About the school
Sancton Wood School is a co-educational, independent all through school in the heart of Cambridge. With around 80 staff spread across three sites, the school aims to provide an outstanding learning journey for students aged 9 months to 16 years in small class sizes of 11-18 pupils per class.
“We wanted a one-stop shop where people knew when, where and how they were dealing with appraisal, and they could find everything that they needed.”
Julia Cottam
Academic Vice Principal, Sancton Wood School
What are the challenges?
The school had a quite fragmented approach to appraisal using various systems such as Google Docs. School leaders realised that they needed a streamlined process so decided to implement BlueSky at Sancton Wood in 2021.
Sancton Wood had been a finalist for several awards – including Prep School of the Year 2022 – but school leaders were aware that many of the processes surrounding improvement and professional accountability were being applied inconsistently across different teams. As Julia Cottam, Academic Vice Principal explains, teachers were “using their own types of documents and observation feedback sheets… and standards from different sites. No one was really trying hard to use the school’s versions.”
This meant that not all staff were given the same treatment, the appraisal cycle was not always completed and it was difficult to evaluate progress. Thus, a complete system was needed to ensure all staff were provided with a consistent approach that was fair and equitable and made it easier for staff to engage with the process.
“We wanted a one-stop shop where people knew when, where and how they were dealing with appraisal, and they could find everything that they needed.”
“Teachers are able to ‘hand on heart’ say that there is a robust appraisal process in place now.”
Julia Cottam
Academic Vice Principal, Sancton Wood School
How is BlueSky supporting the school?
After reviewing various solutions, BlueSky Education was selected because it offered the highest level of customisation with its bespoke, tailored features and strong support.
“We’ve been able to put our unique appraisal system into BlueSky, and we’ve been able to define specific criteria in our structures and systems,” says Julia. “We haven’t actually had to significantly change our approach. Using BlueSky has meant that we could simply tidy up the process and make it
more streamlined.”
For Julia, BlueSky has been vital in simplifying the school’s 3-month induction process. Before using the platform, Julia was finding that new staff were finding it hard to understand the appraisal process.
“We understood that new staff were struggling sometimes and found they were digging around in the dark a little bit for who they needed to see for certain tasks and where they could find X, Y, and Z when it came to appraisal and professional development.”
Julia is relieved that using BlueSky means she can “see which of these new members of staff are actually engaging with the induction appraisal and professional development process. I can see when they have been ticking off activities as they go, which is really helpful.”
What is the impact?
During Sancton Wood’s latest round of ISI inspections Julia was pleased to see that staff were happy to talk about how the appraisal process had had an impact on their practice. “When they were interviewed by the inspectors, teachers were able to hand on heart say that there is a robust appraisal process in place now,” says Julia.
BlueSky has given both new recruits and existing staff a better understanding of the school’s appraisal process as a complete process that supports and values their contribution.
“The platform is there to support them, bolster and boost their portfolio,” says Julia. “Rather than it being higgledy-piggledy, a little bit saved in this drive and another saved on that platform and so on. The appraisal and professional development process is all in one place now and that allows
staff to see their portfolio building year on year.”
What’s next?
Having successfully transformed the school’s induction and appraisal processes, Julia is looking forward to focusing on developing the professional development aspect of the appraisal system at Sancton Wood, specifically with BlueSky Learning, BlueSky’s research informed, practitioner-led professional learning library:
“I would quite like for us as a school to try attaching some of those courses to our appraisal cycle, so if someone has a target of, for example, wanting to improve performance within a specific SEND group, then assigning certain CPD courses from BlueSky Learning to their targets would be really useful.”
With over 150 hours of professional development content by top practitioners including Sue Cowley, Jon Hutchinson and Rebecca Leek on BlueSky Learning, this looks like a great opportunity to enhance what is already a great utilisation of BlueSky’s solutions.
