11 September 2017
Newsletter Articles
President’s Report
Welcome to our latest edition of our Newsletter, coming at a time when the Minister is set to announce a significant package of support for principals & leaders in our schools on Monday morning.
Along with the SPC, we have been involved in some strong negotiations with senior DoE personnel to gain support for us in our role at school - support that would enable us to be the educational leader needed in our school. Support to rid us of some of the administrivia and management tasks that have been pushed onto us over the years.
Feedback from the Deloitte’s Work Study, feedback from the McKinsey review into Educational Services and the SPC and our submission to the Minster & Secretary, have all informed a multi-phased support strategy for us over the next few years.
Deloitte’s Principal Workload study
As I mentioned in our last What’s Hot, 119 direct observations were held, focus groups were conducted and in-depth interviews were held with senior DoE, SPC & PPA Presidents and educationalist such as Anne McIntyre, Warren Marks & Dr Phil Riley.
The interim report found:
- Principals are spending a significant amount of time on activities related to management and administration, reducing the time they have to be an instructional leader
- While the scope of the principal role has remained relatively constant, systemic reforms and community expectations have increased the nature of their workload.
- The main barriers to managing principal workload are limited training and preparation for the role, not enough administrative support, insufficient access to quality support services, systems and functional tools.
- Principals could better manage their workload if there was better coordinated, streamlined and aligned Department support materials and communications.
- There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to exemplary practice. Practices need to be contextualised to the school, and system support needs to enhance flexibility and collaboration for school leadership teams.
The findings will be set out to answer the following key questions:
- How could the department enhance the capacity of principals to operate successfully in an environment of constant change, so that they are able to evaluate, prioritise and implement improvements within their context, and with the support and commitment of their teams?
- How could the department assist principals to structure and lead high performing teams so that they achieve the desired outcomes of their school?
- How could the department coach, develop and support high performing principals so that they discharge their responsibilities and accountabilities to deliver against the success criteria of their role?
- How could the department enable and support principals’ formal and informal networks so that principals receive the exposure, education, experience and environment they need to be successful?
- How could the department enable principals to execute the administrative components of their role in the most efficient and effective way, so that they are able to increase their focus on educational leadership?”
Principal/ Leadership Support Strategy
At State Council I elaborated on a multi-phase strategy aimed at supporting us in our roles at school over the next few years. We haven’t landed on the total package yet and it will be up to the Minister to announce, but you need to know what has been happening and how the PPA and SPC have been advocating for you.
By way of background, I collected information from delegates and chairpersons about our thoughts on additional Directors. The clear opinion was that in their current role, additional Directors were not the support that we wanted to help us manage the workload intensification we are experiencing. Many of our colleagues discussed the sorts of support we needed and many of those suggestions repeated what we submitted to the Minister & Secretary (see last What’s Hot) and are going to be taken up in this strategy.
As a total package, we are going to be much happier with the deliverables and feel much supported. The thinking & discussions at present, but nearly landed on, look something like this:
Phase 1:
Quality leadership preparation & development –
- the establishment of a Leadership Institute in the Department focusing on providing our aspiring, new & experienced school leaders with access to quality, expert, affordable development programs relevant to their needs.
- A development program for our aspirants, better induction & coaching support & scholarships for international study.
- Course development, combining with Professional Associations & Universities to deliver.
Role Clarity & Stronger Collegial Support for Principals, Directors and PSLs.
- New role statements for principals & DPSNSW
- reduction in the ratio of Directors to Principals to 1:20 with a focus on Educational Leadership. With a review to take place 18 months into the initiative.
- Grade 5/6 clerk to support DPSNSW
- new employment conditions for Directors around right of return,
- restructured PSL role (1.0 or 0.2 only)
Improved Services & support so Principals can focus on Instructional Leadership.
- $50 m flexible funding as an interim measure to support administrative tasks (a base for every school & per capita) - we have looked at a few options / formula
- review of staffing formula & entitlement (eg discussions have
been held on these points:
- An immediate lifting of the cap that currently relates to 14 primary schools with enrolments over 1000. – looking at Executive release and SASS entitlement
- SSP staffing to be looked at using a notional allocation - Teacher Performance teams trial in 2 Operational Directorates;
- review the approach for deciding which decisions & activities should be done centrally & by schools (eg tree audits gone!!!);
- review communications to schools.
Phase 2: McKinsey Report into Educational Services and repercussions
Phase 3: Closer review of AMU & HR processes.
Art of Leadership - Master Class
This week saw another of our 3 day Master classes held. Judy Hatswell & Rob Stones lead a group of AOL graduates in further stretching our thinking.
“The Art of Leadership is by far the most incredible professional learning I have ever participated in, leadership or otherwise. The program that Rob and Judy, along with the PPA, have tailor-made for leaders is second to none. Leadership really is an art form, and like any great artist, we too need an extensive set of tools to create our own masterpieces, our schools. We all know our role as a principal or a leader is much more than managing a school, but having the skills, understanding and capabilities to effectively deal with the unpredictable human side of our profession is often the tricky part. The Art of Leadership not only gave me the tools to effectively and confidently deal with others, but it also embedded my understanding of how I can manage myself, before I manage others. The skills I walk away with from AoL, will forever be in my 'toolbelt' as both a leader and a person. If being an effective leader in today's world is what you aspire to be, you simply can not go past this learning opportunity. It is transformational!”
