Section 1: LEADERSHIP AND IMPROVING QUALITY
Leadership is more than just the management of a school. Leadership guides the school community towards a shared vision; it defines the values by which it operates and motivates and secures the commitment of all staff to be reflective to meet challenges and foster improvement. Strong leadership with a commitment to inclusion is therefore essential to ensuring that a strong culture of equity pervades the work of a school.
- Does the school have a a clear vision for inclusion and equity? How well do leaders ensure this is shared and communicated with other stakeholders?
- How effectively do leaders evaluate the school’s inclusive practices? For example, how appropriate and effective are their evaluation methods, how accurate are their findings, and how effectively do they take into account the views of all stakeholders?"stakeholders" in this context refers to learners, parents/carers, staff of the school and governors
- How effectively do their evaluations inform the school’s development priorities and how well are these priorities aligned to the school’s vision for inclusion and equity?
- To what extent does the school demonstrate a good track record of improvement in inclusion and equity?
- How robust are whole-school safeguarding practices?
- How well do leaders
- know the communities they serve and any community barriers to learning?
- demonstrate clear knowledge and understanding of national and local policy, legislative and support mechanisms and services available for disadvantaged learners in their countries and communities?
- use these services to support learning and development for vulnerable learners?
- How effectively do leaders plan for and use available resources (for example physical, financial and human resources) to address the school’s priorities related to inclusion and equity?
- How well is the school’s vision for equity and inclusive education reflected in the curriculum offered to learners? For example, how well does the curriculum allow those at risk of disadvantage to fulfil their potential and allow them to progress appropriately to the next stage in their education or training or on to employment?
- How well do leaders identify and provide specific support and learning resources for disadvantaged learners, for example access arrangementsfor example extra time, readers, scribe, access to digital devices and support for how to use them for learning, or computer based examinations or access to digital devices for in-class, remote or blended learning?
- How well do leaders ensure that teachers across the curriculum develop progressively learners’ broad competencies, e.g: numeracy, literacy, digital literacy, lifelong and collaborative learning skills?
- How effectively do leaders ensure that the learning experience (teaching and resources) for vulnerable learners:
- are meaningful, engaging, and of high quality, including that provided remotely?
- consider their needs and address any barriers to learning (linguistic, digital, financial or cultural)?
- How agile is school leadership in adapting to unexpected and challenging situations (e.g. unexpected school closures, family crises or long-term illness)?
For example, how quickly and effectively do leaders:
- identify and address risks specific to affected vulnerable learners?
- ensure continuity of learning and learning experiences to mitigate against any further widening of the gap?
- revise its curriculum and prioritise learning to address gaps, ensuring an appropriate balance between academic and socio-emotional learning, and wellbeing?
- ensure continuous safeguarding for vulnerable learners?
- How well does professional development:
- guide the staff of the school to understand what disadvantage looks like and the potential long term impact for these children if barriers are not addressed?
- develop and establish inclusive teaching, learning and assessment practices?
- How effectively do leaders use their self-evaluation processes to identify and plan for further individual and whole school professional learning in inclusive education?
- How well does professional learning support teachers to develop the skills and pedagogies required to teach and assess effectively using digital tools to support the progress of all learners in distance and blended learning environments?
- How effectively do school leaders enable teachers and other educational staff to collaborate in building an inclusive community?
- How effectively do school leaders include representation from parents / carers of vulnerable learners in the school’s decision-making bodies?