global school management methodologies

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Introduction School SystemSchool System Principal’s Annual CalendarPrincipal’s Annual Calendar Planning and ReportingPlanning and Reporting School Charters School Charters Understanding School Employment, Property, Finance, Attendance

Course OutlineCourse Outline

http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/

Starting the year off Making changes, Getting to know staff, Information on school

performance, Building partnerships and networks, Professional advice, Being a teaching principal, Short-term goals, Relationships, Being a new principal

http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Managing-your-school/Guides-for-managing-your-school/Starting-the-year-off

These practical guide is for first-time and recently appointed principals to study global school management system methodologies and to adopt and apply it in school leadership across systems on a day-to-day basis.

"Every school need to have systems that help create the conditions for staff and students to work effectively together. Everyone appreciates simple, clear goals and effective processes. School systems provide and effectively communicate the ground rules for everyone. They ensure a measure of consistency in approach and action across the school".

School Management

The school therefore need to have a system with simple, clear goals and effective processes that can provide and effectively communicate the ground rules. A set of rules and regulation is required for everyone to adhere to ensure a measure of consistency in approach and action across the school”.

School management refers to the administration of a school to provide the condition for staff, teachers and students to work effectively together.

It will help you to keep a month-by-month overview of what’s ahead so that you can bring coherence to your planning.

Each month has been grouped into sections that cover leadership actions and outcomes. You can customize the annual calendar here to suit your situation.

1. Team and group development and performanceAdd in the actions you take or the outcomes you want that will strengthen the performance that drive your school’s learning.

Ideas to consider in association with the calendar

These could include teaching as well as administrative and operating systems teams.


2. Planning documentsUse Leadership Principals, of "Leading Change and Problem Solving" and "Areas of Practice" to confirm the qualities, knowledge, and skills you are applying.

This helps confirm actions to take about your learning needs as important parts of the calendar.


2. Planning documentsRefer to the school’s planning documents, goals, and vision as you develop and use the calendar. For example:.

Confirm the school’s strategies, expected outcomes, timing and scope. Identify the known leadership actions/outcomes required and log in the calendar.


2. Planning documentsAdd all the actions/outcomes you want/need regarding Partnerships and Networks, Pedagogy, Systems and Culture, and give them your own best timings.

Connects your calendar with the teams and groups in the school to implement the annual plan as part of the school charter.

Ideas to consider in association with the calendar3. Review and plan aheadDo this for the strategic timings and consequent actions for the calendar. Set up at least four calendar review times through the year.

Ideally, these look ahead for the next term:

Year ahead and Term 1 – complete in November–December Term 2 – complete before the end of term 1 Term 3 – complete before the end of term 2 Term 4 – complete before the end of term 3


3. Review and plan ahead

Many principals use electronic calendars either in Outlook or i-calendar. (Time spent in mastering these programs allows you to link actions closely with both time and background information held in computer files and folders, such as data.)

Establish a regular review-forward of what is coming (weekly, monthly) and reprioritize as change occurs.


4. Synchronize this calendar with the school events calendarReview them with your leadership team, secretary, and bursar to ensure delegation and timings are checked and confirmed.

Be alert for other important actions that emerge – change happens! Shift tasks to suit your context.


5. Confirm time for your leadership learning.Smart leaders know what they don't know. Learning is a constant process throughout your professional life, and it doesn't stop when you've ...

Learn new skills that will enhance capability. ...Transformation leaders are very visible, & spend lot of time communicating. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader


6. Block in appointmentsDo this with yourself and other staff to attend to tasks that require in-depth thought, analysis, and preparation.

Appointments are activities that you schedule in your calendar that do not involve inviting other people or reserving resources. You can schedule recurring ...

It covers:Why we have chartersWhat’s in the charterYour role in charter developmentUpdating and reviewing the charter.

This guide contains useful information about school charters.