Skye Hayward, Principal Figtree Heights PS
Two of our participants spoke about the Master Class:
Validation against the Principal Standard
Our second cohort of leaders completing our flagship Leadership Development Project have finalised their projects through a validation exercise conducted over 3 days last week. Participants uploaded the evidence about their School Improvement & Personal Challenge, spoke about their journey and were validated against the AITSL Principal Standard and profiles by our principal facilitators.
We invited AITSL personnel to attend and Sarah Richardson, Manager, School Leadership and Caroline Heysen, Project Officer attended.
Sarah emailed after attending “What has been developed is a wonderful example of the profession leading the development of future principals with passion and enthusiasm. It was a privilege to meet and talk to the dedicated principal facilitators and hear Ann (McIntyre) talk so knowledgably about how the program has evolved. Caroline and I have returned to AITSL full of ideas and considerations to help shape our work going forward.”
The University of Wollongong Educational Leadership Co-ordinator, Kylie Lipscombe was also in attendance finding out more details. The UOW offers 50% of a M.Ed for course participants thanks to the wonderful work of our mentor Anne McIntyre, who was also present for the validation exercise.
Executive Director, Leadership & High Performance, Mark Grant also attended to see first hand what the process involved and how we offer a model that may inform the future direction of the Leadership Institute.
This program, developed by us to support the development of our school leaders against the AITSL Principal Standard would not be as successful as it is without the incredible goodwill & leadership of our facilitators. A huge thanks to Graeme Ross, Margaret Charlton, Karen Maraga, Rose Manousaridis, Chris Parkinson, Jennifer Thomas, Kath Parker, Janine Hopwood, Andy Rankin, Louise Challis, Tony Gadd, Peter Flannery, Donna Bensch, Denise Smoother, Barry Croft, Dave O’Connor, Laurie Connery and Corrina Robertson.
Rural & Remote Education Conference
The 2017 Rural & Remote Education Conference was held at Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach 7-8 September which is an important strategy under Rural & Remote Education: A Blueprint for Action. The theme of this year’s conference, What Works – Sharing Our Success, was deliberately chosen to highlight the excellent practices occurring in so many country schools. Despite the persistent achievement gap between rural and metro students, it is important to acknowledge the innovative work being done in so many of our schools to achieve results that defy the intersections of disadvantage which impact on our colleagues in rural and remote settings.
Over 220 participants enjoyed a wonderful program of peer-led workshops and keynotes. Mark Scott opened the conference with a focus on driving improvement and hints at the comprehensive support package, to be announced shortly, which will provide principals with the support we need to free us to focus on what matters – the educational and instructional leadership of our schools. The 28 workshops, including nine spotlight sessions with innovative schools, three Aboriginal education spotlights and one interactive interest-based network session were well-received by all participants.
A few things Bubbling away:
Temporary teachers:
Federation has taken the Department to the Industrial Relations Commission around the number of permanent positions being filled by temporary teachers. There are lots of reasons we don’t fill them, but be aware of the Staffing Agreement and it’s implications. If you have a large number of temps filling positions you may get some follow up.
L3 :
There has been some interesting discussions lately around the effectiveness of L3 and how it is being supported by the DoE and the role of synthetic phonics in literacy development. The four Ed Services teams operate slightly differently and we are currently conducting a survey to determine the needs our schools have around this pedagogy.
State Council held in William Wilkins Gallery – Bridge St:
Day one of our Term 3 State Council was held in Bridge St in recognition of the key role Bridge St has held in public education over an extended time. The Head Office will move to Parramatta in April 2018.
New Executive Directors:
We took the opportunity to invite the Executive Directors that have been appointed to Field positions to attend our day 2 of State Council. We look forward to continue to work with Frank Potter, Sylvia Corish, Lynne Irvine, Cathy Brennan, Tim McCallum & Geoff Pellizzer in what ever Operational Directorate they serve.
Flourish:
As you know we are offering
this great
professional development….you can register via these links:
http://www.cvent.com/d/ptqnfg
http://www.cvent.com/d/ztq77p
http://www.cvent.com/dksqypv
APPA
Here is a link to the latest APPA Connected Leader:
http://www.straighttothepoint.co/APPA/aug_2017/?page=3
Enjoy the last couple of weeks at the term winds down. All of our Executive and several delegates/ chairs are attending the National APPA Conference in Brisbane this week. A full report will follow.
A simple request for you all …..if you open & read this What’s Hot, could you in your next conversation with a colleague ask if they have read the latest What’s Hot. We are only averaging a 50% readership. Similarly could you mention the App & ask if they have downloaded it (look for SZapp in the App store on your phone.)
As always, your Executive Team is keen to support you. Please feel free to contact us.
Regards
Deputy President Robyn Evans; Secretary Jackie Malecki; Treasurer Rob
Walker and Vice Presidents: Lyn Davis, Terry Fisher, John Mularczyk, Di
Robertson, Louise Green, Ian Reeson and Phil Seymour President.
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