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A Regular update from the
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No 9, 2005. Published 8th August, 2005 |
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Yes Minister The events of the last week in the NSW government have been interesting indeed. One of the major press storied in the last week made the point that it has been a bit like having a change of government without having a change of government ! At present, however, Carmel Tebbutt has been confirmed as Minister for Education and Training and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, so we are able to continue with the relationships we have already built with her and her office. Despite the events unfolding, members of the State Executive of the NSW Primary Principals’ Association met with Minister Tebbutt and her Chief of Staff last Wednesday. At this meeting we highlighted yet again the unique needs of our rural and remote schools and argued strongly for a distribution of resources which would enable those schools to have at least 2 adults on site at all times : a benchmark clearly expected within the guidelines for the Tutorial Voucher Initiative provisions but unfortunately not the reality in a number of our smaller schools. The NSW PPA is, as always, committed to support for all Principals, in all schools. We also highlighted clearly the intense concern regarding the lack of time available for PP5 and PP6 Principals and for Primary Executive staff generally to deal with the exponentially increased demands on time. When the huge amount of additional workload issues are aggregated since the late 80’s it is intolerable that the amount of time available to deal with these additional responsibilities has remained unchanged since the introduction of RFF. Following advice from our Term 2 State Council, we are also seeking further discussion around this matter as an OH&S concern. Get well wishes I’m sure that PPA members would join with the State Executive in wishing Deputy President Sue Ingram a speedy recovery from some of the health issues she has been experiencing and which have led to her taking leave for this Term. School Planning You will have received the Memorandum from Trevor Fletcher in relation to the new approach to the School Planning Cycle. The work on school planning commenced in 2004 and you would recall that there was a range of resources and templates made available to assist the process. A number of months ago, there were discussions at DET Board of Management level about looking at the current planning processes and consideration within the context of the newer structures and ratios of SED’s to schools etc. A draft document was made available in confidence to Presidents of the PPA and SPC and, following initial responses from Chris Bonnor and myself, a small working party was established to look at the evolution of existing planning processes. Chris Bonnor and myself continued to represent the SPC and PPA on this working party, along with some Regional Directors, General Managers and Trevor Fletcher. The intent was to develop some guidance which accepted the view that there needed to be a longer term planning “horizon” but that there still needed to be the ability for a planning cycle to be evident which dovetailed with the annual reporting process. Many Principals will recognise some of the language from the Total Quality Management movement of the late eighties and early nineties and will see that the concept of an “iterative” process is one in which a plan may progress through a number of “iterations” over time as circumstances and local priorities change while still moving toward broadly expressed goals for longer term development. The conceptual framework is one of a spiral of continuous improvement guided by a core of agreed direction and focus at both local and system level. As with the introduction of this planning and improvement framework in 2004, and these refinements, there will always be room for more fine-tuning as ways in which things can be made better become evident. Annual School Reports You will also have seen the example Annual School Reports which are available for perusal on the DET website. The NSW PPA Executive have had the opportunity for some briefing about the format and content and have queried issues like “Like School Groups” and the way in which these are determined. As with a number of matters, the content of these reports is largely determined by the fact that NSW has signed off on Federal funding for the quadrennium and as a part of that, various regulations have to be complied with in relation to the information which is provided by schools to the community. You would be aware that the NSW Teachers’ Federation has advised schools not to participate in any trial of the Reports and that they have registered a dispute in relation to these within the Industrial Relations Commission, as there is a potential for a breach of protocols established for comparison of performance between schools: or, simply “league tables.” Reporting to Parents Another area of massive Federal impact on state systems is in the area of Reporting to Parents. It is believed that there will be an announcement fairly soon now in relation to a common reporting format for NSW schools which will comply with Federal requirements. You may be interested to see what Western Australia have already signed off on. Their format is at this link http://www.schoolreports.det.wa.edu.au As you can imagine, there has been strong opposition to the development of a reporting format which is seen to be at odds with current outcomes based pedagogy and all of the other significant concerns. PPA Life Memberships and other awards Please note that we are now calling for nominations for Life Membership of the NSW Primary Principals’ Association and for a range of other awards, including Fellowships which are available to any member of the PPA whose service to the Association at a level which has statewide impact has long standing and exemplary. Please have a look at the range of awards available and consider making a nomination from your area. You can access all of the latest information here http://www.nswppa.org.au/awards.html Please note that the closing date for nominations is 25th August, 2005 Federation of P&C Conference and Awards The NSW Federation of P&C Associations held their annual conference last weekend in Sydney and members of the PPA Executive were present at the Reception. I was also at the Conference dinner and the Awards presentation on Sunday where Adrian Mort from Burraneer Bay was honoured with an Award from the P&C for his work as a Primary Principal. Congratulations to Adrian. Central Schools Conference Following the State Executive meeting in Sydney this week, it was good to have the chance to make a presentation to the Central Schools conference in Dubbo on Friday. The structures and priorities of the NSW Primary Principals’ Association were outlined to an audience of Principals who come from both secondary and primary sectors and the importance of the K-12 continuum emphasised. This conference includes staff and parents from a number of Central Schools across the state and was a successful few days. AGPPA and APPA Geoff Scott and I will be representing the NSW PPA in Melbourne this week for the Australian Government Primary Principals Association (AGPPA) meeting followed by the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA) meeting. As these national bodies are lobbying furiously for some sensible response from DEST and Dr Brendan Nelson around some of the less palatable aspects of Federal policy, it is important that there is a strong voice from the profession. Local Area Council representatives are also urged to make arrangements to meet with local Federal Members and to outline the reasons why much of the Nelson agenda is simply not good for Public Education. That is enough to be going on with for the moment !! Please don’t forget that you have a range of supports available to you both systemically and collegially. The Principal Support service is still alive and well and can be reached by using the number at the bottom of each What’s Hot Cheers Roger Pryor
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