Gove Axes The Sef

[Guest jenpercy]

The thing about all this evaluation is . We only work for 4 hours a day. Anything I do outside that - and I do is unpaid. In the holidays we work 50 hour week - but as we are not set up to do this all year round, the Senior staff HAVE to put in all this time, and we rely on temporary staff, many of whom are regular holday staff but we don't get a chance to discuss much in depth other than day to day.There is no money to paY STAFF FOR ENDLESS MEETINGS. (Caps unimtentional - but apt). We simply don't have time to get staff input

 

We have 42 policies that we are meant to evaluate annually with staff input, (and parents and children) we have our SEF, we have daily evaluation and planning - most of which does not come out any quicker because we are only open 4 hours.

 

Then we have staff appraisals and supervisions.

 

This is without discussing individual children's needs, folowing up with Social Services etc etc.

 

and it is all made much harder by the amount of proving it I have to do.

 

I actually think a short SEF, could be useful. One with clear headings eg What do you do to keep children safe? What could be improved? what is your action plan?

 

I actually filled one of these in as supplied by LA - but OFSTED left me in no doubt that this was inadequate to prove that we were reflecting and aiming for improvement.

 

i would be interested to know if anyone found the actual SEF itself to be useful. I suspect that most people treat it as we do the OFSTED version, as an entirely separate exercise designed to please OFSTED - with any insights incidental to the process and not at the heart of it.

 

there is so much paperwork and meetings that I find it difficult to get

[HoneyPancakes]

Haven't read all of this thread but my feeling is that the SEF is onerous but not compulsory for providers other than

schools. For non-schools It is perfectly possible to get a 'Good' or 'Outstanding' Ofsted rating without doing the SEF.

 

Some providers feel secure in showing how they reflect on their work, but others just do not, or can not. I found the bits I did very useful - lots of prods in the right direction, but I hated thinking about having to having to complete it.

 

Honey

[JacquieL]

Jenpercy what you have written is what needs to be said as part of the review. It seems that common-sense needs to prevail so that the implications for different types of settings are considered at the planning stage.

[Guest]

Hi

Ive just done the school club sef...im only committee (work there occassionally so know whatis going on!). The temp manager wouldnt have a clue/inclination how to complete (very young). I used some of those uploaded here as guidance...thanks very much...and i have been on a sef course!!! Found i was repeating myself alot, that the questions were repetitive but i completed totally honestly. Included all the problems we have recruiting staff that qualified committee members have had to work there just to keep it open (and that those members had suppplied health decs, refs, qualifications to OFSTED!!). But it was nice to see what we had done!

[Guest]

I totally agree with jenpercy and would add that we also have to complete whatever evaluations our LA imposes [with the constant threat that this is part of the conditions attached to receiving EYE which can and will be withdrawn if we don't comply]. Admittedly these can be taken into consideration by OFSTED now but they take almost as long as the SEF itself. It seems like duplication. Also I think the same threat was applied to completing the OFSTED SEF - even though it's not compulsory.

 

The increasing number of CAF meetings also concern me as they take managers & SENcos away from the work that needs doing in setting.

 

The online SEF would be much more useful to us if you could see more clearly what you've written in other sections. I think it's quite a clumsy tool. I do keep it in WORD format too, but again that means the work is duplicated. Half the time I can't remember what I've written anyway! It's unrealistic to expect us to carry everything in our heads these days - I envisage myself saying to OFSTED, in answer to a question: 'Can you just wait until I find which file it's in? I know it's here somewhere!' I think our brains are overloaded!

 

I did put similar comments about the online SEF on their own evaluation tool when it first came out but the revised version didn't seem to change the things I'd raised.

[HappyMaz]

If anyone wants to lobby Mr Gove about this (or anything else that makes you see red) his email address is ministers@education.gsi.gov.uk

I've had a reply to my email to Mr Gove. I'm sure you'll all be mightily reassured by it:-

 

Thank you for your email of 24 September about the Secretary of State's announcement regarding school inspections.

 

We recognise that schools play an important and valued role in supporting children's health and wellbeing and we have every expectation that this will continue. Teachers and school leaders know all too well the influence that day-to-day school life, pastoral care, and early intervention can have on learning and achievement. We know that good schools work in the best interests of children as part of their core educational mission.

 

The changes to be introduced to inspection arrangements reflect the Coalition Government’s commitment to free all schools from unnecessary bureaucracy so that they have maximum freedom to use their own professional judgement to decide their own priorities based on local circumstances, the views of parents and the needs of pupils.

 

I hope you are reassured by this information.

 

Regards

 

Lesley O'Connor

Public Communications Unit

 

What do you think?

 

Maz

[Guest LornaW]

Amazinng how they can take so many wordds to say nothing!!

 

Lorna

[eyfs1966]

Amazinng how they can take so many wordds to say nothing!!

 

Lorna

 

 

Saw who it was written by....public communications unit....can only imagine that using lots of words to say absolutely nothing is exactly what their job description is!! I say that this unit sounds an obvious area for cuts to reduce the budget deficit.

[catma]

I'd also like to dampen the euphoria by adding that although the Ofsted SEF is removed as a requirement, far as I understand it the need to self evaluate is not! So you would still need to be demonstrating the self evaluation process as as a school even if you don't fill in the current Ofsted format for your evaluation record.

Cx