LLB, B Com, Van Aart Sycamore Lawyers Limited
Having had the privilege of more than 15 years involvement in school governance across both state and integrated schools, this article is intended to be an open letter to Principals setting out some suggestions and ideas I have learnt along the way. None of this is based on anything other than my own meandering experiences.
set up legally. You need to have enough information to be able to participate in an informed manner without relying on others to fill in gaps for you.
2 Become financially literate: A large part of operating the school is about the numbers. Never leave yourself exposed by having to rely on others to explain Dear Principal your school’s numbers to you. I have heard on occasions a You are the CEO of an organisation which is possibly one of very strong argument that the financial side of the school is the most emotionally invested environments you will ever find. far less significant than the teaching and learning that goes on The stakeholders in the environment that you are leading every day. This is simply not true. You must have the ability to include a huge and varied cross understand the school’s numbers so section of the community and day- Over the last 15 years I that you are in control of and ahead to-day you are charged with the care of any financial issues. You need to of your communities’ children. You have identified ten things be able to interpret and assist in the are charged with leading and guiding setting of a budget. You need to be the organisation to deliver the best it which, in my view, make up the able to review KPIs on a monthly possibly can to the young people of critical advice I would basis and support team members in your community. maintaining the financial accounts In education you work with a give to any Principal. of the school. There are plenty of governance structure that sees courses out there which can give you communities able to participate at a very high level in the the skills – time invested in financial literacy will pay massive operation of their schools. This sounds like a fantastic concept, dividends. but it can often also be a real challenge. If you are leading a state or private school, you have a single 3 Understand Employment Law: Board that you report to and, you will also be reporting to the One of the biggest facets of your leadership role is human Ministry of Education. If you are leading an integrated school you resource management. I strongly recommend you upskill in the have the added complication of two Boards. With an integrated basics of the process and steps around resolving employment school one Board is the private owner of the school and the other issues. Second only to financial literacy this will make your leadership infinitely more effective. Never rely on board members Board is a traditional school Board of trustees. In any normal week you have many competing stakeholders to guide the school through employment issues. This is your role to take into consideration and at all times have to work within and you must have the tool box to manage it. Done well strong a rigid governance structure. Your leadership is also often management of the people working under you will be defining. alongside a Board with limited or no governance experience in Do not tolerate board members interfering in this space and lead education. You need to tread carefully and wisely to make the confidently with a good grasp of employment law and processes. most of this situation, as done badly it will be overwhelming 4 Keep good records: and exasperating. Over the last 15 years I have identified ten things which, in my One of the most practical suggestions I would have for a Principal view, make up the critical advice I would give to any Principal. is to set up a good structured system for communication between yourself and the Chair and other Board members. Do not fall into I am pleased to now share these with you: the trap of too many discussions without structure and keep a 1 Understand the landscape: simple journal for Board matters where you note down things as To be able to effectively lead the school and work with the and when they happen. This will serve as an excellent reminder Board you need to understand the legal structure and lines of for forming action lists, but also will give you clear chronological authority within the school. Undertake whatever training you structure should you need to go back and look at anything. Take can in relation to basic governance. Upskill yourself around the time to make sure the Board minutes are accurate and be Board protocols, governance best practice and legislation that diligent in organising all email and written correspondence into applies to schools in New Zealand. Learn how our schools are readily accessible electronic folders.
5 Don’t fall into the trap of saying that ‘Board members will come and go’: Principals sometimes say ‘I am just going to wait it out’. If you have a particularly difficult Board member or a Board member who clearly has no idea about governance, then do not fall into this trap. Some Principals believe that as long as they focus on the day-to-day teaching and learning in the school then over time everything else will sort itself out. This is significantly undermining the opportunity. As the leader, as the CEO and as the commander in chief of your school you must never pull back, isolate yourself and ‘wait it out’. A much better approach to Board members who are potentially posing a problem through lack of experience is to work with the Chair to try and have Board members access some training. Be candid that your expectation is that everyone participates in an informed manner with good faith, pushing in the same direction. Avoid the strategy of just keeping your head down and always tackle Board issues head on. Ensure that issues are talked about and if you are feeling uncomfortable with a Board member then raise it in a professional manner in writing with your Chair. If it is not dealt with, raise it again, but don’t at any point think you will just wait it out. Communication is key. 6 Establish good strong processes for reporting: In reporting to the Board insist on an annual calendar of meetings being established at the start of the year and agree on how many days before the meeting you will have your report out to Board members. Never, never, never take your report along to meetings and read it to Board members. This is both incredibly inefficient, but also extremely irritating. Take the time to establish a template you are comfortable with for reporting and use it every month. Try not to deviate from that template and keep the information as brief and accurate as possible. In the Board meetings assume your report has been read. If any Board member has turned up and not read your report, then that is their loss not yours. Expect questions through the Chair in the Board meeting, but don’t tolerate Board members who are reading your report and making up questions as they go in the meeting. Keeping a strong and familiar structure for your reporting to the Board will make reporting more effective. 7 Take the time to plan strategically: Planning strategically is imperative for good governance and a good Principal will help a Board with their strategic planning. Identify the things that are really important to teaching and learning in the school for the Board, with clear prioritisation so that Board members can look at them and understand which areas are most important. Take the time at the start of the year, perhaps before the children return, to spend a couple of days focusing on nothing other than what does the year ahead hold? What is most important to you? Then write this up and communicate it effectively with your Board. Board members may choose to debate some of this with you, but I promise you it will set the foundation for a far more successful year if you assist the Board to prioritise at the beginning of the year. You should then expect from your Board a strategic plan that is adopted no later than the end of February and that should be the road map for the year. This avoids reactive behaviours or each month just dealing with whatever turns up.
