According to ‘The Evaluation Schedule for Schools’ January 2010, Inspectors should evaluate:

·      the extent to which pupils, including those from different groups, take on responsibilities and play a part in the school and wider community

·      the extent to which pupils, including those from different groups, engage in decision-making or consultation about issues which affect the quality of their learning and well-being

·      the impact of the pupils’ contribution to the school and wider community.

The guidance inspectors are asked to take account of includes the extent to which the school:

·      the proportion of pupils from different groups who take on positions of responsibility and leadership in school and in the wider community, such as leadership and volunteering activities promoted through the school

·      the proportion of pupils from different groups who participate in activities which contribute to the quality of life in, and sustainable development of, the school and wider community

·      the quality of the work of the school council or other arrangements which enable pupils to contribute to, and influence, decisions made about life in school and the wider community

·      how well pupils participate in activities, such as surveys and discussion, which encourage them to express their views and ideas about the school and wider communities

·      the extent to which pupils are involved in working with teachers and other staff in planning and making decisions about their learning and well-being

·      the extent to which pupils are involved in charitable work, including local, national and international contexts

·      the views expressed by pupils, including those from different groups, regarding the ways they interact with the school and wider community

·      the views of parents and adults, including members of the local community, about the pupils’ interaction with them

·      if the school is a specialist school, how this has helped pupils’ understanding of and contribution to the community.

In order to help self-evaluate prior to inspection schools might ask themselves:

·      What opportunities do pupils have to take on positions of responsibility and leadership?

·      Do all groups of students have opportunity to take on these roles?

·      Where students are under-represented how does the school address this?

·      How are students involved in the decision-making process in school?

·      Are student views acted upon? Do they feel this is the case?

·      Do all students have chance to have their views heard?

·      How are students involved in making the school a sustainable community?

·      How effective are the school’s structures for enabling pupils’ voices to be heard? Do all pupils have a voice?

·      What school improvement decisions have been influenced by the students?

·      How involved are pupils in making decisions about their learning and well-being?

·      Do staff take account of the views of pupils?

·      Do pupils have opportunities to influence all aspects of school life?

·      Are pupils involved in fund raising for local, national and international charities?

·      Do parents feel that their children are enabled to influence the school? Do they feel their views are valued?

·      Does the local community feel that the school is involved locally and does it encourage its pupils to contribute? How do we know this?

·      Do parents feel that their children are encouraged to take part in community activities and contribute to the community? How do we know this?

·      How has specialist status helped pupils’ understanding of and contribution to the community? How has this been measured?

·      How do pupils feel about their school community? How do we know this?

·      How are pupils encouraged to take part in the community? How successful is this?

·      What examples can the school show of involvement with the community?

·      How effective have these activities been?

·      Are pupils keen to participate in community activities?

·      Do pupils understand the nature of their community  and how they might improve it?

·      Are pupils aware of the issues facing their community?

·      Do they participate in addressing issues within their community?

 

When completing the SEF schools no longer have prompts to help them. Instead it is expected that schools use the grade descriptors as a guide:

 

Outstanding (1)	Pupils are very proud of and committed to their school community. This is demonstrated by their enthusiastic promotion of a broad range of activities to improve the school and the wider community. Most groups of pupils are represented in taking on responsibilities. Pupils from a wide range of groups have a strong voice in decisions relating to their learning and well-being. The pupils’ involvement in the school and their interaction in the wider community are substantial and highly valued.
Good (2)	Pupils value their school community and willingly take on responsibility and participate constructively in school life beyond routine lessons and activities. Pupils hold clear views about their learning and well-being and participate keenly in discussions about these matters. Pupils understand and care about the issues facing their local area and where appropriate suggest and take actions to help improve the school and wider community. Pupils’ behaviour in the local area is well regarded.
Satisfactory (3)	Pupils take on responsibility and play a constructive role in the school. They have some influence on decisions about school life. They support initiatives to improve aspects of life in school and the wider community. Pupils’ behaviour promotes a positive relationship with the school’s local community.
Inadequate (4)	·       Pupils generally are reluctant to take on responsibilities or to play a part in the life of the school and wider community. or ·       Pupils have little or no influence on decisions which affect the quality of their learning and well-being. or Pupils’ contribution to the school and wider community has little positive impact.

