Who is this template for?
This template is designed specifically for Headteachers in England who are seeking a structured and supportive process for their own professional reflection and performance management. It provides a clear framework to evaluate practice, plan for growth, and prepare for appraisal conversations with governors, line managers, or MAT leaders.
Why use this template?
Using this template helps you move beyond a simple compliance exercise and turn your appraisal into a meaningful driver of professional growth. It enables you to:
- Take Ownership of Your Development: Empowers you to lead your own performance management through structured, meaningful reflection against the national standards for your role.
- Ensure Alignment and Consistency: Provides a clear and consistent framework based on the DfE Headteachers’ Standards 2020, ensuring your self-evaluation is aligned with national expectations.
- Facilitate Meaningful Dialogue: Creates a rich, evidence-based foundation for productive appraisal conversations with your line manager, appraiser, or governors, focusing dialogue on impact and development.
- Organise Evidence Efficiently: Acts as a single, organised repository for your reflections and evidence, saving you time and reducing the administrative burden of preparing for performance reviews.
- Translate Reflection into Action: Guides you through the iAbacus process to turn insights from your self-evaluation directly into a targeted, actionable plan for your continuing professional development (CPD).
- Model Reflective Practice: Demonstrates a commitment to evidence-informed reflection and continuous improvement, fostering a powerful culture of professional growth that starts with the school's leader.
How does it work?
This template uses the standard, intuitive iAbacus process: make a judgement on your performance, verify it against the criteria, provide supporting evidence, analyse the factors helping and hindering your progress, and build a targeted action plan.
The evaluation is structured across the ten key areas defined by the Headteachers' Standards:
- School culture
- Teaching
- Curriculum and assessment
- Behaviour
- Additional and SEN and disabilities
- Professional development
- Organisational management
- Continuous school improvement
- Working in partnership
- Governance and accountability
Gaining Strategic Insight
For leaders of Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), this template offers powerful strategic oversight. A MAT CEO can use the iAbacus 'Stack' feature to view the 'Headteacher Reflection & Growth Plan' abacuses from all Headteachers in the trust on a single screen. This provides an instant comparative overview, allowing them to quickly identify trust-wide strengths, pinpoint where targeted support may be needed, and recognise successful professional growth strategies that can be shared across the group to elevate leadership in every school.
Clear, Professional Reporting
With a single click, iAbacus generates a polished, professional PDF report from this template, perfect for sharing with key stakeholders.
- For the MAT Trust Board: A report generated from a 'Stack' or 'Overlay' of multiple Headteacher plans offers a powerful, comparative overview to inform strategic decisions about leadership development and trust-wide performance.
- For Performance Management: The report provides a rich, organised summary of a Headteacher's self-reflection, evidence, and planning. It is the ideal document to share with a line manager or appraiser (such as governors) to facilitate a meaningful and evidence-informed professional dialogue.
References / Source Material
How to Get Started
New to iAbacus? Discover how this template can support your improvement strategy. Book a personalised demo or start a free trial to explore the full platform. Visit www.iAbacus.com to learn more.
Already a subscriber? You can find this template in the template library within your iAbacus account. Simply log in, create a new abacus, and select it from the list to get started.
