A practical guide for first-time and recently appointed principals to study global school management system methodologies and to adopt and apply it in school leadership across systems on a day-to-day basis.

1.  International Educational Leadership Trainer.
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Trainer’s ProfileTrainer’s Profile
Certified HDRF Trainer & Principal Consultant
for Lean Management and a Kaizen Specialist
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2. Baguio Convention Center, Baguio City
Concourse Convention Center, Legazpi City
April
13-17
2015
April
20-24
2015
Details: call / text 09175147952

3.  Introduction
 School SystemSchool System
Principal’s Annual CalendarPrincipal’s Annual Calendar
 Planning and ReportingPlanning and Reporting
School ChartersSchool Charters
 Understanding School
Employment, Property, Finance, Attendance
Course OutlineCourse Outline
http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/
 Starting the year off
Making changes, Getting to know staff, Information on school
performance, Building partnerships and networks, Professional advice,
Being a teaching principal, Short-term goals, Relationships, Being a new
principal

4. These practical guide is for first-time and
recently appointed principals to study
global school management system
methodologies and to adopt and apply it in
school leadership across systems on a
day-to-day basis.

5. "Every school need to have systems that help
create the conditions for staff and students to
work effectively together. Everyone appreciates
simple, clear goals and effective processes.
School systems provide and effectively
communicate the ground rules for everyone.
They ensure a measure of consistency in
approach and action across the school".

6. School Management
The school therefore need to
have a system with simple,
clear goals and effective
processes that can provide and
effectively communicate the
ground rules.
A set of rules and regulation is
required for everyone to adhere
to ensure a measure of
consistency in approach and
action across the school”.
School management refers to the administration of a school
to provide the condition for staff, teachers and students to
work effectively together.

7. It will help you to keep a
month-by-month overview of
what’s ahead so that you
can bring coherence to your
planning.
Each month has been grouped into sections that cover
leadership actions and outcomes.
You can customize the annual calendar here to suit your
situation.

8. 1. Team and group development and performance
Add in the actions you take or the outcomes you want that
will strengthen the performance that drive your school’s
learning.
Ideas to consider in association with the calendar
These could include
teaching as well as
administrative and
operating systems
teams.

9. Ideas to consider in association with the calendar
2. Planning documents
Use Leadership Principals, of "Leading Change and Problem
Solving" and "Areas of Practice" to confirm the qualities,
knowledge, and skills you are applying.
This helps confirm
actions to take about
your learning needs as
important parts of the
calendar.

10. Ideas to consider in association with the calendar
2. Planning documents
Refer to the school’s planning documents, goals, and vision
as you develop and use the calendar. For example:
.
Confirm the school’s
strategies, expected
outcomes, timing and scope.
Identify the known
leadership actions/outcomes
required and log in the
calendar.

11. Ideas to consider in association with the calendar
2. Planning documents
Add all the actions/outcomes you want/need regarding
Partnerships and Networks, Pedagogy, Systems and Culture,
and give them your own best timings.
Connects your calendar
with the teams and
groups in the school to
implement the annual
plan as part of the school
charter.

12. Ideas to consider in association with the calendar
3. Review and plan ahead
Do this for the strategic timings and consequent actions for the
calendar. Set up at least four calendar review times through the year.
Ideally, these look ahead for the next term:
Year ahead and Term 1
– complete in November–December
Term 2
– complete before the end of term 1
Term 3
– complete before the end of term 2
Term 4
– complete before the end of term 3

13. Ideas to consider in association with the calendar
3. Review and plan ahead
Many principals use electronic
calendars either in Outlook or
i-calendar. (Time spent in
mastering these programs
allows you to link actions closely
with both time and background
information held in computer
files and folders, such as data.)
Establish a regular review-forward of what is coming
(weekly, monthly) and reprioritize as change occurs.

14. Ideas to consider in association with the calendar
4. Synchronize this calendar with the school events
calendar
Review them with your leadership team, secretary, and
bursar to ensure delegation and timings are checked and
confirmed.
Be alert for other important
actions that emerge
– change happens! Shift
tasks to suit your context.

