Using The Journey to Excellence in schools and early years centres

The five-part series How good is our school? The Journey to Excellence is a ground-breaking resource firmly focused on improving children's learning and achieving successful outcomes for all.

It aims to help Scottish schools and early years centres make the step change from being “good” to being “great” by supporting them in their own journeys. It comprises:

• Part 1 – Aiming for Excellence

• Part 2 – Exploring Excellence

• Part 3 – How good are we now? (the revised editions of How good is our school? and The child at the centre)

• Part 4 – Planning for Excellence

• Part 5 – Journeys to Excellence (online resource)

The resource includes a wealth of practical tools and resources, for example, movie clips, learning trails, transformational grids and summaries of research.

The aim of this workshop is to demonstrate how staff and students in schools, early years centres, teacher education and local authorities can use these resources for school improvement and professional development.

Elisabeth Ritchie, HM Assistant Chief Inspector, has overall responsibility for additional support needs, inclusion, inspections of secondary and special schools and the development of the five-part The Journey to Excellence project. 

She joined HMIE in 1998 and has been responsible for a range of different projects including international links; evaluation and improvement of HMIE's work; oversight of the How good is our school series of self-evaluation guides; and work on frameworks of quality indicators for different sectors of the education system.  She was appointed HM Assistant Chief Inspector in 2004. 

Elisabeth started her education career teaching English and became English Adviser for Grampian Regional Council and then Secondary Adviser and Education Officer for Aberdeen City Council.

Michael Wood, HM Inspector, leads the team responsible for the development of the digital resource The Journey to Excellence. 

He joined HMIE in 1997 and has been responsible for aspects of HMIE's work relating to primary education, HMIE evaluation and improvement and development of quality indicators for schools.

He became HM District Inspector in 2006.  Before Michael joined HMIE, he was a primary headteacher.

Sally Fulton, National Development Officer, has been seconded to HMIE and Learning and Teaching Scotland to support The Journey to Excellence development.

Sally works with education authorities, schools and early years centres in promoting and supporting the use of the five-part resource, and demonstrating its relationship with the Curriculum for Excellence and other national programmes. Sally's substantive post is Education Officer for Stirling Council. 

Before joining Stirling Council Sally was a primary headteacher.  Sally has also been an Associate Assessor with HMIe for over five years. The Journey to Excellence team will deliver these seminars in collaboration with staff from schools.