Guidelines on the Compilation of
School Development Plan
Annual School Plan
School Report
Evaluation-driven and Data-based
Promoting Schools’ Sustained Development and Accountability
through Strategic and Focused Planning
Education Bureau
Quality Assurance Division
November 2022
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
Contents
Page
(1)
Introduction
1
(2)
School Development Planning Process
2
(3)
School Development Plan
3
(4)
Annual School Plan
6
(5)
School Report
6
(6)
Suggested Schedule for drawing up the School Development
Plan, Annual School Plan and School Report
8
(7)
Conclusion
8
Appendix
10
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
1
1
Introduction
1.1
The capacity of schools to plan their work strategically and be reflective is fundamental
to their sustainable improvement and development. The “School Development and
Accountability (SDA) framework” was introduced by the Education Bureau (EDB) in
the 2003/04 school year and updated as the “enhanced SDA framework” (Figure 1) in
the 2022/23 school year to gear school work towards the seven learning goals of school
education, thereby promoting a more focused and systematic school self-evaluation
(SSE) through the “Planning-Implementation-Evaluation” (P-I-E) cycle. The
ultimate goal is to enhance schools’ sustainable development and improve students’
performance in learning.
Figure 1 – The enhanced School Development and Accountability framework
1.2
Under the “enhanced SDA framework”, SSE remains a core element of school-based
management (SBM), under which schools are to be held accountable for the provision
of quality education. A range of evaluation tools, such as the Performance Indicators
for Hong Kong Schools (PI), Key Performance Measures (KPM) and questionnaires
of the Stakeholder Survey (SHS), has been made available for schools for their self-
evaluation. These evaluation tools are updated from time to time to serve schools’
needs and tie in with the latest education development. Schools conduct a holistic
review of their work effectiveness with reference to the PI, including their major
strengths and areas for improvement, by means of an evidence-based and data-driven
evaluation to feed back into strategic planning. Schools then set out their major
concerns with related development focuses and strategies in the School Development
Plan (SDP), devise implementation details in the Annual School Plan (ASP), report on
the progress made in the School Report (SR), and conduct a holistic review of their
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
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2
School Development Planning Process
The following flowchart (Figure 2) shows the process of compiling SDP, ASP and
SR
2
. SDP is a blueprint for school development, which sets out a clear direction for
development. As for ASP and SR, the former serves the purpose of formulating
implementation strategies based on the SDP, and the latter serves to review the
effectiveness of the implementation so as to feed back into future planning. Drawing
up SDP and major concerns that best suit the needs of schools hinges on thorough
review of school effectiveness and reflection.
1
The seven learning goals of primary education are national identity, positive values and attitudes, knowledge of
key learning areas, language skills, generic skills, reading and information literacy, and healthy lifestyle. The
seven learning goals of secondary education are national and global identity, breadth of knowledge, language
proficiency, generic skills, information literacy, life planning, and healthy lifestyle.
2
Relevant templates are available at the EDB website (https://www.edb.gov.hk/sse/en) for schools’ reference.
SDP at the end of their school development cycle to inform forward planning.
Schools could apply the concept of portfolio to systematically organise and keep the
necessary evidence for illustrating their sustainable development and achievements,
such as SDP, ASP, SR, information and data for SSE as well as inspection reports, for
self-evaluation and stakeholders’ reference.
1.3
SSE is complemented and supported by External School Review (ESR) and Focus
Inspection. Since its inception, schools acknowledge that the process of conducting
self-assessment of their own performance with reference to the PI reinforces their
understanding of school development and SSE, as well as promotes schools’ self-
reflection. For enhanced transparency of management and accountability, schools
should upload their SDP, ASP and SR to their websites for public reference.
1.4
As schools have practised SBM for many years, they are experienced in the
compilation of SDP, ASP and SR. With reference to the “Impact Study on the
Implementation of the Current Phase of the School Development and Accountability
(SDA) Framework for Enhancing School Improvement in Hong Kong” commissioned
to the Education Policy Unit, the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong
by the EDB, schools were able to deepen their understanding of the importance of SSE
through implementing the P-I-E cycle in their daily work. However, there is still
room for further improvement in SSE as the mastery of the concept of the P-I-E cycle,
the depth of reflection through SSE, and the capacity to integrate, interpret and use
data vary across schools and among teachers. To enhance the effectiveness of self-
evaluation, schools should focus more on the seven learning goals
1
set by the
Curriculum Development Council in conducting SSE. The goals serve as the focus
for reflection in the process of reviewing holistically the effectiveness of school work
in fostering whole-person development and lifelong learning of students, so as to plan
the direction for future development and promote continuous improvement and
development of schools.
