Questions to support governor challenge:
What do we know?
How do we know?
How do we monitor this?
What effect has this had?
What plans do we have in place to improve this?
When will we review these?
Who is responsible for this?
Standards & Progress
How are pupil numbers reflected as percentages – what is the actual number of pupils being considered?
How good are standards and progress in the school? How do we know?
Are these results an improvement on last year?
Is there anything we should know about the cohort of pupils which could affect the results?
How is progress analysed and evaluated? What impact does this have on standards?
What does the ‘value added’ element look like?
How well do our boys perform compared to our girls? How well do our boys perform compared to boys in other similar schools?
How well do our FSM /Additional Learning Needs (ALN)/English as an Additional Language (EAL) pupils perform?
How well do our More Able (MA) pupils perform?
What is the impact of the various interventions used in the school? Do they give value for money?
Skills
What are the standards of our pupils’ literacy, especially reading, writing, numeracy and ICT?
How well do we plan to develop our pupil’s skills in Welsh?
How well does the school plan for and develop integral skills?
Learning experiences
What are the good features of the curriculum?
What are the areas for development in the curriculum?
Does the curriculum meet the needs of all our pupils? Are there any barriers in terms of equality or access to the curriculum?
How well does our curriculum meet the needs of all our learners?
How do we develop progression in learners’ literacy, especially reading, writing, and numeracy skills across all subjects? How well do develop our pupils’ ICT skills? How well are these skills taught and reinforced across the curriculum?
How do we know if we are providing quality careers advice /work experience to support youth engagement and progression?
Teaching
How good is the teaching in the school? How do we know? What do we do to ensure good or improve teaching? What are our pupils perceptions of the school?
As a result, how well do our pupils make progress in their lessons? Are there any classes / year groups / subjects that are a cause for concern? How do we monitor and support these?
How do we set targets for pupils and measure their progress? How effective is this?
What are expectations of teachers in respect to assessment, recording and reporting?
What training does all the staff receive to develop teaching and learning strategies, including specific support to improve literacy and numeracy?
How consistent is AfL across the school? Do learners get good feedback and act on it successfully?
What are the perceptions of teachers?