UMALUSI'S SITE VISITS TO INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS IN 2007

Table 32: Incidence of main indicators of good practice arising from the evaluationFrequency Responses from 101 school visitsIndicators favoured by 80 or more schools:89 Evident commitment by teachers and learners89 Daily and weekly staff meetings86 Effective maintenance of discipline85 Effective support system for learnersIndicators approved of by fewer than 79 schools:77 Highly qualifi ed and experienced teachers77 Internal moderation of assessment of achievement and the planning anddelivery of lessons77 Strong parental involvement and support76 Outreach programmes71 Learner mentoring systemLeast enthusiasm was shown for a common planning template for teachers by 66 schools.ACCREDITATIONAs many as 96 of the 101 schools in this 2007 group were confi rmed as fully compliant once theverifi cation forms had been fi lled. Five schools were not, but two of these schools were judgedcompliant on a conditional basis. The evaluator recommended that the one school be offeredthe opportunity to complete and implement its quality management review process thatcould lead to an improvement of the matriculation pass rate of 59% in 2006. It was also stronglyrecommended that the school should resubmit a progress report describing the implementationof the quality management structure presently under review at the school. It was recommendedthat the other school be given the opportunity to complete the process of reviving its policiesand then incorporating them with the practices in the school – in so doing, the evaluator thoughtthat procedures could be documented in line with the activities in the various divisions. It wasrecommended for a third school that the school return to the status of provisional accreditation forthree years with conditions.INTERNAL EVALUATION OF THE SITE VISIT PROCESSTwo focus groups were formed through random selection from selected members of staff andlearners and then interviewed. Information obtained in these interviews provided the mostuseful evidence in the verifi cation of the points in the school’s more formal accounts of itself. Theinterviews gave insights into the less easily measurable qualities of the school. In many cases, thesewere reassuring. In one instance they reinforced the evaluator’s concern in that they revealeddeeply unsatisfactory features of the management of the school. For example, the school’s kitchenfacilities were found to be totally inadequate. Appropriate facilities do exist but are not being used.When the evaluator questioned this, she was told it was because of the cost of the electricity andbecause no one had had been taught how to use them. Consequently the cooking is done in anoutside shack on an open hearth-like fi re in one big pot. One woman is responsible for cooking forthe 104 girls as well as the boarders who attend a local school for grades 10–12.Most of the other responses refl ected a pride in the caring, nurturing environment of the school andthe quality of the educational service received.GENERAL PERCEPTIONS OF THE SITE VISITSThe 2007 schools completed feedback forms about their perceptions of the quality of the site visits.The fi ndings are presented below in their order of appearance in the questionnaire:36