School Improvement- the ‘right work’-A HPSC Perspective

1. School Improvement- the ‘right work’-A HPSC Perspective College Forum 28 August 2008 David Finnerty - Principal

3. Principal’sValues and Beliefs • Loyalty • Trust • Support • Integrity • Commitment to Staff • Humour • Quality interpersonal relations • Leadership density

4. Principal’sValues and Beliefs (contd) • Active listening • Approachable • Challenging individuals • Providing opportunities • Problem solving rather than problem creation • Dislike for background conversations and negative people • To be the Best

5. Goals First Twelve Months • a clear, shared and collaboratively developed strategic direction for the College in alignment with the stated strategic direction for state education in Victoria; • the development of a cohesive and focused leadership team; • clear communication processes; • strong and professional relationship with key groups and change agents such as principals, staff Parents and students, based on a mix of support, trust and challenge;

6. Goals First Twelve Months • most importantly, a shared understanding that the priority focus is on teaching and learning and the attainment of the best outcomes for all students regardless of circumstance, race, gender or location.  Identify and build upon good practices  Key teachers  Learning PRINCIPALSHIP – INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP

7. ‘no distinction of faith, asking no question about where a child was born, what may be his condition of life or what the position of his parents, but inviting all to sit side by side’. Sir Henry Parkes

8. A shared moral purpose • Every Victorian is entitled to the benefits of a quality school education. • In Victoria, the large majority of people are educated in government schools. • In addition, the government school system has specific responsibility to serve all young people in the state. • This guarantees an education for all children, irrespective of their background and location. (Extract from ‘Blueprint for Government Schools-Victoria 2005’)

9. The Human Eye-Pupil • The eye has been called the most complex organ in our body. The eye is like a camera controlling the intake of such things as light, messages to the brain and movement. The pupil is at the centre of the human eye. Our students (pupils) should therefore be clearly our central focus in the complex activity of learning and decision making.

10. 3 Major Areas of Reform

11. Blueprint Objectives •  All children make continuous learning and development progress   •  Coordinated early childhood learning, care and health services •  Disadvantaged children are provided support when required •  High quality workforce  •  Parents receive timely information and support  • Greater opportunities for parents to participate in work or study

12. Our Shared Moral Purpose Wellbeing School Improvement Young people 0-16+ Resources • Young person at the centre • Whole child-Wellbeing 0-16+ • Key experience-school • Targeting-resources to be focused on young people/moral purpose

13. Creating a School Culture • Culture is the result of messages that are received about what is really valued. People align their behaviour to these messages in order to fit in. Changing a culture requires a systematic and planned change to these messages, whose sources are behaviours, symbols and systems.’ (AIM, 2004)

14. Features of What We Would Like Our Culture To Be • Shared Moral Purpose. • Consistency of Message - Child @ the Centre; teaching / learning and the principal as the instructional leader. • Learning. • Alignment. • Mutual Obligation / Reciprocity. • Transition from networks to clusters and neighbourhoods.

17. ‘The last 50 yards’A phrase used in the retail industry to refer to the final link in the supply chaine.g. from the delivery truck to the supermarket shelf.It is the most problematical stage of retail supply“50% of their distribution costs are tied up in the last 50 yards, they are struggling to get product on the shelf.” “It costs more to deliver a bottle of wine from the stock room to the shelf then it did to ship a case of wine half way around the globe.”

18. ‘The last 50 yards’ How to get school improvement strategies out of the principal’s office and into the classroom

19. Differentiated Approach to School Improvement School improvement is a developmental process. Schools are at different stages of development along a continuum of performance reflecting student learning outcomes, and can move up – and down – the performance continuum; A school’s developmental stage is most critically dependent on a school’s capacity to produce high levels of instructional practice reliably; and Interventions and support to improve a school’s performance should be targeted at improving the practise of instruction. The message here is that ‘the only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction’, requiring an intense focus on improving classroom practice.’ Excerpt from ‘A differentiated management model for Victorian government schools’ report to the Department of education and Early Childhood development by The Allen Consulting Group – January 2008 Finnerty / Spinks

20. Making the Common Curriculum Common Practice

21. Aligning Professional Learning in HPSC Improved Student Learning The classroom teacher The team leader The school leader The senior education officer The regional director and assistant regional director

22. Aligning Professional Learning in HPSC Improved Student Learning PLTs Teaching and learning coaches The classroom teacher PLT leaders training Common Curriculum for team leaders The team leader Potential leaders program Collegiate group leaders’ training Principal coaches The school leader Mentors Common Curriculum for school leaders Thesenioreducationofficer Common Curriculum for Region leaders Region leadership coaches The regional director and assistant regional director Other aligned support (tailored programs) Common Curriculum (common concepts, language)

23. Individual activityWhat is going Opportunities well at our Forschool? Improvement? • List as many as you can think of in each category!

24. Table Activity • Discuss your list of what it is we are doing well and our opportunities for improvement. • Agree on the best 3 things we do well and the 3 top priorities for improvement.

25. Individual activity.What is it we stand for as a College? - What are our College Values? • List the values you believe should drive our college.

26. Group Activity • Discuss and agree on the five (5) values that you agree are the most important for our college both now and for the next several years.

27. What Values do we stand for? What do I see? What does it What do Sound like? I feel?

28. Student Wellbeing 1. Students’ well being (their morale, distress and school connectedness) is not improved by simply improving peer relationships as might be expected. Students’ wellbeing is strongly influenced by their learning experiences in the classroom-their experiences of teaching and learning (Teacher Effectiveness, Teacher Empathy and Stimulating Learning). 2. Teachers’ opinion of student misbehaviour and student motivation has a substantial effect on student learning outcomes. The size of these effects is second in magnitude only to the school-level effects of SFO on learning outcomes.