St. Joseph’s Cathedral Junior School Gold Award

The following should be read in the light of the Confidence Statement following the Bronze award which this complements, not replaces.

The school has provided ample evidence over the course of the three assessment days to illustrate all twenty statements.  It has also shown development and progress in moving through the three awards, for example in the electronic use of assessment data and the involvement of pupils in reflecting on their achievements and evaluating their own learning.   The leadership of self evaluation is outstanding at all levels.

The school’s policy for self evaluation is clearly focused and reflects accurately its range of approaches.  Notably, it also includes details of ‘key self evaluation activities’ showing how self evaluation is embedded in the life of the school.   There is also a summary for parents describing briefly and succinctly why and how the school is committed to self evaluation.    All sections of the school community demonstrate a deep understanding of the role they play in helping the school to improve and individuals are able to show how the policy is applied highly effectively in practice.   The focus of self evaluation is clearly on meeting the needs of all individual learners.

The climate for learning and enquiry is an exceptional feature of the school.  Action research is undertaken regularly, particularly to develop the quality of teaching and learning, and staff apply the principles of critical enquiry in fulfilling their roles – through courses, projects and subject leadership.   This approach builds confidence and individuals are able to articulate fully how the structure of self evaluation has supported the generation of data, the monitoring of progress and evaluating success.

The school has continued to develop innovative ways of seeking the views of members of the school community, particularly through questionnaires and structured consultation.   It actively seeks new challenges from outside agencies to raise expectations still higher and it ensures that external frameworks are used to benefit the school.   It uses its technological expertise to very good effect to generate and analyse performance data and to strengthen still further the links between home and school.  Its processes of review are strong, not least because of the commitment shown by staff and school leadership both to the continuous improvement of the school and to their own professional development. The role played by associate staff is particularly noteworthy.

Peer observation is an established way of for staff to learn from each other.  There is a growing culture of ‘team learning’ that builds on the strong practice of teamwork that already exists.  Ongoing initiatives are monitored thoroughly and often collaboratively.

The school leadership team is reflective and self critical.  The Governing Body has recently carried out an evaluative review of its work and has developed strategies for working even more closely with staff and children.  The school’s processes of self evaluation are continuously being developed and refined.

The school’s summative self evaluation report is comprehensive and rigorously compiled.  Using the 7 key questions as a framework, it includes an impressive amount of sources of evidence to support the judgements made.