Nearing the end of the program

I made my final presentation to the Prin Team of my leadership challenge today and it seemed to go well. We had some fantastic discussion and I have a spot on the agenda of the Leadership planning 2012 meeting this Monday.
The online tutes are over now, and I really grew to enjoy them. They seemed to evolve out of the purely theoretical world based on research to a much more robust and practical exploration of leadership in education. I enjoyed that.
I have now got to focus on my presentation, and embedding the work I have been doing here in the future directions of the school. I have endeavored to focus on working through other staff to increase my capacity to nourish professional conversations and empower staff to drive change. This will assist me if I am lucky enough to get a Prin role in a larger school.

Leadership Credo and end of online Tute

This week we received feedback on our leadership credo and tutelage participation. It was very useful to be given such specific feedback. The thinking that went into both elements of the program forced my to refine what is important to me as a leader. There was a lot of reflection and analysis that went into these exercises and I have learnt a lot from them. In fact I feel they have been one of the most significant learning experiences.
I have refined and paired back what is key to me as a leader. This puts me in touch with what I really stand for and has set me up well to begin as a Principal, when I get the chance. I am so much more ready for that now, as a result of this work.

Intern Workshop Notes October

Intern Workshop Oct 26

TED talks multiple perspectives

Tony Hilton is a technical coach available to come to school and give you a strategic workforce plan.

Story telling for educators
The best way to persuade people is to listen to them.
Leaders need to be able to trigger stories. People are always looking at you and looking for the story. If you don't tell it, they will make their own version of it.
A a story gives you data/facts, but it is wrapped up in context and emotion.
Words and actions add to the emotion and imagery the story conjures up. Then we fill in the story with our own vision of what is being said.
If you try to hard with the story, it loses authenticity.
Disconnected dot points don't work. Dot points need a context.
When people hear stories, they get pulled into it. When they get a lot of facts they have a response of "prove it to me"

Spotting a story
Time/ place marker- giving a time or place when an event occurred
Events- a recall of what happened
Characters- people in the event with names
You can see it happening 
Something unanticipated is a good feature of a story.
Stories are about people and events. By telling stories, your body language comes out.
3 sources of stories
Yours, other peoples, other sources. (psychological studies are great sources of stories)

How do you tell the story of your school

Diagnosis- what is our challenge -can have a story attached
General policy and approach-can have a story attached
Coherent action- can have a story attached

The strategic story is to be told, not delivered by power point etc. This creates the hook and buy in

Begins with a vision
A reflection of the past, and then something happened .......
As a result,  we are going to do this, the theory of action.
So we get a particular outcome

Fill the story with your own personal moments
Steve jobs strategic story of the i cloud Is a good example of a strategic story.
Become a story spotter
Become a story collector- anecdote www
build your repertoire of stories
Practice your story telling
Always check the reaction to your stories

Performances of understanding
Leadership challenge template and assessment rubric

Starting Term 4

The term just seems to fly. My leadership challenge is progressing well and the relationships I am building with staff seem to be opening the way fro the work I am doing here to continue beyond the end of this year.
I had a visit from Elida, which was great. She is very inspiring and her positive energy so infectious.
I am a bit frustrated that some secondary Principal jobs are not opening up, I guess it is a waiting game. Just have to be patient.
I have made significant in roads into my use of the effective schools model. This is a planning tool I will use a lot from now on.
The online tutes have been great learning. Reading the material we were given has been good in itself. Contributing to discussions, reading other material the group have provided on top of our book has been good, and reading the opinions and experiences of the other interns, invaluable.I breached our groups posting protocols on the first tutelage this term. I made an error on when the 1st tutelage commenced. My fault. I will rectify this with putting in extra in the remaining
Yesterday I altered my problem of practice slightly as Sharon is concerned I have 3 problems in one.
I am presenting my preliminary findings from my Leadership Challenge today to the Prin team.

Final Leading Responsibly Session

Leading Responsibly 15 September

How does a strategic plan deliver for the

Customers- students/ parents. Will this create value for the students and parents
Organization - from the deecd perspective, is this adding real value to the system
Teachers- is this plan able to be drilled down into the classroom.

Through what lens are we looking at when we construct the plan. Is it based on research, can it be measured, can we lead this and deliver on it.

Appreciative inquiry- looking at things from a positive perspective, as opposed to a defect mentality.

