Education in Lockdown - A paradigm shift

The lockdown came through the COVID-19 global pandemic.  It was swift and scary and we were certainly on the back foot when it was announced.  The coronavirus had been in the news since the beginning of the year, with the virus spreading across the world and really hit NZ early in March.  Things ramped up about a week before the lockdown was announced so during that week, we were making plans, having meetings, gathering ideas for what learning might look like once lockdown started...we knew it was inevitable.  The speed at which it came we were not prepared for, the government gave us literally an hour.  The announcement was made at 1:45pm and school closed to students at 2:45pm.  Schools were then given 2 days to prepare some semblance of learning for home.  Teams of teachers met and discussed what they were going to give to their students and got to work, resourcing, photocopying and writing information to put in packs for parents to pick up from the school office.  It was a very stressful time but staff showed amazing resilience and care in getting things done for their learners.  Staff were instructed to make contact with their families, touch base and offer support with the learning packs that were sent home.  Of the 350 students in the school, 60% of our families picked up their packs.  40% hadn't, so teachers made particular efforts to connect with those parents and try to email the student's learning to them.

The Ministry of Education informed us that the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday of the first week were considered school days, the following two weeks were to be considered the holidays (moved forward by 2 weeks) and that learning from home would begin the day after Easter Tuesday - 15th April.
So, it is now the second week of the holidays and I've spent much of my time sifting and digesting a myriad of information constantly being emailed and phoned through from the ministry and other sources.  It has been draining, but at the same time, quietly exciting as the realisation of the shift in educational paradigm is happening as we move through this lockdown.  There is still much to be done and as a staff we have much to learn.  Some staff have been dabbling in the digital space for a while, some have attempted very little in it.  This situation has opened the eyes of many to the affordances that digital spaces offer learning.  We have had online meetings this week, a new experience for many of us.  We have shared ideas to support learning at home, and we have reconnected with families to check online capabilities.  Our government will have a lot of work to do in our community as many homes have no connectivity so learning packs are being delivered to them before Term 2 begins.
It is a work in progress.  A new direction.  A new paradigm.  It's exciting...

Empowering Digital Pedagogy - Setting up Class Blogs at school

PLD for our teachers this year is centred around future focused learning and we have had a number of sessions on 'Empowering Digital Pedagogy'.  We are working with Kyla Hansell and Aireen Ahkui who have introduced staff to working with Google Suite and the apps it entails.  The beginning of

Term 2 was our first introduction with two PD days of "how to use Google Drive" - Docs, Spreadsheets, Slides, Drawing.  This gave teachers an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the apps and dabble with some ways to use them with their students in their classroom programmes.   In term 3 we have now moved into class blogs and during a teacher only day, teachers spent their time learning about what blogging is and what it entails in the classroom.  There was rich discussion around the impact blogs will have on student learning, concerns around the responsibilities of posting students work or images on the blog, educating students and parents on the purposes and outcomes of class blogs, setting up a positive blogging culture and much more.  Kyla and Aireen carefully guided teachers through the process of creating their class blogs and working with the blogging dashboard.  It was completely new learning for almost all of the staff, creating titles, changing backgrounds, setting up URLs...the learning curve was huge.    So, Nga Iwi School blogs are now live and kicking.  I'm excited to see the skills and pedagogy associated with blogging grow across the school and to see our students work being shared with an audience.  Very exciting!!!

NZ Pasifika Principals Association Fono - Wellington 21/22 August 2019

On the 21st and 22nd of August, I was privileged to attend the NZ Pasifika Principals meeting in Wellington.  This was a fantastic opportunity of growth in leadership, cultural competency and understanding.  After arriving in Wellington and settling in, the group of 23 Principal shared a meal and for those fairly new to the group (like me), got to know people and connect on common ground.  It was great to meet Principals from Wellington who arranged the events of the trip.  We started early the next morning, walking to the NZEI building in the heart of the city, where we were introduced to Linda Stewart (President of NZEI).

We began our meeting sharing our names, schools, whakapapa, and something that no-one knows about us.  It was amazing the talents being shared around the table...a number of athletes, musicians, artists, poets, and even a race car driver!  Following our korero, the Principal of Mangere Bridge School, Steph Tafa,  spoke to the group about the history and significance of the Ihumatoa occupation.  An important land issue that involves a Maori historical sight and the debate between Tangata Whenua and housing developers.  Steph's message was not about the politics of the debate, but more the context and significance of protecting the heritage and nature of the land.  It was humbling to listen to her thoughts and experiences and provided an opportunity for us to gain an understanding of why it was happening and what the hopeful outcomes would be.
After sharing morning tea with the Hon. Jenny Salesa, Associate Minister of Education and we had a session where she shared the Ministry and Government's vision and plan for Pasifika education.  It was informative and the Minister answered questions from Principals regarding the impact new changes will have on our students.
We then shared a discussion around the "Tautai o le Moana" project, an initiative currently underway headed by our Association.  This project is 'strengthen the capabilities of leaders to improve outcomes for Pasifika learners and contribute to culturally sustainable practices across Aotearoa'.  Being led through this discussion by Helen Varney (project leader and facilitator), I was excited by the kaupapa and intended outcomes.  I am excited to be part of the project by being one of the many research schools involved.