-A requirement since the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms of 1989. Originally much charter content was prescribed but now there is more flexibility as well as a greater emphasis on student progress and achievement.

Why we have charters

The charter is a key document in each school’s planning and review cycle.

The charter is a crucial part of the framework within which the principal has complete discretion to manage the school (Education Act 1989 Sec 76).

Why we have charters

In this sense, the charter is the board’s number one policy statement. It sets the direction for the school and identifies the priorities that the board expects the principal to be leading. The aim is for it to be a “living” document and as principal you play a key part in making that happen.

What’s in the charter?Early charter have been completely different from the ones in the strategic plan, with little evidence of goals aligned with the planning or resourcing that actually happens in the school.

The Education Standards Act of 2001 changed its requirements, to included the need for charters to have both a strategic section and an annual section. A “smart charter” format was made available for schools to follow but was not mandatory.Since then, charters have contained these parts:

Values, Mission and/or Vision.- aim to develop policies and practices that reflect your country's cultural diversity and the unique position of the peoples culture.

What’s in the charter?Introductory section

Example in New ZealandThe aim of ensuring that all reasonable steps are taken to provide instruction in tikanga Māori (Māori culture) and te reo Māori (the Māori language) for full-time students whose parents ask for it.

Annual section

What’s in the charter?

•Annual aims, directions, objectives, priorities and targets relating to student outcomes, the school’s performance and use of resources.•Sets targets for the key activities and achievement of objectives for the year.

For the next 3 to 5 years, strategic aims, objectives, directions, and priorities including those that reflect the special characteristics of the school.

Strategic section

What’s in the charter?Charters must include the board’s aims, objectives, directions, priorities, and targets for:student achievement, including the assessment of students against any national standard

meeting both general government policy objectives for all schools, being policy objectives set out or referred to in national education guidelines, and specific policy objectives applying to that school

management of the school’s and board’s capability, resources, assets, and liabilities, including human resources, finances, property, and other ownership matters

other matters of interest to the public that the Minister may determine.

Your role in charter developmentNational Administration Guidelines (NAG)2 requires that boards of trustees with the principal and staff:develop a strategic plan which documents how they are giving effect to the National Education Guidelines through their policies, plans and programs, including those for curriculum, National Standards, assessment and staff professional development.

Things to note: The word with. The board is expected to play an active role in setting strategic direction. As principal-trustee you will be involved in developing the charter; as principal-manager you will be the person responsible for its implementation.

Updating and reviewing the charterUpdating the charter is annually when annual report data (including analysis of variance data) is gathered, analyzed and used to set annual aims and targets for the following year.

From time to time, as school’s cycle of self-review, it is vital to step back and check that the hopes and aspirations contained in charter are still relevant to the school, its students and community. In order to do this the board needs to engage with stakeholders, key ones being parents, and the students themselves.

Updating and reviewing the charter, Who else might be involved?

You can develop your own list, thinking about such things as: Where do our students transition from?Where do our students go to continue their learning?

And then consider what might be useful to them:What are their expectations of the school and does it meet them?Are our students well prepared for the next stage in their learning?What do they think the school does well?What do they think it might do differently or better?Anyone picking up a charter today would expect to get a sense of the school and its community, its priorities and expectations for students.

This guide contains useful information about school employment.

It looks at:legislation and regulationspayrollappointing staffconcurrenceindividual and team performance.

Legislation and RegulationsA number of legal requirements and Ministry of Education regulations exist for employment. The relevant legislation is contained in these Acts:

Education Act 1989 still underpins most education practice, including employment.State Sector Act 1988 part 7, sections 73–77, Personnel provisions, has relevance.Employment Relations Act 2000 has many relevant parts – for example, part 9, Personal grievances, sections 102–128.

Ministry of Education regulationsNAG 3 relates to board and management responsibilities under legislation on personnel and employment matters, industrial policies, and being a good employer.

