Impact

Having defined the context of your school community and put actions in place to contribute to cohesion, you must then demonstrate that those actions have had a positive impact. It is absolutely key that you demonstrate that this has been a strategic process, and that the community characteristics you defined led you to planned actions the impact of which you can now see in school.

 It is expected that as a consequence of contributing effectively to cohesion in your community that social capital has been accumulated for further school improvement.

The revised Ofsted inspection framework from September 2009 requires the school and inspectors to make a separate judgement about:

The effectiveness with which the school promotes community cohesion   

Inspectors will evaluate:

• The extent to which the school has developed an understanding of the religious, ethnic and socio-economic characteristics of its community in a local, national and global context
• The extent to which the school has taken an appropriate set of planned actions based on an analysis of its context and is evaluating the impact of its work
• The extent to which the school's actions have a positive impact on community cohesion within the school and beyond.

Inspectors may take account of:

• The quality of the school's analysis of its context
• The extent to which leaders and managers have placed due emphasis on each of the three strands of religion, ethnicity and the socio-economic dimension in shaping the school's response to its analysis
• The extent to which the school has taken appropriate actions to contribute to community cohesion within the school and beyond
• The quality, and use made, of the school's evaluation of its work across the three strands
• Evidence that the impact of the school's work on outcomes, for instance in the quality of pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development
• Evidence of the impact of the school's work in the local community

The following thinking and evaluative tools may support your analysis of the impact of your actions to promote community cohesion:

• School Improvement Planning Framework (TDA)
• Impact tool (TDA)
• Ofsted guidance to inspectors re the community cohesion judgement, September 2009
• Ofsted grade descriptors: community cohesion
• Tackling the SEF: Ofsted exercise in making judgements
• Whole school indicators of success, Diversity and Cohesion Education Bradford
• Snapshots: community cohesion in Northumberland schools  
• Suggestions for evidence to collate for self-evaluation purposes (including pupils' views)
• Your School Profile