Case Study
Pairing quality of teaching with school-wide improvement
"My priority was to find a platform which would enable us to create a meaningful strategic overview and analyse teaching and learning. We wanted to evaluate the quality of teaching, develop action plans and measure their impact. At all times the practices of individual staff needed to be linked to whole school improvement."
"After reviewing a number of solutions, it became clear that BlueSky, with its wide range of features and benefits, was the right option."
"The level of integration in each of the modules was excellent. At the click of a button I can tie an objective from an improvement plan to a particular report or see a staff profile or team overview. The reporting mechanisms are also exceptional: with BlueSky it's easy to pinpoint the relevant information quickly."
"BlueSky has been invaluable for improving teaching and learning. I am no longer forced to wrestle with unwieldy spreadsheets – instead, we can take a more holistic approach to staff appraisal. At Chalk Hills we don't grade our lesson observations; however, as an institution we need to monitor the quality of teaching.
"BlueSky's Self Evaluation module has allowed us to create a rubric outlining priorities – as specific or as broad as required. This allows us to review the standard of teaching by feature or characteristic and the quality of feedback. Instead of grading individuals, we review the strengths of group practices – something which is far more useful when it comes to developing an effective CPD programme. Staff feel more engaged with the process, because the module supports a bottom-up evidence-based approach.
"As a result, teaching and learning over the past two years has improved significantly. This is largely due to BlueSky, which has enabled us to readily pinpoint specific development priorities."
"When I look at the time I used to spend building, managing and inputting data, rather than developing strategy based on outcomes, it is clear that BlueSky has been hugely beneficial and cost-effective."
"Another significant benefit of using BlueSky is that it helps us to save time and reduce workload. We have a number of staff who really engage with the solution; even for those who aren't so proactive, BlueSky still maintains their profile which builds despite the level of engagement – we never have a situation where a member of staff has an empty folder. BlueSky really is a supportive tool."
Read more about how BlueSky is supporting the quality of teaching and school-wide improvement at The Chalk Hills Academy
