The IPPN P-I-E-W Planning Framework reduces workload for school leaders. The framework creates a discipline around initiative engagement – with only the most important being prioritised for inclusion in the School Improvement Plan and only when there is a gap in the school P-I-E-W schedule.
‘The key is not to prioritise what’s in your schedule, but to schedule your priorities’ Stephen Covey (1989).
Every Organisation / CEO / Manager (Public or Private Sector) will be expected to do more than can realistically be achieved or should be expected of them. That is why we must prioritise. It is the reason why organisations invest time and effort in strategic planning.
Prioritising and strategic planning are the only ways to ensure that Family, Health, and Well-Being receive the appropriate attention.
As school leaders, the P-I-E-W planning framework can help keep us focused and disciplined regarding our workload. It can help us give every new initiative adequate time and focus to ensure long-term impact.
The alternative is to end up stressed and overwhelmed. Our time and efforts are dominated by the urgent. We never seem to get to the important, and we and those around us get frustrated and eventually burnt out.
Figure 1-1 Stephen Covey – 4 Quadrants
The challenge is to ensure we allow enough time to focus on important but not urgent (quadrant 2). To achieve this we have to prioritise
The aim is to carefully consider the number of new priorities we introduce in any given year. That decision is based on the school context and the capacity for change The priorities are identified through the School Self-Evaluation process
Considering what will likely happen without a planning framework like P-I-E-W is essential
We are likely to take on too many new initiatives and be influenced by promotions and others' agendas, e.g., flag promotions. A framework such as P-I-E-W helps keep us disciplined and focused on the School Improvement Plan.
We are likely to move on to the next new priority too soon and fail to embed recent initiatives, thereby minimising success and not allowing time for the initiative to become part of school culture.
We or other staff are likely to be enthused by a CPD event and look to move straight to the Priority stage without going through the SSE process and without following the discipline of a planning and capacity analysis framework such as (P-I-E-W) resulting in overwhelmed, frustrated staff and diminishing return for effort. The P-I-E-W Planning Framework promotes the well-being of staff and fosters stronger relationships among the whole school community.
School leaders are likely to feel pressured to take on new non-priority initiatives because –parents or staff tell us about the great program being taught in the neighbouring school, and they put pressure on us to introduce the same program or initiative The P-I-E-W framework helps manage such conversations positively and ensures we focus on the agreed school priorities
The framework helps school leaders identify the ‘priorities’ that will most effectively impact teaching and learning, using the SSE process to identify the needs of the school's children
P-I-E-W is a strategic approach to managing school improvement planning using the school selfevaluation (SSE), School Improvement (SIP), and DEIS planning processes
P-I-E-W increases the likelihood of success. It minimises the overload probability, resulting in overwhelmed and frustrated school staff.
P-I-E-W empowers school leaders by providing them with a means of managing expectations. It is a structured framework that facilitates collaborative discussion using the SSE process to identify the priorities that will significantly impact teaching and learning while also managing staff capacity for further change.
P-I-E-W supports the school leader to control and manage the flow of initiatives into the school by: Restricting the number of initiatives/priorities
Completing all P-I-E-W phases, ideally over five years the Prioritisation, Implementation, and Embedding Phases will embed the most impactful teaching and learning initiatives/priorities into school culture
P-I-E-W ensures a focus on the embedding phase. This is crucial in achieving long-term impact but is often omitted by schools.
P-I-E-W is a positive communication tool that promotes an understanding amongst parents and staff of the SSE, SIP, and DEIS planning processes and the requirement for effective schools to prioritize as well as deprioritize. Once the strategic priorities have been agreed upon, all other suggestions are recorded in the W column (The W in P-I-E-W i.e. ‘Not Yet) All suggestions are shown respect but must ‘WAIT’ to be considered as part of the SSE process. The plan is visual, simple to explain and easily understood by all school community members
This positive communication tool empowers the leader to hold respectful and positive conversations regarding change with staff and parents. Those making the suggestion(s) concerning school improvement feel listened to and respected. Every reasonable suggestion is regarded as a good idea when using the P-I-E-W framework. However, all suggestions are recorded in the W column for consideration at a later stage as part of the SSE process.
