Introduction

In Reducing Paperwork there were several suggestions on how to minimise bureaucracy and reduce paperwork. This section provides a whole series of forms, audits and questionnaires that will actually save time, reduce the necessity of holding decision-making meetings and certainly stop every individual school from reinventing their own wheel. If, for example, you are looking at ways of recognising and alleviating stress, there are several forms here that will save you time: you can either use them as they are or modify them to suit your needs and the needs of your school. There are forms for finance, teaching assistants and performance management. There are also many suggestions as to how you can audit success and monitor what is happening in teaching and how the curriculum is planned. This will become increasingly important because OFSTED now expects schools to have this knowlege, and to have proof of what they are doing and where they are successful and less successful. This can only be done by effective self-audit. OFSTED has developed the self-assessment form (SEF) which most schools will find essential as a means of keeping up to date with how the school is performing. The forms and questionnaires in this section, however, are designed to help you do that simply and easily. Use them and modify them if you think they are what you need and will save you time. Don’t use them if you think they will create more work, because that would be defeating their purpose. This shouldn’t be the case, however: along with the effective use of ICT, they should save time, minimise bureaucracy and reduce paperwork.