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
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Figure 2 - School Development Planning Process
3 School Development Plan
3.1
Purpose
The purpose of SDP is for the school to set out a clear direction for development in
line with the school’s vision and mission as well as the latest education development.
At the end of each school development cycle, the school should review the
effectiveness of its work, including student performance, based on the reflection
against the seven learning goals so as to formulate a SDP. SDP is the blueprint for
school development, which includes major concerns, targets, time scale and broad
strategies. During the planning process, discussions should be made with different
stakeholders for reaching consensus. Through strategic planning, implementation
and continuous monitoring as well as effective evaluation and feedback, school
effectiveness will be enhanced with a view to providing quality education for
students.
3.2
Points to note
3.2.1
The duration of SDP depends on the time required to address the major
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
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concerns. It is usually a three-year school development cycle. Unless
warranted by special circumstances, schools are not advised to re-write their
SDP every year.
3.2.2
SDP is a blueprint for planning at the school level. It is not a requirement
of the EDB for subject panels and functional committees (panels and
committees) to prepare development plans. Notwithstanding this, schools
should lead panels and committees to formulate implementation plans in
alignment with the school’s development focuses for facilitating school
development.
3.2.3
Major concerns are schools’ key focuses of work in the next few years or
important changes to be effected in a few years’ time. They represent the
development priorities of schools instead of their operational routines.
SDP usually features not more than three major concerns with targets directly
related to student learning. Major concerns should be flexibly intertwined
with different PI domains and aligned with the seven learning goals in
fostering whole-person development and lifelong learning of students.
Major concerns should be well-defined and focused. Setting too many
major concerns will result in a lack of focus on their work priorities.
Implementation will be fraught with difficulties if they are not concrete
enough.
3.2.4
Targets should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound
(SMART) so that they can be implemented, monitored and evaluated
accordingly in light of the school context.
3.2.5
The KPM have been refined. To further strengthen schools’ capacity to use
data, to conduct SSE with the seven learning goals as the focus for reflection,
and to realise accountability under SBM, starting from the 2023/24 school
year, schools will need to annually collect KPM data to conduct SSE. In
addition to reporting the data to the Incorporated Management
Committee/School Management Committee, schools should submit the data
to the EDB for compilation of reference data to facilitate SSE and for a better
understanding of the current situation of school education. For this school
year (i.e. the 2022/23 school year), schools should continue the current
practice of submitting KPM data to the EDB at the end of the school
development cycle.
3.3
Major considerations in formulating a school development plan
3.3.1
Holistic review of school performance
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
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At the end of a school development cycle, schools should conduct a holistic
review of the overall performance in their implementation of the SDP. The
following points should be considered when conducting the review:
(a)
Effectiveness of the SDP for the previous development cycle
The effectiveness of the SDP should be evaluated with reference to the
targets and the corresponding success criteria set.
Schools should report on the extent of achievement against the targets and
deliberate on the reasons for the level of achievement.
Schools should decide how individual major concerns are to be followed
up if the targets are not fully achieved. They should consider revising
the major concerns with enhanced implementation strategies. For major
concerns with fully achieved targets, schools may incorporate them in the
schools’ routine work or think of further development for the next school
development cycle.
(b)
Evaluation of the school’s overall performance
Schools should refer to the focus questions of the latest edition of the PI
and make good use of SSE tools to review their overall performance in
fostering whole-person development and lifelong learning of students
based on the reflection against the seven learning goals.
Schools should focus on analysing how good they are in helping students
achieve the seven learning goals. It includes the holistic review of the
effectiveness of their work and identifying the areas which need to be
strengthened to inform how they can do better and in turn set
development priorities and formulate major concerns
3
. The report
should be concise and recorded in the SDP. Listing of routine work is
not advisable. (Please refer to the Appendix.)
Schools should fully consider the views of stakeholders, including all
staff, students and parents. Participatory decision-making is
encouraged to enhance consensus building.
Founded on evidence and data, performance in various aspects should be
holistically reviewed and evaluated by flexibly intertwining different
3
All along, school work has always been related to the seven learning goals. Apart from the major concerns,
schools should help students achieve the seven learning goals to foster their whole-person development and
lifelong learning through routine work, which does not need to be recorded in the SDP.
