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Key Deliverable(s): Every 6 months, you need to create a 'highlight report' for your project(s), and submit it to the PEF Project Board via your Senior Education Officer.
What is a Highlight report?
What is a Highlight report?
A Highlight report is a summary of the progress you have made with your project. It is provided to the PEF Project Board at the midway point of your project, so that the PEF Project Board has the opportunity to see the progress being made, and intervene on your behalf if there is any barrier to your project being successful.
The highlight report template can be accessed here. The highlight report would cover the following key areas:
- Project Status
- Project Spend status
- Actions/Milestones delivered since last reporting period
- Key issues and risks
- Actions/Milestones planned before the next reporting period
- Decisions and actions required by Board
How to I provide a Highlight Report?
How to I provide a Highlight Report?
You can access the highlight report template here. You will need to add in the following information:
Project Status
Project Status
Completing the project status is straightforward. Simply lift the status of your project from the status update you complete every three months. (You can find your most recent status update on the status update sheet :-))
Project Spend status
Project Spend status
From your Project Plan, you will be tracking the spend of the project. Simply state in this box whether the project spend is on track (green), under spent (amber), or over spent (red).
Actions/Milestones delivered since last reporting period
Actions/Milestones delivered since last reporting period
From your Project Plan, simply lift the list of actions you have delivered over the last six months from the gantt chart and list them in this box.
Key issues and risks
Key issues and risks
The Highlight Report serves as your opportunity to raise any issues or changes to risks to the attention of the PEF Project Board, who are there to help you. If an issue has arisen or is about to arise, it's good practice to let the Board know. Depending upon the issue, they may be able to intervene to keep your project on track. If there has been a change to any identified risks (or indeed a new risk identified), it's good to let the Board know, as they can intervene on your behalf to keep your project on track.
Actions/Milestones planned before the next reporting period
Actions/Milestones planned before the next reporting period
From your Project Plan, simply lift the list of actions you plan to deliver over the next six months from the gantt chart and list them in this box.
Decisions and actions required by PEF Project Board
Decisions and actions required by PEF Project Board
It may be that you require a decision to be made by the PEF Project Board. For example, something may have arisen that alters the scope or timescale of your project. If this is the case, you would be asking for a decision by the Board to agree to your proposed change to the project.
It may be that on reviewing your Highlight Report that the Board make a recommendation to your project. For example, there may be an action that the Board wish your project to take that had not been captured in the initial project plan. During the PEF Project Board meeting, any action that they wish you to take would be captured here (this is exceptionally rare, but good project management would allow for this eventuality!)
Why do I need to provide a Highlight Report?
Why do I need to provide a Highlight Report?
We have established a PEF Project Board who are there to assist you with the delivery of your project(s). With such an additional amount of money being provided to the council, there needs to be governance arrangements in place to ensure that:
- outcomes identified relate directly to the national agenda of closing the attainment gap;
- plans are well formed;
- policies on recruitment are adhered to;
- policies on procurement are adhered to;
- partnerships are well formed;
- projects are well managed;
- risk is understood and mitigated where appropriate;
- lessons are learned from our delivery of projects; and
- success is well communicated.
Providing a Highlight report gives the PEF Project Board a summary of achievements to date, and notification of any change to risk or issues that have arisen in the running of your project(s). As a body composed of Senior Officers of the council, it has the authority to intervene on your behalf to ensure that your project delivers it's identified outcomes.
The PEF Project Board is your friend - it can however only help if you let them know!
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