How is BlueSky helping to reduce workload, for teachers and senior leaders?
“Using an online platform to support processes across the Trust enables us to share information easily. It saves time, for example when managing professional development, a school leader can send a request for all staff or a group of staff to attend a specific session.
Notifications can be set up at the start of term to send reminders automatically, so the staff member doesn’t have to spend time doing that for each CPD or appraisal activity. It is really easy to pull reports and analyse the data. We can look at the intelligence gathered through developmental drop-ins at the click of a button.
It’s hard to quantify how much time is saved, as we’ve used BlueSky Education for several years, but perhaps up to 5 hours a week. Before, everything was done by hand, written down on paper and stored in physical files. Our process would be impossible to manage at trust level without the online platform and it’s much easier to access all of the information.
Whether it’s at a school level or a trust level, using the online platform means we can, at the click of a button, find the information we need to support individuals, teams or leaders. It is most apparent when a new school joins the trust. When they start using BlueSky they say ‘Wow, it’s just transformed our practice, and saved so much time’.”
“The platform supports accountability: the records are ongoing and staff can build up a professional development portfolio throughout the year. Having ownership of their professional development is really important. Using an online platform helps to maintain the structure of having those ongoing conversations, with the meeting schedule and information in one place, where it can be accessed easily at any time.”
Catherine Taylor,
School Improvement Partner
How is it supporting teacher development?
“We have our own bespoke standards framework set up on BlueSky, and each school, if they wish, can have their own framework aligned with their teaching and learning principles. Senior leaders or line managers can run a report based on staff reviews which identifies where CPD is needed at a whole school level, department level or for an individual.
Through this analysis, leaders can pinpoint individual staff development needs. We’re very much focused on making sure that our staff receive professional development that is bespoke to their needs. Using the intelligence that’s generated through the platform makes it possible to ensure that our professional development programme is tailored to the needs of staff.”
How is it helping to shift the culture of appraisal to a more developmental conversation?
“Recruitment and retention are a high priority for us all at the moment, so we focus on ensuring that professional development is for the individual. That definitely boosts morale: we make sure that every staff member feels valued as an individual. A generic one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate.
The online platform supports the professional dialogue around performance development. We have a combination of pathways through BlueSky, which opens that dialogue and enables that professional conversation to take place. But crucially, there’s the aspect of evaluation in there as well – that reflection on “what has gone well and what do I need to work on?” from the individual teacher.
It’s part of a cyclical process and the platform supports accountability: the records are ongoing and staff can build up a professional development portfolio throughout the year. Having ownership of their professional development is really important. Using an online platform helps to maintain the structure of having those ongoing conversations, with the meeting schedule and information in one place, where it can be accessed easily at any time. It’s streamlined the way that we work, and has made us more efficient in our use of time and resources, and that can only have a positive impact in terms of how we support staff to develop.”
