Supporting Reflection, Growth, and Professional Impact
Updated: 11 March 2025
Performance reviews are a valuable opportunity to reflect on professional progress, evaluate impact, and set clear goals for the future. When structured as coaching conversations, reviews can foster a culture of trust, ownership, and continuous improvement.
The questions below are designed to support meaningful dialogue between reviewers and reviewees during performance management meetings—ensuring that discussions go beyond compliance to focus on impact, professional growth, and future potential.
1. Reflecting on Objective Outcomes
- To what extent have the outcomes of this objective been achieved?
- Which success criteria remain relevant and appropriate?
- What specific impact has the achievement of this objective had on:
- Pupil outcomes?
- Staff practice and development (where relevant)?
- What evidence can you provide to demonstrate this impact?
- Has the objective contributed to wider school improvement priorities?
2. Evaluating Effectiveness and Areas for Improvement
- Which aspects of your work had the greatest impact—and why?
- Are there any areas that could have had a greater impact? What might have helped?
- Which actions or strategies proved most effective?
- Were any of the original strategies or actions adjusted? If so, why?
- What didn’t work as well, and what have you learned from that?
3. Sustaining and Building on Success
- How can the success of this objective be maintained over time?
- What specific actions are needed to embed or extend this progress?
- What are the workload or resource implications of sustaining this success?
- Is there potential for this work to evolve into a new objective for the next cycle?
- How might this learning be shared more widely within the school?
Further Reading and Resources
Explore more tools and strategies for performance management and professional development through the HeadteacherChat Community:
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Performance reviews are most powerful when rooted in reflective dialogue, clear evidence, and a shared commitment to improvement. These coaching questions can help frame those conversations in a way that is thoughtful, developmental, and aligned with your school’s wider goals.
Further Resources for School Leaders
Updated: March 2025
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