STARTING POINTS
- You may find the Sketchnote Who to involve? a useful starting point for discussions. And the Sketchnote Food In Schools – Making Connections when considering a whole school approach. Each of these can be downloaded as a pdf or jpg. Find them under the PUBLICATIONS tab.
- A useful starting point is to initiate discussions about self-evaluation to establish a common understanding of what it is (and is not) and what it can achieve. In the early stages there may be a broad range of understanding and experience of what self-evaluation is all about and who it involves. Staff from different sectors may use different approaches or language. Taking time to establish a common understanding will build confidence amongst those involved.
- Staff could read through the level 5 illustrations individually or in small groups to familiarise themselves with the content. They could then evaluate each one using the six-point scale. This could be done anonymously. This overview, perhaps combined with messages from other forms of evaluative information, can begin to focus in on areas requiring improvement.
- The reflective questions can provide a helpful starting point when looked at independently from the full resource. Select a section you want to look at in more depth then print out each question onto individual cards. In mixed staff teams, draw cards at random to stimulate discussion. Think about what evidence you have to inform discussion, who might have access to further evidence, which areas for improvement are identified. Such discussions can help build understanding of each individuals particular contribution to the self-evaluation process. The questions are not exhaustive and the process of self-evaluation using challenge questions for one QI can lead you to consider another QI. You may also find you create your own additional challenge questions to explore particular aspects of work.
- The framework can be used whole or in part allowing flexibility, perhaps to look at smaller pieces of work while building capacity and confidence amongst staff teams. A planned focus on self-evaluation at team meetings and staff training events helps build a culture in which everyone understands self-evaluation and feels able to step back and ask of themselves and others, ‘so what?’
