http://greatschools.net.au Great schools, great kids Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:15:23 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en New information on the benefits of school parent partnerships and collaboration, as well as how to achieve it, is now available on the Great Schools Australia website. http://greatschools.net.au/school-parent-partnerships-2/ In a recent post I mentioned the session from Steven Covey on leadership, trust and authenticity. The session is now available to download at http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/coachingexcellence.html http://greatschools.net.au/school-leadership/ This is a great resource that I recommend all Australian school leaders check out. It is run jointly by the Australian state and federal governments and has lots of, dare I say, 'great' ideas. http://greatschools.net.au/ednaeduau/ Here is a free coaching excellence series that some leaders may be interested in. Although it is being facilitated by Duct Tape Marketing, some of the guest coaches relate equally to school leaders. If you have an interest in stress free productivity, I highly recommend the session with David Allen. And for ideas ... http://greatschools.net.au/coaching-excellence-for-school-leadership/ Here’s a story about Roger Briggs who began teaching physics as a 25 year old in 1976 in Boulder, Colorado. At the outset, a persistent thought kept coming to Briggs “Our schools could be so much better.” Briggs became Science Department Chair and realised that although he wasn’t principal or ... http://greatschools.net.au/how-one-teacher-made-a-difference/ In early 2005, Macquarie University Sport & Recreation used the same approach to strategic planning that Michael Fullan had described as "exciting and inspiring" in the context of schools and school districts. They were fed up with creating strategic plans that made for good door stops and not much else. And ... http://greatschools.net.au/strategic-planning-at-macquarie-university-sport-recreation/ When it comes to the issue of "schools as centres" I don't know of a better quote than that provided by Margot Welch when talking about the schools-as-centres model as: "...a proactive response to our new understanding about what all children need. We can no longer separate the child at ... http://greatschools.net.au/schools-as-centers/ One of the mistakes that organisations in the social sector commonly make is measuring their greatness based just on quantifiable outputs (eg student results) or, worse still, on inputs (eg budgets). Think about your own school or school district for the moment and ask yourself these questions. 1. Are you clear on ... http://greatschools.net.au/whats-the-measure-of-a-great-school/ I have previously mentioned the classic text for school and school district leaders, Future Search in School District Change -- Connection, Community and Results. One area that the book focuses on is student engagement. Three case studies are talked about. In Santa Monica, California School District, student voices were heard, student ... http://greatschools.net.au/student-engagement/ In our experience, many schools and school districts struggle with creating a positive culture. How important is it? Well here is what noted US education expert Thomas J Sergiovanni says in The Lifeworld of Leadership when considering the basis for a school’s success. “Most successful school leaders will tell you…it's getting the culture ... http://greatschools.net.au/gsa-school-culture-survey/