Developing the Vision

Within schools, it is assumed that everyone is on the same page and moving towards the same goals, guided by the vision.  The vision is guided through a statement that is often ubiquitous and general in its intentions. Our school vision is "To Grow Learning-Empowered and Empathic Children".  As a Principal, new to my position, I needed to gain a swift picture in my mind of what this statement meant to the teachers, students, and whanau I work with - at the same time clarify what it means to me.  When you are not part of the process of developing guiding vision statements, it's important to be able to connect and share the ideas of others.  Having spent the best part of a term familiarising myself with the community, the school's strategic plan, vision, values, analysing data, having formal and informal conversations across the school - an understanding of what the vision meant to the community began to grow in my mind.  There has been a number of pathways that have opened through the process and I am in a position to build on what is already in place.
Starting with students and whanau I have developed a 'Learning Framework' that I have shared with staff on TOD.  The purpose behind the framework is to clarify what learning looks like at our school - where it starts, how we do it, how we grow it, and most importantly why we do it (connecting strongly to our vision).   You may do a double take at 'how we do it' and 'how we grow it'? How we grow it is reflective practice, how we do it is pedagogy.  It's important that we reflect on how we do things in order to grow what we do.  Through my getting to know the structures, processes, programmes and people there were a couple of things that came to the surface giving me aspects of the vision to build on.  The writing focus we have had for the past few years is still relevant, but it was apparent that we had come to the end of our PLD contract and there was still more to be done in increasing student achievement in this area.

The introduction of digital learning was in its infancy within the school.  There were pockets of work being done by teachers, but most had done very little in the classroom with their learners in the digital space.  With the big picture of education moving into the digital space, I had to make this part of our vision going forward.  Combining writing and the move into digital learning was a natural evolution.  The big part is gaining teacher buy-in.  It's a lot to learn when managing a classroom and digital learning has to be done 'on the job' by all involved.  We have engaged PLD facilitators to implement google suite into our school, we've introduced class blogs and begun the task of purchasing chrome books and ipads to boost the number of devices across the school.  The Board of Trustees have been supportive in this move to digital learning and are excited to see it grow across the school.

Rule #1 - Look after yourself.

I have now been in my Principal's role for one whole term. I have in this time been excited, enthralled, overwhelmed, nervous, empowered, humbled, tired, sick, but most important of all -

Happy.  To say I love my job right now is an understatement and I sometimes have to remind myself to take a step back and relax a bit.  I mentioned above in my opening all the feelings I've felt since starting in my role, one of which was 'sick'.  Lesson 1 learned...look after yourself.  I started to get a touch of the flu about four weeks in and ignored it.  Kept going and pushing forward, all the while espousing to staff that this is a busy time of year and it was important that they look after themselves and manage their time around family, assessment and report writing - we all know what that's like.  Little did I know, I didn't heed my own advice.  I ended up needing 3 days off work due to a cracked rib and rib cartilage damage because of all my coughing.  Needless to say, I felt a bit hypocritical and will definitely take my body's signs a bit more seriously in the future.
As the weeks have gone on and heading into the final throws of the year, I've been totally excited about what's to come.  Thinking about next year while winding up the end of this year has been a bit overwhelming.  Wanting to get it right first time makes me a little nervous.  Staying ahead of
everything is enthralling but going back to my first lesson, I have to remind myself to take time out.  The first time principal consultant I'm working with, Owen Alexander keeps reminding myself of this especially over the holiday break - "go somewhere there's no cell phone or wifi coverage".  That's why I'll be hitting the water in my kayak for a few days, where it'll just be me, the ocean and hopefully lots of fish!
So Happy Christmas everyone and remember to switch off these holidays...at least for a little while:-)

New Zealand Pasifika Principals Association (NZPPA) - An Association of Awesomeness!

Today I attended my first NZPPA meeting.  It was to celebrate the end of year and also to farewell a true 'Tuawahine' of the group, founding member Corinne Hansell.  It was apt that my first day with this group was the last day for her, as Corinne has been a friend, advocate and guide for me since the day I started as a teacher at Tamaki Primary School...fresh off the boat from Samoa.  She 'afi'd me throughout my transition from teaching in Samoa to teaching back in NZ, and it was destined that she would afi me once again, bringing me into this group of amazing Principals at the beginning of my journey as a new Principal.  I felt humbled to be in such great company with Principals from around New Zealand sharing an incredibly special cultural celebration hosted by Sutton Park School.

