Guidelines on School Development Portfolio Renewing the Certification for Principalship (CFP)
1. Background
Education Bureau Circulars No. 31/2002 dated 17 July 2002 and No. 2/2019 (which has replaced Education Bureau Circular No. 1/2018) dated 28 February 2019 set out the requirement that from the 2004/05 school year, aspiring principals (APs) have to attain the CFP in addition to complying with the appointment conditions in force at the time, before they could be considered for appointment to principalship in public sector or DSS schools.
The CFP is valid for five years counting from the expiry of the two-year CFP process or the issue date of the CFP, whichever is the later.
2. Appointment to Principalship after the CFP Expiry
2.1 APs whose CFP has expired are still eligible for appointment to principalship.
They do not need to seek renewal of the CFP immediately. However, upon appointment as principals, they will serve on an acting basis for two years.
During this period, the acting principals so appointed must renew their CFP before the principalship can be confirmed, effective from the date of the CFP renewal. They will have to cease acting if they are unable to renew the CFP upon expiry of the two years of acting appointment.
2.2 For those APs whose CFP has expired and who wish to hold a valid CFP before their appointment as principals, they may apply to restart the CFP process. Details of restarting the CFP process are contained in Education Bureau Circular No. 3/2019 (which has replaced Education Bureau Circular 2/2018) issued on 28 February 2019, which is available on the web page of the Education Bureau.
3. Renewal of the CFP
3.1 The CFP stems from the Principals' Continuing Professional Development Framework. It comprises three components:
Needs Analysis
Preparation for Principalship (PFP) Course
Professional Development Portfolio
3.2 To renew the CFP, there is no need to restart the three components above.
The newly appointed principal (NAP) concerned would be required to submit a school development portfolio to demonstrate his/her leadership in a school situation.
3.3 The NAP should choose an area of concern in the Annual School Plan of the school for the school development portfolio and follow through the implementation of the related action plan in the first year. Towards the end of the first school year, an evaluation should be conducted and a school development portfolio should be completed as soon as possible, preferably before the end of the first school year. Please refer to paragraphs 4 to 7 for the contents, format and submission of the portfolio.
4. What is a School Development Portfolio?
It is a special document to demonstrate leadership in the school context. It should relate to an area of concern as stipulated in the Annual School Plan.
5. What should the School Development Portfolio contain?
The portfolio must include the following and be presented in the order below (details are in paragraph 10):
(a) An introduction (b) A vision statement
(c) An action plan and the implementation (d) Evaluation and reflection
(e) Concluding statement
6. Organisation of Contents and Presentation Format
6.1 The portfolio should be submitted in bound hard copy and may take the form of a folder, an expandable file, or other suitable binding.
6.2 The main text in the portfolio may be in either English or Chinese, but not in mixed code.
6.3 Quotations or citations in a language other than that used for the main text should be duly translated on an accompanying note. Yet, translation is not required for appendices written in either English or Chinese.
6.4 The main text in the portfolio should be typewritten in font size 12 or above, in single line spacing on A4 size white paper and with a margin of at least 25 mm on all edges.
6.5 Paragraphs should be organised under appropriate headings and subheadings.
6.6 The number of pages for the main text of the portfolio should not exceed 20 (excluding attachments, if any).
6.7 To assist in the cross-referencing of evidence, each piece of evidence in the appendices should be presented on a separate page of A4 size paper with an appropriate heading. The number of pages for attachments of evidence should not exceed 20.
7. Application for Renewal of the CFP
7.1 The NAPs whose CFP has expired before appointment should apply to the School Leadership and Professional Development Section of the Education Bureau for renewal of the CFP and submit by hand / registered mail a school development portfolio in duplicate together with an application form (Appendix) within the first ten working days of each month.
7.2 The time required for processing a CFP application would be about three months from the date of submission. As time is of the essence, it would be advisable for the applicant to submit the portfolio as soon as possible.
7.3 The factual information contained in the portfolio must be true and accurate,
and in compliance with the copyright laws. It should be the applicant’s own work except for other sources duly acknowledged in it. A portfolio containing parts which are not the applicant’s own work without proper acknowledgement may lead to the application for the renewal of CFP being rejected. Under such circumstances, a fresh application for the renewal of CFP will not be accepted by the Education Bureau until after a lapse of one year counting from the date of the applicant’s last submission. It may also lead to more serious consequences (e.g. a review of the applicant’s teacher registration status) depending on the severity of the matter. In this connection, the applicant is required to sign a declaration in the application form (Appendix) when applying for the renewal of CFP.
8. Assessment of the Portfolio
8.1 The Committee on Certification for Principalship (CCFP) set up under the Education Bureau oversees the assessment of applications for CFP renewal.
The School Leadership and Professional Development Section conducts the assessment with the support of a group of assessors comprising veteran principals, academics, representatives of school sponsoring bodies and lay persons, based on the assessment criteria endorsed by the CCFP.
8.2 Portfolio assessment is based on coherence, reflection and leadership as demonstrated in different aspects of the portfolio. Details are given in paragraph 10.
8.3 In the event that the portfolio fails to meet the stipulated requirements, the applicant will be given recommendations for improvement and may have a second chance of submitting the portfolio for consideration within the two- year acting appointment. Applicants who still fail to meet the requirements may consider lodging an appeal against the assessment outcome if they so wish. The appeal shall be lodged within two weeks from the date of the announcement of results. These cases would be deliberated by an independent Appeals Committee, which would include distinguished community leaders, experienced principals, experts from tertiary institutions and lay persons.