IPPN recommends that you record any reasonable suggestion in the w column on the office P-I-E-W chart in the presence of the staff member or parent. This is part of the positive communication process that makes P-I-E-W so effective. You have listened respectfully to the suggestion. You are not dismissing the idea, but it won’t be considered until the SSE process begins. You are actively engaging your school community in the SSE process.
This is a good time to show the parent, staff member or school inspector the ‘5-Year Looking Back –Looking Forward chart that outlines what has been the focus of SIP in recent years, what is currently underway, and what will continue to be a focus as part of the school SIP over the next two years in terms of the implementation and embedding phases. This all makes the School Improvement Planning process understandable and logical to parents, staff, and others
IPPN’s P-I-E-W Planning Framework works in tandem with SSE, SIP and DEIS planning using LAOS as the core planning focus. School Self-Evaluation (SSE) is a collaborative, reflective process of internal school review. It provides teachers with a means of systematically looking at how they teach and how pupils learn, and it helps schools and teachers improve outcomes for learners. It is supported by the DES publication School Self-Evaluation Guidelines 2016 – 2020 The SSE process culminates in a School Improvement Plan or SIP Not every task is equally important. The most important tasks in a school context will be those that progress teaching and learning - the raison d’être of the school. Prioritising allows you to identify the most critical tasks deserving attention, energy, and time. It allows you to spend more time on the right things Prioritising helps everyone to plan and it minimises stress.
The DES inspector often makes helpful suggestions during their visits to schools. Many of these issues are issues that the school can address as part of the School improvement plan using the P-I-E-W Framework. Recommendations identified as part of a formal inspection must be prioritised and included in the P-I-E-W framework. However, the number of other priorities to be included that year should be reduced
Exceptional imperatives are initiatives of a magnitude that place them on par with items on the school plan. They are outside our control, arise unexpectedly, and must be given precedence. Exceptional imperatives typically arise due to government policy/legislation, which is often, though not always, mediated through the DES. EG. Child Protection, GDPR, etc. They must, therefore, be prioritised and included as part of the P-I-E-W priorities for that year. However, there should be a reduction in the number of other priorities included that year to ensure that we don’t overwhelm staff by engaging with too many new initiatives.
DES Circular 44/2019, Leadership and Management in Primary Schools provides the basis for using the in-school management team (ISM) to provide leadership in planning and prioritising for the school
Looking at our Schools 2022 – A Quality Framework for Primary Schools and Special Schools defines the broad parameters of where school planning must focus. All plans and initiatives must find a root in this document.
The capacity of any school to undertake projects and initiatives will depend on various factors:
5.1
The number of staff.
The Number of Administrative Teaching Posts, if any.
The size of the ‘In-School Management Team’
The number of Emerging Leaders on staff. The 2026 Headstart Programme for ‘Emerging Leaders’ will help you build leadership Capacity in your school. IPPN will encourage emerging leaders to use the IPPN Leadership Portfolio that is under development to log and reflect upon their leadership journey.
The wider school community can provide extra support, skills, and expertise to the school leaders. This may be available through the BoM, parents council, the wider parent body, and the local community The Partnership Schools Framework is another available support that builds capacity at school and community level to help school leaders implement aspects of the School Improvement Plan. The focus is on a small team of Staff, Parents, Children, and Community Volunteers supporting school leadership, with initiatives identified through the school improvement plan/P-I-E-W. All Partnership Schools will be fully compliant with the directives of the School Community Charter when that legislation is passed.
Engagement with community events, cultural celebrations, or extraordinary projects such as a school musical impacts the school’s capacity for further change at that particular time. The school can record ‘no capacity’ in the P-I-E-W framework. This happens in all good organisations. Managing the capacity for change is critical to staff wellbeing. Taking on too much is counterproductive.
Some schools experience adverse factors that absorb school capacity and resources, thereby lessening the school’s overall capacity to take on new priorities Extraordinary factors such as a critical incident may temporarily affect the school's capacity to focus on a chosen priority. Such events must take precedence and may delay or postpone the implementation of a new initiative.
The school leaders need to consider all of these factors when considering the school's capacity for further change. The leaders must agree on the number of new initiatives/priorities that can be taken on in any given year. The leaders must also clearly articulate to everyone that each new initiative/priority is a five-year school commitment. Depending on school size and other factors, many of which are outlined above, the leaders will decide on none, one, two, three, or more new initiatives in any year. If staff and the school leaders are overwhelmed and stressed, that number must be reduced, and the school must stick to the discipline of the P-I-E-W framework. In doing so, the leaders identify the actual capacity for change and look after the wellbeing of staff.