Look to manage the length of time you spend in the storming and norming phase. Plan to have the phases, but plan the timeline to move through them.
The forming stage moves your team beyond the norming/ protocols developing stage, into the performing stage.the stage beyond this can be called high performing and is achievable and desirable.
There are interventions we can make to manage the shape and time spent in each stage.
Belbin team roles outlined. For all the strengths of each role, here are "allowable weaknesses" and out and out weaknesses.

GROW Coaching Model pp 28-29 in notes

School council Panel- Jeremey Beard very hierarchical and used the term clarity a lot. Assume nothing and ensure accountability. What are your values, what is your vision, set the vision and articulate this clearly and often to all members of the community. Clarity again.......
Likes data and wants things measured. You can manage what you can measure.Council president can be a very good conduit between school and parents/ community especially in times of difficulty.Be proactive with communication. When things are going well, that is the time to put policies in place for when things are not going well.
School improvement- due diligence is to respond to data that is unsatisfactory. Is the reality that there is an issue? What are you doing to resolve those issues? Why are you doing it? What is the research to support it and what will the benefits to the students? When you introduce something new, other things won't be done as well. Make the decision making process clear. How will you manage risk? It is all about the kids, get it right. Ensure your change management strategies promote ownership so that a theory of action will flow into the classrooms.


Make them feel included.council members a a good source of info about how the community us feeling about an issue.

Communicate clearly to council and develop a positive relationship with councilors.
What is the ultimate form of communication between school and home.
Take advantage of the resources council can provide for you.
Communication and clarity are crucial.
Get your processes right, draw on community expertise from council especially in areas where you may lack it within your school. Buildings, finance etc
Develop a strategic plan by taking the council away for a retreat to understand their concept of a great school.
Likes action column in minutes, check in with them to ensure completion.
Develop an induction manual for council each year. Establish roles early in the year.
Council president contributes to newsletter and website

Visit by Elida

Visit by Elida

On the 9th of September, Elida came out and caught up with Clare and myself. She looked at the project I have been working on and seemed happy.
It was great to talk with Elida about the program and she offered to read my Principal appliocation. I will take her up on this early in Term 4.

A skype group conversation

This week the group I am in for peer feedback about the governance gap project for Leading Responsibly have been struggling with the work we have to do. We have arranged a group conversation on Skype for 9 am this morning to discuss our issues.

Coffee with some Interns

Yesterday I met with three other interns who are local to each other. We linked up so we could debrief and share experiences. It was a great catch up where we focussed on getting to know each other better and sharing stories and opinions. A great feature of the program has been the exposure to some awesome operators from other regions. I am very keen to continue building these types of networks to further develop my relationships with high quality educators. The slightly different focus of other networks on the same problems of practice is great to learn about. We will do it again.

Week 7- Coaching and Online Tutes

Week 7 saw me head off to town for my Leading Responsibly coaching session. I have learnt a lot about good governance through this module that I otherwise would not have known, stepping into a Prin role. Understanding strategy, both good and bad, and mitigating risk is two areas I have grown significantly in.
We began our first online tute facilitated by one of us this week (me) and I have enjoyed watching, monitoring and steering the conversation. This is a very useful method of learning that I will definitely apply as a Prin. It draws out substantial dialogue focused around a reading. Great PL!!!!
My project is really taking shape. As I have continued to build relationships I have had an increasing buy in from staff willing to meet with me and assist me do my research. I spoke with all staff this week and this has drawn out a number of positive responses.

Reflections of Week 6

This week we have been able to set up a de brief session with 4 locally based Interns from NMR and EMR. We found that the time we spent talking to each other about our experiences too brief, but highly valuable, at our Intern PL last week. Looking forward to catching up with them next week.
I began my project, and set up many of my interviews as I enter the "contextual understanding" phase of the project. We have set a tight timeline, which will assist me stay on track. I have been busy establishing effective relationships with staff and I am confident the interviews will go well.
We had our first online tute, and it quickly became apparent how organised and diligent I am going to have to be to stay on top of this aspect of the course. The professional reading is very valuable and I am enjoying putting time aside in each week to do this. I have set up my tute for next week and posted the reading. I have also established a set of questions to use as I am the facillitator of the conversation next week.

The Leadership Challenge Established

Today I presented my Leadership Challenge to the Leadership Team, and will now commence developing a contextual understanding as i gather data to inform my report.

Problem of Practice

There is variation in teacher readiness to implement 1:1, the use of E5 to support the delivery of a differentiated curriculum, and the provision of rigorous feedback using the language of E5, to all staff.

