The end of the year and my performance management cycle is coming to a close. My principal PLG is a regular forum where we all share progress towards our leadership goals and with the last one for the year approaching we are using the elevator pitch strategy to share progress related to one of our goals.

Now our elevator is pretty slow so we have 5 minutes to make our pitches interesting, memorable and succinct, using a framework of subheadings to guide our reflections;

1. My goals is…
2. I have made impact on students/staff by…
3. My main leadership learning has been…
4. I will continue to work on…

My goal is…

1.2 Performance Objective

Lead the development & implementation of key systems to support improved outcomes for priority learners.

Expected Outcomes

1. Accelerated progress is apparent for priority learners
2. A planned & co-ordinated approach to investigating, planning & monitoring effective practices for priority learners is established
3. Teachers demonstrate the ability to inquire into & adapt their practice for priority learners in an ongoing way

I have made impact on students/staff by…

Students

1. Actively including them in the fact finding and intervention decision making process. Staff were released to capture student voice, work with students to draw learning maps and ask them questions related to learning and what works for them and doesn’t. Some of the outcomes from this include increased voice and choice for learners in their learning.
2. More clarity/transparency for them around what they need to do in order to progress. This was enabled through classroom discussion, learning conferences, access to their own achievement data (e.g. e-asTTle), revised written reporting formats with clarity around next steps, changes to classroom programme (e.g. self managed timetables, workshops).
3. For the majority of priority learner cohorts identified in our achievement plan progress has been noticeable. For example:
4. In reading, 14 students were identified from 2015 data, 10 have made accelerated progress (71%).
5. In writing, 18 students were identified, 10 have made accelerated progress  (56%).
6. In maths, 20 students were identified, 18 have made accelerated progress (90%).
7. Of those who have not accelerated, only 1 student is a real cause for concern as there has been little to no progress, even with increased tiers of support.

Staff

1. Our priority learners were agended into staff, team and leadership meetings, ensuring that their needs were kept on top and that actions to addressing their needs were reflected on in an ongoing and collaborative way i.e. raising student achievement is a whole school responsibility, not just one teachers.
2. TAI practices were re-introduced and further built on, highly valued to acknowledge the importance of an ongoing and reflective professional inquiry.
3. Teachers were expected to make informed decisions about the impact of the teaching based on achievement data, student voice, feedback from colleagues, and critical self reflection including videoing their own teaching.
4. Teachers were asked to consider and discuss the implications of an equity v. equality approach to addressing the needs of our priority learners.
5. Staff increased their professional knowledge and capability around the use of a broad range of assessment tools to inform decisions related to teaching and learning.
6. Conversations regarding priority learners changed to be about learning not behaviour.

My main leadership learning has been…

1. Importance of focusing all changes and professional learning centred around students and improving their outcomes. i.e. don’t do it for me, do it for your learners.
2. Getting the pace of change right and balancing this with the;
3. wellbeing of staff and workloads
4. amongst the other needs across all areas of review and development
5. time for teachers to embed practices
6. culture of growth mindsets, recognising change happens a different paces for everyone.
7. Acknowledging the huge value in the ongoing review of what and why we do things, acknowledging when things haven’t gone to plan, and being flexible and adaptive to change.
8. Giving value/resourcing  to teachers coming together to have professional based dialogue during the school day.
9. Being patient.

I will continue to work on…

1. Gaining a deeper understanding of the staff in order to better recognise, utilise and accommodate their strengths and weaknesses.
2. Providing more effective feedback across a range of forums, in order to support teachers in becoming more effective in their roles.
3. Explore a more personalised approach to TAI, professional learning and appraisal/accountability.
4. Further exploring professional collaborative practices and opportunities.
5. Continuing to prioritise our priority learners but consciously use a gradual release of responsibility model as practices are normalised.

So there’s the pitch. Quite an easy, quick and worthwhile strategy to pull together the key points related to progress towards a goal. I would certainly consider using it with my staff as another reflective approach as part of the TAI process.

#LeadershipGoal2 #prioritylearners #TAI