15. Ideas to consider in association with the calendar
5. Confirm time for your leadership learning.
Smart leaders know what they don't know. Learning is a
constant process throughout your professional life, and it
doesn't stop when you've ...
Learn new skills that will
enhance capability. ...
Transformation leaders are
very visible, & spend lot of time
communicating. If your actions
inspire others to dream more,
learn more, do more and
become more, you are a leader

16. Ideas to consider in association with the calendar
6. Block in appointments
Do this with yourself and other staff to attend to tasks that
require in-depth thought, analysis, and preparation.
Appointments are
activities that
you schedule in your
calendar that do not involve
inviting other people or
reserving resources. You
can schedule recurring ...

17. It covers:
Why we have charters
What’s in the charter
Your role in charter
development
Updating and reviewing the
charter.
This guide contains useful information about school
charters.

18. -A requirement since the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms of
1989. Originally much charter content was prescribed but now
there is more flexibility as well as a greater emphasis on
student progress and achievement.
Why we have charters
The charter is a
key document
in each school’s
planning and
review cycle.

19. The charter is a crucial part of the framework within which
the principal has complete discretion to manage the school
(Education Act 1989 Sec 76).
Why we have charters
In this sense, the charter is the
board’s number one policy
statement. It sets the direction
for the school and identifies the
priorities that the board expects
the principal to be leading. The
aim is for it to be a “living”
document and as principal you
play a key part in making that
happen.

20. What’s in the charter?
Early charter have been completely different from the ones
in the strategic plan, with little evidence of goals aligned
with the planning or resourcing that actually happens in the
school.
The Education Standards Act of
2001 changed its requirements,
to included the need for charters
to have both a strategic section
and an annual section. A “smart
charter” format was made
available for schools to follow
but was not mandatory.
Since then, charters have
contained these parts:

21. Values, Mission and/or Vision.
- aim to develop policies and practices that reflect your
country's cultural diversity and the unique position of the
peoples culture.
What’s in the charter?
Introductory section
Example in New Zealand
The aim of ensuring that all
reasonable steps are taken to
provide instruction in tikanga
Māori (Māori culture) and te reo
Māori (the Māori language) for
full-time students whose parents
ask for it.

22. Annual section
What’s in the charter?
•Annual aims, directions, objectives,
priorities and targets relating to student
outcomes, the school’s performance and
use of resources.
•Sets targets for the key activities and
achievement of objectives for the year.
For the next 3 to 5 years, strategic aims,
objectives, directions, and priorities
including those that reflect the special
characteristics of the school.
Strategic section

23. What’s in the charter?
Charters must include the board’s aims, objectives,
directions, priorities, and targets for:
student achievement, including the assessment of
students against any national standard
meeting both general government policy objectives for
all schools, being policy objectives set out or referred to
in national education guidelines, and specific policy
objectives applying to that school
management of the school’s and board’s capability,
resources, assets, and liabilities, including human
resources, finances, property, and other ownership
matters
other matters of interest to the public
that the Minister may determine.

24. Your role in charter development
National Administration Guidelines (NAG)2 requires that
boards of trustees with the principal and staff:
develop a strategic plan which documents how they are
giving effect to the National Education Guidelines through
their policies, plans and programs, including those for
curriculum, National Standards, assessment and staff
professional development.
Things to note: The word with.
The board is expected to play an active role in setting
strategic direction. As principal-trustee you will be
involved in developing the charter; as principal-manager
you will be the person responsible for its implementation.

25. Updating and reviewing the charter
Updating the charter is annually when annual report data
(including analysis of variance data) is gathered, analyzed and
used to set annual aims and targets for the following year.
From time to time, as school’s cycle
of self-review, it is vital to step back
and check that the hopes and
aspirations contained in charter are
still relevant to the school, its
students and community.
In order to do this the board needs
to engage with stakeholders, key
ones being parents, and the
students themselves.