Theory of Action

If we have a clear understanding of what differentiated learning is, our curriculum is on line and clear, we focus on effective pedagogy and assessment practices  and improve teacher skills in the use of ICT, the introduction of 1:1 will lead to improved student outcomes, and greater student engagement

“From good to great”

Scope

Using the Effective Schools Model as a framework, I will produce a report on Friday November 18 that articulates what the current state of differentiation, teacher readiness for implementation of 1:1 and effectiveness of E5 as a language to describe and improve practice is. I will make some suggestions as to where there are areas for improvement and outline some strategies that I would recommend for implementation in the last year of this Strategic Plan, that will enhance the movement towards:

·         A differentiated curriculum.

·         Implementation of a 1:1 program.

·         Embedded use of E5 as a language to observe and reflect on teaching practice across the College.

·         Potential structure of Leadership Team to best position the school to achieve its strategic intent.

Intern Workshop Aug 18

Began with reflections of the 1st 5 weeks
Used ordered sharing protocol. Everyone gets to speak once before anyone speaks twice. Provide a time limit for each speaker.

Everyone reflected, common themes were around difficulties with adjusting to a role in a new school. Down time seemed big and lack of "real work" a challenge. Role clarity was an issue for many, but this should change when the leadership challenge kicks in.

Log your experiences around the effective schools model and use this to frame a conversation with Host Prin.

Need to get Prin P and D plan done. The leadership challenge should be your KIS goal.

Professional learning goals to come out of feedback from genos, 360 degree, host or base Prin, leading responsibly workshop etc.

Need to up the tempo and think like a Principal.

The Leadership Challenge
Needs to be pitched at Prin level. Set your problem of practice now.

E5 Judy Petsch

A profession has a practice. In your first few years as a teacher, what did you think in relation to teacher practice? How does this change over time? I have become far more attuned with how students learn, and what we as teachers have to do to maximize learning experiences. Relationships are the key driver of success.
Taken a shift from content importance to how we teach.Teaching was individual and isolated, but now it is about collaboration.
A profession has a knowledge base, they keep the knowledge base current through evolving practice and PL and they have a code of practice. The profession self regulates.

E5 is an explicit language around teaching practice with defined capabilities that allow you to give accurate and explicit feedback on practice, in order to improve. It will lead to reducing variability of practice around the school.In all classes there should be a view of what good practice is and what we should do when it is not eveident.
E5 has meant collaboration has been elevated to conversations around practice. ie How do we assess, moderate to ensure consistency of judgements?

How do you tell a convincing story, a sound narrative that convinces staff the E5 model is instrumental to improving practice. That it will improve relationships and instructional practice across the school in the classrooms. It has to be compelling and they need to believe in you as an expert.
It is not about the individual teachers but about shifting the collective.

A theory of action- Richard Elmore
Is a shift in practice happening, is it sustainable?
How do people transform their practice?
People will change their behavior, their practice, before they will change their beliefs. They will alter what they do when they see it work.

Lower performing schools will generally demonstrate 3 things
- Low coherence in adult expectations
- Low sense of self efficacy among adults
- High levels of atomization in teacher practice.

As a leader it is your role to articulate why these low level behaviors need to be challenged and build a critical mass of staff exhibiting good behaviors.

The more difficult conversations you have where you know how to manage under performance, and you are striving to improve the quality of practice, the more coherence you will have about expectations. The P and D processes help you hold staff to account.
Conversations that flow out of them and increasing the capacity of teachers to receive feedback, make a real difference in the classroom.

The further staff remove problems from the classroom, the lower the efficacy. That is, the students are from low SES backgrounds, the parents don't care etc, the lower the self efficacy that you can make a difference.

Conversations amongst staff need to focus on the collective expectations for all students. Every teacher can walk in and out of everyone's classroom to learn, share and assist.this makes a school of professionals.High atomization.

E5 is a framework that provides a reference point, an anchor about the language of a profession. Teachers need to use the language of e5, so we know we are all talking about the same thing. It is based on the premise that everyone can I prove and learn, that is what we do with kids every day after all.

It allows you to make sense of what is happening in a classroom and frame a conversation about the practice so that practice can grow, develop be shared and improve. It is a continuum.

It takes time to develop the expertise to observe practice and provide feedback.


