PIEW - Empowering School Leaders through Prioritising

PIEW Empowering School Leaders through Prioritising

October 2019

In this Resource Bundle 1

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1

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THE WHY .............................................................................................................................. 2 2.1 2.2

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THE AIMS OF PIEW ..................................................................................................................... 2 EMPOWERING SCHOOL LEADERSHIP ............................................................................................... 3

THE WHAT ............................................................................................................................ 4 3.1 SCHOOL PLANNING ...................................................................................................................... 4 3.2 SCHOOL CULTURE / ETHOS / VISION ............................................................................................... 4 3.3 PRIORITISING THE PLANNING ......................................................................................................... 4 3.4 WHAT ARE THE BIG ROCKS OF SCHOOL PLANNING AND PRIORITISING? ................................................ 5 3.4.1 SIP........................................................................................................................................ 5 3.4.2 Inspectorate ........................................................................................................................ 5 3.4.3 Good Ideas .......................................................................................................................... 5 3.4.4 Exceptional Imperatives ...................................................................................................... 5 3.4.5 The “Ordinary” Work of the School ..................................................................................... 5 3.5 CAPACITY ................................................................................................................................... 6 3.5.1 Staff Factors ........................................................................................................................ 6 3.5.2 Wider School Community .................................................................................................... 6 3.5.3 External Factors .................................................................................................................. 6 3.5.4 Adverse Factors ................................................................................................................... 6 3.5.5 Other Factors....................................................................................................................... 7

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THE HOW ............................................................................................................................. 8 4.1 IPPN SCHOOL PLANNING MODEL – PIEW ...................................................................................... 8 4.1.1 Pilot Phase – Years 1 & 2 ..................................................................................................... 8 4.1.2 Implement Phase – Years 3 & 4 .......................................................................................... 8 4.1.3 Embedding Phase – Years 5 & 6 .......................................................................................... 8 4.1.4 Using the Chart ................................................................................................................... 8 4.2 THE MODEL IN PRACTICE .............................................................................................................. 9 4.2.1 Step 1: List the Current Initiatives ....................................................................................... 9 4.2.2 Step 2: Celebrate ............................................................................................................... 10 4.2.3 Step 3: Populate the Waiting List ...................................................................................... 11 4.2.4 Step 4: From Waiting List to Pilot...................................................................................... 11 4.3 PIEW – CULMINATION OF SSE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SIP .......................................................... 11 4.4 INFORMING THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY ......................................................................................... 11

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RESOURCES AVAILABLE....................................................................................................... 12 RESOURCES AVAILABLE ON WWW.IPPN.IE................................................................................................. 12

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1 INTRODUCTION

One day a time management guru was speaking to a group of business students. To drive home a point, he used the following illustration: He put a large, wide-mouth jar on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them one at a time into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit in, he asked, ‘Is this jar full?’ Everyone in the class said, ‘Yes’. ‘Really?’ he said.

From under the table, he produced a box of gravel. He put some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. He asked the group once more, ‘Is the jar full?’ By this time, the class was on to him. ‘Probably not’ one of them answered. ‘Good’, he replied. He reached under the table, brought out a box of sand and put some into the jar. It went into the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, ‘Is the jar full?’ ‘No,’ the class shouted. Once again he said, ‘Good’. He took a jug of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, ‘What is the point of this illustration?’ One eager beaver raised his hand and said; ‘The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things into it!’

‘No,’ the speaker replied, ‘that is not the point. The truth that this illustration teaches us is that if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all. The gravel sand and water will fill the space.’

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2 THE WHY

It is possible to work very hard as a school leader, still feel swamped at the end of the week and realise that you have addressed only a few, if any, of the really important issues which would affect teaching and learning in the school. How can this happen? The answer is simple – by spending too much time on the wrong things and not enough time on the right things.

It is critical that the school leader be clear on what the ‘right things’ are. It is no exaggeration to say that the school leader’s top priority is identifying and focusing on those activities which enhance the teaching and learning in the school – the ‘Big Rocks’. If you don’t put two or three top priorities into your calendar first, all the other stuff will clutter up your days. ‘The key is not to prioritise what’s in your schedule, but to schedule your priorities’ Stephen Covey (1989). For the school leader, these ‘Big Rocks’ are research based activities which enhance teaching and learning. Without a clear sense of what the ‘Big Rocks’ are, a school leader will accomplish very little.

The challenge of school leadership can be summed up as establishing the two or three highest priorities for your school, setting goals to achieve them and then single-mindedly organising your team to set about accomplishing them. Once you have put your strategic priorities in place, it is easy to say no to off-mission activities, to be present for your staff, pupils and parents, to cope with the unexpected. Crucially, it will also provide the means for you to attend to family, friends and your own welfare.

