School+-+Ararat+North+Primary+School

=﻿Ararat North Primary School = =My coaching mind map :) = An introduction to our school (which is much longer than I intended, but it gives the background to my role and my progress this year!) ANPS is a small school (90 students) in the rural city of Ararat. Our school is slightly isolated from the main part of town, both geographically and socially. Many of our students come from challenging home environments and we have a number of programs in place to support student engagement and well-being (lunchtime programs, breakfast program, mentors etc.). We have a kindergarten and childcare centre on sight, although we have not quite realised the full potential of the K-2 shared curriculum that could be developed. We are a National Partnership School, which means we have some extra funding for Literacy and Numeracy Leadership in recognition of the fact that we are a school operating in "a very challenging environment" (that's how our RNL puts it and I think it captures us exactly). In the past staff spent a significant amount of time on discipline however though an enormous amount of work by our Principal, Student Services (Welfare) Teacher, and staff, we now have a very settled school environment, which is increasingly allowing us to focus on curriculum, although student welfare issues do still take up a significant amount of some teachers time, depending on their class. We certainly have had a reputation in the past of being a difficult school to teach at - many CRT's were not keen to work here and it was difficult attracting staff to advertised positions, although once here staff generally love it, as it is a very rewarding school to work at and there is a high level of support between teaching staff because of the challenging nature of our work. We have very little support from parents in terms of reading programs etc. Many of our parents have such challenging lives themselves that they are just not able to support their child's school - we do have some amazing parents but we also have parents who are very challenging and this again adds another level of complexity to our work. Having just spent a term at another school (more about that below) I was struck at the difference teaching in a school with very few welfare issues and with an active and supportive parent body. We have a huge range of students - we have a high number of funded students and therefore each classroom has an ESO for some time each week. We have some students who carry the legacy from their home lives and past experiences and all staff find themselves distressed at some time by the lives some of our students lead outside school. We also have some of the brighest and most talented students I have even seen - students who, despite the odds stacked against them, are positive, keen, passionate, fun, happy children. They amaze us every day. We are also a Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden School, which has been a wonderful addition to the student support programs we offer. Our students have thrived in the kitchen and garden, many of them having impressive 'hands on' skills that we do not see in a traditional classroom. Again, as with the kindergarten, we have not yet taken full advantage of the curriculum links that could be made between the kitchen, garden and classroom. So..... onto literacy..... and coaching. As a school with lower results, we were allocated a Literacy Coach when the regional coaching program first began back in 2006 I think. At this time coaching was in it's infancy, and we did not have a PLT or curriculum improvement structure in place. Only two of the staff from that time are still at ANPS (myself and another teacher). I then took on a Liteacy Coordinators role, and we kept building on the work done with and by our wonderful literacy coach, forming PLT's, beginning a central collection of data, developing school plans, undertaking peer observations, spending time analyzing data, moderating etc. We were then allocated a Numeracy Coach in 2009, and she has worked across our school and another local school over the past two years. She has also just been employed to work at our school full time next year. At the same time (2009), with the National Partnership funding, I was given time out of the classroom under the banner of 'curriculum leadership/improvement'. There was no real job description for this role, although I had some valuable joint professional development with other leaders from NP Schools. I just really worked as hard as I could, developing resources, releasing staff for peer observations, testing, supporting staff to complete ILP's, developing school plans, lots of PD, and then (as happens when you are out of the classroom) also teaching when we could not get CRT's. This year, two of us shared the release time - the plan was for me to concentrate on 3-6 and for the other teacher to focus on K-2. My participation in the Bastow Liteacy Coaching course is funded as part of being a National Partnership School. So.....this year I had one day out of the classroom for coaching/curriculum leadership. We also had some staff upheaval (no need to go into detail, but we have gone through a period of change which was been challenging for some staff - one is now on leave and another staff member has had a significant health issue). Overlay this with a Numeracy Coach already in the school and I was unsure that staff were keen or ready for any more coaching/change/challenge. So my plan this year was to build my personal knowledge and skills to 'hasten slowly' in terms of applying those skills/knowledge across our school. Our 3-6 team at the beginning of the year consisted of myself, one very experienced expert teacher who has briefly come out of retirement and will not be at our school next year and two grads. My role for Terms 1 and 2 was very much a mentor role, as the two grads needed support in classroom organisation, discipline, content knowledge, assessment - just the basics (e.g. how to run a guided reading session, running records etc). So I felt I wasn't really coaching, which was fine given the circumstances, but I also felt concerned about what I percieved as the fairly dependent relationship that was developing between the two grads and myself. One of the significant benefits of the literacy coach training has been the understanding I have gained about how and why that dependence comes about and what to do about it. I have always been a very enegetic 'can do' person, the one in the school that organises, fixes, solves problems and gets this done quickly - and I now realise that behavior change comes quickly (ie using a new lesson plan or resource) but changes in thinking take much longer and that I need to realistic about how fast and far things will move. I need to be be patient! So, armed with this new knowledge, I was looking forward to a productive and challenging Term 3, with me keen to use my slowly developing coaching conversation skills. However, I then was the successful applicant for an Acting Principal role at another school for Term 3, which put all of that on hold! I went to a new school, with no culture of coaching/observing and no PLT structure, and they were also in the middle of huge building works, so physically the school was in a HUGE mess. Term 3 was a huge learning curve for me in terms of leadership, but little coaching. So, Term 4 and I am back at ANPS! That's my 'story' so far - I will post my formal reflections after each of the Bastow days from my notes below. So, overall I feel like my own knoweldge and skills have improved enormously, but I'm not sure how important or powerful my impact has been on others.

Day 1
Ahhhh... though I was coming along to learn it all in a day, and was so totally mistaken! Have realised this is not a 'quick fix' and that there are lots of BIG questions to be both asked and answered/considered before the coaching journey can begin.... so when I returned to school and my Principal asked me 'so... are we right to go? You're right to start?".... I just looked at her blankly and thought...... you have noooooooo idea. I have noooooooo idea. I know I have started something but I don't know where it is going to take me and there are more questions than answers at the moment....

Days 2&3
Feeling slightly better, particuarly after the session with Julie Kerr. She gave us some useful but simple readings, things we could relate to, appply and weren't overwhelming! Lots of handouts with question stems, conversation protocols - PAUSE, PARAPHRASE, PROMPT - and ask some HEAVY questions..... I have written lots of notes to stick above my desk.....there are so many resources out there, but again, when you have that teaching role as well, it is so difficult to fit everything in. There are some conflicts between my developing definition of coaching and that of others back at school.... we need to be clear about roles, expectations and responsibilities.

Days 4&5
Missed day 4 - at Willaura as Acting Principal and am in survival mode like a new grad! Sick staff member, CRT cancelled at the last minute, so didn't make day 4. Got to Melbourne for Cathy Toll's day though - was determined not to miss it. Amazing day. She picked up on the slightly 'edgy' energy in the room to begin with - I think we were all struggling a bit at this stage. Middle of the year, so busy at school, lots of pressure and expectations from Principals - many of us feeling a bit overwhelmed and unsure of who we are and what we are doing! We are all grappling with the different models of coaching out there - and Cathy has a very clear model that she holds to very strongly and consistently that obviously works well for her. I could not help but be inspired, entertained, engaged and convinced by her knowledge, passion, skill and commitment. I have logged onto her blog several times since to read more.....I also appreciated the option of coaching without observation. That is the huge barrier in terms of time in many schools - if you carry a significant teaching load and are also in a coaching role, it is so challenging fitting in classroom observations as well. So many teachers find the observation aspect challenging too - so it is good to know it is possible to authentically coach without observing - agreeing on some form of evidence is the vital thing, and then the teacher themselves being responsible for collecting that is empowering too. I see now how much coaching is a partnership - learning together.

Days 6&7
Loved these two days - really feel like my knowledge is starting to 'gell' together. Got so much out of the session with Jill Flack on students coaching eacher other, and realised that I am doing so much of that already and that I have a lot to build on. I already set up much of my classroom/teaching practice to enable students to be responsible for their own learning and to work meaningfuly together - I already make the curriculum explicit for students and students coaching each other is just an extension of what I am already doing. Sometimes(like today) I actually feel like I am a GOOD teacher! :) I have also really enjoyed the professional discusssions with the 'Ballarat girls' who I have met and got to know though this course. The triad with Leslee and Cheryl as we had a coaching conversation with each other about our coaching journey was very powerful - our journeys have been very similar and it is great to have that respected peer to help you clarify your thoughts and also affirm what you are doing. Two absolutely fantastic days.

Some photos from my year .....observing each other running guided reading sessions; more able readers running their own reading groups; boys (yay!) reading anytime, anywhere

Other teachers observing me teach (not sure I'm engaging all students - look at Claudine drawing on her chair!), and making the curriculum visible for students (bsed on Jill Flack's session on students coaching each other)