Appraisal runs your staff performance reviews. You open a cycle for a term or year, and each staff member sets goals, scores themselves and is reviewed and signed off by their appraiser. The app gathers the evidence for you: staff attendance, lesson notes, mark entry, learners’ results and classroom observations.
- Where HR → Appraisal
- Who can use it Anyone whose role includes Appraisal can run cycles, rubrics and reports and see every appraisal. Appraisers see To review. Every staff member with a login can complete their own appraisal from the My appraisal card on their Dashboard.
- Set up first Terms or Academic Years, and staff logins in Non-teaching Staff
Open a cycle
- On the Cycles tab, click Open a cycle.
- Choose the Period: Termly (pick the term) or Annual (pick the academic year). A name is optional.
- Set the due dates for each phase, or leave them blank to spread them across the period.
- Type your School priorities, one per line, for example Improve BECE results in Maths. Staff link their goals to these.
- Choose the Staff: All staff, Teaching, Non-teaching or Choose….
- Pick the Appraiser (the Head Teacher by default) and click Open cycle.
Click Open on a cycle to see everyone’s stage. Here you can change each person’s appraiser (for example to a Head of Department), Add staff, and Edit dates & priorities.
The five steps of an appraisal
| Step | Who | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Goals | Staff member or appraiser | Up to 5 goals: what, how it’s measured, linked priority, status and progress. Click Save goals. |
| 2. Mid-cycle check-in | Both | Each adds notes, then Save check-in. |
| 3. Assessment | Staff member | Scores each indicator 1–4 with comments, then Submit self-appraisal. |
| 4. Appraiser’s summary | Appraiser | Scores, strengths, areas for development, CPD actions and overall comment, then Complete review. |
| 5. Sign-off | Both | Each types their full name and clicks Sign appraisal. |
The scale is 1 Needs improvement, 2 Developing, 3 Proficient, 4 Outstanding. The staff member only sees the appraiser’s scores once the review is complete. When both have signed, the appraisal is locked. Click Download PDF for the staff file.
Someone with the Appraisal module can click Reopen for correction on a completed or signed appraisal while the cycle is open. They must give a reason, which is kept in the history.
Evidence and suggested scores
Each appraisal has an Evidence panel, gathered automatically for the period. It shows staff attendance for everyone. For teachers it also shows lesson notes, mark entry, report-card remarks, assignments set, learners’ results and attendance, and observations. Missing or expired staff documents are flagged.
Where an indicator is linked to evidence, the appraiser sees a suggested score. Suggestions are never final: click Accept on one, or Accept all suggestions.
Observe a lesson
- On the Observations tab, click Observe a lesson.
- Choose the Teacher, Class, Subject, Date & time and Type (Observation or Learning walk).
- Rate each area from 1 to 4, and write the Strengths and One next step. A photo is optional and kept private.
- Click Save observation. The teacher is told and can add a comment and Acknowledge it.
Rubrics and reports
Rubrics holds the indicators staff are scored on: Teaching (NTS), based on the National Teachers’ Standards, and Non-teaching. Use Add indicator or Edit to set the domain, wording, weight and evidence source. Here you also set the Observation target (observations per teacher per term).
Reports shows completion and the rating spread for a cycle, by department or by role, with each person’s stage, rating and score. Click Export CSV to download it.
Good to know
- Staff without a login can’t do their own part. They’re marked “no login” in the cycle.
- Rubric changes only apply to appraisals opened afterwards; open ones keep their rubric.
- Close cycle makes its appraisals read-only until you Reopen it.
- A cycle can only be deleted while none of its appraisals are signed. After that, close it instead.
- Deadline reminders and the head’s weekly digest can be turned on or off in Settings under Automations.