2.1 THE AIMS OF PIEW To provide leaders with a practical model which will: 1. Allow the school leader control and manage the flow of initiatives into the school 2. Structure the workload of the school leader 3. Provide a means of prioritising initiatives, considering: a. the capacity of the school at any given time b. the ability of the initiative to enhance teaching and learning c. their importance at that particular time, in relation to the other competing initiatives d. the willingness and recognition by the school staff that the initiative will be taken through all phases – Pilot, Implementation and Embedding 4. Not impose an extra workload on the school leader?

5. Enable the school leader manage the expectations of those who would exert pressure to have their initiative adopted by the school to the exclusion of others – to empower the school leader to say ‘NO’ politely.

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2.2 EMPOWERING SCHOOL LEADERSHIP The raison d’etre of school leadership is to decide which teaching and learning activities are prioritised to provide the best possible opportunities for all children to reach their potential. Such leadership will require the courage to make choices based on professional judgements. This will sometimes cause conflict or ‘put noses out of joint.’

PIEW aims to empower school leaders by providing a structured filter to calm the tsunami of initiatives which tend to overwhelm school leadership.

PIEW empowers school leaders by providing a visual means of managing the expectations of those who pressurise schools to follow particular programmes or initiatives. Ultimately, all school leaders must assert their leadership for the benefit of the children in their schools. This is not always easy and sometimes must be won incrementally.

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3 THE WHAT

3.1 SCHOOL PLANNING The art and science of school planning has received much focus recently. The DES has introduced three initiatives to assist the process of school planning: 1. School Self-Evaluation (SSE) is a collaborative, reflective process of internal school review. It provides teachers with a means of systematically looking at how they teach and how pupils learn and helps schools and teachers improve outcomes for learners. It is supported by the DES publication School Self-Evaluation Guidelines 2016 – 2020. The SSE process culminates in a School Improvement Plan or SIP 2. DES Circular 44/2019, Leadership and Management in Primary Schools provides the basis for using the in-school management team (ISM) to provide leadership in planning and prioritising for the school 3. Looking at our Schools 2016 – A Quality Framework for Primary Schools defines the broad parameters of where school planning must focus. All plans and initiatives must find a root in this document.

3.2 SCHOOL CULTURE / ETHOS / VISION All schools, regardless of culture, ethos or vision exist to provide teaching and learning to allow pupils develop their potential. PIEW gives practical expression to prioritising initiatives which best support teaching and learning in accordance with each school’s particular culture, ethos and vision.

3.3 PRIORITISING THE PLANNING Conducting the planning and arriving at the SIP is often the easy part. The difficulty arises in putting the SIP into practice. This is often compounded by the arrival of initiatives from various sources which creates challenge for school leaders and can diffuse focus. These sources can vary from the DES or other Government initiatives to national or local pressure to adopt a ‘good idea’ which will be ‘of immense benefit to the children’, in the view of the sponsors. Many of these initiatives ‘reward’ the school with flags or publicity.

Translating the SIP and the “Good Ideas” into practice is the task of School Leadership. What is worth doing is worth doing well. However, it would often be impossible to accomplish all of the “Good Ideas” and keep everyone happy – hence the need to Prioritise Not every task is equally important. The most important tasks in a school context will be those which progress teaching and learning - the raison d’être of the school. Prioritising allows you identify the most important tasks at any moment - those most deserving of attention, energy, and time. It allows you to spend more time on the right things. Prioritisation helps everyone to plan and minimises stress.

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3.4 WHAT ARE THE BIG ROCKS OF SCHOOL PLANNING AND PRIORITISING? According to our parable in the introduction to this resource bundle, the Big Rocks are those very important issues which will not be accomplished unless proactive steps are taken to give them the priority they require. Otherwise, school leadership time will be frittered away dealing with the gravel, the sand or even the water. Where do the Big Rocks come from? Their sources are many:

3.4.1

SIP

The SIP will identify the important projects to be undertaken by the school in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning for the pupils.

3.4.2

Inspectorate

The DES will often make helpful suggestions in the course of their visits to schools. Many of these are issues which the school will be in a position to address immediately while others may be considered as initiatives which would require school wide planning and implementation.

3.4.3

Good Ideas

In addition, there will be a plethora of ‘good ideas’ which various sources will recommend to the school as being of immense value to the pupils. Examples of this include:   

3.4.4

ideas which school leaders and teachers bring back from attending courses or from talking to other professionals CPD run by IPPN, management bodies, DES and other bodies promotions by groups such as those offering flags or other recognition of the school for promoting certain programmes

Exceptional Imperatives

Exceptional imperatives are initiatives of a magnitude which places them on a par with items on the school plan. They are outside of our control, arise unexpectedly and have to be given precedence.

They will therefore have an immediate impact on the capacity of the school to deliver on its school plan.

