We are thrilled to welcome Verity King to our team as our new Head of Operations and Partnerships at EvaluateMySchool!
In her new role, Verity will work closely with our clients to ensure they gain maximum value from our EMS platform. Her expertise will be key in driving self-evaluation improvements across trusts and local authorities, supporting successful rollouts, and gathering valuable feedback to shape our future enhancements.
Her work will be pivotal in solidifying our mission to make EMS the best-known brand for school improvement in the UK. We’re excited about the positive impact Verity will bring to the team, our clients, and the entire education community!
Author: Holly George
Case Study: Bohunt Education Trust
How do you streamline evaluation across 10 schools and nearly 13,000 students?
For Bohunt Education Trust (BET), the answer was EvaluateMySchool.
Faced with the challenge of moving beyond spreadsheets and forms, BET chose EMS to:
✅ Standardise evaluations across all schools
✅ Turn data into strategy-driving insights
✅ Reduce admin and increase leadership impact
✅ Create a shared evaluation language across the trust
💡 “It’s been a cog in the machine—helping us get to complexity in a simple way.” — Gary Green, Director of Trust Improvement & Development
New Attendance Self-Evaluation
We’re excited to announce that our Attendance Self-Evaluation is now live!
🎯 Designed to help schools dig deeper into attendance trends and challenges, this new evaluation examines your:
– Data and targeted support
– Culture
– Attendance leadership
– Processes and systems
– Relationships and communications
– Monitoring
Whether you’re an SLT member, attendance officer, or pastoral lead, this tool will give you the clarity and confidence to drive meaningful improvements.
If your organisation already uses EMS Unlimited or Pro you can start using this evaluation now at no extra cost. If not, why not try our free demo which lets you try out the self-evaluation tool yourself.
Find out more: https://evaluatemyschool.co.uk/evaluations/attendance/
Case Study: LiFE MAT
Our latest case study shares how LiFE Multi Academy Trust is driving meaningful, school-led change through the power of self-evaluation. By using EMS, they’ve reshaped how they approach safeguarding, attendance, SEND, and support for disadvantaged students—putting collaboration, accountability, and real-time data at the heart of improvement.
Lara Hall, Director of School Improvement, led the charge:
“It’s completely transformed the way I work. I don’t say that lightly.”
Read the full case study below:
Brunel University Report Highlights EMS’s Key Role in Transforming SEND Leadership
A new evaluation report by Brunel University and Talent4Transition has confirmed the significant impact of the Whole Education SEND School Improvement Programme—and highlighted the role of EvaluateMySchool’s platform as key to its success, saying “Feedback from all participants provides an overwhelming confirmation of the integral importance of the EMS review approach for SEND leaders”.
EMS: A Strategic Tool for Local Authorities and Schools
The report emphasises how EMS supports local area planning by acting as a “useful dashboard” for LA SEND leaders. With EMS’s self-evaluation and action planning tools, LAs were able to clearly identify strengths and challenges across schools, align these with strategic priorities, and deploy resources more effectively. This level of data-informed planning marked a meaningful shift in how SEND improvement is approached at the local level.
One LA respondent remarked that ‘EMS fills a gap, in that it is a way in which as an LA we can join schools in getting to grips with their problems and working together. That’s not what I see in other kinds of audits to be frank…’
Building Capacity and Confidence in SEND Leaders
Participants in the programme who were using EMS reported strong improvements in their confidence and capacity to lead SEND strategically. Nearly 80% of participants said they felt confident or very confident in their role by the end of the programme. The report notes that EMS underpinned this transformation by enabling leaders to visualise trends, engage in reflective practice, and make data-driven decisions.
A Networked, System-Wide Impact
Whole Education’s programme was credited with supporting the creation of structured networks of SEND leaders. These peer networks, paired with EMS’s shared framework, helped re-balance LA and school relationships and made it easier to scale leadership and expertise from within the system.
Conclusion
Post-Programme survey metrics indicated that 92% of participants found the EMS review tool to be of material benefit, this highly positive response being characterised by such remarks as ‘It ensured we were able to have a clear focus on priority areas and had the CPD and support needed to action the plan’, ‘It was excellent. It gave us an opportunity to really explore areas we needed to develop’ and that it was a ‘Great process that allowed me to really identify priorities and be able to strategically plan for improvements.’
This report by Brunel University makes it clear: EvaluateMySchool is more than a tool—it’s a catalyst for collaboration, strategic clarity, and sustainable improvement in SEND provision. As one of the foundational components of the Whole Education SEND Programme, EMS is helping reshape how schools and systems support their most vulnerable learners.
Read the full report here: Greater than the Sum of Its Parts (PDF)
Maximize Your DBV SEND Funding to Drive Real Change
At EvaluateMySchool, we’re proud to support local authorities participating in the SEND Delivering Better Value (DBV) programme.
Our platform empowers local authorities to:
– Identify Areas for Improvement – pinpoint strengths, gaps, and opportunities across SEND provision.
– Monitor Progress – Track and evaluate the impact of DBV-funded initiatives with intuitive dashboards and analytics.
– Collaborate Seamlessly – Enable schools, SEND teams, and trusts to work together.
– Improve Outcomes for SEND Pupils – Leverage evidence-based strategies to enhance inclusion and student achievement.
If you’re involved in the DBV programme and want to take an evidence-led approach to SEND improvement, just get in touch to find out how we can support you.
EAL Evaluation
Our English as an Additional Language (EAL) self-evaluation is a comprehensive tool designed to support schools in assessing the effectiveness of their EAL provision. It has been written in partnership with Hounslow Language Service, a leading provider of EAL training and consultancy. With a growing number of students learning English as an additional language, it is crucial for schools to understand and meet their unique needs effectively. Our self-evaluation platform provides an in-depth framework for schools to reflect on their EAL practices, identify strengths, and highlight areas for improvement.
