Programme overview
Introduction:
School leadership and management often stalls because improvement plans are written for inspection files, self-evaluation relies on opinion rather than evidence, and principals spend their week on timetables, incidents and parent complaints instead of teaching quality. This Core Concept course gives principals, deputies and school management teams a working method to set a school vision, judge the school against evidence, lead learning through classroom observation and pupil attainment data, run daily operations and partner with families. Participants produce a School Improvement Plan and Self-Evaluation Report for a case school.
Course Objectives:
- Define the principal's and deputy's leadership roles and distribute responsibilities across the school management team
- Conduct a school self-evaluation that grades each area of school life against evidence from lessons, pupil work, attainment data and stakeholder surveys
- Lead teaching and learning through a planned cycle of classroom visits, learning walks and supervision feedback to teachers
- Analyse pupil attainment, progress and attendance data to set whole-school, year-group and subgroup improvement targets
- Organise the timetable, duty rotas, behaviour and attendance systems, safeguarding routines and parent partnership arrangements
- Write, cost and monitor a school improvement plan with priorities, milestones, owners and success criteria, and lead staff through the change
Target Audience:
- Principals and head teachers accountable for the overall performance and direction of a school
- Deputy and assistant principals who lead pastoral care, academic affairs or daily school operations
- School management team members who own a whole-school area such as assessment, behaviour or quality
- Heads of school sections or campus managers in multi-phase schools and school groups
- School quality and improvement coordinators who prepare self-evaluation evidence and monitor plans
Course Outline:
Day 1: The Principal's Role, School Vision and Leadership Styles
- Principal and Deputy Role Map: Instructional, Managerial and Community Duties
- Hallinger and Murphy Model: Defining the School Mission as the First Leadership Dimension
- Instructional, Distributed and Transformational Leadership Styles in a School Setting
- School Vision, Values and Pupil Outcome Statements Workshop
- School Management Team Charter and Delegation Matrix
Day 2: School Self-Evaluation and Improvement Planning Frameworks
- School Self-Evaluation Cycle: Evidence, Judgement, Action and Review
- Self-Evaluation Grading Rubric Across Leadership, Teaching, Pupil Outcomes, Care and Partnerships
- Stakeholder Voice Tools: Pupil, Parent and Staff Surveys and Focus Groups
- School Improvement Plan Template: Priorities, Actions, Owners, Milestones and Success Criteria
- Quality Management in Schools: Process Ownership, Service Standards and Improvement Cycles
Day 3: Instructional Leadership, Classroom Visits and Pupil Data Use
- Classroom Visit Protocol: Learning Walks, Drop-Ins and Formal Lesson Observation Forms
- Post-Visit Supervision Dialogue and Follow-Up Support Plan for Teachers
- Pupil Attainment and Progress Dashboard by Year Group, Subject and Pupil Subgroup
- Assessment Calendar, Data Drops and Pupil Progress Review Meetings
- Protecting Instructional Time: Interruption Audit and Lesson Time Recovery
Day 4: School Operations, Behaviour, Safety and Parent Partnership
- Master Timetable Construction, Cover Arrangements and Duty Rota Planning
- Whole-School Behaviour Policy, Attendance Tracking and Persistent Absence Follow-Up
- School Safety Routines: Site Risk Assessment, Evacuation Drills and Safeguarding Referrals
- Parent and Community Partnership Plan: Parent Councils, Home-School Agreements and Complaints Handling
- School Budget and Resource Allocation Linked to Improvement Priorities
Day 5: Case School Self-Evaluation Report and Improvement Plan
- Case School Evidence Pack: Lesson Records, Attainment Data, Attendance and Survey Results
- Self-Evaluation Judgement Panel: Grading Each Area Against the Rubric
- Change Readiness Analysis and Staff Engagement Plan for the Case School
- School Improvement Plan Drafting with Termly Monitoring Checkpoints
- Self-Evaluation Report and Improvement Plan Defence Before a Mock Governing Board
Skills You Will Gain:
- Instructional Leadership
- School Self-Evaluation
- Improvement Plan Writing
- Classroom Visit Supervision
- Pupil Attainment Data Analysis
- Master Timetable Planning
- Behaviour and Attendance Systems
- Parent Partnership Management
Why Attend This Course:
- Leave with a School Improvement Plan and Self-Evaluation Report for a case school that transfers directly to your own school
- Judge your school on evidence rather than impressions and explain those judgements to boards, inspectors and parents
- Free more of your week for teaching quality by tightening timetabling, duty, behaviour and attendance routines
- Compare leadership practice with principals and deputies from public, private and international schools
Conclusion:
A school improves when its leaders know where it stands, choose a small number of priorities and follow them through in classrooms, systems and relationships with families. The week moves from the principal's role, vision and leadership styles, through self-evaluation and improvement planning, to instructional leadership and pupil data, then to timetabling, behaviour, safety, parent partnership and resources. The final day applies these methods to a case school and produces a Self-Evaluation Report and School Improvement Plan.