E5 actually tells us what good teaching looks like and what we have to do to make it happen.
It focussed on what the teacher is doing not the student.
PoLT describes the what of good teaching and e5 the how.
What distinguishes environments in classrooms is the nature of the work the students are engaged in. The greater the intellectual challenges for the students, the greater the environment.
What % of tasks in your classrooms are challenging students to apply higher order thinking.
An interesting task is to ask staff to bring their assessment tasks to a room and place them on a Blooms continuum.
Look at what the teacher is actually asking the students to do. Staff need to learn how to analyze this.
E5 has 5 phases of instruction
It has capabilities that describe what the teacher is doing.
It has profiles that describe increasing proficiency.
To those who struggle to accept a need to use e5, ask them what elements that are in e5 that are not required in a classroom.

What are the non negotiable expectations I have as a Principal when I go into a school?


Following lunch we worked in small groups to discuss the progress we have been making on our theory of action. This was useful as we were all able to share and problem solve each others issues. The theory of action is very much a work in progress for most interns at this stage and far from finalized.
As a result of my work, what will be different at Kew HS?
If differentiation is important, then it becomes a focus that we keep coming back to.


"The truth about you" Marcus Buckingham

A video on Strengths based leadership.

A workplace should be somewhere that respects peoples strengths and challenges them to get better at what they are good at.
Be specific about your strengths.
Strengths are things that leave you fulfilled at the end of doing them. They are things that you look forward to doing.
When describing your strengths state that " I am at my best when ........."
Your strengths drive your performance.
To get better, drive at improving your strengths. You will grow most in the areas of strength.
Keep a memo of
I feel energized when........
I feel drained when........

The best teams are made up of people who know what they are good at, and complement that with others who are strong where you are weak and different from you. When the pressure is on, where are your strengths, and how can you help our team?
What are your passions, what really drives you....... Don't try to homogenize people, let them find their own strengths. How are tasks allocated within teams? Are they based around their strengths?

Work out how to play to your strengths most of the time...............

As you grow you become more of who you really are
You grow most in your areas of strength
Make sure you are doing what you want. Don't get stuck somewhere because of the people
"And the day came when the risk it took to stay all tight in the bud was greater than the risk it took to blossom" Anais Nin

Day 2 Leading Responsibly

This was a great day, with the highlight being the debate. It was fun, and we all seemed to enjoy it, having a laugh and starting to really relax amongst each other.


DAY 2
                    "Strategy Risk and Other Stuff"

Strategic planning is a key technical skill

Risk is the flip side of opportunity. 
How well is the school delivering on it's strategic vision?
How can we extract the potential within the school to optimize achievement within the strategic vision.

What constitutes a good strategy?
It needs to understand our current position, where we want to eventually be, and the pathways we want to go to get there.

What are the tests I need to apply to ensure that a strategy is a good one.

A clear purpose and rationale
A plan that has evaluated risk
Targets are measurable and achievable
Enables change and shapes practice
Responds to external environment ( threats and opportunities)
Timely- suits the needs of the organization at that point in time.
Is sustainable

A lot of current thinking about strategy has been derived from the military over time.
The are of contested markets has been the other significant influence on strategic thinking Professor Michael Porter is the guru.

Return on investment
If we are to make an investment in this strategy, what outcomes should we expect. 
What resources do we need to put into this strategy? How will this effect other elements of our school. Are we better off to invest resources we have invested in one area and realign them to support the strategy?
Meeting needs
Is it truly responsive to the needs of the students in the school and emerging education expectations
Effective delivery
Does it shape learning processes to achieve best outcomes. This is the efficiency test
Unique positioning
Choosing where to invest to get the best outcomes
Trade offs
Deciding what not to do
Leverage fit
Linking everything a school does to achieve best practice and outcomes
System fit
Does it make a contribution to the system overall 

Appreciating the impact of external influences

Porters five forces.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_five_forces_analysis


- 1 Threat of new entrants? Will there be a new entrant into the market place. Could be a school that all of a sudden begins succeeding, a new VET provider such as SEDA etc.

- 2  Buyer power. How strong is the position of buyers? The students and the families choices in the area. How are we working with the parents ( our buyers) to get it all right.

- 3  Competitive rivalry - existing rivals doing well that are effecting our enrollments.

- 4 Threat of substitutes. How easy can what we do be substituted?

