Appraisal of principals and senior leaders
Gain an independent perspective on your leadership and clarity about where to focus next.
As a principal or senior leader, an external perspective can help you step back from the day-to-day demands of leadership and reflect on your own practice. Our experienced, independent appraisers work with you to design an appraisal that reflects your role, goals, and the context of your kura or school.
What can you gain from external appraisal?
Our appraisal approach is designed to help you:
gain an independent perspective on your leadership practice
recognise and build on your strengths
explore and challenge your thinking and practice
identify professional goals and development priorities
connect your development priorities with your school's strategic direction
External appraisal also provides your board of trustees with assurance that your professional growth is connected to the school's strategic direction and priorities.
Our approach is:
Contextual: We take account of the unique context in which you lead and honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Formative and learning-focused: The purpose is to support meaningful professional growth, not simply to assess performance.
Constructive: We affirm what is working while using evidence, critique and challenge to extend your thinking and practice to support your development.
Strategically aligned: Your professional goals are connected to the direction and priorities of your school.
How the appraisal works
Your appraisal is co-constructed with you and your Board to reflect your role, goals, and school context.
1. Establishing the focus
We work with you to agree the purpose and focus of the appraisal, including your goals, context, and priorities.
2. Gathering perspectives and evidence
We agree what evidence will be gathered and how, drawing on multiple perspectives to understand your leadership practice and progress towards your goals. This also includes agreeing the documentation and evidence needed to provide accountability and assurance to the Board.
3. Reflecting and exploring
Your appraiser provides an independent perspective, affirms strengths, and constructively challenges your thinking and practice through learning-focused conversations.
4. Identifying priorities
We support you to reflect on the evidence and identify professional goals and priorities for the year ahead.
5. Planning and reporting
Together, we develop a plan to address your priorities. A summative report captures key findings, progress and next steps, providing assurance to your board.
Additional evidence and perspectives (such as 360 feedback, interviews with staff, students or whānau, or observation of teaching practice) can also be incorporated where appropriate.
Choose an appraisal package
Our appraisal packages provide a starting point for the process - we can tailor the approach to suit your needs, goals, and kura/school context.
All three packages provide the same core appraisal approach. They differ primarily in the amount of time available, with Package 3 particularly suited to larger schools or more complex requirements.
Why EA?
Experience in leader appraisal: Our experienced appraisers work with principals and senior leaders across a range of school and kura contexts.
An approach designed around you: We work with you to develop an appraisal process that reflects your needs, goals, context and budget.
Expertise in appraisal systems: EA has experience in appraisal systems across Aotearoa New Zealand, including work with the New Zealand Teachers Council.
The right appraiser for your context: Our experienced appraisers have worked across primary, intermediate and secondary schools, kura, and wharekura. We can match you with an appraiser whose experience and approach are suited to your context.
