Top Tips

Celebrate and highlight your school’s achievements and strengths, and be clear about areas for development and growth.

Schedule an online meeting with your IBWS manager.

Schedule an online meeting with the Evaluation Leader/the evaluation team (or IB Chair for multi-programme visits) or Team Leader (for verification/authorisation visits) to introduce each other and provide some insights into your school’s context and anything the evaluation team should be aware of, or mindful of, for the visit. Use this opportunity to also plan for the visit.

You are probably wondering about the kind of questions that are asked during the visit. Verification and evaluation teams plan questions and conversations around the school’s submitted documents. However, you can see my list of possible questions to consider for verification or evaluation visits here.

It is normal to be nervous and maybe a bit stressed. But honestly, rest assured that the process is supportive and helpful. The more you share, the more you benefit from the experience and feedback through the consultation, verification or evaluation visit reports.

You may wish to create a shared online space with the visit/evaluation team (Google Drive, SharePoint folder) to share evidence such as additional school documents, lesson video clips and a school tour video. For clarity in this regard, please communicate with the visit team prior to the visit.

Consider how your school’s leadership team engages with professional inquiry and leading learning. I highly recommend school leadership to engage and explore the book ‘Leading with a Lens of Inquiry: Cultivating Conditions for Curiosity and Empowering Agency’ by Jessica Vance (2022). This should give you some food for thought.

• Check out ManageBac’s poster; IB Evaluation: Initiation to Launch in Six Steps

• Read the ManageBac School Guide to Accreditation & Evaluation for all programmes