In the Post-Primary School Self-Evaluation Guidelines 2016-2020, the
Department of Education and Skills defines School Self-Evaluation (SSE) as ‘a
collaborative, inclusive, reflective process of internal school review’, during
which school staff, under the direction of the board of management and the
patron and in consultation with parents and students, engage in reflective
enquiry on the work of the school. SSE is primarily about schools taking ownership
of their own development and improvement and is based on a six-step process:
1.
Identify focus
2. Gather evidence
3.
Analyse and make judgements
4. Improvement
plan
5. Put
improvement plan into action
6. Monitor actions and evaluate impact
Staff identified a focus on literacy and numeracy for our first ever school self-evaluation process. Evidence was gathered through surveys by parents/guardians and students and through open discussion at a staff meeting. Following this process, the Chairperson of the Advisory Board of Studies, Shauna, chaired a meeting where all the information was analysed and judgements were made in relation to the type of plan that needed to improve literacy and numeracy across the curriculum in 2020-2021. An important consideration for staff was to look for practical ways that could be built into the fabric of school life so that the plan could serve into the future and not just be an initiative that lasts for one academic year only. The following targets were set -
LITERACY:
NUMERACY:
The plan is now in an action stage and there is a planned review to be led by the Advisory Board of Studies n May 2021 to evaluate the impact of these actions.