Group work in school

1. Group work in school Formation of a group implementing EFQM

2. Berufsbildende Schulen des Landkreises Nienburg • LocationNorthern Germany Lower Saxony 50 km north of Hanover 150 km southwest of Hamburg • Local town • Nienburg 32,000 inhabitants Glass and chemical industry Rural environment

3. Our School • 3,500 students • 220 teachers • 10 administration staff • 2 social workers • Full-time courses (five days a week) • Part-time courses (one or two days a week) • 40 school types • 50 courses of professional training • school leaving certificates on different levels from basic school leaving certificate to a certificate which entitles access to university

4. BBS Nienburg • Departments • Business & Administration, Health Care • Mechanics and Automotive • Electrical Engineering • Construction Technology (building, wood processing, painting) • Social Care, Body Care • Agriculture, Nutrition, Domestic Science • Sixth Form College (providing access to university)

5. Procedure • Step 1 • Assessment of the amout of • work • manpower (number of groups) • time

6. Step 2 • Recruitment of colleages from • all seven departments • the staff association • the school management = 32 colleagues

7. Step 3 • Training of this group in • EFQM standards • EFQM procedures by an external management consultant

8. Step 4 • Definition of 13 fields of work for the evaluation • management • school policies and strategies • staff • external partnerships and resources • in-school processes • results (as far as students are concerned) • results (as far as staff is concerned) • results (as far as external stakeholders are concerned • key results

9. Step 5 • Assignment of all 220 colleages to one of the 13 fields of work according to their personal interests and qualifications

10. Step 6 • Self-evaluation of the school • on two days • in all 13 fields of work according to EFQM criteria

11. Step 6 Advantages of this procedure • The school management made sure that all departments are respresented in each field of work. • Critical points from the staff could be considered, so that there were no objections to the procedure.

12. Step 6 • The intended mixture of groups with colleagues from all departments (who often do not know each other) contributed to a better identification with the school. • The awareness of problems of the school (beyond the own department) was raised.

13. Step 6 • Nearly all groups included members of the school management and all the heads of departments. • All detailed questions about school organisation could be answered competently.

14. Step 6 • Basic organisational conditions • There were no students in the school. The groups could concentrate on their evaluation. • The rooms for the group work were well equipped (notebook, beamer, snacks, drinks). • Coffee breaks after two hours and a buffet in the main hall made further exchanges of ideas possible.

15. Step 7 • Results • The groups worked intensively and effectively. • The working atmosphere was stress-free and constructive. • All group members pointed out their interest in the following development of the school.

16. Step 7 All in all, the group work on EFQM can be regarded as an undoubted success!