8 Do not try to capture the Board: Often I have found situations where weak Boards have been ‘captured’ by the Principal. Capturing the Board by either managing the information flow or dumbing down information is inherently dangerous and it can potentially lead to a complete breakdown of trust and confidence between a Principal and their Board. Recognise and respect the separation between governance and management and support strong governance by being involved, participating in a well informed and prepared manner, but never ever try to capture the Board and control it. This will inevitably end badly. 9 Do not tolerate governance creeping into management: One of my most remarkable experiences whilst involved in school governance was when a fellow Board member decided to start ‘popping into the classrooms to check on the quality of teaching’. This was remarkable in that the Board member thought it was acceptable, but even more remarkable was the fact that the Principal felt uncomfortable tackling the issue and effectively allowed it to happen without the Board member being pulled up for this behaviour early on. Governance must stay out of management. You do not want Board members actively involved in the school day to day under any circumstances. If any of your staff are relying heavily on Board members for skills or support then that needs to change. You can’t have team members (particularly finance or admin members) relying on Board members to fulfill management functions. Board members will offer the most to the school through the Board environment and it should only be in very exceptional circumstances that they cross the line. 10 Celebrate the successes: Schools being such an emotionally charged environment become incredibly susceptible to focusing on the negative – the challenges, the weaknesses and the failures. In a school environment, every day there are significant and quite wonderful successes that often get buried. Celebrate the successes every day and make sure that you celebrate them with your Board. It is only when the successes are understood that the challenges can be seen in perspective. If Board members never hear the successes and only the negative then they can be forgiven for believing that there is a very significant issue because ‘we only get bad news’. I suggest a weekly or monthly email out to Board members with bullet points on the successes of the week or month. This is invaluable in setting context and keeping perspective accurate and balanced. The role of the Principal goes to the core of the success of education in New Zealand. Principals and Boards must bind together and embrace their educational communities. When working effectively together the Principal and Board can provide schools that are effective, engaging, and accessible to all. Best wishes TS
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All the Pluto has made student placement a stress-free task at the following year – ensuring that needs are considered and balanced Greenhithe each student is placed in the best by the Pluto software leading to possible class for their needs. optimal student placement. ‘These class lists are very important to us, because they can ‘Pluto takes the time and stress out of a difficult job,’ says have a notable impact on the individual student’s performance in Stephen Grady, DP at Greenhithe, ‘The solutions that were the following year.’ says Peter Marshall, Principal at Greenhithe generated were very successful, as Pluto takes into account so School. ‘So it’s critical that we place each student in a class that many factors, leading to balanced classes.’ will best serve his or her potential.’ What the Management team at the school finds to be one of Given the significance of the end result, the process of class the most useful features of Pluto, is the ability to easily make placements had typically been a laborious one, requiring changes to the generated lists. For example, if team leaders considerable time and effort from staff. ‘Our planning sessions wish to move a student because of a better teacher personality were long, big and colourful. We had lots of different coloured match, they can simply drag and drop the name from one list post-it notes with students’ names and needs, all stuck to big to the next. If a change is likely to have negative implications, sheets of paper, moving them back and forth as various points such as an unfavourable student combination for example, Pluto of view and arguments were presented by teachers and team will highlight this issue. This means that the school is still in full leaders,’ says Heather Walker, DP at the school. ‘I’m very glad to control of the class lists, and is able to make better informed say that this is all a thing of the past and a very distant memory decisions for their students. now.’ With the usual Term 4 pressure leading to more and more In 2014, Greenhithe School was one of the first to trial the cases of staff burnout throughout the country, Heather is happy innovative specialised student placement software, Pluto. to report that ‘. . . this program has made all the difference to Developed right here in New Zealand, Pluto was the brainchild our stress levels at the end of the year.’ of a kiwi teacher, and was designed specifically to eliminate Staff at Greenhithe can now spend those limited end of year the stressful and lengthy manual processes surrounding the hours focusing on other priorities, knowing that next year’s development of class lists. As a standalone secure solution, classes will have happier students, teachers and parents. accessed online and independent of the school SMS, it required minimal effort to set up and use. ‘When we first used it, I couldn’t believe how easy it was, and most importantly it didn’t jeopardise our priorities around finding the best possible class fit for each individual child. We spent far less time on this process, and saw a far better outcome. I just thought “Why hasn’t this always existed?!”,’ says Peter, ‘It To find out more about Pluto, or better still, experience was an efficient way to sort the kids for their next year’s classes. It first-hand how it works, you can request a free online demo covered everything we wanted it to and required very little effort that you and your staff can trial at any time with Pluto’s sample on our part. Needless to say, we have used Pluto again, and will data. Simply visit www.pluto.school.nz or get in touch through continue to do so. I can’t imagine ever doing it any other way.’ info@pluto.school.nz.