Employment agreements: collective and individualEmployment agreements are used to confirm the conditions of staff employment. These pages provide links to all school collective and individual agreements

Payroll

Check that your school is using all the staffing it is entitled to. This list will help you to overview payroll elements.

These regular tasks mean that your staff will get paid. The regular arrival of correct pay ensures that they can meet their financial commitments.

Even a few dollars missed off a payment or, even worse, having to wait a fortnight for pay can result in financial difficulties for people.

Confirm:- the staffing levels determined and paid for by the Ministry of Education.who is paid directly by the Ministry of Education from Teachers Salaries (TS).other staffing determined and paid for by the board of trustees.who is paid from the Board Grant (BG).

Payroll

that the full cost of wages and salaries to be paid for from BG for the year match with budget expectations. that your school’s banking staffing processes follow the pattern you expect.

Check:- the SUE (Staff Usage and Expenditure) reports to see all your staff have been paid correctly. Their level of pay must fit the conditions of their employment agreement. This includes special allowances, responsibility payments, and any adjustments from a previous pay period.

Payroll

pay adjustments for the next pay period are made before the 'cut-off' time laid down by your pay authority.

Appointing StaffAs an educational leader, you will seek the best appointees for your school.

Use processes that ensure new staff members are able and ready to help advance school development.

This list will help you to plan the steps in advance that you need to work through around staff appointments.

Appointing StaffIdentify what sort of appointment, if any, is possible or should be made. Use curriculum needs, Ministry of Education regulations, confirmed staffing levels, and board of trustees budget limitations to help.

Know and use the school’s advertising and appointment procedures, and ensure your procedures meet the requirements of the Collective Employment Agreements. Use guidelines to assist.

Appointing Staff

Start with registration, contact all referees, ask searching questions about capability, and think of and ask about what has not been stated on paper or in an interview.

During the selection and appointment process, carefully check the background and performance of applicants.

Be very methodical in building a picture of applicants on your short list.

Appointing StaffKnow and use the school induction processes to help the new staff member adapt to the changes involved in a new place of employment.

Details of appointment processes and a range of templates are available from the web like: Resourcing Handbook of School Employment.

Here, you can understand the annual staffing cycles and whether you are in a position to offer a teaching position.

How staff changes link to leading learningIt is 29 June. A permanent teacher resigned yesterday, taking effect from end of the month. She is a composite year 3–4 class (if you are in a primary school) , or a teacher of health and physical education.( if you are in a secondary school).

You are lobbied by some staff and your board chair to immediately advertise the position in the Gazette that closes at 5.00pm tomorrow.

What are you, as the educational leader, going to do about this by noon tomorrow?

What are you going to do?

ConcurrenceThe State Services Commissioner, under the State Sector Act 1988 has delegated the authority to the Education Secretary to agree (grant “concurrence”) to a board of trustees wishing to provide additional remuneration and other benefits in addition to those specified in the Individual Employment Agreement (IEA).

An agreement between a board of trustees and employee to provide additional remuneration or benefits is not legal or binding without the Education Secretary’s concurrence.

Additional remuneration or benefit are for the limited purpose of recognizing and compensating the principal for the performance of the additional duties or responsibilities.

The additional duties or responsibilities performed must be for the benefit of their school. Reasons usually considered an acceptable basis for the payment of additional remuneration include (but are not restricted to) management of, and responsibility for:

Concurrence for additional Remuneration

When a board can apply for concurrenceBoards can apply for concurrence in two circumstances:1.where the board has determined that the principal is required to undertake responsibilities that are additional to those normally required, and has agreed that it wishes to pay additional remuneration.

2.following the settlement and ratification of a collective agreement. At this point all remuneration or benefits that are additional to those provided in the the promulgated (IEA) are terminated at the time the new rates in the collective agreement are paid for the first time.

