'Rarely do outside of school remedies work their way into the fabric of the school or into the teachers lives, and more rarely into classrooms. Therefore they only offer modest hope of influencing the basic culture of the school'.

Roland Barth 1990

Between the idea and the reality,
Between the motion and the Act
Falls the shadow

T.S. Elliot

There are no 'silver bullets'
Realising there is no answer can be quite liberating according to Fullan (Educational Leadership April 98) because you can then get on with sorting things out for yourself. There is, as Fullan says, no 'silver bullet'! The answer is not looking for saviours but true leadership.

But this bridge will only take you half way there- The last few steps you will have to take alone.'

Shel Siverstein 81

'If we always do what we've always done, we will get to where we've always got.'

Adam Urbanski

Values are vital.
Parents are looking for schools that believe in values - what are your school's shared values? Ask parents for their ideas and then compare ideas with the values in the NZCF p21. Get the staff and community to suggest what behaviours they want to encourage in their children. Do the same for parents and staff. Include the staff ones in the P.M.S. requirements.

'If we are to improve schools we must improve individual schools

John Goodland 84

'schools should look behind classroom doors and determine the factors that contribute to the kinds of interactions between students and teachers that promote student achievement.'

Heckman 1990

Visions emerge
During this process a vision will emerge. What does the school, stand for? What is really important? Is the vision simple enough for all in the school, commuity to articulate? Something like a modern day motto. Visions are only believed if they can be seen in action.

Reculturing more important than restructuring.
The leaders ultimate job is to create the conditions to release the creativity and energy of the teaching team. A leader has to create an environment of support that encourages teachers to take risks and try things out. The vision is to create a community of continual improvement. This means working hard to develop the appropriate norms, values, and shared teaching beliefs and expectations- 'the glue that holds us together'.

New Leaders
This will require new approaches to leadership. It is not about behavioural style - a leader can lead quietly or charismatically. What is important are trust and integrity and of course competence

True Leaders provide hope!
Fullan and Hargreaves in their excellent small book 'What's Worth Fighting For Out There' say that the most important thing leaders provide is a sense of hope that gives all members the strength to try new things.
Do you provide that sense of optimism even when facing the confusing and often anti - educational demands on your time? True leaders set the tone for the others. They keep the purpose clear even midst confusion.

Creating Conditions
The key to real change then is the setting of conditions to break the bonds of being dependent on outside advice. The uncertainty the future provides can only be faced paradoxically by looking for answers close to hand.

The best we educational planner can do is create the conditions for them to flourish and get out of the (teachers and students) way.

Theodore Sizer 84

As the poet Antonio Machado wrote: 'Life is the path you beat while you walk

It is the walking that beats the path. It is not the path that makes the walk. Or as it is said, 'just do something and keep what's best'. It is as simple and as hard as that.

Treat people as they ought to be, and you will help them become what they are capable of being. Goethe

Such Powerful leadership:

• Creates a strong sense of shared purpose
• Clear purpose creates clarity, consensus and commitment
• Clarity creates focussed teaching and learning
• Focussed teaching develops a sense of student and teacher achievement
• Achievement creates recognition and empowerment
• Recognition makes clear what is special about our school
• Clarity of purpose reduces overload
• Clarity makes explicit what is important
• Powerful schools focus on there own change agenda - they say no!
• They limit and focus innovations
• They believe in in-depth learning not coverage
• Powerful schools do fewer innovations better
• They believe in Quality not quantity
• They see excellence as a habit and value effort and perseverance
• They value Goal Setting, Self Assessment, and the idea of Continual Quality Improvement.

