We've had to move the blog to blogspot which is a more reliable carrier.
So I now say to you: You are Peter and on
this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never
hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven:
whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you
loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.
Matthew 16:18 – 19
My brother Angus – yes, Angus Douglas, is
the principal of a Kura kaupapa Maori - Te Wharekura o Mauao in Tauranga. Kura kaupapa
are schools that operate within a
whānau-based Māori philosophy and deliver the curriculum in the Māori
language. It’s secondary only.
Angus has avoided principalship for years after a brief and painful experience
as a young principal many years ago when he lost confidence in the school’s
governing board. There are few native language speakers with his drive,
administrative, curriculum and leadership experience. He was invited to apply
when no suitable candidates applied. And yet his reluctance to put himself forward
is understandable.
Far be it for me to put my
brother in Peter’s sandals. But we know Peter was reluctant. Indeed in time to
come Peter would even deny knowing Jesus.
Since the reformation there
has been a great debate about these verses. In
our (Catholic) tradition the primacy of the Petrine ministry is established,
and from this the flows our understanding of the Apostolic continuity embedded
in the papacy and consequently the episcopacy. Obviously the Protestant view
generally understood this differently, namely, they read the text as: You are Rock and on this rock I will build
my Church. For them it was about the setting the church on firm
foundations. It’s a play on words: Cephas, Petrus, Peter, Rock.
But it says much more. About leadership in the
church. And about leadership in schools.
All those who hear the Gospel are asked to
set deep and strong foundations for life,
and for the church. And for us in
Catholic Education, for our schools.
Each of us is being cajoled from our reluctance to put ourselves forward. Our
leadership matters, because our leadership makes the difference. The keys to
the kingdom of heaven are metanoia,
compassion, justice, agape. If we don’t
use these keys as leaders we never let the hearts and minds of our students fly
and be set free. The freedom we offer here and now to love and be truly loved will
then be unleashed into eternity.
As young Maori students find their voice in
te reo Maori, so will ours find their
voice when we build their learning and love on a solid foundation: Christ.
Peter
Peter's whereabouts for the next 2 weeks
Good News from the North and North West
Peter's whereabouts for the next 2 weeks
Meetings coming up
Please forward any agenda items for meetings (with some indication of time required and context) to Carole at carole.goodwin@catholic.tas.edu.au or Mark at mark.webb@catholic.tas.edu.au.
Newsletter Requests
Can all schools please ensure Peter Douglas is on their email newsletter list.
Thank you
From Our Lady of Mercy, Deloraine
A Day To
Celebrate - ACARA Illustrations of Primary Curriculum
Management
On Tuesday, 17th June, the
ACARA/ESA film crew visited Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School for the day. As
identified by ACARA, the aim of the project was to capture compelling video
illustrations of schools in primary settings Australia wide managing the
Australian Curriculum.
Two schools in Tasmania were put
forward for this project – Our Lady of Mercy, Deloraine and Lansdale Primary
School in Hobart.
During the course of the day
§ there
were interviews with the Principal , Leadership Team which included Lucy Fisher
(expert colleague) and Michelle Donohoe (immediate past Ap:LT)
§ one-on-one
interviews with Chris Weare (Gr 5/6) and Alisha Mitchell (Gr. 3/4) to share
their individual approaches / stories
§ the
two nominated teachers teaching one classroom session
§ one-on-one
interview and intervention session with Clare Weare (Learning Support) and
§ conversation
and teaching session with Chris Huett on Early Learning (Kinder)and to
demonstrate the Kinder to Prep link.
The focus of my initial conversation as
Principal in implementing the Australian Curriculum was:
Ø Our ethos and values
underpin relationships, policies and the implementation of a curriculum. Building relationships where there is
trust, a culture of inquiry and an environment which was settled and conducive
to learning was a necessary precursor.
Ø Collaboration - Current
understandings, research and then what did that mean for us in how we worked
together. ‘Our students’.
Ø
Data and
identification of areas of student need gave us a focus in using the Australian
curriculum. Our focus has been on
reading – specifically inference in comprehension and also spelling.
Helen Timperley’s Teacher Inquiry
and Knowledge-Building Cycle is an important component. Our expert colleague has been
instrumental in our learning.
Ø
Wiggins
and McTighe’s model of Backward Design is used. Incorporated in the planning proforma are the Capabilities and Cross-curricula Perspectives. Now we are refining this with a simpler
system.
Ø
Networking - looking at best practice (in
Victoria). Our challenge
was in how to apply what we learned in a school with 1000 students to our
school with 135 students with multi-age classes and 6 classroom teachers.
We have:
o
Changed to working in Early Childhood and
Primary groups
o
Administration content of meetings is kept to
a minimum
o
AP:LT works with each teacher each week
looking at what is the Essential Learning and the Learning Intentions / Success
Criteria which will then be unpacked further in the Professional Learning Team
Meeting
o
Teachers complete their assessments and
collate them themselves initially.
Team support person will then upload onto our school data base.
Points three and four are
continuing to be developed.
Ø A timely Intervention program where
teachers and the learning support teacher work together to ensure students
receive timely intervention related to student learning needs within the context
of the curriculum has been introduced.
(As a result of observation of the learning support model used in
Finland.) Timely intervention
groups are taught by Learning Support teacher.
Ø Learning and Planning Together - Using
the Australian Curriculum, Cluster school teachers plan a unit of the
Australian Curriculum together.
o
Determine the essential learning / learning
intentions / etc. together.
o
Plan and teach the unit.
o
Moderate – intra school and inter
school.
o
The rich conversations have been as valuable
as the moderation process.
o
Prior Knowledge – important finding has been
the gap between student knowledge and accessing the curriculum at their grade
level, therefore a rethinking of planning process.
Ø Principals as Lead Learners
o
Principals have to be cutting edge learners
o
Acknowledge learning with their staff
o
Ensure they are involved with quality
professional learning because leading staff
o
Principals have to have the vision, and share
that vision by getting staff on board by creating energy and inquiry
o
Gone are the days of sitting in an office
o
Have to know their teachers and what is
happening
o
Have to be totally immersed in the dialogue,
and thinking
o
Have to form partnerships with expert
colleagues and networks involving best practice
Laraine was very impressed with our school
and made these comments about our school during the course of the day: She acknowledged
o
the amount of work and organisation that had
been put into the preparation for the day
o
the amount of time put into the
implementation of the Australian Curriculum
o
the difficulties to do this in a small school
to make all of those things happen.
Laraine could tell that the tone of the
school was beautiful and our children were engaged and lovely children. She noted the amount of work that had
been done to improve the spaces for learning in the school and the beautiful
setting we have here in Deloraine.
In the next couple of months footage will be
uploaded onto the ACARA website.
We have requested a link be placed on our school website for parents and
other interested parties.
What our team has decided and sticks to is
that in using the Australian Curriculum – in improving our practice – in making
change – we will do things slowly, but we will do them well; as we learn more we will adjust what we
do so we need to be flexible. One
of the most significant things we have to contend with is the ‘other stuff’
that intrudes on our focus.
From Sacred Heart, Launceston
From Stella Maris, Burnie
From St Peter Chanel, Smithton
