Wow what a couple of weeks !!

A week after returning from visiting Finish schools with LEAP (in the school holidays) I was off to the 14 th International Confederation of Principals Conference in Shanghai and this led onto our Annual Conference at the Sofitel. Experiencing other systems & having deep conversations with fellow educators is invigorating as well as challenging…I’d highly recommend it.

By now your DEL has probably had a meeting with you relating to the targets you will negotiate for your school. The DoE is under instructions from the Government and have attempted to rationalise their demands. We always have had targets based on our in-school evaluations, so setting targets is no big deal to us all, but the insistence on using NAPLAN results is frustrating to say it mildly. I have a meeting with Teachers Federation officers this week as they are unimpressed with this development.

The DEL survey and follow up conversations are being conducted & are probably nearly finished so we await the meeting with Deputy Secretary Murat Dizdar to discuss the findings from the field. Feedback to individual DELs will be important as is the perception and reality of the role across the state.

The announcement at Annual Conference by the Premier (or was it the Minister) that $15,000 would be available to support principals gain additional qualifications is a great initiative. Clever principals might think about doing the next iteration of the PPA’s Principal Credential over 18 months gaining half of a M.Ed with the University of Wollongong (UOW) and then using these funds to complete the next half !! More details to follow.