Submitted by Sose Annandale (not verified) on Thu, 07/11/2013 - 2:47pm.
I have been the Principal of a Decile 1a primary school for 3 years now and although I went into this position with my eyes wide open I underestimated the struggle I would face keeping teachers, parents and students self-efficacy buoyant. This has often times been an up hill battle when we are caught in the headlights of a new review process that refuses to accept or see we are all working extremely hard to shift underachment. This obsession with 'acceleration' and 'urgency' being rammed down our throats is unhelpful. I totally agree that we need to address the 'tail' research has shown we need to build strong 'trusting' relationships within our community at all levels this takes time you cannot magically expect it to happen overnight. The school leaders have prioritised this as the way forward and strategically planned for it to happen. This term we will have our fourth visit in two years from the review office, have these visits been helpful? Are we seeing accelerated achievement? as a result of this new 'support' process, no. Inspite of their ongoing monitoring/support we have continued on the journey we began before their first visit two years ago at each visit we were explicit in sharing our progress; at times this felt like hitting our heads against a brick wall. Our results against Natioal Standards are not a pretty picture but what we do know and see in our evidence is that over the last three years we are making steady progress in student achievent data and there is a significant increase in parent engagement. This takes a lot of time and commitment from teachers and leaders in the school, we are constantly reflecting on our practice and mindful of the social issues that have a fundamental impact on many families. We do our upmost to support families and provide authentic learning experiences for all learners in our community. The complexity of the social issues that some of our families face have a huge impact on learning and ultimately student outcomes. These issues aren't used as excuses by us as professionals they are sadly a reality. The challenge for me as leader of learning is keeping everyones integrity intact by creating a safe learning environment in which everyone stretches and grows to their full potential.
Strugglers Need To Feel Valued Too
I have been the Principal of a Decile 1a primary school for 3 years now and although I went into this position with my eyes wide open I underestimated the struggle I would face keeping teachers, parents and students self-efficacy buoyant. This has often times been an up hill battle when we are caught in the headlights of a new review process that refuses to accept or see we are all working extremely hard to shift underachment. This obsession with 'acceleration' and 'urgency' being rammed down our throats is unhelpful. I totally agree that we need to address the 'tail' research has shown we need to build strong 'trusting' relationships within our community at all levels this takes time you cannot magically expect it to happen overnight. The school leaders have prioritised this as the way forward and strategically planned for it to happen. This term we will have our fourth visit in two years from the review office, have these visits been helpful? Are we seeing accelerated achievement? as a result of this new 'support' process, no. Inspite of their ongoing monitoring/support we have continued on the journey we began before their first visit two years ago at each visit we were explicit in sharing our progress; at times this felt like hitting our heads against a brick wall. Our results against Natioal Standards are not a pretty picture but what we do know and see in our evidence is that over the last three years we are making steady progress in student achievent data and there is a significant increase in parent engagement. This takes a lot of time and commitment from teachers and leaders in the school, we are constantly reflecting on our practice and mindful of the social issues that have a fundamental impact on many families. We do our upmost to support families and provide authentic learning experiences for all learners in our community. The complexity of the social issues that some of our families face have a huge impact on learning and ultimately student outcomes. These issues aren't used as excuses by us as professionals they are sadly a reality. The challenge for me as leader of learning is keeping everyones integrity intact by creating a safe learning environment in which everyone stretches and grows to their full potential.