Who is this template for?
This template is specifically designed for school leaders and staff in Ireland, including Principals, Deputy Principals, Guidance Counsellors, Pastoral Care Coordinators or Year Heads, Special Education Teachers (SETs), and the entire special education team. It is also an essential tool for the Board of Management to ensure effective governance in this critical area.
Why use this template?
This iAbacus template is more than just a checklist; it’s a powerful tool to drive genuine improvement in your school's wellbeing provision. By using this template, you can:
- Align with Department of Education Standards: The framework provides a clear, structured process that mirrors the official inspection process, ensuring your self-evaluation is comprehensive, robust, and inspection-ready. It helps you demonstrate how your school is fulfilling its obligations under the Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice.
- Create a Centralised Source of Truth: Consolidate all your School Self-Evaluation (SSE) documentation in one place. All judgements, evidence, and actions are easily accessible, providing a single, clear source of information for both internal review and external validation.
- Support Teacher Professional Development: Empower teachers to take ownership of their professional growth through meaningful and structured reflection against key standards. The process can be linked to professional development goals, ensuring a practical application of your Croke Park hours.
- Build Leadership Capacity: Sharpen the evaluative thinking of your middle leaders, such as year heads or subject coordinators. The template guides them to create robust, evidence-based departmental or team action plans that contribute to a cohesive whole-school strategy.
- Ensure Consistency in Special Needs Provision: Leaders like the Special Education Teacher (SET) can use this framework to ensure a consistent, whole-school approach to evaluating wellbeing provision. This helps to identify and share best practices effectively, guaranteeing all students receive the support they need.
- Promote Transparent Governance: Provide the Board of Management and senior leaders with a clear and consistent framework for quality assurance. The template allows for a transparent overview of performance, helping to ensure accountability and effective strategic planning in this vital area.
How does it work?
This template uses the standard, intuitive iAbacus process to make self-evaluation visual and engaging. It is structured around the four key areas of the Wellbeing in Education Framework for Practice:
- Culture and Environment
- Curriculum
- Policy and Planning
- Relationships and Partnerships
Gaining Strategic Insight
Leaders can leverage the powerful 'Overlay' and 'Stack' features of iAbacus to gain a strategic, whole-school view of wellbeing provision. A Principal could compare wellbeing evaluations from different departments or year groups to identify inconsistencies and pinpoint areas of strength and weakness. For example, they could compare wellbeing actions in the junior cycle versus the senior cycle to ensure a smooth transition for students. A regional education officer or a leader with oversight of a group of schools could also use this feature to compare wellbeing strategies across their network, identifying and sharing effective practices while highlighting schools that may require additional support in a specific area.
Clear, Professional Reporting
With a single click, you can generate a professional PDF report of your school's wellbeing self-evaluation. This is an invaluable resource for the Board of Management, providing them with a clear and concise summary to fulfill their governance role. It is also perfect for sharing with Department of Education inspectors, serving as key evidence to demonstrate how your school is fulfilling its obligations under the Wellbeing Policy Statement.
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.
