Senior School and Junior School

The 2022 year began with the hope that COVID-19 disruptions would be left behind, and staff and students could resume face to face teaching. However, similar to 2021, it was evident that navigating the COVID-19 pandemic was like running a marathon and trying to keep appropriate pace, which is a significant challenge when the finish line continued to move.

Staff rose to the challenge and conducted themselves with resilience, creativity, compassion and professionalism - with students the central focus of thinking and practice. Staff truly ‘leaned-in’ to the challenges and, with the support of the PLC community, together we chose to thrive.

As the year progressed, COVID-19 requirements shifted and staff were grateful to be back face-to-face and enjoying each other’s company. Although

being back on campus presented its own challenges, processes were implemented to accommodate COVID-19 requirements, including the continuation of online Zoom meetings, prioritising the supply of fresh air, restricting social spaces and meeting outside when possible. Something to celebrate is that we made it through the whole school year entirely with face-to-face learning!

Similar to communities outside of PLC, the last couple of ‘marathon’ years has had a toll on staff wellbeing. In response to staff being back on campus, it was a crucial opportunity to create time and space to consult on what wellbeing looks like for PLC staff, and how wellbeing practices can be integrated into our daily lives. ‘Wellbeing Champions’ were reconvened which includes teachers, support and administration staff across the Early Learning Centre, the Junior School and Senior School. Working with the People and Culture team and the wider staff community, the wellbeing survey results were discussed and associated wellbeing initiatives determined and implemented.

These initiatives included the expansion of the employee assistance program, delivery of online and face-to-face wellbeing workshops and creating time for staff to share a vibrant and collegial staffroom culture to further reinforce the strong sense of community amongst staff. These initiatives will form the basis of the 2023 Wellbeing Strategy.

In 2022, staff have responded to these challenges with flexibility and integrity and have demonstrated the staff Values and Behaviours of Truth & Excellence, Character & Integrity, Service & Leadership and Care & Respect. Thank you to all staff for the collective effort in embracing and living these values, as they build a caring community that nurtures our students.

Lisa Connell Acting OH&S Manager

Professional growth, career development and continual learning are hallmarks of all staff at PLC. This year, the College wished to recognise the different development needs of Teaching and General Staff and adopted a more collaborative approach to the design and curation of a learning

• Continuing the facilitation of ‘living the values’ sessions across numerous departments, so they could develop their own commitments which are connected to the wider PLC values and behaviours. These sessions will continue into 2023.

• Results from the Wellbeing survey and ideas from Wellbeing Champions were connected to the Martin Selegman ‘PERMA-V’ framework for wellbeing, which was used to facilitate consultation sessions with staff.

• The consultation sessions resulted in numerous wellbeing initiatives, including forming a partnership with PLC’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider, Converge, to deliver face-to-face and online workshops. Staff nominated their interest in the workshop topics via a new ‘Wellbeing at PLC’ dashboard which provides access to wellbeing podcasts, wellbeing magazines and links to EAP services. Other wellbeing initiatives included the development of policies to support staff wellbeing, including flexibility and workload.

The PERMA-V framework, alongside with the international standard for managing psychosocial health, have been used to prepare a mental health strategy, which will be a focus for 2023.

series. Via the submission of personalised Professional Development Goals, the College offered bespoke opportunities to these two groups with a focus on industry learning, best practice theory and professional skills.

• 94% of staff across Senior School, Junior School and ELC completed individual staff development plans.

• College-wide Staff Development and Performance framework and professional development programs were implemented for teaching staff, general staff and leaders. These are referred to as Performance and Career Enhancement Plans.

• College-wide Workforce Planning processes and procedures continued to be successfully driven by the People and Culture team.

• A Learning Needs Analysis was conducted for General Staff and tailored professional, IT and leadership development solutions were developed and offered to general staff, aspiring managers and leaders.

A summary of the programs on offer and professional learning undertaken in 2022 is shown below.

Beale Director of People & Culture.

Lunch and Learn Series

Building professional skills and relationship management were the focus of this series.

• How to have difficult conversations (SBI Model)

• How to coach and mentor others (GROW Model)

Modular Programs for Leaders and Aspiring Managers

The series provided training using a holistic view of leadership, with focus on personal effectiveness, team development and IT skills.

• Creating and sustaining high performing teams

• Leading through emotional intelligence

• Building personal and self-leadership skills in the workplace

How to build resilience and maintain motivation