HMIe engagement

Another really positive HMIe follow through visit in our area yesterday. Delighted for the school, children and parents. I’m increasingly finding the HMIe’s direction of travel is impacting positively on those schools who engage. The key as always is self evaluation, and the move to being able to take feedback as a positive, which can impact on practice. Really when we get right down to it is that not what learning and teaching is all about – finding out where we are, finding ways to keep doing things well and to improve, talking about learning, being life long learners? The journey from an initial HMIe visit to a positive follow through can be long, hard and sometimes rocky but the feeling, when things start to improve and the focus on learning becomes embedded,  is empowering. So yesterday I managed to hold it together during the dialogue session but not too old to admit to a big greet in car later, just because I was so delighted for the school.

A really nice analogy was drawn by the inspector – during the follow up to an HMIe visit where HMie are returning- its a bit like running, sometimes you might have fallen behind the pack a wee bit and then you need to sprint to catch up, that sprint is hard going and a big ask, but once you’re there with the pack again, then its much easier to keep getting better. And once you’re in that position in a school talking about learning, focused on self evaluation and really meeting the needs of the children then you’re on a journey which makes a huge difference – Patrick Duignan summed it up – you’re a future’s teacher and you’re impacting on future children by the work you do now in ways you will never know.