Involving the team in completing SEF

Ways to involve your team in helping you complete your SEF

Completing your SEF can be daunting and many people end up leaving it blank or with gaps. Ofsted will refer to your SEF prior to your visit to gain an insight of your setting. If this isn’t available then as long as managers can talk about the progression of the setting as well as any actions planned then many inspectors are happy with this.

It is best practice to have your SEF completed as this provides Ofsted with sufficent amount of information about your settings which can help contribute to your Ofsted grade.

It is important to involve everyone when it comes to completing your SEF, as those who work directly with the children may have good points to contribute. The question is how can managers involve the team. Why not try these few suggestions;

• During a practitioner workshop provide the team with sections of the inspection framework. Ask the team to look at the good and outstanding sections and make notes as to what they did and how and what they could do better. From all  this information create an action plan together as a group. Working together as a group to contribute to the SEF can help take the pressure of the manager.
• It has been mentioned that some settings use a reflective diary which works well-collating evidence of what works well, what didn’t and why.  Practitioners contribute to this diary on a weekly basis which can then be added to the SEF.
• Monthly SEF meeting where practitioners are asked to fill in a form which has headings taken from the inspection framework. This information is then added to the SEF.
• Creating a questionnaire for staff and parents to fill out. Tailor these questions to what is being asked in the SEF this will then hopefully give you some  food evidence for your SEF.

It is important to regular update your SEF as it is a powerful self-evaluation tool. By continuously contributing to it will keep it updated.