Peer Observations

[Guest]

Hello

 

 

Has anyone started doing peer observations on their staff?

 

We are waiting for some training before we start as we do not want to do them wrong!

 

If anyone has done them how have you found them?

Have they been helpful or caused unneeded problems?

 

Any info would be great as a bit clueless where these are invoved.

[Guest tinkerbell]

Hi Mandy

I work in a school and we have done them for a few years now.They started with headteacher going round doing literacy lesson observations (that was her co-ordinator subject).I found them awkward in the past but now we are doing short ,20 min observations on each other and they seem to be working ok.Apparently Ofsted will be doing shorter observations on the learning going on in the classroom not necessarily the teaching.So we thought we would give it a go ourselves.

For example i choose to look for the learning going on in the classroom and how the support was used ( we have quite a few SEN children )

I jotted down notes and wrote them up on computer then showed the teacher a copy if not agreed I would have typed that in and the suggestion as to why we had disagreed ( this has not happened yet)then a copy goes to the headteacher.

look for positive

Tinkerbellx

[Susan]

you should agree what you are looking for before the observation and stick to it!

[Guest]

We have done observations like these in the past and at first they seemed to make the staff nervous, as though they were being watched, which in effect, they were, but not in a negative way as they first thought. By doing these observations we have found out some interesting information about a particular member of staff, and to cut a very long story short, she is no longer working with us...

 

I think they are a good idea, as they encourage team work and support. If they happen regulalry enough and all staff are encouraged to make observations on each other, the initial awkward feeling will subside. They help staff to focus on 'problems' they may be having but they also encourage the staff team to work together to resolve these 'problems'. I would say they are a positive thing, the only issue is whether, in between doing all the things we need to on a day to day base, we can actually fit staff observations is so they happen regularly.