School Review

1. School review panels

The school review is facilitated by the reviewer and includes the principal, senior education improvement leader (SEIL), and, in most cases, the school council president and challenge partners. Review panel member roles and responsibilities are described below, including information on how to select challenge partners.

A small number of reviews will not require the participation of challenge partners or the school council president. You will be advised by your SEIL if this applies to your school. The school community will continue to be engaged during the review process through focus groups.

Principals can choose to invite members of the leadership team, middle leaders, other staff members and student leaders to participate in the school review at their discretion.

Principal

The principal is responsible for:

• communicating with the school community throughout the review process
• leading and completing the pre-review self-evaluation (PRSE) with the support of nominated members of the school leadership team or other staff
• confirming that review panel members and any additional staff are available to participate and understand how to contribute to the review
• sharing the PRSE with panel members
• collaborating with the SEIL to select 2 challenge partners (or more if preferred)
• meeting with the SEIL and reviewer for the preparation meeting
• coordinating the logistics of the review, including circulating the agenda to panel members, organising a room for panel meetings with any necessary audio-visual requirements, scheduling classroom observations and inviting any school community members to present to the panel about the school if desired
• chairing the review panel meetings
• checking the accuracy of the school review report
• presenting the final review report to staff
• presenting the final review report to school council.

Senior education improvement leader

The senior education improvement leader (SEIL) supports the school through the review process and is responsible for:

• liaising with the principal and the School Planning, Review and Annual Reporting Unit to support the scheduling of the school review, identifying where specialist reviewer expertise is needed and recommending changes to the timing and length of reviews where appropriate
• supporting the principal and their nominated staff to collaboratively complete the PRSE
• reviewing and endorsing the final PRSE
• collaborating with the principal to select challenge partners
• meeting with the principal and reviewer for the preparation meeting and supporting the principal to plan for the review
• participating in the review
• checking accuracy and approving the final draft of the review report
• supporting the principal to present the final review report to school council
• if any areas of non-compliance with the Curriculum and Student Learning Minimum Standard are identified, supporting the school to achieve compliance and reporting back to the Operational Policy, School Engagement and Compliance Division once achieved.

Reviewer

The reviewer facilitates the review process and is responsible for:

• contacting the SEIL and principal to organise the preparation meeting
• reviewing the PRSE and preparing pre-review preliminary insights into the data and evidence before the preparation meeting
• requesting any further data or documentation required
• meeting with the principal and SEIL for the preparation meeting
• facilitating key review activities including panel discussions, classroom observations and focus groups
• ongoing synthesis and review of the data and evidence, and developing the recommended goals, targets and key improvement strategies for the School Strategic Plan
• preparing and delivering presentations to support and guide panel discussions
• designing and managing the review activities
• preparing the review report, including editing the draft review report in response to feedback and quality assurance processes and submitting the final school review report for approval
• preparing the compliance assessment reports for department policy requirements and for schools where this is required, the Curriculum and Student Learning Minimum Standard.

School council president

For most reviews, the school council president represents the school council and is responsible for:

• supporting communication to the school community about the review and how they can contribute. This could include gathering feedback from parents and carers as part of the review process
• reviewing the PRSE before review activities commence
• participating in review panel meetings. They may also participate in other review activities
• attending the presentation of the review report to school council.

There are a small number of reviews where school council president participation in the review is not required. The president will still attend the presentation of the report to the council as normal. School councillors and other school community members will continue to be engaged through other review activities such as focus groups during the school review.

The school review process is addressed in school council governance training. Refer to School Council – Training and Good Governance.

Challenge partners

Challenge partners are selected by the principal and SEIL to offer an external, independent perspective on the school’s practices and performance. They can be department subject-matter experts working in regional or central office roles, members of the regional school improvement workforce, principals of other schools, or external subject matter experts.

Challenge partners are responsible for:

• reviewing the PRSE before review activities commence
• participating in review panel meetings to contribute their expertise
• participating in further review activities such as classroom observations and focus groups if available.

To find and contact department subject matter experts who have completed challenge partner training, principals and SEILs can email the School Planning, Review and Annual Reporting Unit at SchoolReview@education.vic.gov.au to request the trained challenge partners contact list. Training is encouraged for challenge partners, but is not required.

The School Planning, Review and Annual Reporting Unit offers challenge partner training once a year. Requests to register for training can be emailed to SchoolReview@education.vic.gov.au