The model is based on a five-year cycle of prioritising, implementing, and embedding projects/initiatives that align with the School Improvement Plan
In this phase, the school prioritises a new project (or projects, depending on the school’s capacity) for one year and monitors the initiative to ensure it is having the intended impact.
In this phase, the school moves the project (or projects) to the implementation phase in year 2 and then on to year 3 The school continues to monitor and ensure the initiative(s) is/are having the intended impact
In year 4, the school begins the process of embedding the project(s) into the culture of the school. By the end of year 5, the project(s) has/have become part of the school’s standard operation and shouldn’t need intense leadership focus.
The chart below should be displayed in the school office. It outlines the focus for this year. The new projects/initiatives 2024/25 are placed in the Priority Column. The 2023/24 priority projects/initiatives are placed in the implementation column – Year 1. The 2022/23 priority projects/initiatives are placed in the implementation column – Year 2. The 2021/22 priority projects/initiatives are placed in the embedding column – Year 1. The 2020/21 priority projects/initiatives are placed in the embedding column – Year 2. – See the sample below. Each year, the project/initiatives move to the next column, freeing up the Priority Column for next year's Priority focus. (See Appendix 1 – Sample Blank P-I-E-W Chart For Print)
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The waiting list will be populated with suggestions from school leaders, staff, parents, pupils, the board, parent council, inspector, circulars, etc The SSE process will consider key questions about why any initiative should move from the Wait Column to the Priority Column and, therefore, be included in the School Improvement Plan
Why should the school undertake this initiative?
How does this initiative contribute to or enhance the school's teaching and learning?
Why is this initiative more important now than the other initiatives on the waiting list?
Are we, as school staff, prepared to undertake this initiative for five years and see it through the ‘Pilot, Implementation, and Embedding’ phases?
Do we have the capacity to undertake this?
Deciding which one or two items (or more, if the school has the capacity) from the waiting list make it onto the priority phase for the coming school year will involve much discussion. School leaders will lead the discussion and decision-making process and should involve as many school staff and community as possible. See Appendix 1 – Sample Blank P-I-E-W Chart For Print)
Having an enlarged version of the above chart in the school leader’s office presents a powerful visual representation of the projects being undertaken by the school. It also helps to manage the expectations of enthusiastic promotors of ‘good ideas’. This positive communication tool empowers the leader to hold respectful and positive conversations regarding change with staff and parents. Those making the suggestion(s) concerning school improvement feel listened to and respected. Every reasonable suggestion is considered a good idea when using the P-I-E-W framework. However, all suggestions are recorded in the W column for consideration at a later stage as part of the SSE process.
IPPN recommends that you record any reasonable suggestion in the w column on the office P-I-E-W chart in the presence of the staff member or parent. This is part of the positive communication process that makes P-I-E-W so effective. You have listened respectfully to the suggestion. You are not dismissing the idea, but it won’t be considered until the SSE process begins. You are also actively engaging your school community in the SSE process.
The following step-by-step approach will assist school leaders in populating the 5-year P-I-E-W Progression Chart. This is another powerful communication tool for explaining the school improvement process to staff and parents.
6.6.1 Steps To Complete the 5-Year Plan
Step 1: List the Current Initiatives - The first step is to list the new initiatives/projects being introduced this year (2024/25). This sample school is focusing on the introduction of the school meals programme
Step 2: Fill in the 2025/26 column. School meals programme will move to year 2Implementation Phase year 1
Step 3: Fill in the 2026/27 column. School meals programme will move to year 3Implementation Phase year 2
Step 4 (above) – List the new initiatives you introduced last year into the Priority Column under 2023/24 This school focused on Local Geography in 2023/24.
Step 5: Complete years 2024/25, 2025/26, and 2026/27 as in the chart
6-2: Steps 1 through 5
Step 6: List the new initiatives you introduced for the first time in 2022/23 into the priority column for that year – This sample school planned for the Free Book Scheme in 2022/23.
