Online Tool start interview no longer offered

The evaluation of the online tool (May ’23) clearly showed that a large proportion of the respondents who used the online tool were not positive about using it. The following elements seem to be the cause of this:

• It is not possible for multiple people from one organization to work easily in the same preparatory module.
• Each module concludes by downloading a pdf that must be manually circulated to everyone and, moreover, cannot be edited.
• There seems to be a need (in some cases) for a structure for the initial interview, but preferably in a basic form based on which the school can determine which specific form is most appropriate for the interview.

All these elements cannot be improved or solved (just like that) in the form in which the current online tool was developed. It is not possible to use the current website as a shared platform on which to easily collaborate by school, nor is it possible to make the preparation documents shareable in a form that allows them to remain both manageable and also editable afterwards.

The Start Conversation Working Group takes the above critical feedback points seriously and aims to contribute as much as possible to positively stimulating the further development of the Start Conversation with the chain partners. For these reasons, the working group is making the choice to no longer offer the Online Tool.

Alternative
During the months of June and July, the working group worked on a Word document, similar to the one previously used to support the kick-off interview. It incorporates what was learned from the development of the online tool.The starting point for the new form is that schools have sufficient freedom to decide for themselves how to use this document and at the same time – through clear examples of a useful application and already existing videos from the tool – direction and clarity is provided for the use of this form. The latter also to avoid reinventing the wheel over and over again.

Starter package for schools
It is a joint agreement among all partners of the partnership that each school and each chain partner conducts the initial interview. Schools have the latitude to decide how to deploy and share these documents. The documents we develop will be offered to schools as individual documents with a guide to a possible form of their use in a so-called starter pack. Schools and partners will receive this starter pack in the first school week after summer vacation.

What elements will be retained?
One of the principles of the current online tool is proper preparation for each school and chain partner. Also in this new format, we pay attention to this by preparing an accompanying preparatory document that each professional can use to prepare individually, so that deepening takes place during the conversation. In addition, the joint creation of a single document helps ensure continuity, given the many changes and shortages we face. For example, there are still schools that don’t always have a particular chain partner, and this can also be a discussion point in the kick-off meeting how we deal with that as a collective.

Communications
In the first week after the summer break, all partners and schools will receive the starter kit. In messaging to the schools, cooperation was sought with the school boards. In the messaging to chain partners, cooperation was sought with all managers of the relevant partner.

Working group start interview
The working group start interview consists of the policy staff of the municipalities of The Hague, Rijswijk and Leidschendam-Voorburg, IB’ers of elementary school, SMW, SPPOH and compulsory education. Currently, only one internal supervisor takes a seat on the working group. The working group conducts an annual evaluation and possible further development of the form and thus meets only a few times per school year (online). Would you like to contribute to and be part of the working group? If so, express your interest to Lisa Mesander, the policy officer at SPPOH who is co-facilitating the working group, at l.mesander@sppoh.nl.