Who is this template for?
This template is designed for Subject Leaders, Principal Teachers, STEM coordinators, and senior leaders in Scottish early learning and childcare (ELC) settings, primary schools, additional support needs (ASN) provisions, and secondary schools. It provides a robust structure to stimulate dialogue, self-evaluation, and strategic improvement across the whole setting in relation to sciences, technologies, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Why use this template?
- Stimulate Dialogue and Action: Use the framework to foster professional conversations and collaborative action towards developing a cohesive, whole-school approach to STEM education.
- Save Valuable Time: The template provides a ready-made structure for your STEM review, aligned with national priorities. This removes the need to start from a blank page, allowing you to focus immediately on evaluation and improvement.
- Ensure National Alignment: The framework is directly aligned with key Scottish educational standards, including How good is our school? (Fourth edition) (HGIOS4?) and How good is our early learning and childcare? (HGIOELC?), ensuring your evaluation is relevant and robust.
- Support Strategic Priorities: It connects your school’s work directly to the STEM Education and Training Strategy for Scotland, Developing the Young Workforce, and the Scottish Attainment Challenge.
- Structure Professional Judgement: The iAbacus process empowers your team to make professional judgements, back them up with evidence, and create a clear, actionable plan for improvement.
- Drive Continuous Improvement: Use the template to establish a clear baseline, track progress over time, and create a living record of your STEM journey, demonstrating impact to stakeholders like Education Scotland.
How does it work?
This template follows the standard, intuitive iAbacus process: make a judgement, verify it with criteria, provide evidence, analyse helping and hindering factors, and create a targeted action plan. The evaluation is structured across the following key areas drawn from HGIOS4:
- 1.1 Self-evaluation for self-improvement
- 1.2 Leadership of learning
- 1.3 Leadership of change
- 1.5 Management of resources to promote equity
- 2.2 Curriculum
- 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessment
- 2.5 Family learning
- 2.6 Transitions
- 2.7 Partnerships
- 3.1 Improving wellbeing, equality and inclusion
- 3.2 Raising attainment and achievement
- 3.3 Increasing creativity and employability
Gaining Strategic Insight
A STEM coordinator or senior leader can gain powerful strategic insight by using the iAbacus 'Overlay' and 'Stack' features. For instance, you could invite the Principal Teachers of sciences, technologies, and mathematics to each complete an evaluation for their department on a single, collaborative abacus. This provides an immediate visual comparison, highlighting which departments are highly effective in areas like 'Partnerships' or 'Creativity and Employability', and revealing where best practice can be shared or support is required across the STEM disciplines.
Clear, Professional Reporting
With one click, you can export your completed STEM evaluation into a polished, visually compelling PDF report. This report is perfect for distribution to the subject team at a departmental meeting. It ensures every member is clear on the agreed-upon priorities, individual responsibilities, and the specific success criteria outlined in the action plan, fostering collective ownership and accountability.
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.
