Initial setup requires Administrator access.
Quick Start
1
Enable the module
Go to Administration > Modules and enable Development Planning.
2
Assign a Development Plan Manager
Go to Administration > Users and assign the Development Plan Manager role to one or more members of staff. Managers have full control over plans, themes, and areas.
3
Assign Development Plan Owners
Still in Administration > Users, assign the Development Plan Owner role to the relevant members of staff. Owners can be assigned responsibility for individual plans, areas, initiatives, and actions.
4
Create Development Themes
As a Development Plan Manager, create the Development Themes that areas will be grouped under (e.g. Teaching & Learning, Pupil Wellbeing, Leadership & Management).
5
Create a Development Plan
Create a new Development Plan — or clone an existing one as a starting point — then assign Development Areas from your available Themes.
6
Assign Owners and Supporters to each Area
For each Development Area, assign an Owner and, optionally, a Supporter. The Manager who created the area is set as the default Owner.
7
Area Owners create Initiatives
Area Owners create Initiatives within their area and assign Owners and Supporters to each initiative.
8
Initiative Owners add detail
Initiative Owners add Rationale, Monitoring information, and Resources to flesh out each initiative.
9
Initiative Owners add Success Criteria and Actions
From the initiative details page, Initiative Owners add Success Criteria and individual Actions, assigning each action to a named member of staff with a due date.
10
Action Owners update progress
Action Owners update the completion Status of their actions and add Notes as work progresses.
11
Initiative Owners add termly updates
At the end of each term, Initiative Owners can add a termly progress update to record impact and reflect on next steps.
Cascading Plans
Once your whole-school plan is in place, you can cascade it to create department or subject plans:- Clone the whole-school plan to give department or subject teams a ready-made starting framework.
- Department owners then develop shared elements further for their team’s specific needs and priorities, without affecting the whole-school plan.
- MAT groups can cascade a central group plan to each school, allowing individual schools to develop their own local priorities within a common structure.