School Review

8 The Preparation Meeting

8.1 Planning for an effective school review

The Preparation Meeting is a designated step in the new school review process. It is singled out in this way because it produces high stakes outcomes that ensure a productive review process.

The Preparation Meeting isolates time for the principal, reviewer and the senior education improvement leader (SEIL) to:

• plan how they will structure the validation day to unpack learnings from the school’s pre-review self-evaluation (PRSE)
• reach deeply into classrooms to elicit information about teaching and learning across the school

The Preparation Meeting provides an opportunity to identify the most relevant information for panel members to conduct validation day. The Preparation Meeting process ensures the panel can pay close attention to how the school engages students and supports student achievement.

The Preparation Meeting is significant because it acknowledges and values contributions to the PRSE process and PRSE Report made by the school community. The Preparation Meeting carefully considers how to amplify the impact of their contributions during the review.

Key outputs and outcomes from the preparation meeting are:

• a shared understanding of the roles of principal, reviewer and SEIL in the review
• an agenda and methodology for Validation Day, including a schedule for the classroom observations

The Preparation Meeting is held at the school at least two weeks before Validation Day.

Information about current student outcomes and prevailing school practices must be collected systematically and reliably. It is not possible to draw meaningful conclusions about improvements in outcomes or practices if this initial information is unreliable.

'Data needs to be collected objectively and dispassionately and reflect the realities of the school’s current performance – not somebody’s intentions or beliefs about what is happening in the school.’xii

8.2 Developing the Validation Day agenda

The example Validation Day agenda below indicates how time may be allocated to ensure all aspects are covered in sufficient depth. Principals, SEILs and reviewers are encouraged to tailor the agenda to the school’s needs by including specifying when and how students, school community members and the SIT will be engaged.

8.3 Meeting minimum standards for school registration

TheEducation and Training Reform Act 2006 establishes the principles on which school education in Victoria is based. The VRQA was established under the Act.

The VRQA is responsible, among other things, for registering all schools that operate in Victoria and for ensuring that registered schools meet the standards required for registration. The standards required for school registration and for maintaining school registration are published by the VRQA. Before the Preparation Meeting, the principal provides the VRQA minimum standards for school registration documentation (self-assessment checklist in the PRSE Report and school policies) to the reviewer electronically.

The school reviewer begins assessing the school’s compliance with minimum standards by examining the school’s evidence of registration requirements.

During all review phases, the reviewer observes the school’s policies and practices to assess its compliance with the minimum standards, both on paper and in action.

The assessment culminates on the final day of the review with a meeting involving the reviewer, principal and SEIL. The meeting discusses the reviewer’s final assessment and the reviewer reports on any areas where the school is considered non-compliant, initiating follow-up and support through the Department's Government Schools Regulation Project team, Schools and Regional Services.