A statement of what is valued as excellence for NSW public schools, both now and into the future. All schools have areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. The School Excellence Framework (SEF) identifies quality practice across the 3 key domains of education — learning, teaching and leading — to help schools plan and monitor strategies for ongoing improvement.
A conclusion about your school’s practices based on your evidence and the Statement of Excellence for the relevant SEF element. ‘On-balance judgement’ acknowledges that a school may have evidence against descriptors for some ‘Excelling’ practices and some ‘Sustaining and Growing' practices within one element. An ‘on-balance judgement’ weighs up these different pieces of evidence to make the most accurate assessment of the school’s practices.
Schools make an on-balance judgement as to whether the school is at Delivering, Sustaining & Growing or Excelling. Schools strive to reach Excelling through using the statement of excellence in each SEF area as a guide for future improvement.
In 2019, Dundas Public School had External Validation where we presented our school's on-balance judgements relating to the School Excellence Framework to a NSW DoE panel after a rigorous self-assessment process. The expert panel agreed with our judgements and areas for future development. We are required to complete a SEF self-assessment every year.