It was a day of firsts for me, in that I joined the group and I also experienced an 'ava' ceremony for the first time.  While I'd been present at a few ava ceremonies in Samoa, I had never actually participated in one, so it was with a touch of apprehension that I spoke the words "Le 'ava lea le Atua.  Fa'afetai le fa'aaloalo - Manuia" as I received the bowl and partook in the ava.  There were 23 Principals present, each one receiving the ava and it was such an experience to see the students of Sutton Park carrying out the ceremony with surety and pride.  We were privileged guests and treated with respect and grace throughout the whole event. 
We were welcomed into the assembly hall with a powhiri.  Beautiful Karanga drew us into the whare where the haka powhiri of hundreds of students rang out across the room.  Following the whaikorero of an amazing student representing the 'tangata whenua' and the reply of our Manuhiri representative Filivaefale Jason Swann, and respective waiata, we were then treated to a variety of performances and speeches from Maori, Samoan and Tongan groups.
Following the incredible ava ceremony we were then led to the school staffroom where we were treated to a feast.  True to Pasifika style there was all the culinary delights including my favourite 'oka' (raw fish).  It was a feast fit for royalty and once again an absolute reflection of the manaakitanga and whanaungatanga staff, students and the community of Sutton Park School afford their guests.  A huge 'fa'afetai' to Fa'atili Iosua Esera and his wonderful school for providing such an amazing event for the NZPPA.  What an honour it was to see.
It was a privilege to be present and part of the celebrations.  It was a privilege to meet and in some cases reconnect with people among the Principals attending and it is a privilege to now be a part of the New Zealand Pasifika Principals Association. 

First Time Principal 101

Three weeks in and I'm still in the 'honeymoon' phase of the beginning of Principalship.  I am establishing relationships with staff, trying not to put change in place just yet, but listening to their aspirations and vision for the school and the community.   Going through the process of interview is nerve wracking and once you've put your feet under the Principal's desk, the enormity of what you have taken on begins to set in.  Upon reflection, I wanted to pen the things that I learnt when making

the decision to begin applying for Principalship.  So here goes...First Time Principalship 101:

1. Don't just apply for anything, think about the environment you want to work in and that you are best suited to.  
2. Check out the school online, have a look at the website, get a feel for what the school stands for - values, vision, points of difference, the community it serves.
3. If you've got a professional blog, highlight it in your CV.  If you don't, start a professional blog.  A blog gives the appointments committee a look at your experiences, professional development, vision, values, philosophy in education.  
4. Find yourself a great Mentor - prior to interview.  I was very fortunate to have an experienced principal mentor who advised me and continues to advise me in my new role.  Here are a few gems he gave me prior to interview:
• Boards want to hire a principal, so when you go to check out the school, if the BOT come to see you at your school, and when you walk into that interview - be a principal.  Move your thinking from being a DP/AP to being a Principal.  This piece of advice made a big difference in my mindset and gave me confidence through out the process - the balance is being confident without being arrogant.
• Be prepared prior to interview! Comb the website, check out the last ERO review, ask the school for their charter, annual report and financial report.  Check out their data, school infrastructure and facilities.
  
• Make a list of questions to ask during the interview.  Remember, boards are just as nervous as you are during interview and they want to impress you as much as you want to impress them.  Try to get a sense of how well they communicate with you - does it feel open, friendly, is there humour there?  Relationships are key to success in any school environment.  
5. Identify your areas of strength, your point of difference and match it with schools you are looking at.  Usually it will be an area you are passionate about and one in which you have extensive PLD and knowledge.  Highlight it and show the panel where you will take the community with it.
6. Acknowledge areas you may need support in e.g: budget/property, but speak of what you do know and how you intend to develop your knowledge further in those areas.
7. Have prepared in your mind a range of scenarios in your head that you have experienced, relating to leadership, relationships, situations with students/staff/parents - both successful and unsuccessful.  
8. During the interview, try to relax.  If something unexpected happens, such as the technology for your presentation goes down, don't panic.  Be rational and solutions focused.
9. Most importantly, speak of the job like it is already yours.  When referring to the school you're applying for, say 'we'..."How do we do that here?", "I intend to take us there...".  When referring to your current or previous school, refer to them with their name e.g "At Auckland School, they...."
10. Lastly, listen to trusted voices around you.  Don't let anyone say you can't.  If you don't give it a go, you will never know.