How to evaluate and approve the school improvement plan

Last reviewed on 23 October 2019
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 30407

Your governing board should approve the school improvement plan (SIP) every year. Understand the process for doing that, what to look out for and what questions to ask. The SIP is sometimes called a school development plan or strategic plan.

Article tools

Contents

  1. How the draft SIP was created
  2. Set an agenda item to approve the SIP
  3. Review the draft before the meeting
  4. Interrogate the SIP
  5. Approve the SIP

How the draft SIP was created

First, let's cast our minds back to the summer term. As a board, you should've met with the headteacher and the senior leadership team to go over:

  • Pupil performance data
  • Financial data
  • Results of staff, parent and pupil surveys
  • Previous school improvement plans (SIPs) and their outcomes
  • The self-evaluation form (SEF)
  • Your last Ofsted inspection report

Your board should've set the objectives for the SIP at that meeting. For more on that process, read this article.

Since that meeting, the headteacher and the SLT have drafted the actual SIP. This should be a detailed plan of:

  • What specific actions to take to meet the objectives
  • When those actions will be carried out
  • Who is responsible for carrying out each action
  • How progress will be monitored
  • How you'll measure success

See the article linked above for examples of SIPs from other schools.

Though there's no formal requirement that your board approves the SIP, this should be

Read next

Also in 'School improvement planning'