Leadership and management

6.1

The effectiveness of leadership

What good looks like

Leadership is good when leaders, including middle leaders, know where teaching and achievement are strong or not, and when their actions change those things. Vision statements matter less than the decisions of the last term.

Stages

1. Weak

   Leaders do not have a reliable view of the school, or they know the problems and do not act. Middle leaders have titles without authority. Staff are unclear about priorities.

2. Acceptable

   Leaders keep the school running and improvements are real but uneven. Some middle leaders drive their areas; others wait to be told.

3. Good

   Leaders set a small number of priorities and follow them through. Middle leaders are accountable for teaching in their areas. Staff understand what will be different this year.

4. Very Good

   Leadership is purposeful at more than one level. Professional culture is strong, and improvement is visible in student work, not only in plans.

5. Outstanding

   Leaders have created a school that keeps improving when individuals change. Judgements are accurate, and the effect on students is sustained.

Practical actions

• Weak: Cut the priority list to three

  Write three priorities that a teacher can remember, each with an owner and a student-level sign of progress. Stop other initiatives that compete with them for the next term.

  Department toolkit

• Acceptable: Give middle leaders one decision

  Name the decision each head of subject or phase will take this term about teaching, and the evidence they will bring back. Meet them on that evidence, not on a general update.

  Department toolkit

• Good: Check priorities against student work

  Once a month, leaders look at work from the priority area and say whether the priority is still the right one. Change it if the work says the problem has moved.

  Department toolkit

Evidence to prepare

• Three priorities. The current list, owners, and the student-level sign for each.
• Middle-leader notes. The decision they took and the teaching evidence they brought.
• Staff understanding. A short pulse of what staff say the priorities are.
• Work review. A dated note linking a leadership action to a change in student work.

6.2

Self-evaluation and improvement planning

What good looks like

Self-evaluation is good when it is accurate and leads to a plan people use. The school does not grade itself by hope. Actions have owners, dates, and a way to know they worked. This product's self-assessment is one input, not a substitute for leaders walking the school.

Stages

1. Weak

   The school does not know itself, or the written evaluation is a wish. Plans are long, undated, and not used. The same actions appear year after year.

2. Acceptable

   There is an evaluation and a plan. Some actions happen. Evidence is thinner than the judgements, and reviews slip.

3. Good

   Leaders' judgements mostly match the evidence. The plan is short enough to manage, reviewed on time, and changed when an action fails.

4. Very Good

   Self-evaluation is sharp, including about weaknesses. Planning is systematic and the school can show improvement that followed from it.

5. Outstanding

   The school is precise about itself and uses that knowledge continuously. Improvement is sustained and does not depend on a single document written for visitors.

Practical actions

• Weak: Rewrite the plan as a term sheet

  Turn the improvement plan into one page per priority: evidence now, action, owner, date, and what student work will look like if it works. Archive the longer document.

  Department toolkit

• Acceptable: Hold the review even if the news is mixed

  Put three review dates in the calendar now. At each one, mark actions as done, not done, or changed. A review that only celebrates will not move an Acceptable judgement.

6.3

Partnerships with parents and the community

What good looks like

Partnership is good when parents receive an honest picture and have a way to be heard, and when community links serve students' learning or wellbeing. Communication in the languages families actually use matters in Abu Dhabi. A high turnout at a show is not the same as a partnership.

Stages

1. Weak

   Parents are informed late, or only when there is trouble. Concerns stack up. Community links are nominal.

2. Acceptable

   Regular communication exists and most parents are satisfied enough. Reporting is clearer in some phases, and the school listens more than it changes.

3. Good

   Parents are partners in the important decisions about their children. The school acts on patterns in their feedback, and community links have a purpose students can name.

4. Very Good

   Communication is timely, two-way, and useful. Parents and community partners contribute to learning in ways the school can point to.

5. Outstanding

   Partnerships are a strength. Parents trust the school's honesty, including about difficulties, and the community relationship has a lasting benefit for students.

Practical actions

• Weak: Set a response time and keep it

  Tell parents how quickly the school replies, in Arabic and English, and track a month of messages against that promise. Fix the channel that fails rather than opening another app.

  Department toolkit

• Acceptable: Act on one pattern in feedback

  Read the last term's parent comments, name the most common practical issue, change one thing, and tell parents what you changed.

6.4

Governance

What good looks like

Governance is good when owners or the board know the school's real performance, hold leaders to account, and meet their legal duties without running the day. They ask about safeguarding, achievement, and money with enough knowledge to hear a weak answer.

Stages

1. Weak

   The board is absent, ceremonial, or so involved in operations that nobody holds leaders to account. Duties around safeguarding or finance are unclear.

2. Acceptable

   Governors meet and receive reports. Challenge is polite and occasional. They know the headlines more than the evidence.

3. Good

   Governors understand performance, including weaknesses, and their questions change what leaders do. Statutory duties are met and minuted.

4. Very Good

   Governance is well informed and systematic. The board influences direction and checks that resources follow the priorities.

5. Outstanding

   Governance is a sustained strength. The board combines support and challenge, plans succession, and can show decisions that improved students' experience.

Practical actions

• Weak: Put three questions on every agenda

  Every meeting asks: are students safe, where is achievement weakest, and does the budget match those facts? Minute the answer and the action. Cancel purely ceremonial items until this sticks.

  Department toolkit

• Acceptable: Send evidence, not only slides

  Before the next meeting, governors receive one page of student-level evidence on the main weakness. The minute should record a question that could not have been asked from the headline alone.

6.5

Management, staffing, facilities and resources

What good looks like

Management is good when the school is staffed with qualified people, inducted and developed, and when the building and resources make the curriculum possible. Numbers from the open-data extract are a prompt to compare with the school's own register, not a compliance certificate.

Stages

1. Weak

   Staffing gaps or unclear roles disrupt learning. The site or resources block the curriculum. Day-to-day management is reactive.

2. Acceptable

   The school runs in an orderly way. Recruitment and buildings meet basic needs. Professional development exists but is loosely tied to the improvement plan.

3. Good

   Staff are suitably qualified and deployed. The premises are safe and fit for the curriculum. Management systems, including timetabling and resources, support teaching.

4. Very Good

   Deployment is thoughtful, development improves teaching, and the environment is high quality and well used.

5. Outstanding

   Management and resources are a reason the school succeeds. Staff grow, the building serves learning, and systems keep working when key people are away.

Practical actions

• Weak: Match people to the timetable gaps

  List classes without a suitably qualified teacher and cover arrangements that have lasted more than two weeks. Decide a fix or an honest interim for each before the next parent report.

  Department toolkit

• Acceptable: Remove one barrier in the building

  Ask teachers which room or resource most often stops the planned curriculum. Fix or timetable around the top item this term, and record the student work that became possible.