Case Study
Connecting individual staff performance and school-wide improvement
"Our key objectives were to map individual targets against the school improvement plan and the school's bespoke professional standards. We also wanted to connect lesson observation information and feedback with the school's standards. Thirdly we wanted a system that enabled us to monitor CPD need and evidence against the school's bespoke teaching standards for appraisals".
"Quite simply, BlueSky helps us to join everything up."
"The two biggest gains are being able to keep track of the entire appraisal process and ensure that everyone has followed the appropriate processes – this can then be easily summarised and presented to governors at the pay panel. Governors can then be confident that the correct procedure has been followed".
"For teachers the biggest benefit of BlueSky is that it is far more efficient. Having used BlueSky in the past I was aware of its worth however it was important that all staff bought into the solution. This wasn't difficult as everyone could clearly see the value of an updated system. 90% of teachers' time should be spent in the classroom. Anything which helps reduce that extra 10% and save teachers time is valuable".
"Finally, BlueSky is also paperless which means outcomes of appraisals and monitoring is all to hand online rather than in cumbersome folders. As a result, my monitoring file is empty!"
"In the past year we have begun using its Projects, Journals and Self-Evaluation modules. This means we are now able to manage all our monitoring and feedback through BlueSky, and link everything to our school development priorities and appraisal standards".
"BlueSky is also used to support our own performance management initiatives".
"The Projects and Observations modules are instrumental in our Talk4Teaching initiative which consists of Learning Walks – a more informal style of lesson observation – and Lesson Reflection where a team visits a class for a whole lesson. BlueSky allows us to record the findings against a proforma and then be used for wider school improvement".
"All staff use the Objectives tool, including TAs and admin staff. However, it really comes into its own for teachers as objectives can be linked to self-reviews. The facility to link objectives to school development priorities and relevant standards is also brilliant."
Read more about how BlueSky supports Hempsted Schools Federation to connect staff performance and school-wide improvement