Exceptional imperatives normally arise as a result of government policy/legislation which is often, though not always, mediated through the DES. Examples in the 2017/2018 school year were child protection and GDPR. The distillation provided by the SIP, the ‘good ideas’ and exceptional imperatives provide the material from which the school leadership chooses the Big Rocks.

3.4.5

The “Ordinary” Work of the School

It is easy to become smitten with the allure of ‘good ideas’. We cannot avoid the excitement of exceptional imperatives. However, they can provide a welcome distraction from the ‘mundane’ - an modh choinníollach, tables and spellings, but teaching the basic curriculum is the first essential in any school. If the modh choinníollach may be ‘drudgery’ and tables and spelling may be ‘humdrum’, perhaps a better method of teaching them should make its way onto the ‘good idea’ list for prioritisation!

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Over 99% of a school’s work will be related to the teaching and learning of the curriculum. Initiatives and work which does not contribute to the teaching of the curriculum needs to be scrutinised for its relevance to inclusion in the school plan.

3.5 CAPACITY The capacity of any school to undertake projects and initiatives will depend on various factors:

3.5.1

Staff Factors

Internal factors (staff) will include the abilities, skills and expertise of the school leaders, teachers and whole staff to execute their functions. It will also include the ability of these people to adapt to changing situations successfully. The term ‘building capacity’ refers to the ability of the school leadership to enhance and support the above qualities in the school community.

3.5.2

Wider School Community

Internal factors (wider school community) will include the abilities, skills and expertise available to the school leadership from the BoM, parents council, the wider parent body and the local community.

3.5.3

External Factors

External factors will include the support of the DES, NCSE and NEPS in particular to provide adequate resources in the form of finance, teachers, SNAs, and psychological assistance to allow school leadership implement the school plan.

3.5.4

Adverse Factors

Some schools will experience adverse factors which will absorb school capacity and resources, thereby lessening the school’s overall capacity to implement its School Plan. There are many such factors, among them are: Children with Additional Learning These pupils may demand more resources than have been provided

by NCSE. Such cases are not uncommon and take an inordinate amount of resources from the school e.g. teacher time, school leader time etc.

Parents (Managing Expectations) It is not unusual for school leaders to have to deal with parents who make unreasonable demands in an unpleasant or aggressive manner. Such behaviour distracts school leaders from their intended function of directing and supporting teaching and learning as well as causing them distress and sometimes illness requiring sick leave.

Disaffected Staff Teachers (or other staff) who have become disaffected can be difficult to deal with.

They can sometimes work against school leadership and can absorb an inordinate amount of leadership effort for little or no positive result. Their attitude to school improvement can be a disruptive influence on a staff and a roadblock on the road to implementing the school plan.

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________________________________________________________________________________ Lack of Physical Resources Some schools are financially challenged and find it difficult to raise funds to provide teaching and learning resources. Other schools in this category have very poor physical infrastructure which absorbs a lot of financial and time resources from school leaders and the BoM. Such resources are then not available to implement the school plan.

3.5.5

Other Factors

Extra-ordinary factors e.g. death of a pupil or teacher, critical incident etc. will occur in the life of all schools unexpectedly and may affect the capacity of the school to focus on a chosen priority for a time. Such events must take precedence for a time and may delay or post-pone the piloting of a new initiative. Good leadership will recognise when to delay or postpone and will use the model flexibly

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4 THE HOW

4.1 IPPN SCHOOL PLANNING MODEL – PIEW IPPN is proposing a model of planning which eases the burden on school leaders by assisting them to prioritise competing ‘Big Rocks’ and offering a means of dealing with all ‘Big Rocks’ on the school’s planning horizon. The model is based on a 6-year cycle of piloting/planning, implementing and embedding projects/initiatives.

4.1.1

Pilot Phase – Years 1 & 2

In this phase the school takes a project (or projects, depending on the school’s capacity) and pilots it for 2 years. During this phase those teachers and pupils involved will come to grips with the project and tweak it to suit the school’s particular needs and culture of the school.

4.1.2

Implement Phase – Years 3 & 4

In this phase the school is ready to implement the project (or projects, depending on the school’s capacity) throughout the school. It will by now have been adapted to suit the school. Careful monitoring is still required in this phase.

4.1.3

Embedding Phase – Years 5 & 6

In this phase the school begins the process of embedding the project into the “DNA” of the school. By the end of year 6, the project has become part of the school’s standard operating procedure.

4.1.4

Using the Chart

PILOT PROJECTS

WAIT LIST PROJECTS

Years 1& 2 IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS

Exceptional Imperatives

Years 3 & 4

Unforeseen

EMBEDDING PROJECTS Years 5 & 6

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Awaiting a Vacancy (See PIEW Overview)

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________________________________________________________________________________ Having an enlarged version of the above chart in the school leader’s office presents a powerful visual representation of the projects being undertaken by the school. It also helps to manage the expectations of enthusiastic promotors of ‘good ideas’.