Individual and Team performanceTeacher registration, performance management, and appraisal are parts of many school scene. They are confirmed as law in the State Sector Act 1988, the Education Act 1989 and its amendments, and the legal requirements of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

You must follow their requirements.

You must be aware of how collective or individual employment agreements regulate some aspects of appraisal and performance. Linked to the legislation are Ministry of Education regulations and requirements.

Individual and Team performanceIncreased emphasis on whole staff development has expanded the importance of finding out how teachers are performing, sharing teaching practice, and providing and responding to meaningful teacher development.

A robust staff appraisal system will help you to review how you approach individual and team performance at your school.

understand the qualities of your staff. know and be satisfied with staff development processes at our school.know from regular reviews how staff development is progressing and how to formulate teacher development goals and strategies for the future.know and understand the processes related to dealing with teacher competency issues.prepare to apply those processes to deal with competency issues.

Staff appraisal systemA robust Appraisal system should be able to:

These sources of information focus on quality teachers, quality teaching, and staff development:

A complaint about teacher performanceDuring the first month of being a principal, you have fielded three expressions of concern about Mr Tim, a permanent teacher, failing to provide his students with quality teaching.

Two of the concerns came from other staff and one is from a parent you listened to at the latest school get-together.

The word 'concerns' is used because no-one has specifically used the words 'complaint' or 'competency',

or committed their views to paper.



This guide contains useful information on understanding school property.

It covers:10 year property plansSchool property policies and proceduresMinistry’s guideline to property and health and safetyProperty managementProperty and its relationship to achievement strategies.

As principal you are responsible for ensuring the school’s present and future achievement goals are served by your school property.

Leadership related to property involves:ensuring compliance with Ministry of Education property regulations and requirementsresourcing strategicallyensuring a safe, orderly and supportive environmentusing the smart tools provided by the MOE to efficiently manage and enhance school property.

10 year property plansThe Ministry of Education property policies formally require all 10 Year Property Plans to to be based on the standardised Building Condition Assessment methodology and the Modern Learning Environments (MLE) assessment tool.

With support from their contracted project manager, this process will enable schools to rank planned projects into three priority areas:Priority 1: Health and safetyPriority 2: Essential infrastructurePriority 3: Modernizing learning environments to the core standard

Check to ensure you have the core principles of school property management, use and development sorted.

School property policy and procedures

Ensure school policies/procedures take account of the resourcing, school environment and smart tools leadership dimensions and their application to each and every phase of property decision-making and actions.

Reflect on your property knowledge and skills that it meet the expectations confirmed by the demands of your 10 years plan Property Strategy and your school’s achievement goals.

Ministry’s guideline to property and health and safetyThe Ministry of Education’s Property Toolbox is available online. Its main focus is on state school property but has some useful links for Integrated Schools.

It provides a clear explanation of all the regulations and requirements for state schools and descriptions of the processes involved for each stage of the property management process. It is essential ready reference for all new principals and board members.

Property managementEach board manages school property through applying systematic processes that meet the requirements and responsibilities defined in the Property Occupancy Document.

These are:The 10 Year Property Cycle.General maintenance from the bulk grant.Ministry of Education general support, advice and, in special cases, funding in times of emergency.Community support and funding where locally generated funds provide for district facilities on the school site.

Property managementFor example for a sports hall or a Gym, Health and Safety procedures to meet the standards are required for all aspects of school property use and maintenance including meeting the requirements for building warrants of fitness.

Some large schools have one or two board members who undertake much of the policy and implementation work associated with property.

Many boards will expect their principal to lead the processes and step in to take action as required.

Property and its relationship to achievement strategies.

Most property projects now require the employment of a professional project manager. The principal plays a key role in building strong working relationships with the MOE, property advisor and property project managers.

Some rural schools have pooled resources so they can employ a part-time person to oversee correct application of Ministry policies and attend to sorting tenders, contracts with builders and liaison with the property advisor.

In this way you learn quickly about property matters but do not get buried in the details.

