(Aligns
with SDP element #23)
One of Tom’s hobby horses was the importance of the
symbols that are an integral part of the culture of the school. He recalled becoming the principal of a K-12
government rural school and finding languishing in a storeroom old tarnished
cups and other symbolic items. He
discovered that these items had been donated by prominent citizens and had them
cleaned up and placed in a prominent position in the school foyer. He worked hard to lift the profile of the school uniform, the various prizes and awards
that had become part of school tradition, the school colours and flag, the
school anthem and the handover by the year 12s to the year 11s. These he felt
needed to be respected by all as part of the essential fabric of the school and
including recognition of those who contributed in some way such as enshrining a
music scholarship or donating a cup. In his view it would be obvious in an
effective school organisation that such traditions were upheld.
Criterion #18 We Laugh A Lot In Our School (Aligns with SDP
elements
#s10 and 21)
Although Tom hesitated to consider it mandatory he had a
strong view based on experience that if a sense of humour was healthy around
the school it had positive effects. The
sense of the ridiculous and being able to laugh at oneself were admirable
qualities helping to offset the serious business of teaching and learning. Tom
had often observed the value for teachers who could maintain the students’
respect while engaging them with a sense of humour. Of course sarcastic humour was totally
unacceptable. It was unfortunately often a teacher weapon of the 1940s and
1950s.
Tom stretched and indicated that he’d had enough for one
day. I thanked him for what had been a
challenging and thought provoking day. I
had an evening appointment and Tom rowed me to the nearby landing where I had
parked my car. We had planned to start early the next day to complete the task
within the time we both had available. Tom was spending the night on the launch.
I arrived at the landing around 7.00 a.m. the next
morning and gave a toot of the car horn which saw Tom wave and prepare to
collect me in the dinghy. Once on board
Tom offered me some coffee that he had just brewed. He and I had
eaten breakfast earlier. After a
chat and some setting up we got to work.
Tom indicated that he had something to say about a special school
effectiveness criterion.
A Special School
Effectiveness Criterion: Our School Has
An Effective
School Development Planning
Process
Tom placed this effectiveness criterion separate from his
listing in order of importance. It
reflected everything about the school and deserved its separate positioning.
For Tom the key features of an effective SDP were:
·
It
covered the main elements describing the school as he had listed above.
·
The
elements of the SDP aligned in large part to the criteria for school
effectiveness.
·
It
ensured that all staff, parents, the School Board and the students had a hand
in developing the SDP.
·
The
SDP was cast over a suitable time period to enable the school to know how it
was going and to make changes as the evaluative evidence of its effectiveness
indicated.
·
The
SDP had built into its requirements an evaluation agenda for finding out
whether it worked as an SDP.
Tom now decided to think through some examples of how the
elements of the SDP and the school effectiveness criteria work together. He
envisaged an SDP for the period 2016 – 2018. He thought through examples of the
SDP for 2016 showing the alignments with the SE criteria. For any year each SDP element would have its
own table showing the state of play and any developmental activity proposed
inclusive of no developmental activity if that was the case for that year. Each SDP element would be documented for 2016
with the 2017 documentation to be established late in the 2016 year ready for
2017. Where appropriate, for each
element of the SDP, there could be extrapolation as far forward as 2018 in a
general format to give a longer-term view of desirable direction(s)."
May the Force be with you!
GD
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