- 5 Threat of suppliers power, Government, feeder schools


Are we extracting the maximal potential from our strategic direction?
Success is a dynamic concept and should not remain static. As you reach success, you need to re define success and set the bar higher again and find new strategies to achieve that success.
Over time, a strategy matures and the potential gain from it is limited. This is when you need to look for a new strategy.
If success diminishes you are in decay and some dramatic strategies need to be implemented.

Professor Gary Hamel
How do we use innovation to spark success? Page 35 manual.

http://www.managementexchange.com/

Strategic Resources

The key strategic resource is your workforce. How you do your workforce planning is critical. Aligning it where you most need it to deliver on our strategy.
Your budget, cash, SRP, your buildings and grounds, intellectual property are resources.

Value Network

Local relationships with local business, tafe, your network ( primaries) 
What advantage are we extracting from these relationships.

What makes a good vision statement

" building the next generation of community leaders" is a good example.
" one student at a time"
" everyone everyday"

- to set this statement, get the staff, students and parents to describe the school that they most want to attend and work in. The process you take people on is almost more important than the statement.

- Accessible language and clear to understand (not to clunky)
- Aspirational and that stretches the organization
- It outlines what we want to be, not what we do. A mission statement sits under a vision statement and it stipulates what we do ( AIP)
- instills curiosity
- has a sense of endurance. Lasts for a number of years.
- needs to be embedded into the culture of the environment
- it builds a picture
- it evokes emotion. A simple, powerful and evocative set of words that is written in the present tense.

Looking at the Strategic Plan

In leading responsibly does the strategic plan reflect quality thinking to push our thinking on the strategic choices we make in order to best position the school?

                                Risk

                         "Constant Vigilance"

When risk dominates your thinking you operate in a conformance model.
You need also to look at the opportunities to perform.

                   Risk.                     Opportunity
                                Fulcrum
This is a see saw, balancing act and you need to strike the right balance so that you are not too risk averse and missing opportunities, yet also mindful of the risks when pursuing opportunity.

A school needs to ensure effective risk management.
As a leader you need to be mindful of risks that may eventuate and be responsive when they do.
Are there procedures in place to ensure risk is eliminated, whilst opportunities are engaged and realized.

Risk management
There is a DEECD risk management framework.
Risks that are identified as high impact/ high likelihood require planning for, resourcing, evaluation, planning, well drilled responses.
Stakeholders need proactive communication and assurance to high impact/ likelihood risks.

On an annual basis, a risk assessment process needs to be done at the school to identify the risks most likely to occur and a plan of action to eliminate them.

                      A Balanced Scorecard

What gets measured, can also get managed
Are we delivering on our strategic goal?
- How do we appear to our community/ students/ parents/ feeder schools/ network? Enrollment data, student and parent opinion surveys
- How well are we doing the work to produce good outcomes? How effective are our processes internally? How effectively do our staff plan?
- Is there evidence of innovation, research and development? How well does our organization hang together and function? How well have we aligned our workforce with our vision? How effective is our information system functioning?
Lag time vs lead time
Financial measures are all lag time. They are reflections of what has happened. You need a blend of lag and lead time measures.
In a school you need to look at lag data ( opinion surveys, VCE, Naplan data) with lead time data such as formative assessment, changing demographics, to answer the questions provided on the balanced scorecard pp 55.
What are some lead measures we could use

- Financial
Feeder school numbers/ SFO details etc
Hire facility opportunities in the future
Network school fees and charges
Future funding initiatives DEECD
Region and DEECD budget papers

- Internal processes



- Learning and growth
Future PL needs of staff
Building teacher capacity
Workforce planning profile for future staff profile

- Clients
Out of catchment leakage- how many kids are traveling out of zone to attend school.

Workshop 2 preparation
1 coaching
2 complete strategic plan audit ready for peer assessment at next workshop
3 team climate survey

Pre reading
Pp 38 - 44 school governance kit
Making the partnership work DEECD

Leading Responsibly- Bastow module day 1

We began our Leading Responsibly module in the Docklands today ( Aug 10 ).

I have really enjoyed learning about risk management , policy and strategy.

My notes are below.


Leading Responsibly 10 August

Governance teams must have absolute clarity about their purpose. If there is diversity around the understanding of the purpose this is a problem that needs resolving.
The school council have been appointed to steer the direction of the school and represent the key stakeholders.

You can't engage in developing strategy without clear understanding of purpose.

Three arms necessary for the governance of the school that sustain the reputation and mandate of the school.
All three are critical and essential for effective leadership of the school

Purpose

Strategic plan and core business of the school.