Capture the view of the school facilities and their useFind out property needs, safety issues and wish lists:

Discuss classroom capacity to provide the setting for meeting achievement goals with the teachers and students. Do this in their space.

(If there is a worst classroom in the school go there first)

Property and its relationship to achievement strategies.

This guide contains useful information about school finances and resourcing.

It provides a financial checklist and also covers:sourcing general financial informationschool funding sourceskeeping the accountspreparing the budgetreporting on and reviewing school finances

Sourcing general financial informationSchool finances information and resourcing is available in Ministry of Education (your MOE) online handbooks:

Also known as the Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook, this sets out the way schools are resourced and includes associated regulations and processes.

Schools need to have this in ‘hard copy’ but check that updates in your copy match what is online.

School funding sourcesAside from funding school property, government money for state and integrated schools comes in two main 'parcels‘, paid through generated roll-based formulae. One is salaries of all teachers, the other is operational funding, commonly called BG or Bulk Grant.

Property funding for capital works and funding for special activities come from funds that are administered through the ministry property division.

Community-generated funds collected from fundraising, donations and parental payments, trusts or fee-paying students are another source of income for schools.

Teachers’ salaries (TS)

This funding is paid directly to teaching staff and the Principal is responsible for ensuring that the level of staffing for the school does not exceed the levels confirmed by the Ministry of Education and that the specific payments to teachers are correct in terms of employment agreements.

Each teacher should have an employment file where pay increases etc. are located and noted through a bring-up system. Banking staffing monitors the teachers’ pay.

Teachers’ salaries (TS)It is important all principals fully understand how this works. Banking staffing gives boards some flexibility in timing the use of staffing entitlement.

In one year, schools can choose to: anticipate up to 10 per cent of their staffing entitlement - using it in advance or going into overdraft; save up staffing to use later in the year - under-using or banking.The school staffing clause provides a clear explanation of staffing and salaries regulations and processes, including banking staffing.

It covers:-presence and absence in schools:-the administrative requirements-your school attendance as it is now-analyzing the data- engagement and attendance- getting beyond just data collection.

This guide focuses on the administration of attendance, attendance levels at your school, and getting beyond the collection of data.

Presence and absence: -the administrative requirements

A good attendance system needs to be in place to support quality learning. Good attendance systems help create conditions for staff and students to work together effectively.

In such a system, simple, clear goals and effective procedures are known and expected by all.Directions, regulations, and practices for managing student attendance are well-defined and available online.

Directions, regulations, and practices for managing student attendance are well-defined and available online.

Use the Student Attendance collection as the source for regulations and guidelines for in-school actions. (Within the Student Attendance collection, use the Attendance Guidelines for Schools to give you a clear picture of the legal requirements and Ministry expectations.)Use the Attendance in School Report to get the picture about attendance.Keep up to date about attendance regulations with an Electronic Attendance Register page. (electronic registers provides useful policies and protocols, reports on its use and tips about attendance practice. )

Your school attendance as it is nowAttendance and absence data collection is a daily chore that involves every member of the school community.

However, as a daily, very familiar, routine, it can lack urgency and importance in the minds of some students and their families.

Checks are easier where average presence is consistently > 90% per cent. In the 80–90% range, the daily chore is very demanding in terms of time.

use evidence to monitor progress, plan, and manage changedelegate the running of systems to appropriate staffestablish contingency strategies for when unseen circumstances ariseanalyse the attendance data to understand school patterns.

Your school: attendance as it is now

Principals who use management systems to support and enhance student learning: know effective management practice and systems, use them, prioritize and select targeted areas for improvement,:-

Analyzing the data

Look at the bottom 10 %. What is the impact of their poor attendance on both, their achievement and school? Compare this with the nationwide picture.Identify issues that need consideration – like in-school variations and truancy.Provide staff with regular snapshots of absence issues.What do students think 'poor attendance‘ is? Need for a change of perspective?Are you satisfied with your school’s absence record, collection, analysis, follow-up, and benefits gained from the processes involved?