 

Different strands can be tracked within these grade descriptors. Identifying these can help schools decide on their grading as well as helping them to determine what actions are necessary to move to the next level.

Strand 1:    Pupils feelings about their school community and opportunity to take on responsibilities  

Outstanding (1)	Pupils are very proud of and committed to their school community. This is demonstrated by their enthusiastic promotion of a broad range of activities to improve the school and the wider community
Good (2)	Pupils value their school community and willingly take on responsibility and participate constructively in school life beyond routine lessons and activities.
Satisfactory (3)	Pupils take on responsibility and play a constructive role in the school.
Inadequate (4)	Pupils generally are reluctant to take on responsibilities or to play a part in the life of the school and wider community.

 

Strand 2: consultation of pupils and involvement in their own learning    

Outstanding (1)	Pupils from a wide range of groups have a strong voice in decisions relating to their learning and well-being
Good (2)	Pupils hold clear views about their learning and well-being and participate keenly in discussions about these matters.
Satisfactory (3)	They have some influence on decisions about school life
Inadequate (4)	Pupils have little or no influence on decisions which affect the quality of their learning and well-being.

 

Strand 3: pupils’ positive relationship with the school community

Outstanding (1)	The pupils’ involvement in the school and their interaction in the wider community are substantial and highly valued.
Good (2)	Pupils understand and care about the issues facing their local area and where appropriate suggest and take actions to help improve the school and wider community. Pupils’ behaviour in the local area is well regarded.
Satisfactory (3)	Pupils’ behaviour promotes a positive relationship with the school’s local community.
Inadequate (4)	Pupils’ contribution to the school and wider community has little positive impact.

 

What might this judgement look like on your SEF? Below are some suggestions for statements you might want to include:

Our school considers involvement with its community a high priority. Opportunities are taken throughout the year for pupils to participate in community events (File B) and for members of the community to come and work with the school (File A curriculum plans).

Annual pupil surveys and discussions during schools council demonstrate that pupils are aware of local issues and who their community is (Pupil survey A). Opportunities to work with community members on issues of importance are built into curriculum plans but are also reactive to events during the year. Discussion with parents during forum meetings shows that they feel the school has a presence in the community which is valued. This is backed up by reports from governors (meeting agenda D).

Pupils are encouraged to take part in local clubs and groups outside of school. Opportunities are taken throughout the year for community representatives to attend assemblies, meet with pupils and take part in topics. Pupils and staff regularly use the local environment during units of work (File A curriculum plans) 

Pupil view is considered a high priority in all aspects of school life. Pupils are consulted annually as part of a survey about school priorities, school improvement and  their feelings about the school and its community. School council meets regularly and is elected by other pupils in the school to take a role in school improvement decisions (minutes of meetings File D). They feedback regularly to the whole school through assemblies and a surgery runs weekly for pupils to attend.

The school has a termly school improvement focus. Pupils are involved in the working party that advises the action plan and evaluation of this. Where there are concerns that a group is under-represented in an area of school life, individuals are targeted to advise this group. ( meetings minutes File D).

Throughout the school pupils are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves and others. This includes within the classroom, providing feedback on pupil behaviour during assemblies, as lunchtime monitors and playground games organisers and as peer mentors, talk partners and researchers. During 2009 we began a new project of involving students in action research within the school to inform and develop our teaching and learning practice and the curriculum. This has proved to be very successful (see evaluation folder C) with 99% of pupils reporting that they felt teaching and learning had improved as a result of the project. We now intend to develop this approach in other year groups.

Fund raising for charity is an important part of our work. We consult with the school community to select local, national and international charities. Wherever possible representatives attend assembly and answer pupils’ questions. Pupils are also involved in identifying ways of raising money and these activities also support ECM 5 ‘achieve economic well-being’.

In all teaching and learning activities pupils are encouraged to reflect on their own learning, make suggestions for the next steps and are involved in setting success criteria. Units of work are set in such a way that pupil experiences, questions and interests can help influence the direction.