Introduction

Context and purpose of the tool

The following questions have been developed to support school leaders to evaluate progress towards the Every Child Matters (ECM) and extended services (ES) agendas. This tool can be used as a self-diagnostic to support conversations within the senior leadership team, the wider school community or the governing body. It is designed to draw out the areas of strength in the school upon which further work can be based and the areas where the school feels most challenged or requires further support to move forward. Importantly, it is intended to support a conversation that enables schools to move forward in their planning and delivery of the ECM and ES agenda and provide input into the school's self-evaluation and improvement plan.

Using the tool

Section 1: Understanding and engagement

There are 10 areas for discussion in section 1 which together generate an average score for the school's overall understanding and engagement of ECM and ES. These areas are drawn from the research undertaken by the University of Warwick on behalf of the National College and TDA which looked at the issues impacting on sustainable engagement in ECM and ES. The full report is available at www.tda.gov.uk or www.nationalcollege.org.uk/publications.

Section 2: Perception of need and progress

There are a further 10 areas for discussion in section 2 which together generate an average score for the school's overall perception of need and progress against the five ECM outcomes and the full core offer (FCO) for extended services. Part A focuses on progress against the five ECM outcomes linked to the self evaluation framework and Part B focuses on progress towards the full core offer and extended services.

Capabilities

For each of the areas for discussion you will find:

• a series of prompt questions to support the dialogue
• a narrative of the main features for this area graded against four levels of capability

You need to select the level of capability which most closely reflects the characteristics and behaviours within your school for that particular area. The levels should be agreed between the parties involved in discussion.

The four quadrants

Capability scores for each of the sections are totalled and divided by 10 to determine an average. The average score for section 1 (understanding and engagement) and section 2 (perceived needs and progress) are plotted on the graph on the X and Y axes respectively in order to determine the quadrant into which the school falls. This is generated on the last screen of the tool with a brief interpretive description of each quadrant.

Discussion regarding appropriate actions and support that the school may take forward in partnership with its key stakeholders can be determined from the quadrant analysis and by the issues highlighted. A joint support plan and next steps can be discussed and agreed and a template to support this can be downloaded at the end of the tool.