Performance management or managing performance? Supporting a vision to become outstanding

Abstract

This paper provides an account of how performance management is operating in a rural primary school in the county of Rutland, UK, which aspires to provide an outstanding standard of education for its pupils. The paper begins by outlining the existing regulations for the operation of performance management in schools, before going on to explain how performance management roles are currently organised and undertaken within the school. The paper considers the burden of having to accommodate the constant bombardment of requests to share, impact or analyse reams of data while attempting to provide inspirational levels of teaching and learning. The paper concludes by suggesting that complacent performance management needs to be driven out and replaced with a more robust and rigorous system of ‘managing performance’.