• B.O.T.s and staff should work together to develop a three year strategic plan.
  This amounts to future thinking, and planning how to get there - on going self-review and monitoring of performance leading to continual self-improvement.
• School improvement should be 'owned' by the school.
  It is suggested that there should be an emphasis towards a partnership between ERO and the school, with the school taking the initiative by virtue of its own self review system.
• Performance Indicators should be incorporated in Strategic Plans
  These should be negotiated between all parties (staff and B.O.T.) against which the school would use to plan and report on annually. They should be seen as valid and reliable. They should include both quantitative and qualitative data. To be of use there shouldn't be too many.
• There was a strong thrust for schools and teachers to become 'change agents'.
  Schools need to become involved in school based research. Schools do make a difference but that difference is variable. What is required is an environment which features on going 'Action Research'.
• Schools need 'critical friends'.
  The panel quoted Stoll and Fink (96): ' Friends who at times will listen and help them sort out their thinking and decisions, who are not afraid to tell them when expectations for themselves are too low and when their actions do not match their intentions'. ERO would like to be seen as such 'critical friends'.

The difference between a capable and a competent leader
In their booklet 'The Capable Teacher' summer 98 ERO point out the difference between capable and competence.

'Competence is about dealing with familiar situations and familiar problems; we also need to be capable of dealing with the unfamiliar and the unknown' 'Capability is about is about imaging the future and helping bring it about'.

'Capability involves taking action where outcomes are uncertain (and) requires courage, intuition, creativity, emotional stability, and a belief in ones power to perform'

Vision quotes from ERO
From 'Good New Zealand Schools Winter 94.

'All B.O.T.s are likely to have a view or set of expectations about how they want their school to be, both now and in the future. This then is the vision that a school has for itself and it's students'

' Good schools were reported to have a strong, well accepted philosophy with the Board and the staff having a shared sense of purpose.'

' The vision, which is agreed on and articulated, should guide all decisions made by the school management. It should provide the direction and objectives for on going review and development.'

' I is a living thing and all decisions made in the school, the relationships between people and all aspects of governance and management and teaching is consistent with it.'

' A school vision gives a sense of identity and direction, and contributes to the creation of a school culture that is unique to each institution.'

'Good schools focus on the educational enjoyment and achievement of their students'

Developing a Three Year Strategy Plan
The best Strategy Plans would be better called 'strategic intentions'. The word plan suggests a predictable linear future, which is certainly not what the future holds. The title of a book by Tom Peters, a business consultant, sums up the future for the business community: 'Thriving on Chaos' and the same applies to schools.
One commentator has said that if the present is 'Terra Firma' the future will be 'Terra Ingnito' or for the unprepared (the over prepared!!), 'pure terror!'.

• The best strategy for any school is having all involved having a shared sense of purpose.
• A true partnership with the parent community.
• Positive relationships, trust and integrity between all ,will also be vital - in some ways relationships are all there are.

One Procedure for Strategy Thinking

• First create from input from staff and B.O.T. a Shared Vision for your school. Define the Values you want your school to encourage and the Core Beliefs about teaching that the community feel reflects their wishes.
• As a staff and Board list a number of Goals the school wants to achieve in the next three-year period (ending at the appointment of a new Board).
• These Goals should relate to the NEGs and for each goal 'brainstorm' a list of possible strategies. These are ideas only - the aim would be to devise a list that the Annual Operational Plan can select from and plan in more detail

• Goal One: To make sure everyone in our school community, the staff, the parents, the students are aware of our school vision. (Think of some strategies:)
• Goal Two: To make certain our students achieve quality learning. This is NAG One (Think of some strategies.) This will be the teaching team's main contribution to the Strategy Plan
• Goal Three. To develop the staff as the schools most important asset. This is NAG 2. The Board and the Principal need to create the school as an exciting environment to teach in by developing a positive Performance Agreements ,and by developing innovative systems to attract and reward staff. (Think of some strategies)
• Goal Four. To create the school as a self-renewing learning community. This is NAG 4 School Self Review. This is a major responsibility of the Principal. Performance Indicators will have to be negotiated with the B.O.T. (Think of some strategies.)
• Use the same process for the remaining NAGS, covering Finance, Grounds and Property

'Excellence is a journey not a destination'

Mark Twain