The School Profile

This is the latest information from the Governor Support Service (GSS) about the School Profile document, which must be completed and submitted electronically by the end of June 2006. The current on-line document covers the 2004/2005 school year, and must be completed even if your school provided an Annual Report to Parents in the summer term of 2005.

Accessing the School Profile Document On-line
We have had reports that schools have not been able to access their School Profile pro-forma. If this is the case the following information should be helpful.

The DfES says that all schools were e-mailed in January, to say that the Profile was available for completion. However, you will not have received the message if you have not registered an e-mail address to receive publications from Teachernet, e.g. Spectrum. To do this you need to access http://schoolprofile.teachernet.gov.uk,. Details are given here of how to register to receive electronic documents from Teachernet, and also of how to access the profile pro-forma.

Pre-populated data
The GSS has had several calls from headteachers and governors who have accessed the profile, but who cannot see the statistical data pre-populated on the document.

The data is there, but is not in the format we had expected. Most documents contain a graph that shows the level of unauthorised absence in comparison with other schools. In others there is also a brief diagram that has an arrow indicating how well the school's attainment performance compares with other schools, in terms of being above or below average.

If this information does not show up automatically, entering a single letter or figure in one of the sections will enable you to access the Preview area, when you should be able to see the data.

Model School Profiles
The DfES has not provided exemplar Profiles. However, it is possible to see completed School Profiles by looking at: www.parentscentre.gov.uk/schoolprofile.

When you enter the site you will be asked to type in the name of a school. Simply typing 's' into the area will give you access, so you can see the full list of schools that have already submitted their document.

Please note that the DfES intends that the document should stay within the prescribed length, and some sections of the completed Profiles clearly show part sentences where the information has been cut short. Whilst you may want to cut and paste information directly from your School Self-Evaluation Form we recommend that you make sure you keep within the set number of characters, to avoid the most important point being deleted.

For further information please contact the GSS at: governorsupport@norfolk.gov.uk or call 01603 433276.