Why write it into the SDP rather than run it on the side

The school development plan (SDP) is a three-year direction document, and the annual plan breaks it into the concrete work for each year. The AI for Empowering Learning and Teaching Funding Programme also runs for three years, and the two timelines almost overlap. Writing AI targets into the SDP means carrying them on the school's existing planning and review machinery rather than building something separate.

There is a practical benefit as well. The SDP and annual plan already have to account to the incorporated management committee and to stakeholders. Fold AI into them, and the use and results of the funding move into the school's regular reporting cycle, so by the time you write the midterm and final reports, most of the material is already in hand.

Turn the five commitments into measurable targets

The programme's five commitments are written concretely, which makes them easy to turn straight into measurable SDP targets. They spell out numbers: AI-assisted teaching in three subjects across two year levels each, at least six teaching demonstrations, at least three open or demonstration lessons, three sharing sessions, and two student AI literacy activities. Put those numbers into the targets and the results become checkable.

  • Target one: run AI-assisted teaching in three chosen subjects across two year levels each, with each subject producing teaching demonstrations, for at least six across the school.
  • Target two: hold at least three open or demonstration lessons within the three years, and draw out the pedagogy points in the post-lesson discussion.
  • Target three: hold three teacher sharing sessions and two student AI literacy activities, reaching all teaching staff and the students in the set year groups.
  • Target four: build a record of teachers' AI use and training as the basis for measuring how far implementation has gone.

Map it onto the three-year timeline

With targets in place, the next step is to spread them across the three school years. Year one is about foundations: training the core teachers, choosing tools, and trial teaching in each subject. Year two is about delivery: finishing most of the teaching demonstrations and open lessons. Year three is about harvest and account: gathering evidence, writing the reports, and turning what worked into school-based guidelines.

Two deadlines belong on the timeline: the midterm report on 30 September 2027 and the final report on 30 September 2028. The funding can be spent up to 31 August 2028. Work back from those three dates and each year's annual plan gets a clear point by which its work must be done.

How to write the annual plan

The annual plan is more specific than the SDP, usually filled in column by column: major concern, target, strategy, success criteria, assessment method, timeline, and person in charge. Make AI one of the major concerns and every column has something to point at. Write the success criteria so they can be checked, for example "complete two teaching demonstrations this year and share them at a subject panel meeting", rather than empty phrases like "raise teachers' AI literacy" that cannot be measured.

The assessment method column matters most, because it decides in advance what evidence the report will need. If the success criterion is two teaching demonstrations, the assessment method should state that lesson plans and classroom records are the proof. Fill this column in honestly and next year's report will not have you scrambling at the last minute.

Let the SDP feed the reports directly

The midterm and final reports ask for progress and results. If the annual plan's success criteria already line up with the five commitments, then each year's self-evaluation report is in effect a first draft of the report. Align the columns of the two and the school only has to compile, not rewrite.

We suggest the AI implementation team takes stock once a year, checks against the annual plan's success criteria, files the evidence for what has been met, and puts whatever is behind into the following year's plan. Over three years the report stops being a problem you start at year end and becomes a file that has been building all along.