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
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PI domains. (There is no need to report the school performance in
different PI areas and the seven learning goals one by one.)
4
Annual School Plan
4.1
Purpose
ASP is a concrete action plan for implementing SDP. It enables panels and
committees to have an understanding of the targets, strategies, success criteria,
methods of evaluation, time scale, responsible person(s), and resources required for
the implementation of priority tasks in addressing the major concerns.
4.2
Points to note
4.2.1
ASP involves strategic tasks for promoting school development rather than
routine work. Since ASP is a working document at the school level,
concrete implementation strategies of ASP should be set in light of the major
concerns and targets of SDP. Schools should review the annual work using
the seven learning goals as the focus for reflection in SSE. Schools may need
to adjust the ASP, for example, in the targets and implementation strategies of
the major concerns, and/or routine work to enhance their work in better
alignment with the seven learning goals, thereby fostering whole-person
development and lifelong learning of students.
4.2.2
The success criteria enable the school to evaluate whether the targets set have
been met so as to inform future planning. Therefore, the success criteria
should be clearly defined, aligned with the expected targets and focused on
students’ learning outcomes. There should be a balance between qualitative
and quantitative data to be collected. It suffices to set the success criteria
against the targets rather than for every task or strategy.
4.2.3
Methods of evaluation should be appropriate for the targets.
4.2.4
ASP should briefly list the feedback from the previous school year and the
follow-up as a reference when revising the plan. The revised items could be
highlighted for easy identification and follow-up actions by the panels and
committees.
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
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5
School Report
5.1
Purpose
SR is a summary of annual SSE. The effectiveness of school work and the extent of
achievement against the targets under school’s major concerns should be reported.
The school should make use of the evaluation findings to inform future planning and
put continuous improvement into action. At the same time, the school should also
provide a channel to report to its stakeholders on the achievement of targets under the
major concerns, thus enhancing accountability.
5.2
Points to note
5.2.1
To enhance accountability and transparency, the school should publish SR
annually for public reference.
5.2.2
The report should be evidence-based and data-driven, and truly reflect the
school’s achievements and areas for improvement.
5.2.3
The report should review the effectiveness of school work in the ASP
according to the relevant success criteria. The impact of the implementation
strategies on the achievement against the targets under the major concerns
rather than the completion of tasks should be reported.
5.2.4
The school could report the implementation of its plans and strategies, as well
as their effectiveness in any format (text, statistics, diagrams, etc.) in a concise
manner according to the school context, with a view to minimising teachers’
workload. However, the school should abide by the protocol that sensitive
information should not be released for publicity purposes.
5.2.5
In the last year of a school development cycle, the school could record the extent
of overall achievement against the targets under the major concerns and follow-
up actions in the SDP for the next school development cycle.
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
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Suggested
timeframe
Major activities
The year of completion of
school development cycle
Other years of school
development cycle
January to
April
Administer the SHS as scheduled by schools
Collect KPM data as well as other SSE data and information
May to June
Submit the KPM and SHS
data for the school year to the
EDB via the E-platform for
School Development and
Accountability
Conduct a holistic review of
the performance of the school,
using the seven learning goals
as the focuses for reflection,
the results of which can serve
as a reference for the
preparation of the next SDP
Submit the KPM and SHS
data for the school year to the
EDB via the E-platform for
School Development and
Accountability
Conduct a review of the
effectiveness of school work
in addressing the school’s
major concerns as stipulated
in the ASP and consider
whether revision of the plan is
needed
July to August
Draw up the SR
Draw up the next SDP and
ASP
Draw up the SR
Draw up the next ASP
Before the end
of October
Submit the SDP, ASP and SR
to the School Management
Committee/ Incorporated
Management Committee
(SMC/IMC) for endorsement
Submit the ASP and SR to the
SMC/IMC for endorsement
Before the end
of November
Upload the endorsed SDP,
ASP, and SR onto the school’s
website
Upload the endorsed ASP and
SR onto the school’s website
7
Conclusion
The “enhanced SDA framework” aims to empower schools to strengthen their self-
evaluation, which is more focused on the seven learning goals for continuous
improvement while enhancing accountability and transparency. SSE, the core
business inherent in SBM to enhance school development, should be embedded in
school practices.