Performance or our model of success: 

How do we know we are delivering on our core business.
The things we need to see to know this are measures, ie school level report.

Performance is delivering on our chosen objectives. It is something we have chosen.

Conformance is meeting our system required obligations. 
Sometimes you need to reject come of your conformance obligations to meet your chosen objectives.

Must strike the right balance between conformance and performance.


This below should be in a quadrant table..............

                       Conformance.                     Performance

External view      External accountability.         Strategic direction

Internal view         Risk supervision.                   Policy



Relationships:
The core to how people work together.

If 1 is missing eventually you will begin to develop cracks and not achieve the mandate required of a school.

With effective relationships but lacking in performance, the council will eventually declare that although we like you, you are not performing.


Accountability drives good decision making
What is good decision making
- Evidence based
- Consultative ( needs to optimize peoples sense of ownership )
- understand and debate the assumptions behind the decision 
- connected to purpose ( strategic intent )
- have an understanding of the problem we are trying to solve
- able to be understood
- timely
- understanding of the risks associated with the decision

What are the consequences of acting in a particular way or of not acting at all.

How do we drive school improvement through governance?

Invest your energy into the staff who are willing to work with you and celebrate their success. Don't take the defect mentality and lock horns with those who won't shift.

To enhance teacher effectiveness and support improvement to the instructional core I can:

Develop college wide expectations of performance
Peer mentoring program
Learning walks
Peer observations
Identify good practice
Peer conversations
Collect feedback about performance
Develop accountability mechanisms to target improvement strategies

Connect the individual responsibility with the college wide expectations and accountability mechanisms. 
The non negotiable is aligning individual responsibility and accountability.
This should all be underpinned by the purpose. It all needs to be cohesive and hang together well. None of the elements can be weak.

What are the formal accountability measures in place that drive school improvement

PRP process
PoLT surveys
SPA data
Review of surveys
Focus on data in surveys
Meeting protocols- Minutes/ agendas etc

What are the informal accountability measures that drive school improvement
informal feedback from peers can be very powerful. As leaders if we can harness them it can be very powerful.
This can be coached through staff meetings. Recognition of good practice can also do this.
Leaders who stay connected to the classroom symbolically lead these- ie walk throughs.


What are some polices and behaviors to activate accountability

These are the things that bind it all in place
Staff handbook
Visions and value statements
Policies around core business of learning and engagement

Thinking strategically........

Where we start will very often determine where we end up. If we start in the wrong place..........

Strategy is about shaping the external world to our advantage. The external environment is the threats and the opportunities.
We need to plan to maximize opportunities and eliminate threats. If you see threats in your external environment and don't respond to them, you will end up being consumed by your threats.
  Understand the organization and it's strengths and weaknesses and plan to improve strengths and reduce weaknesses.
Understand your own SELF, your beliefs and emotions/ values.

What are the key observations I have made about leading responsibly?

I need the complete picture, the evidence to support the decision, or the assumptions we have been making are explicitly explored and debated.

A complimentary and diverse team is needed to balance out each others strengths and weaknesses. Innovation is often fostered amongst difference between colleagues.

Ensure that the key stakeholders understand the policies and legal environment linked to the decisions we are making.

Ensure there are protocols for meetings

Clarify the purpose of the meeting and the decision to be made.

Clarify the risks around making the decision.


Why does good governance really matter

On council, a well skilled group of people who understand their obligations and role as risk manager and strategy monitor.
Make sure they know their roles.
l
Sets a focus on the long term success of the school
Look at the risks you oversee and identify if the right policies, processes and staff are in place to minimize those risks.

Performance is analyzed and risks are minimized. Areas of strength and areas of weakness are constantly scrutinized.
Finances are audited and if things get off track, can easily be reviewed and actioned.
Ensures compliance and policy structures are in place. There is clarity about how things operate and that public accountability for compliance is in good shape. Are we compliant with legislation that effects us?






,

The project begins to take shape

We met as a Prin Team yesterday and I received some feedback on my initial proposal for the project.
The feedback was great and they have given me real permission to look into the effectiveness of the teaching and learning at the school.

It looks like the theory of action will be, " If we have a clear understanding of what differentiated learning is and we increase teacher capacity, understanding and the use of ICT we should see improved student outcomes and greater student engagement."