Take your in-school attendance data for a period, (say the month of May) and analyze the patterns for girls, boys, different ethnic groups, year levels, and Mondays and Fridays

Who has excellent attendance?•Take the data for those who have excellent attendance and analyze it.•Provide a report to the staff and board on those who attend well.•What is done about students with very high levels of attendance?•Do the characteristics of those students who have excellent attendance provide any understandings that will help raise the levels of attendance of others?•What do students think 'excellent attendance is'?

Your school attendance patterns•What are the correlations between attendance patterns and student achievement for specific groups?•What can you do about altering the present attendance situation?•Keep these results readily available to assist school decision making and action.

Analyzing the data

Engagement and attendance: beyond data collection

"Principals who focus the school culture on enhancing learning and teaching:

-build distributed leadership networks that secure commitment and responsibility for continued improvement through all levels of the school -challenge and modify values and traditions which are not in students’ best interests.”

(School Culture in Kiwi Leadership for Principals)

Non-attendance does not go away. Students may leave, but the issue remains visible in school attendance records.


'In-school' or 'school-based' factors offer the best starting points for principals and teachers to apply strategies to reduce non-attendance.


Promotion of the school as a supportive and caring place is commonly at the core of strategies to strengthen engagement. The nature of teaching and learning is being included in strategies to reduce absence levels.

Such strategies can be viewed as 'pull factors', working to retain or increase engagement in learning.

Dealing with poor attendance

-put in place a school-wide attendance focus-emphasize teachers' responsibility for attendance and-to engage support agencies, counselors, and other services

Decisions and actions to deal with poor attendance has to be based on analysis of the school’s attendance data. A guide as your school’s engagement in learning strategy:

Put in place a school-wide attendance focusPut in place a school-wide attendance focus as part of your school’s learning strategy to have a daily recording of attendance that provides accurate and timely summaries every week.

use the attendance data across a range of people (class or form teachers, deans, senior staff) as a basis for strengthening student engagement through personalized approaches and systems


Reflect (at least every 6 months) the attendance issues of concern to teachers and provide action based on the day to day data analysis. work collaboratively with other schools and other agencies.

Put in place a school-wide attendance focusDealing with poor attendance

apply absence and truancy procedures fully and consistently. informed parents regularly about their children’s attendance weaknesses and ask to play a key role in rectifying them.

Emphasize teachers' responsibility for attendance


Reduce in-school variation in attendance: Teachers taking responsibility for the attendance at their class(es) will personalize messages to students about any lack of attendance.

Such action is likely to bring improvement when combined with active work on engagement processes to provide "dynamic class rooms led rather than ruled by teachers”

Target: Clearly identify those students who are not meeting school expectations and require teachers to provide a focus on them.


Emphasize teachers' responsibility for attendance

Such an approach will bring attendance improvement with another 5–15 per cent of students as they respond to a more personalized education system.

Engage support agencies, counselors, and other services


Take responsibility for the truants and difficult cases by participating in district support systems. Be able to clearly identify who is in this group.

Truancy service group, social welfare agencies, drug and alcohol counselors and other social services may all play a role in working with the students who have the worst attendance.

Develop effective communication with these agencies. Ensure that daily information flows are working well, as required.

Engage support agencies, counselors, and other servicesDealing with poor attendance

Participate in district truancy initiatives and support any local committee.Recognize that at intermediate and secondary school level, the complexity of working with truants is often beyond the resources of your school alone.

Ensure there are means to reintegrate students who have had lengthy absences so the ‘pull factors’ of school can get to work.

This guide offers some suggestions that will help you to: -make the first term a positive one, -avoid major issues and -develop good processes.