SDP, ASP and SR are primarily a school’s working documents in support of its
development cycle. To practise P-I-E effectively, a whole-school approach to
6
Suggested Schedule for drawing up the School Development Plan, Annual School
Plan and School Report
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
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formulating SDP should be adopted. Based on SDP, a clear and specific ASP is
devised for engaging the collaborative efforts of different panels and committees in
the implementation stage. At the end of a school year, a careful review should be
conducted on the basis of SSE data collected and an account of the effectiveness of
school work against the set targets should be included in SR for leading continuous
improvement and development. At the end of the school development cycle, schools
should conduct a holistic review of the effectiveness of their school work in promoting
student achievement of the seven learning goals from a macro perspective so as to
formulate the plan for the next school development cycle.
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
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Appendix
To help schools review how good they are in helping students achieve the seven learning
goals and how they can do better so as to set development priorities and identify appropriate
major concerns, six questions are provided below as a framework for reflection. Before the
end of each development cycle, schools could use the seven learning goals as the focus for
reflection to review the effectiveness of their work and identify the areas which need to be
strengthened in order to formulate a SDP for the next cycle. The following three questions
serve as a reference for schools to reflect on how good they are in fostering whole-person
development and lifelong learning of students. In the process of reflection, reference could be
made to the relevant PI areas and their focus questions.
How good is my students’ performance in achieving the seven learning goals?
(Note: The students’ performance is primarily reflected in domain IV of the PI. Schools
could conduct a holistic review of students’ performance in achieving the seven learning
goals, including students’ values and attitudes, knowledge and generic skills, their
academic and non-academic performance as well as areas for improvement, etc. Schools
could refer to the PI for the focus questions under 4.2 Learning Performance, 7.1 Affective
Development and Attitude, etc.)
How good is my school in enriching students’ learning experiences for their whole-person
development and lifelong learning?
(Note: The school’s performance in this aspect is primarily reflected in domains II and III
of the PI. Schools could conduct a holistic review of their work and effectiveness in
enriching students’ learning experiences, such as whether and how they are providing a
broad and balanced curriculum, including life-wide learning activities, to broaden students’
horizons and develop their lifelong learning skills. Schools could refer to the PI for the
focus questions under 3.1 Curriculum Organisation, 5.1 Support for Student Development,
etc.)
How good is my school in leading its continuous improvement and development for
students’ whole-person development and lifelong learning?
(Note: The school’s performance in this aspect is primarily reflected in domain I of the PI.
Schools could review their performance in leading continuous improvement and
development in terms of consensus building among stakeholders, professional leadership
and development, deployment of human and financial resources, collaboration and support,
etc. They could also reflect on how to enhance the effectiveness of other domains of
work through school management and organisation. Schools could refer to the PI for the
focus questions under 1.1 Planning, 2.1 Leadership and Monitoring, etc.)
Building on the above reflection, schools could further consider how they can do better in
helping students achieve the seven learning goals based on students’ needs and the school’s
Guidelines on the Compilation of School Development Plan/ Annual School Plan/ School Report
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capacity for continuous improvement and development when setting out development priorities:
What are my students’ needs?
(Note: Schools could consolidate the reflections on the first question in the previous
paragraph – students’ performance in achieving the seven learning goals, and reflect on
the areas that can be further promoted for the whole-person development of students in
light of their interests, abilities, learning and developmental needs at different key stages.)
What is my school’s capacity for continuous improvement and development?
(Note: Schools could consolidate the reflections on the second and third questions in the
previous paragraph – schools’ enrichment of students’ learning experiences and their
leadership in fostering continuous improvement and development –, and consider their
own strengths and areas for further improvement, such as SSE effectiveness, professional
capacity of and consensus among teaching staff, support of parents as well as human and
financial resources available, so as to strengthen their professional leadership and enhance
their capacity for continuous improvement and development with a view to promoting the
effectiveness of learning and teaching.)
What are the development priorities of my school for enhancing the whole-person
development and lifelong learning of my students?
(Note: Schools could consolidate the reflections on the first two questions in this paragraph
– students’ needs and school’s capacity for continuous improvement and development –,
and deliberate how to optimise the school’s capacity to foster the whole-person
development of students as well as formulate the key focuses of work in the next school
development cycle.)
Apart from the six questions listed above, schools may also develop their own questions
or frameworks for reflection in light of their school context and development, and conduct self-
evaluation to enhance continuous improvement and development of schools.
