About
In 2018, a School Excellence fund project called Step Up was launched by the Department of Education. The goals identified for the Step Up project were to achieve higher quality learner experiences and outcomes through more effective implementation of aspects of the Framework for Junior Cycle. Project schools were to be supported to develop highly effective practices of teacher collaboration and reflection, guided by the SSE process and standards (as set out in the inspectorate quality framework Looking at Our School 2016), while simultaneously developing student-centred innovation in relation to different aspects of the Framework for Junior Cycle (2015). Cross-subject groups of teachers whose subjects had been the first three to undergo specification change were invited to participate in Step Up, creating the opportunity for their learning to influence the practice of other subject areas within their schools.
Step Up was designed to provide extra professional learning and in-school time supports to project schools to address this SSE focus, enabling the capture of varied case studies of this process in action, for public dissemination. The project schools were to be supported by a joint team of Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT) advisors and post-primary inspectors, through out-of-school seminar days and in-school visits, with ongoing support provided by the designated Step Up project co-ordinator (a JCT Advisor). While the Step Up project schools worked on an individual basis, all seminars organised by JCT emphasised the benefits of peer collaboration and peer learning.
The Six-Step School Self-Evaluation Process
Schools considered how best to share their journey using this graphic as a guide