I am very happy that this is the focus, as it gives the school a real benefit from the program, and the transferrable skills and resources I will develop through this focus are of genuine benefit to my leadership development.

We meet again on Monday to look at a plan of action I am in the process of developing.

Week 3

I am beginning to establish some good relationships with staff. I have set up a meeting to discuss assessment with the Leading Teacher responsible for Curriculum for next week. I have drafted a Curriculum and Assessment polcy in preparation, as the school is looking to implement a new Assessment policy.
Last week i attended LAC, Education, Learning Leading Teachers, Council, Finance, Prin Team, Wellbeing/ Prin Team, VCE Co-ordinators Network meetings and participated in the OH&S audit. I also took another extra.
I am gaining good insight into the workings of the school, which will stand me in good stead when i begin my Leadership Challenge.
Our Prin Team meeting this week will have a focus on my Leadership Challenge proposal that i gave all members of the team at the end of week 1.
I am absolutely ready to get my teeth into real leadership work for Kew now. The first 2 and a half weeks have given me a lot of reflection and research time, and whilst this has been put to good use, i want to get into some action.
I have reflected during this time, how important research and reflection/ planning time is in the week of a Principal. Although in my calendar i have scheduled time for this, i allocate it on Friday afternoons. I am going to move it to earlier in the week as it often gets swamped by seemingly more urgent work on a Friday and it gets sacrificed.
As i have become prepared for the Leading Responsibly module i have been writing school policies on all sorts of things. This has helped me develop a clearer understanding of the significance of policy in change management and school improvement.

Day 2 Week 2- policy development, leading responsibly

I have been reflecting a lot on the advantages of rigorous policies to support school improvement and accountability.
Today I developed policies on Assessment, Curriculum and Homework. I researched over 20 schools & the DEECD website to locate some exemplars. I was not able to find any on Curiculum, but there were plenty on Assessment and Homework.
I did yard duty after school by the bus stop. The students were responsible and knew the process to board the bus safely. They respond politely to being reminded of the safe practices if they step out of line. One boy even thanked me from stopping him running across the pedestrian crossing diagonally before the lights had changed. The students are orderly and respectful. They wear their uniforms well.
I went to staff room 10 at lunch, following walk around the yard, and spent time getting to know the staff in there.

Starting Week 2

Last week the introduction session at the Staff Meeting helped me with staff whom I had not previously met. This is a large school, with staff distributed in offices around the buildings. This has made it difficult to meet all the staff. I noticed that more staff came up to me and introduced themselves following the staff meeting. I have been asked to attend a meeting with the VCE co ordinator later this week.
I have been provided with an office and a set of keys, and feel strongly included.
Today I began looking at school governance as part of the "Leading Responsibly" module we are studying. I then began updating some policies for my base school, which will also be of use to my host school.

My Introductory Speech to staff

I was introduced to staff officially at the first staff meeting of the term.

I mentioned 4 things

1. I have been an AP for 6 years, selected into the PIP, and a brief background on the PIP

2. I am looking forward to getting to know the staff, students and culture of the school.

3. I am looking forward to working with staff at Kew HS on a strategic goal of the school. It will take a couple of weeks to identify that goal, and in that time if any staff have any ideas i would welcome their input

4. Whilst i am here to develop my strategic planning and leadership, i am a hands on worker and staff should feel free to ask me for any help i may be able to provide them.

Settling in and beginning to identify the Leadership Challenge

3 days in and I am getting to know the place. The staff have been great. I have been working at developing a "leadership challenge" I am still handing over some work at my base school and will finish that tomorrow.

I have created a template to plan the "leadership challenge" and will show it to the Prin Team next week for their initial input. I have looked at linking e5, a statement in the strategic plan about transforming teaching and learning via ICT and their looming decision on how best to spend their NSSCF money.

My work at the moment is brainstorming the actions and staff to work through.

The first day @ Kew HS July 18

July 18 and the Internship begins in earnest. The staff were very welcoming. Many came to my office to introduce themselves. I spent a lot of the day reading their strategic plan and staff handbook. My aim was to understand their culture as effectively as I could. I wandered the school during class time and at breaks. I went out into the local streets before and after school to establish a feel for the way the students interacted and represented themselves away from the school.
I met with the Prin team to look at our goals for the term.through the next 2 weeks my leadership challenge should become apparent.

A very good day and a great feel to the school

PIP Introduction Sessions

Just got home from my first PIP session. An overnight session where we met our host Principals and established an MOU for the life of the internship. Clare is very positive and accommodating and i feel really positive about going to Kew HS.