. It covers:Making changesGetting to know staffInformation on school performanceBuilding partnerships and networksProfessional adviceBeing a teaching principalShort-term goalsRelationshipsBeing a new principal Sharing challenges & rewards

Make the first term a positive one

Listen, ask, and observe before acting on any issues. Check out traditional school activities. Become familiar with the board and community's expectations of their principal.

Starting off well in a school will make all the difference for a new principal. Tuning in to the culture of the school will be one of your key tasks when you begin your new job.

Making changes


Every new principal will make some changes, and your staff will expect this. Before making a change, make sure everyone who will be affected knows why and remember that 'winning' your first challenge is important.

Be considerate in your decision-making around change. Some people may raise issues and want instant answers or solutions. Premature action could lead to the very relationship problem you want to avoid, so look at the issue carefully first.

Making changes


Let staff know that you are going to work in this way, but avoid statements like, “I won’t change anything during my first term here.” You may miss a good opportunity.

Some issues 'hanging over' from the previous administration might have to be dealt with. Not making any changes may suggest your tacit acceptance of situations that could come back to bite you.

Getting to know staffMake the first term a positive one

Gather information that will help you get to know staff and learn about the school at the same time.

Organize individual meetings in their space. This is an opportunity for a personal connection and to find out about the school: What do you value most about the school? What needs changing?

Responses to the latter question may be shared as long as privacy is maintained.

Getting to know staffMake the first term a positive one

Showing a personal interest in staff members is important. In this way, they know you care about them as individuals, not just as teachers or support staff.

Be visible around the school. Attend school social functions, even initiate them if nothing is planned.

Information on school performanceMOE keeps information on your school set out in graphs and tables, and compares your school’s it with collated information for schools like yours on a number of issues.

You can access from the appropriate site, with a user name and password. You can also access the last 15 years of property development in your school, including your current 5-year plan and maintenance grant.

Have a look at your school’s last annual report, charter, analysis of variance, and current goals. These will give you information about the recent priorities and the financial position.

Building partnerships and networks

Local community will see you as an important person, so work on developing your profile with them. Use any local events to make yourself known and demonstrate that you are interested in what's happening.

In rural areas, there are many opportunities for becoming involved in local events.

Building partnerships and networks

Principals’ meetings are places to make contact with colleagues in the schools that yours contributes to, or that contribute to yours; this includes early childhood if yours is a primary school.

However, it is your school that really counts. Your parent group, board of trustees, PTA, and any other school groups are your most important contacts.

Make the most of these contacts and listen to what they say. You will build a picture as you do.

Until you find your feet, you might need ongoing support for everyday management and organizational matters and for dealing with professional, personnel, or community issues.

Professional advice

Ask for help when you need it. Your principal colleagues will respond. Cultivate a relationship with a valued and trustworthy colleague who can provide support.

Everyone needs professional support and advice, especially in the early stages of principalship..If you do not have a personal contact who can help you, contact a local Leadership and Management adviser.

If you are in this position, you will need to balance time spent in the classroom with time spent out of it. If your teaching component is small, you could use it in a specialist role, or to meet a need in the school.

Being a teaching principal

If you have a sizeable teaching component, you have the added burden of significant teaching preparation and the need to be seen by others as an effective classroom practitioner, as well as a manager and leader.

Plan and prioritize your time out of the classroom so that you deal with the most important matters. Delegate where possible

It is difficult to look too far ahead in a new job, so concentrate on short-term goals until you have the confidence to start thinking and planning for the longer-term future of the school.

Short-term goals

Research and experience make it clear that the vast majority of problems in schools occur as a result of a breakdown in relationships.

Relationships

As a new principal, one of your most important tasks is to build good relationships and help to ensure that those of staff, board, parents, and students are working well too.

Make sure you deliver on what you promise, and avoid statements like “at my last school …".

Being a new Principal

Sharing challenges & rewards

global school management methodologies

Documents

school systems

school leadership

school performance

school need

school employment

reporting school charters

lean management

leadership actions