NA 2016
Outcome(s) of the assessment of the attainment of the objective(s)	NA 2016

SDP element #2	The goals/aims of the school
Aligned SE criterion	NA
Current school documentation and situation	The goals/aims of the school will remain as is for 2016.
Development objectives for 2016	NA
Resources needed ·       people ·       money ·       time ·       location ·       stationery ·       IT	NA 2016
Timeline to achieve the objectives	NA 2016
Process for achieving the objectives	NA 2016
Outcome(s) of the assessment of the attainment of the objective(s)	NA 2016

SDP element #3	The school leadership organisation, inclusive of distributive leadership
Aligned SE criterion	Criterion #9:  My school gives me leadership opportunities.
Current school documentation and situation	The school policy document outlines the deployment and roles of the administrative hierarchy.  It also asserts the commitment to the application of distributive leadership. Currently 55% of the teachers have experienced leadership opportunities.
Development objective(s) for 2016	·       Involve more teachers in positions of leadership for a refreshing of teaching and student learning techniques in reading. ·       Update the aligned school (SE) effectiveness criterion.
Resources needed ·       people ·       money ·       time ·       location ·       stationery ·       IT	·       Principal, deputy principals, teachers ·       $1,000 ·       2 days in-service ·       Library ·       Computers to record the outcomes of each group ·       The reading syllabus
Timeline to achieve the objectives	By 30 September 2016
Process for achieving the objectives	·       The Principal and Deputy Principals to select by expertise and willingness 2 teachers to lead in the changes to reading strategies in the junior primary years. ·       Organise in-service groups and timetable sessions ·       Leaders to mentor group members in trialling the revised reading learning techniques prior to 30 September 2016
Outcomes of the assessment of the attainment of the objective(s)	·       Junior primary teachers to report to leaders the validity of the new teaching and learning in terms of ease of application and student results. ·       Leaders to report to the Principal and the Deputy Principals the value of the experiences they had as leaders. ·       The SE data base shows the updated conclusion on this SE criterion.

In the next post SDP element #4 will be revealed.


May the Force be with you!


GD