Judy Petsch spoke to us and made some telling points on school improvement.She defined coherence and alignment, my notes are below:

There are 23 interns in 2011

Trust is a massive component of the program.

3 types of trust

Competence trust- skills. If you don't feel competent, say so, don't wing it

Contractual trust- clarity around the boundaries. What are the expectations and protocols? When does the project or relationship end?manage expectations and set boundaries.

Communication trust- sharing information, speaking the truth, discrete, giving and receiving feedback effectively, online protocols, challenging conversations, speaking and taking things with good purpose.

Judy Petsch- school improvement

What are the patterns in data that inform school improvement directions?

What expertise do I need to develop in myself and my workforce that will allow me to deliver on those school improvement initiatives?

How is the strategic plan shaped into key improvement strategies? What will I do to assist the school deliver on those strategies?

Alignment- clear focus on goals and how we all work at achieving those goals. It is easy to state and hard to achieve. Clarity When an individuals goals are in sync with the goals of the organization. That there is a line of sight between the classroom teachers PD plan, the Principals PD plan and the AIP.

Elmore - "people in various roles across the organization are working on the same task."

Coherent - Elmore- "the various pieces of the work fit together into a story that everyone can tell"

You might find the challenges a school faces within their Strategic Plan, but are staff in alignment with that and is it coherent.

How do you translate these challenges into theories of action that are implemented in the classroom as improved practice?

What has to change in teacher practice in order to deliver the highest quality teaching and learning in every classroom?

We need a theory about what is effective teaching and learning.

Do we have a level of agreement about what effective teacher practice looks like in classrooms?

How do staff learn to do things differently?

Coaching

Professional Learning Teams that talk about students and learning, reflecting and moderating student work, development of assessment rubrics. The purpose of these teams is to collaborate to ensure consistent and improved practice across classrooms.

E5 is the framework that provides us with a blueprint for agreed good system wide teacher practice.

Developing shared norms in classrooms is a great place to start E5.

What is an acceptable question in this classroom, What is an acceptable answer in this classroom, What is good work in this classroom.

This should be a common experience within your school. There should not be great variance across the school in this.

1. Self reflection of teachers to critically evaluate their performance 2. Differentiated instruction/ assessment incorporating ICT in the classroom 3. Embedded use of ICT

The second day begn by introducing ourselves to the group. We are diverse yet remarkably similar. We all disclosed aspects of our leadership journey and elements of our core values. I think this group will develop some very powerful relationships over the course of the internship.

Based around effective schools model

Use and understand educational research and data to drive school improvement

Know how to align curriculum pedagogy and assessment/ reporting around student learning

Know how to articulate a clear vision for themselves and their school community.

What is the difference between observations and judgements

The first days are vital in establishing your reputation and observing the culture of the school.

Work out who the prime movers are, who the disgruntled staff are, where the power lies etc Let the staff know about the PL you a doing.

Look for the way teams work together- Prins LT's Domains etc. If the meeting succeeds, why, what role is the leader of the meeting playing during, before and after the meeting?

Make sure the learning challenge is core work and not an add on.

Ilead survey

Must write down who you selected as raters so you can thank them afterwards Needs to be done this term, get as many raters as you can Karly Aggie Mel Chris Vernon Jill Jenny Meagan Marianne

Feedback- 5 keys to making it effective for you

Ask- if we don't ask we won't grow and learn. We often don't because we are afraid of the answers. Asking takes courage. Have the courage to ask.people will feel how they feel anyway, so you may as well ask so you know how they feels so you can do something about it.

Listen- the gift of feedback is only available to listen. Do not express your opinion when you are given feedback as it demonstrates that you are more interested in your own opinion rather than their feedback. Avoid shooting the messenger.Feedback is free and it can only serve to help you learn and grow.We often reject feedback that is inconsistent with the way we view ourselves. Most of us have a positive self image.

Thank- just say thank you when you are given the gift of feedback. Giving feedback takes courage, reward it by showing a sense of appreciation.

Think- focus on the key areas within the feedback that can make a real difference. Keep it simple, keep it focussed. What are the really key areas that will make the biggest difference to your development.

Follow up- no follow up no benefits. Keep it positive, simple and focussed.take notes to reflect your understanding of the feedback.now focus on change and making a real difference. Check back in with people and ask about the progress of the changes you have made.