Find out more here.
Hounslow Language Service are also running an EAL summer programme – click below for more details.
HLS – Summer EAL Programme 2025Case Study: How Brooke Weston Trust are using EMS to drive school improvement
Brooke Weston Trust is harnessing the power of EvaluateMySchool (EMS) to drive meaningful change across its schools. Dr. Rachel Lawrence-Byron, Strategic Leader of SEND and Associate Principal at Wisbech Academy, shares how EMS has become a game-changer for the trust’s self-evaluation process.
✅ Key Wins:
🔍 Expert-designed questions to assess SEND provision with precision.
🗣️ A shared language across schools, enabling collaboration and consistency.
📈 Continuous tracking of progress, ensuring every school stays on its improvement journey.
“EMS gives us a shared set of questions we can all use, creating a common language to talk about SEND provision.” — Dr. Rachel Lawrence-Byron
Read the full case study to discover how BWT is using EMS to identify strengths, highlight areas for development, and empower school leaders to make data-driven decisions.
Specialist Provision Webinar with Natalie Packer
We were delighted to have so many people join us for this webinar, looking at developing and effectively evaluating specialist provision within mainstream schools.
You can watch the webinar recording below, and also download the slides.
Webinar: Explore the new features of the EMS platform
Join us for this training webinar to hear all about the new features we have added, and ensure you are getting the most out of the EMS platform.
WEBINAR: Developing and evaluating effective resourced provision / SEN units within mainstream schools
We are excited to bring you a FREE webinar with leading SEND consultant and author, Natalie Packer.
Join us on Thursday 27th February at 4pm, to hear from Natalie. This webinar is aimed mainly at school or trust leaders in the early stages of developing provision, the but is also suitable for leaders who have recently developed their own provision and would benefit from guidance on evaluating the quality of the provision.
To book your free place click HERE.
Introducing Our New Self-Evaluation Respond Feature
We are excited to announce a new feature for the EMS platform, which will enhance the way you conduct self-evaluations. Our latest update allows users to create customisable forms to supplement their self-evaluation process, allowing you to collect more information than just the ratings in the self evaluation.
Key Features of the Self-Evaluation Forms
- Diverse Question Styles: Our forms support a variety of question types to suit your needs. You can include:
- Short Text: Perfect for brief responses or single-word answers.
- Long Text: Ideal for detailed feedback and elaborate explanations.
- Multiple Choice: Great for selecting from predefined options.
- Number Entries: Useful for quantitative data.
- Full control: The respond forms can be turned on and off, and also be shut so that participants can see the responses, but can’t add new ones.
- Multiple Submissions and Comparisons: Users can fill out the forms multiple times, allowing for ongoing changes. This feature enables you to compare responses over time, providing valuable insights into growth and development, or how your context changes.
Practical Applications
Here are some examples of how you can use these forms to enhance your self-evaluation process:
- Collecting contextual data: You could collect contextual data about your schools.
- Reviews: create a form to be filled in once an holistic review has been completed, over the whole evaluation area, so that all data can be kept in one place.
- Request forms: Use to request information or support from a project.
- Goal Setting: Set goals to help with a project or self-evaluation.
- Record values: To help elicit what you are trying to achieve through the self evaluation process.
- Project Reflections: After completing a project, use the forms to reflect on what went well, what challenges you faced, and how you can improve in future projects.
Our new respond feature is designed to provide you with a flexible and powerful tool to enhance your school improvement journey.
Further help can be found on our support pages here:
Or alternatively, just get in contact with support@evaluatemyschool.co.uk and we’ll be happy to demonstrate this feature to you.
Announcing our new Support Site!
We are excited to introduce our brand-new support site, designed to provide you with the best possible assistance and resources. Our goal is to make it easier for you to find the help you need, whenever you need it.
What’s New?
- Fresh Content: We will be adding new articles regularly to ensure you have access to the latest information and solutions. If you notice any topics or articles missing, please don’t hesitate to let us know by emailing support@evaluatemyschool.co.uk.
- Raise a Ticket: Contact us directly from the support site. Simply click on the “raise a ticket” button located at the bottom right of the screen to send us your queries or issues. Our support team will get back to you promptly.
- The support site can be accessed just as before, from the menu bar in the app. This ensures a smooth transition and easy navigation for all users.
We are committed to providing you with the best support experience possible. Explore the new support site today and let us know how we can assist you better!
NEW: Updated homepage with added features
We are thrilled to announce an updated look and feel for the EvaluateMySchool homepage! When you log in, you’ll notice a sleek, modern design that enhances your user experience, and adds some useful new features.
What’s New?
1. Homepage Updates:
- Latest News and Announcements: Stay informed with the latest updates from EMS right on your homepage. Look out for announcements for new features and evaluations, service updates and top tips.
- Evaluation Updates: We’ve added a dedicated section that highlights any updates on the evaluations you’re involved in since your last visit. This means you can easily see what changes and additions your colleagues have made without having to search through each evaluation. Simply click on the update and it will take you straight to that evaluation statement so you can see any changes to scores, actions added or comments made. A purple feature dot will also alert you to changes.
2. Noticeboard Feature:
- Post Notices: You can now post notices directly to the evaluations. Whether you want to communicate with all schools involved, a specific group of schools, or individual schools, this feature makes it easy. See our support site for instructions on how to do this.
- Email Notifications: When a new notice is posted, all users involved in that evaluation will receive an email notification, ensuring everyone stays in the loop.
Here is a link to the support instructions on how to post a notice: Adding a notice to the noticeboard
Here is a short video to introduce you to the changes.
We believe these enhancements will make your experience more efficient and enjoyable. Log in today to explore the new features and let us know what you think!