9. Fee
Owing to an increase in administrative costs, the non-refundable fee levied on each application for renewal of the CFP by the Education Bureau will increase
from $1,186 to $1,229, effective from 28 February 2019. No fee is levied on the second submission of the portfolio within the two-year acting appointment.
10. Assessment Criteria Assessment
Aspect
Requirement Basis of
Assessment (1) Introduction The introduction should –
indicate the purpose of the portfolio and provide the background of the school and the community including a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threat) analysis and concerns; and
provide a table of contents.
A clear indication of the purpose of the portfolio and the applicant’s understanding and concern about the school and the community
(2) The vision statement
The statement should –
depict the NAP's personal vision/ beliefs/ educational values about the meaning of school leadership/
principalship in the current context of his or her school;
demonstrate the rationale behind the statement; and
describe how a related area of the vision could be brought to reality in the current school context.
Coherence between the school situation and the vision statement
Assessment Aspect
Requirement Basis of
Assessment (3) The action
plan and the implementation
The action plan should –
identify an area of concern and the major targets for school development in relation to the vision statement;
describe how to attain the major targets within a time span of about one year;
include the tasks to carry out the plan, success criteria, evaluation methods, staff responsible and resources; and
describe the process of the implementation.
Relevant targets,
achievable plan, measurable success criteria, suitable
evaluation methods, and a clear account of the
implementation
(4) Evaluation and reflection
The evaluation and reflection should –
describe the outcomes including successful
components and/ or set-backs with reference to the concerned core area(s) of school leadership* as appropriate;
demonstrate coherence with regard to the vision statement; and
illustrate alternatives to overcome set-backs.
Evaluation and reflection leading to enhancement of school
leadership
(5) Concluding statement
The statement should –
describe the overall learning gained ; and
include suggestions on his or her professional development with a view to enhancing school development.
Readiness of leading the school and enhancing school development
* The Principals' Continuing Professional Development Framework sets out six core areas of school leadership:
- strategic direction and policy environment - learning, teaching and curriculum
- teacher professional growth and development - staff and resources management
- quality assurance and accountability
- external communication and connection to the outside world
Ref No.: ____________________ (For office use only) Date of Submission:________/________/________ (For office use only)
Renewal of Certification for Principalship (CFP) Application Form
[Please complete this form in block letters.]
Please submit the school development portfolio in duplicate together with this application form:-
(i) by hand to the Professional Development and Training Division, Education Bureau on 6/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong. (Please ring up the School Leadership and Professional Development Section on 3509 7580 at least 2 working days prior to the submission to facilitate the pre-registration for entry to the Central Government Offices); OR
(ii) by registered mail to the School Leadership and Professional Development Section, Professional Development and Training Division, Education Bureau, 5/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong.
Name of Applicant (must be identical with that of the applicant’s HK Identity Card):
(English) (Chinese)
Correspondence Address:
Contact Telephone No.:
(School / Office): (Home / Mobile):
Fax No.: E-mail Address:
HK Identity Card / Passport No.: Registered Teacher No.:
Appointment to Principalship*: Yes □ No □
Date of appointment to Principalship: ____________________________
Name and address of Applicant’s School:
Type of School*: i. Primary □ Secondary □ Special □
ii. Government □ Aided □ DSS □ Caput □ Others (Please specify) ____________________________
Issue Date of CFP : ____________________________
* Please as appropriate.
Appendix
Declaration:
I declare,
1. that I have read and understood the “Guidelines on School Development Portfolio”;
2. that the personal data entered in my application form and all the factual information contained in my school development portfolio for this application are true and accurate; and
3. that the school development portfolio is entirely my own work except where I have duly acknowledged other sources and put the copied parts in quotations in the portfolio. The school development portfolio is in compliance with the copyright laws#.
Applicant’s Signature: Date:
_________________________ _________________________
# Please note that if your school development portfolio is not in compliance with the copyright laws, it may lead to your application for renewal of CFP being rejected. Under such circumstances, a fresh application for renewal of CFP will not be accepted by the Education Bureau until after a lapse of one year counting from the date of your last submission. It may also lead to more serious consequences (e.g. a review of your teacher registration status) depending on the severity of the matter.
(Please print this page on a separate sheet)
Please fill in your name and address for correspondence:
Name:
Correspondence Address:
Name:
Correspondence Address:
COLLECTION OF PERSONAL DATA
1. The personal data provided in this form will be used by the Education Bureau for processing the application for renewal of the Certification for Principalship.
2. The provision of personal data by means of this form is obligatory. Failure to provide these data may affect the processing and outcome of your application.
3. The personal data collected in this form may be disclosed to other government departments/ bureaus and/or public or private organisation for the purpose mentioned above and its quality assurance.
4. You have a right to request access to and correction of your personal data as provided for in Sections 18 and 22 and Principle 6 of Schedule 1 of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Chapter 486). Your right of access includes the right to obtain a copy of your personal data provided in this form. This is, however, subject to payment of a fee.
5. Enquiries concerning the personal data collected by means of this form, including making access and corrections, should be addressed to:-
School Leadership and Professional Development Section, Professional Development and Training Division,
Education Bureau, 5/F, East Wing,
Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong
