12. Senior education improvement leader – roles and responsibilities
School review roles and responsibilities
Senior education improvement leaders (SEILs) work as a core member of the panel alongside the principal, reviewer, and school council president. They broker and develop relationships that link educational experts, agencies and businesses who have an interest in greater student outcomes. They cultivate these connections by facilitating channels of communication and strengthen them to enable information to be shared openly.
Their role is to encourage respectful engagement and promote broad participation. SEILs are to develop a culture of trust and transparency and to ensure that the voices of all Panel members are heard. They help network members to challenge and improve performance and check that the school implements the review process in accordance with these guidelines. SEILs have a central purpose in guiding and supporting schools to set ambitious goals, and to put in place workable plans to achieve them.
SEILs have deep knowledge of the new school review model and act as a conduit between the department, schools, and their communities. SEILs facilitate a reciprocal flow of information and feedback to assist schools in achieving their outcomes. The SEIL’s key tasks are listed in this section.
For more detail about how these tasks relate to the wider review process, and the roles and responsibilities of all participants in the review, refer to section 4 of these guidelines and to other tools and resources listed throughout. You can also download an A3 printable checklist for the review process (staff login required).
School review roles participants
School review is characterised by collaboration. Every participant has a distinctive role and important responsibilities to fulfil.
A constructive and transparent school review welcomes ideas from all school community members, listens to and reflects on varying opinions, and relies on inclusive engagement and accountability.
Section 4 of the guidelines provides an overview of the roles and responsibilities for all School Review Panel Members.
As the model below indicates, the SEIL is a core Panel member.
Core School Review Panel members
The following Panel members have decision making powers:
- principal
- SEIL
- reviewers
- school council president.
These guideline sections detail the roles and responsibilities of the Panel:
- Principal – section 11
- Reviewer – section 13
- School council president – section 14
- Challenge partners – section 15
- Students – section 16
- School improvement team (SIT) – section 17
- School staff and other community members – section 18
Tasks
Professional learning tasks
- Attend the school review professional learning program for principals and SEILs along with their review school principals
- Encourage schools participating in review to attend the professional learning on Data Literacy for Schools available through Bastow. These programs are repeated each term, with dates updated on the school review intranet site
Pre-review tasks
- Provide advice and support to the school to guide the pre-review self-evaluation (PRSE)
- Endorse the PRSE Report through SPOT
- Collaborate with the principal to establish the School Review Panel, including core Panel members, challenge partners and school community members
- Contact central office for advice if any review participants have any concerns or perceived, potential or actual conflicts of interest with the allocated reviewer.
- Ensure deep knowledge of the school’s PRSE, other data and contextual considerations
- Act as a conduit/mediator between the school and the department
- Ensure a coherent approach and foster positive perceptions of review process
Tools and resources:
- School Strategic Plan in
- Annual Implementation Plans in
- Continua of Practice for School (staff login required)
- VRQA registration requirements checklist (staff login required)
- Template – Child Safe Standards school self-assessment (staff login required)
- Template – Pre-review self-evaluation report in
- Pre-review self-evaluation guide (staff login required)
- Resource – PRSE Primary exemplar (staff login required)
- Resource – PRSE Secondary exemplar (staff login required)
- School performance data sets and
Preparation meeting tasks
- Complete these tasks at the school with the reviewer and the principal
- Confirm the key role and responsibilities of the SEIL in school review process (as a collaborator in review process)
- Co-develop a schedule for the classroom observations/focus groups to be undertaken on Validation Day (engaging all core Panel members, challenge partners, and potentially school community members)
- Co-develop an agenda for Validation Day
Tools and resources:
- Roles and responsibilities for School Review Panel members (staff login required)
- Guide for selecting challenge partners (staff login required)
- Probity and conflict of interest guidelines (staff login required)
- Template – Classroom observation and focus group schedule (staff login required)
Tasks for during the review
Validation day
- Actively participate as part of the core School Review Panel
- Engage in the collaborative evaluation of performance against the School Strategic Plan goals and targets
- Take part in classroom observations focusing on: teaching practice, student voice and curriculum – report to core School Review Panel on observations
- Take part in collaborative validation of the school’s self-evaluation against the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO) Continua
- Co-determine any additional days for the review, and schedule the days
- Contribute to developing the review’s terms of reference (ToR) focus questions and methodology
Fieldwork and final Panel meeting
- Where required, take part in fieldwork as determined in the methodology
- Contribute to the final validation of the school’s rating against the FISO Continua
- Report to members of the core School Review Panel on the findings of any fieldwork that was undertaken
- Contribute to the collaborative review of fieldwork outcomes
- Contribute to the collaborative development of goals, targets and key improvement strategies (KIS) for the next School Strategic Plan for endorsement by the panel
- Meet with the reviewer and principal to discuss the findings from the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) minimum standards check
Tools and resources:
- Template – Validation Day agenda (staff login required)
- Resource – Validation Day questions (staff login required)
- Template – School Review Report (includes terms of reference and methodology) (staff login required)
- Review day calculator in
- Template – Classroom observation and focus group schedule
Post-review tasks
- Quality assure the draft Review Report in collaboration with the principal
- Return feedback to the reviewer within five days via email with track changes to the Report and any additional feedback
- Approve the final draft of Review Report via the workflow approval email
- Complete post-review survey via Survey Monkey
- Transform schools: attend the staff and school council meetings where the Report is presented and provide an overview of what happens next
- Recharge, renew, influence, stretch and no group schools: support the principal in presenting the Report to the staff and school council, as needed
- Provide feedback and approve the school’s four-year strategic plan
- Provide feedback on the School Strategic Plan including discussion and validation of any changes to the panel key directions for the School Strategic Plan
Tools and resources:
- Template – School Review Report (includes terms of reference and methodology)
- Resource – Quality assurance checklist
- School strategic plan in
Good review practice
Good review practice is demonstrated when the SEIL:
- fosters respectful engagement with the school review
- highlights the proposed outcomes for schools and communities
- cultivates state-wide consistency in the school review process
- checks that the school implements the review process in accordance with the guidelines
- encourages participation and ensures all Panel members are heard
- models their role as a collaborator in the school review process
- guides school review practice with a deep knowledge of the review model’s purpose, processes, and place in the FISO Improvement Cycle
- is an active and engaged participant in all stages of the school review
- engages with the School Review Panel through professional, supportive, and appropriately challenging discussions
- collaborates to develop aspirational, realistic, and measurable goals and targets for the School Strategic Plan.
Reviewed 21 February 2023