Step 7: Complete years 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26, 2026/27. You can see from the chart below that the focus on the Free Book Scheme will be fully embedded by 2026/27. The school began to focus on this in 2022 (priority Phase) – they then moved into the embedding phase in 2023/24 and this year 2024/25 and they will move into the embedding phase in 2025/26 and 2026/27
Step 8: List the New initiatives that were introduced in 2021/22 in the year 2 column under 2022/23 (Primary Language Curriculum)
Step 9: Complete years 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26. The 5-year focus on the Primary Language Curriculum review will be completed next year – 2025/26.
Figure 6-3: Steps 6 through 9
P 1 Planning for the Free Book Scheme Local Geography School Meals Programme
I 2 Primary Language Curriculum Free Book Scheme Local Geography School Meals Programme 3 Primary Language Curriculum Free Book Scheme Local Geography School Meals Programme
E 4 Primary Language Curriculum Free Book Scheme Local Geography 5 Primary Language Curriculum Free Book Scheme
Step 10: List the New initiatives that were introduced in 2020/21 in the year 3 column under 2022/23 (Incredible Years)
Step 11: Complete years 2023/24 and 2024/25. The 5-year focus on Incredible Years will be completed this year – 2024/25
Step 12: List the New initiatives that were introduced in 2019/20 in the year 4 column under 2022/23 (Restorative Practice)
Step 13: Complete the years 2021/22 and 2022/23. The 5-year focus on Restorative Practice ended last year– 2023/24
Step 14: List the New initiatives that were introduced in 2018/19 in the year 5 column under 2022/23 (Science)
Year 2022/2023 2023/2024 2024/2025 2025/2026 2026/2027
P 1 Planning for the Free Book Scheme Local Geography School Meals Programme
I 2 Primary Language Curriculum Free Book Scheme Local Geography School Meals Programme
3 Incredible Years Primary Language Curriculum Free Book Scheme Local Geography School Meals Programme
E 4 Restorative Practice Incredible Years Primary Language Curriculum Free Book Scheme Local Geography
5 Science Restorative Practice Incredible Years Primary Language Curriculum Free Book Scheme
The school P-I-E-W 5-year progression chart is now completed. Each year the project/initiatives move to the next year until year 5 is completed. This frees up year 1 - the Priority section for the next set of priorities/projects/initiatives. As you can see, one space is vacant under the Prioritisation Phase for next year – 2025/26. The school leaders decides what capacity there is – will it be 1, 2, or more initiatives taken on? The commitment is then to focus on those priorities for 5 years taking them through the three phases of P - Priority, I – Implementation, E – Embedding
See Appendix 2 – Sample Blank P-I-E-W 5 Year Progression Chart – Fill in the appropriate Years. The sample above is based on the school year 2024/25)
It is perfectly acceptable and good management for zero initiatives to be taken on in certain years due to lack of capacity This would have been the case for many schools around the pandemic. In those instances, the school should fill in ‘no capacity’
The discipline around this model is that the school needs to decide how many new initiatives it can take on each year – They then must restrict themselves to this and tease out their top priorities using the school self-evaluation process.
The school must also commit to putting each new initiative through the 5-year P-I-E-W process. That includes one year in the Priority Phase, two years in the Implementation phase and 2 years in the Embedding Phase.
The 5-year Progression Plan is a SIP chart that shows what has and will be achieved through the School Improvement Planning process over 5 years.
The overall objective of the framework is to ensure that any new initiative is given time to embed in school culture and, therefore, maximise the chance of it having a long-term impact on children’s learning.
A key objective is to help the school manage its capacity for change. If staff are overloaded – the school should reduce the number of new initiatives taken on the next year or even decide to take on none and fill the chart with ‘no capacity’ for that year’s priority phase.
Depending on the size of school, the size of the school management team, the number of administrative posts if any etc. – schools will take on one initiative – some 2 – some 3 – some 4 or more per year
Take time as a staff to celebrate the work already being done in the school and to thank and affirm the staff for it. Keep the older versions of the Progression Charts and display them in the staff room periodically and celebrate what the school team has achieved over several years. We all need to celebrate and appreciate each other. The BoM can be encouraged to recognise and show appreciation also. The golden rule – we all need 5 experiences of appreciation for each critical comment. The chart is visual and provides us with a great opportunity for collective appreciation of school achievement.