Estyn is the office of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales and inspects quality and standards in education and training providers in Wales.
Here, they detail why the School Sport Survey is an important tool for the future of sport at schools in Wales.
If you’ve ever won a medal in any activity and at any level you will remember the immense feeling of pride and excitement it conjures. At 2012, TeamGB and ParalympicsGB excelled particularly in such diverse events as cycling, equestrianism, rowing, and sailing as well as track and field athletics.
Leading the way with gold medals for Wales were Geraint Thomas in the men’s Team Pursuit, Tom James in the men’s Rowing Four team and Jade Jones in Taekwondo. But what does an Olympic and Paralympic medal really mean? Well, it’s a mark of excellence and an indication to the rest of the world and to yourself as to just how good you are. However, your performance on the day you win a medal is not a one-off occurrence and does not happen by chance. It is the result of many months and years of dedication and commitment. Many of our athletes will have achieved personal best performances and broken various records time and time again during training sessions and in competitions building up to the Olympic finals. These people already know that they are the best because they have been measuring, and striving to improve, their performance for weeks, months and years. And these athletes work with often large teams of experts – including skills coaches, fitness trainers, nutritionists, sports psychologists and managers – to evaluate and monitor constantly their performance.
Self-evaluation in schools should be no different. On the day that Estyn inspectors visit, schools should already know how good they are. But crucial to effective self-evaluation, whether it’s looking at standards and provision for literacy, numeracy or physical education and sport, is using the right information and data. That’s why Estyn recognises the School Sports Survey as such a potentially valuable source of information for self-evaluation.
Effective self-evaluation helps schools to assess their strengths but also to identify their priorities for development. The Olympic athlete and any elite sportsman or sportswoman knows the areas of performance he/she needs to improve and plans his/her training to achieve these specific targets. Similarly, by using the range of information and data available to them, schools can plan how to strengthen provision and improve the standards pupils achieve. Gathering pupils’ views, using the findings of external reviews and available benchmarking data are crucial to effective self-evaluation.
Schools can find out more about using the School Sport Survey to support self-evaluation in Estyn’s self-evaluation manuals. These documents are designed for schools to support their self-evaluation and improvement planning arrangements. The Estyn website also showcases best practice through case studies and thematic reports.
So, with a strong support team, effective self-evaluation and of course, dedication and hard work, there could be a gold medal inside us all!
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Os ydych chi wedi ennill medal mewn unrhyw weithgaredd erioed ar unrhyw lefel, byddwch yn cofio’r teimlad mawr o falchder a chyffro rwy’n siŵr. Yng Ngemau Olympaidd 2012, enillodd TeamGB 65 medal aur, arian neu efydd, gan ragori mewn campau mor amrywiol â beicio, marchogaeth, rhwyfo a hwylio, yn ogystal ag athletau trac a chae.
Yn arwain y ffordd gyda medalau aur i Gymru roedd Geraint Thomas yn Nhîm Gweithgaredd y Dynion, Tom James yn nhîm Pedwarawd Rhwyfo’r dynion a Jade Jones mewn Taekwondo. Ond beth mae medal Olympaidd wir yn ei olygu? Wel, mae’n arwydd o ragoriaeth ac mae’n dangos i weddill y byd ac i chi eich hun pa mor dda ydych chi. Er hynny, nid digwyddiad unigryw yw eich perfformiad chi ar y diwrnod pryd rydych yn ennill eich medal, ac nid yw’n digwydd ar siawns. Mae’n ganlyniad i fisoedd a blynyddoedd lawer o ymrwymiad ac ymroddiad. Bydd llawer o’n hathletwyr ni wedi gwneud perfformiadau gorau personol ac wedi torri sawl record dro ar ôl tro yn ystod y sesiynau ymarfer ac mewn cystadlaethau sy’n arwain at y rowndiau terfynol Olympaidd. Mae’r bobl hyn eisoes yn gwybod mai nhw yw’r gorau oherwydd maent wedi bod yn mesur ac yn ceisio gwella eu perfformiadau ers wythnosau, misoedd a blynyddoedd. Mae’r athletwyr hyn yn gweithio gyda thimau mawr o arbenigwyr yn aml – gan gynnwys hyfforddwyr sgiliau, hyfforddwyr ffitrwydd, maethegwyr, seicolegwyr chwaraeon a rheolwyr – i werthuso a monitro eu perfformiad drwy’r amser.
Ni ddylai hunanarfarnu mewn ysgolion fod yn wahanol. Ar ddiwrnod ymweliad arolygwyr Estyn, dylai’r ysgolion wybod eisoes pa mor dda ydyn nhw. Ond un elfen allweddol o hunanarfarnu effeithiol, boed yn edrych ar y safonau a’r ddarpariaeth ar gyfer llythrennedd, rhifedd neu addysg gorfforol a chwaraeon, yw defnyddio’r wybodaeth a’r data cywir. Dyma pam mae Estyn yn cydnabod yr Arolwg ar Chwaraeon Ysgol fel ffynhonnell wybodaeth werthfawr bosib ar gyfer hunanarfarnu.
Mae hunanarfarnu effeithiol yn helpu ysgolion i asesu eu cryfderau a hefyd datgan eu blaenoriaethau ar gyfer datblygu. Mae’r athletwr Olympaidd, a phob athletwr elitaidd arall, yn gwybod pa feysydd perfformio y mae’n rhaid iddo ef/hi eu gwella ac mae’n cynllunio ei hyfforddiant ef/hi i gyrraedd y targedau penodol hyn. Yn yr un modd, drwy ddefnyddio’r ystod o wybodaeth a data sydd ar gael iddynt, gall ysgolion gynllunio i gryfhau eu darpariaeth a gwella safonau’r disgyblion. Mae casglu safbwyntiau’r disgyblion gan ddefnyddio darganfyddiadau adolygiadau allanol a data meincnodi sydd ar gael yn allweddol i hunanarfanu effeithiol.
Gall ysgolion gael rhagor o wybodaeth am ddefnyddio’r Arolwg ar Chwaraeon Ysgol i gefnogi hunanarfarnu yn llawlyfrau hunanarfarnu Estyn. Nod y dogfennau hyn yw helpu ysgolion i gefnogi eu trefniadau hunanarfarnu a chynllunio gwelliannau. Hefyd, mae gwefan Estyn yn dangos yr arferion gorau drwy gyfrwng astudiaethau achos ac adroddiadau thematig.
Felly, gyda thîm cefnogi cadarn, hunanarfarnu effeithiol ac, wrth gwrs, ymrwymiad a gwaith caled, efallai fod medal aur o fewn cyrraedd pob un ohonom!!
