Information Sheet 3

General Advice on Planning for a Review

In planning for reviews, schools are reminded about the following matters

Handbook

For those school personnel who are new to the process and especially those whose schools will be considered for re-registration in 2008, it is recommended that they take into account, not only the Standards in Section 3, but also the additional materials that have been included in the appendices. 

The appendices have been provided by the Board to assist schools to interpret the Standards and should be particularly useful in dealing with the newer aspects of the Standards, especially in the areas of Review and Development (Appendix C) and Code of Conduct (Appendix E).

Meeting with the school’s governing authority

The Schools Registration Board recommends that the review panel meets with representatives of the school’s governing authority as well as the Principal and other staff members.  Their presence might not be necessary for the whole period of the review visit but is very valuable when discussing several of the Standards. 

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Documentation

Prior to a review, the Board will provide a summary of the documentation (see Information Sheet 2) that will be required to be forwarded to the Board prior to the review date.  Whilst it is the school’s prerogative to forward additional information, it would generally be more efficient to simply have one copy of this additional material available in the school on the day of the review.

Preparing for a review

It is to be expected that whenever a review takes place, schools will have developmental “work in progress”.  Panels will be quite prepared to consider such materials and do not expect that developmental work will necessarily be rescheduled in preparation for a registration review.  While schools continually reflect on their capacity to meet the Standards during their period of registration, the Board recommends that schools begin to specifically prepare for the review visit and consider the review requirements from early in their review year

Membership of review panel

It is the practice of the SRB to appoint two Board members to each review panel and to seek a nominee from the school being reviewed for the third panel position.  This person “shall not have a direct concern with the school as a member of the body responsible for the school, a staff member, or a parent”.  These nominees need to be fully aware of their role on the panel.  It needs to be clear to the nominees before they accept the position that they have a review role rather than an advocacy function.

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School tour focus

When the review panel visits the school, the actual tour of the school (which is generally up to an hour in length), should focus on:

• Changes to facilities since the last review;

• Examples of the ways in which the campus is being utilised;

• Examples of specialist or practical facilities;

• Staff facilities;

• Examples of how student movement between different areas of the school is facilitated;

• Extent of grounds and examples of their optimal use; and

• Examples of typical general classroom spaces at the various levels in the school.

Review report

The SRB places high value on the formal review report that is forwarded to the Minister for Education and to the school.  It encourages schools to utilise the reports for communication between the various stakeholders in their communities and for reflection and planning.  Whenever the report is used for such purposes, its source should be acknowledged.  However, in response to enquiries from schools, the Board advises that its review reports must not be used for advertising purposes.

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