4.2 THE MODEL IN PRACTICE Most schools are already undertaking initiatives which are enhancing teaching and learning. The following step-by -step approach will assist school leaders in beginning the process of using the PIEW Model of prioritisation.

4.2.1

Step 1: List the Current Initiatives

The first step is to make a list of these initiatives and put them on the grid. Working as a whole staff, schools will quickly be able to itemise the various initiatives undertaken over the past 6 years and to classify whether they moved from ‘Pilot’ to ‘Implementation’ and on to becoming ‘Embedded’ in the school culture. This exercise will be very instructive in demonstrating the (possible) number of initiatives which have been piloted but not taken any further. The result gives everyone a clear perspective on the range and scope of curricular based initiatives which are already in place or have been piloted in the school (See Sample PIEW Chart)

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__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Year 1 P 2

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2013/14 Basketball

Aistear

2015/16 Maths Blast

2016/17 Bua na Cainte

2017/18 Language

2018/19 GDPR

Table Toppers

Literacy Liftoff

Zippy’s Friends

Movement Breaks

Feadóg

Child Protection

SPHE - Friendships

Basketball

Aistear

Maths Blast

Bua na Cainte

Language

No Capacity

Table Toppers

Literacy Liftoff

Zippy’s Friends

Movement Breaks

Feadóg

Basketball

Aistear

Maths Blast

Bua na Cainte

Table Toppers

Literacy Liftoff

Zippy’s Friends

Movement Breaks

Concert Local Geography

2014/15

SPHE - Friendships No Capacity

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5 E 6

4.2.2

Listening to Music

Concert

SPHE - Friendships

Basketball

Aistear

Maths Blast

Spellings

Local Geography

No Capacity

Table Toppers

Literacy Liftoff

Zippy’s Friends

Maths – Language

Listening to Music

Concert

SPHE - Friendships

Basketball

Aistear

Handwriting

Spellings

Local Geography

No Capacity

Table Toppers

Literacy Liftoff

Art Appreciation

Maths – Language

Listening to Music

Concert

SPHE - Friendships

Basketball

Manners

Handwriting

Spellings

Local Geography

No Capacity

Table Toppers

Step 2: Celebrate

Take time as a staff to celebrate the work already being done in the school and to thank and affirm the staff for it. The BoM might be encouraged to recognise and show appreciation also. It also provides an opportunity to discuss why some initiatives were not progressed from ‘Pilot’ or ‘Implement’ phases.

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4.2.3

Step 3: Populate the Waiting List

The waiting list will be populated in the first instance from suggestions from the teaching staff and then from the various sources as listed above. A number of key questions should be asked of any initiative which seeks to be included in the waiting list. These include:  Why should the school undertake this initiative?  How does this initiative contribute towards or enhance the teaching and learning in this school?  How does this initiative give expression to an item in the Quality Framework?  Is this initiative rooted in the curriculum?  Why is this initiative more important at this time, than the other initiatives on the waiting list?  Are we as a school staff prepared to undertake this initiative for a period of 6 years and see it through the ‘Pilot, Implementation and Embedding’ phases?  Have we got the capacity to undertake this initiative properly?

4.2.4

Step 4: From Waiting List to Pilot

Deciding which one or two items (or more, if the school has the capacity) from the waiting list make it onto the pilot phase for the coming school year will involve much discussion and perhaps controversy. School leadership will lead the decision making process and should involve as many of the school staff and community as possible.

4.3 PIEW – CULMINATION OF SSE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SIP The SESS process facilitates school communities to review their activities regularly. Schools generally review one or two subjects annually and produce a SIP which focusses on one or more aspects of the school’s teaching and learning in relation to the subject under review. PIEW provides a practical and very visual method for taking the initiatives identified in the SIP from pilot and implementing phases to full embedding, while keeping the school community informed at the same time.

4.4 INFORMING THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY It is important that both the BoM and parents are aware of how the school decides on priorities. They need to know that the school is dedicated to the promotion of teaching and learning above all else, and that any initiatives undertaken are directly related to teaching and learning. Knowing that teaching and learning is at the heart of everything that the school does will help the wider school community appreciate and support the school’s choice of initiatives and programmes.

School Leaders will need to ensure that all members of the BoM and parents are fully informed of the process of prioritising initiatives and are aware of what the priorities are. The BoM might be addressed at their meetings by the principal or teacher nominee and parents might be informed through newsletters or at parents’ council meetings.

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5 RESOURCES AVAILABLE

RESOURCES AVAILABLE ON WWW.IPPN.IE   

PIEW Overview Chart Sample PIEW Chart – 6yrs plan Blank Plan Implement Embed Chart

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