I’ve created a rather cruel personal quandary for myself this year. I want to be simultaneously kind to myself, brave with my choices, creative and grateful. Sometimes, those ambitions contradict. This is one of those sometimes, but I’m doing it anyway. The above is a poem I’ve written for parents about our teachers’ collective experience…
Here’s what I know about most of the student conflicts that I’ve injected myself into: They took way too long. Students are great at telling stories (their own painted versions, of course) and anchoring conversations in the past. I’ve even listened to sordid tales of generational conflict … because there was a spat at recess…
School Leaders are busy. We do a lot of … well … stuff. But this I know to be true. Of all the stuff that I did, one single act was more important than the mountain of others. It was making the decision that mine would become a restorative school. And the proof for the return on that decision…
Hasn’t 2020 proven to be a rather big year? But it will end and the next one will commence. That’s just how things go. And, as daunting as the thought of 2021 might be, you can do this. Yes, you can. I came across this 2016 clip from the UK that served as a reminder that…
The announcement by NSW DoE of their new Student Behaviour Strategy has caused some ripples of anxiety amongst the teaching fraternity. That’s fair enough too. With 2209 NSW Government schools to be impacted by the changes that are now on the cards, specifically when it comes to the clear intention to reduce student suspensions, that adds up…
Yep, aren’t we sick to death of seeing the word “Cancelled” next to everything we wanted to do this year? I was going to see my favourite band from my nightclub days of the early 1990s “Boom Crash Opera”. They rocked! But alas …. Coronavirus. I’ve also watched event after event for Principals, APs and…
When I reflect on my years as a School Principal, I try to do it without any bent for judgement or shame. The truth is, I was pretty much always doing the best I could with what I had at the time. There are many things I’ve discovered in the eight years since I founded…
So, here’s the quandary around School Culture: Everyone who leads in a school thinks it’s important. Very few School Leaders have any authentic idea of what School Culture is, beyond a feel or a vibe? The absence of an agreed definition makes working on School Culture impossible. Many School Leaders don’t even know what their…
This is Sarah. She makes my coffee every morning and is one of those cool baristas that don’t ask for your order when you walk in … she just knows. Through our masks, we discuss all manner of things while she whips up my strong skinny flat white and Anthea’s latte. Lately, and for obvious…
If I were to ask you why teachers continue to stand in authoritarian positions at the front of classrooms using the power of their title to force students into learning, would you have a good answer Or could it be that the answer would be something along the lines of “Well, that’s just what teachers…