SEF: A School Improvement Tool

Children are the best assets one can ever have. The beautiful gift of god, kids give parents a new direction to live and responsibilities to lead their lives with good values and good education. The upbringing of kids is the biggest challenge for any couple, as it is crucial to teach them how to behave in the society, how to become a good student, a good citizen. In fact, before a teacher at a playschool, parents, basically a mother is the first teacher. She teaches her child to walk, eat, recognize colours, vegetables, fruits, basic eating etiquettes, respecting elders, etc. if the mother is negligent of her child’s education, his/her future is certainly in dark. But, as the child grows up, the level of education also increases; the responsibilities are equally shared by schools and parents. Education is very important, it’s the life. Education is the most important asset one can ever have. It is the basic parameter to have a worth and say in the social circle; the thing which matters the most is quality of education. Proper education is very important for a child’s mental and social development. In this context, a large number of schools are mushrooming and are following SEF patterns. The Self-evaluation Form (SEF) helps schools assess the ongoing effectiveness of their education provision. It is a way to inspect the standards of schools. It’s a regime under which more importance will be given to student’s attainment, and this determines the status of a school.

Parents make their best efforts to enrol their ward’s name in the best school. Education is important, and what is more important is the quality of that education which is only possible in a good school. Nowadays, a lot of schools are deploying innovative ideas to make studies interesting for students. And, with a number of schools opening up, self monitoring or self-evaluation becomes utmost crucial to know the stand. SEF helps a school to monitor the identifying goals in the best possible manner. Many schools in the UK have adopted this strategy of school evaluation and have turned better in understanding their strength and weaknesses. Moreover, the latest SEF concentrates on three major spheres- teaching quality, student’s outcome and how effective is the school’s leadership.

Also, it is mandatory for the schools to grade themselves on statements in SEF, and also state reasons for the chosen grades.

SEF, actually is the part of School Improvement campaign, where in schools are using software to evaluate themselves. In fact, inspections are also conducted to rank schools as good, bad or outstanding. Increased concentration is on student’s health along with the opportunities provided to them in terms of learning activities that promote awareness.

Home Education for Your Reserved Child

Earlier, it was said that education is a privilege. Nowadays, education is considered as an indispensable part of a child’s rights. John Dewey quotes “education is not preparation of life, education is life itself.” Education plays a pivotal role in shaping the life of an individual. The most important aspect of leading a civilized life is education. It is the most important asset one can ever have. It is the basic parameter to have a worth and say in the social circle; the thing which matters the most is quality of education. Education makes us capable and able to compete. As education has so much to offer, people have started to consider and acknowledge its importance in life. In a country like United Kingdom, education has always been high on the agenda. In fact, in UK, the concept of Home Education has been an essential part of the society.

Now, the question that arises is why studying at home if schools are there. Some parents are not satisfied by the school system, or, there are simply no good schools in the near by area. Some prefer home schooling because of financial reasons as well. In some cases, it may also happen that the child is not medically fit, or is autistic, to attend classes with other students. As far as UK is concerned, Home Education is increasingly gaining grounds. There are many advantages of home education over school education. The best part of home based education is the individual attention given to the child. It is comfortable to study at home with safe friendly environment in the supervision of parents. Then, every child is not same. Some grasp easily and perform better in competition, while some find it comparatively tough to perform among a group of pupils. Home education also refrains from unhealthy competition and nagging to perform and secure better grades in the class.

Home schooling students primarily fall under two main categories: adult learners, who could not complete school education for some reasons and are now willing to attain education, and home-educated youngsters falling in the age-group 11-18 years. Most of the schools that provide such type of schooling have the provision of written study material. This material is studied through a typical syllabus. Self assessment tests are also a part of home schooling. Interaction with special tutors helps students to complete their assignments and clear their concepts. Home Education Courses may include disciplines like English, History, Geography, Mathematics, etc for young children, and subjects like Teaching, Nursing and Policing for young adults above 18.

School Websites- a must for very school!

Internet has become a great platform for everyone who wants to reach out to others. For any Organisation-Private, public or Government, or an individual, being a face on the Internet has become essential. If you have something to offer to the world, and you want the world to be aware of it, being online would make things easier for you. World over, there are millions of people who are users of the Internet. Most of the people in this generation use Internet for various purposes and hence having a presence on the Internet is very important. Just imagine, if you could target all those millions of people out there that use the Internet to look for information they need on a particular subject, wouldn’t it give you’re the much needed exposure? Would it really enhance the visibility of your product or brand? Yes, nothing but a screaming yes would make a befitting reply to this question. And this ‘screaming need’ to have a website applies to every organisation-no matter what it does. And it surely makes a whole lot of sense to schools as well. School websites have become quite the order of the day now.

Yeah, schools also need websites. Most of the schools that have invested heavily on the infrastructure and offer facilities of the highest quality would want to rake in some ‘moolah’ in order to maintain their resources and to be able to consistently offer quality education. Commercialisation of education is a truth of this century and there’s no escaping from this fact. If you have a school and you aspire to be known as the best school, it is inevitable that you promote it just the way you would promote any other brand or products. Besides promoting the school, a website also acts as a useful utility. In the age of Information technology, a website has become a must for every school. The website can provide all the necessary information to your prospective students and their parents, your students and teachers and everyone related to the school can benefit from a website. If you are in the UK, you could seek help from a multitude of web designing companies. However, designing school web sites is a bit different from other websites and getting the help from an expert is the key to getting the best possible website for your school!