From the Principal

MS TONI RIORDAN PRINCIPAL

With the greater freedoms afforded by Queensland’s lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, this year, I have returned to regularly driving south on the Pacific Motorway, for weekend visits to relatives in NSW’s Northern Rivers region.

Over COVID lockdowns, I think I forgot about reckless drivers, and now find myself shaking my head at those drivers moving at top speed in the fast lane. No doubt they wish to get somewhere as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Careful drivers, on the other hand, do what they can to ensure everyone travelling with them arrive at the destination as safely as possible.

I continue the driving metaphor to introduce St Aidan’s new, in-house leadership development program for staff, Learning to Lead. In the first session, participants were introduced to strategies to support Being Strategic. One of them was to scan the environment for opportunities and threats – and like driving a car – we don’t only look ahead at oncoming traffic. Instead, we have learnt to methodically use the rear-view mirror and side mirrors, in conjunction with the windscreen, to consistently check our environment.

Forty staff members across a range of teaching faculties, within the Junior and Senior Schools, with support and coaching staff, Senior Leadership Team members, some experienced, some early career, and not all with formal positions are united by the desire to learn together, within their own school context.

At St Aidan’s, we diligently nurture our learning community, so it makes sense for us to approach our leadership development as ‘leadership for learning’. We have a keen focus on our context, and on our own choices, and actions. We consider how we might use language to analyse and support our context, instead of using words with a hierarchical approach, which would be designed to control our context. From the historical lessons of the Society of the Sacred Advent to today, we know we are custodians of the ethos of St Aidan’s; we are all meaning-makers, ready to pass on our legacy to generations to come after us, thus, we all share leadership responsibility.

Leadership at St Aidan’s is intentional. Leaders recognise the value of their teams or community, in supporting School approaches; it is not only important to lead them, but to be led by them too. This reflects a concept of leadership coined by researchers, Hitt and Tucker in 2016, leadership both ways, and helps us to always anchor what we do, through the lens of community.

Like the habit of scanning the mirrors in the car, I notice the wonderous examples of leadership at St Aidan’s on a regular basis. Here are just a few, recent examples:

• Year 6 student ushers who confidently, warmly, and naturally welcomed to the Junior School special guests, Deputy Heads of other Queensland independent Schools, who attended their collegiate meeting, hosted by Mr Steve Baker, Assistant Head of Junior School.

• More than half of the Year 11 cohort who selflessly committed to the 2023 student leadership selection process and then genuinely supported their peers with the announcement of leaders earlier in Term 3.

• The well-deserved recognition of our Guidance Counsellor, Ms Jennie Robinson who was presented the Australian Council for Educational Leaders Queensland (ACELQ) Excellence in Educational Leadership Award in August this year, acknowledging her career in promoting student growth, always ensuring that young people in her care flourish to become adults of purpose with a passion for life-long learning.

• The responsibility and fastidious preparation demonstrated by our Senior School Sport and Activities Captains at our weekly Whole School Assemblies, as they deliver relevant and engaging news to their student audience.

• The creative and authentic leadership of our 2022 Sacristans, Beth, and Monica, as they introduce initiatives for engagement and share their stories to encourage and inspire their peers and younger students.

• Our 2022 School Co-Captains, Ava, and Bridget, who generously support the student body daily, often in very quiet ways, for instance, donning their space suits on a Saturday afternoon to lead the ‘tunnel’ of encouraging family members and staff, as our International Space Design teams set off for competition, in July.

Leadership at St Aidan’s is deliberate and practised and is expected to bring out the best in those who are led. Leaders help us all strive for excellence in education; however, they do this in cautious and careful ways. They are not the fast-lane drivers; they are not required to lead at breakneck speed. Instead, they take the time to be with others, to try to capture the moment, and recognise that situated in our daily lives of hard work and commitment, also rests a genuine sense of fun and joy at our School.

I hope you also recongise the careful, fun, and joyous examples of all the ways we lead, within this latest edition of Huddle.

Reference: Hitt, D H & Tucker, P D (2016) Systematic review of key leadership practices found to influence student achievement: a unified framework Review of Educational Research, 86: 2, p 31-69