How

None of you would be unfamiliar with the phenomena of a department, authority body, CEO or government passing down a directive to schools that feels a little like a wish without a plan. I noticed with interest a new policy that was recently released to NSW Government Schools around ambitions to make these schools more…

That Email

Once a semester I send that email.  This is that email. There’s nothing special in it, nothing too thought provoking and nothing controversial.  It’s just an offer to help. We have dozens of partner schools starting 2023 with culture at the top of their school improvement agenda.  And what we do is partner with schools…

Beyond problem solving

I get it. The last couple of years have felt like a never-ending problem-solving exercise. From a school leadership perspective, surviving the great staffing shortage and the ongoing absence challenges is taxing.  The metaphor I keep hearing is that school leadership right now is like being that plate spinner at the circus.  We’re spending so…

Anti-performance

I shared the stage with the incomparable David Price at the WAPPA Conference in Perth last week.  I was hosting a panel discussion and David said something that has been spinning in my head since. David’s assertion was that the word “performance” is doing more damage in schools than we might be aware of. And…

Talking not reporting

A couple of times a year, at least in a formalised way, we report to parents.  And that’s both a good thing and plenty. In your broader communications home, such as our weekly/fortnightly newsletters, I’d like to suggest that you stop reporting. Stop reporting the list of students who won “student of the week” ……

Dreaming Big

I reckon there are two limiting factors that stop us from thinking and dreaming big in our schools and lives. The first one is circumstance.  The pandemic is a good example, as are staff shortages, scant resources, staff turnover, educator capacity and critical incidents. These circumstances tend to draw us into survival modes where the…

With Them

Part of our new approach to restorative practices – I call it RP2.0 – is embedded in a rather old truism.  It’s that the best teachers doing their best work are always firm and fair. In schools, we sometimes get that combo right and sometimes we don’t.  We identify this with a single word: When…

The Staffroom

I’m regularly pointing out to School Leaders that language is the primary driver of any culture, including a school culture. Every word spoken by any stakeholder in your school is a vote for the kind of culture they are creating. And yet, it’s still commonplace for staffrooms to be considered exempt from cultural contribution, as…

Think About Your Behaviour

I’ll admit it.  Before I knew there was a better way, I said it to likely more than one student who I’d followed through with on the threat of a lunchtime detention.  What were these fateful words? They were “Now, you sit there and have a good hard think about your behaviour.” The problem starts…