26. Updating and reviewing the charter,
Who else might be involved?
You can develop your own list, thinking about such things as:
Where do our students transition from?
Where do our students go to continue their learning?
And then consider what might be useful to them:
What are their expectations of the school and does it meet
them?
Are our students well prepared for the next stage in their
learning?
What do they think the school does well?
What do they think it might do differently or better?
Anyone picking up a charter today would expect to get a sense
of the school and its community, its priorities and expectations
for students.

27. This guide contains useful information about school
employment.
It looks at:
legislation and regulations
payroll
appointing staff
concurrence
individual and team
performance.

28. Legislation and Regulations
A number of legal requirements and Ministry of Education
regulations exist for employment. The relevant legislation is
contained in these Acts:
Education Act 1989 still underpins
most education practice, including
employment.
State Sector Act 1988 part 7,
sections 73–77, Personnel
provisions, has relevance.
Employment Relations Act
2000 has many relevant parts – for
example, part 9, Personal
grievances, sections 102–128.

29. Ministry of Education regulations
NAG 3 relates to board and management responsibilities
under legislation on personnel and employment matters,
industrial policies, and being a good employer.
Employment agreements:
collective and individual
Employment agreements are used
to confirm the conditions of staff
employment. These pages provide
links to all school collective and
individual agreements

30. Payroll
Check that your school is using all the staffing it is entitled to.
This list will help you to overview payroll elements.
These regular tasks mean that
your staff will get paid. The
regular arrival of correct pay
ensures that they can meet
their financial commitments.
Even a few dollars missed off a payment or, even worse,
having to wait a fortnight for pay can result in financial
difficulties for people.

31. Confirm:-
the staffing levels determined and paid
for by the Ministry of Education.
who is paid directly by the Ministry of
Education from Teachers Salaries (TS).
other staffing determined and paid for
by the board of trustees.
who is paid from the Board Grant (BG).
Payroll
that the full cost of wages and salaries to be paid for from
BG for the year match with budget expectations.
 that your school’s banking staffing processes follow the
pattern you expect.

32. Check:-
the SUE (Staff Usage and
Expenditure) reports to see all your staff
have been paid correctly. Their level of
pay must fit the conditions of their
employment agreement. This includes
special allowances, responsibility
payments, and any adjustments from a
previous pay period.
Payroll
pay adjustments for the next pay period are made before the
'cut-off' time laid down by your pay authority.

33. Appointing Staff
As an educational leader, you will seek the best appointees
for your school.
Use processes that
ensure new staff
members are able
and ready to help
advance school
development.
This list will help you to plan the steps in advance that you
need to work through around staff appointments.

34. Appointing Staff
Identify what sort of appointment, if any, is possible or should
be made. Use curriculum needs, Ministry of Education
regulations, confirmed staffing levels, and board of trustees
budget limitations to help.
Know and use the
school’s advertising and
appointment procedures,
and ensure your
procedures meet the
requirements of the
Collective Employment
Agreements. Use
guidelines to assist.

35. Appointing Staff
Start with registration, contact
all referees, ask searching
questions about capability, and
think of and ask about what
has not been stated on paper
or in an interview.
During the selection and appointment process, carefully
check the background and performance of applicants.
Be very methodical in building a picture of applicants on
your short list.

36. Appointing Staff
Know and use the school induction processes to help the
new staff member adapt to the changes involved in a new
place of employment.
Details of appointment
processes and a range of
templates are available from
the web like: Resourcing
Handbook of School
Employment.
Here, you can understand the annual staffing cycles and
whether you are in a position to offer a teaching position.

37. How staff changes link to leading learning
It is 29 June. A permanent teacher resigned yesterday,
taking effect from end of the month. She is a composite year
3–4 class (if you are in a primary school) , or a teacher of
health and physical education.( if you are in a secondary
school).
You are lobbied by some staff and your board chair to
immediately advertise the position in the Gazette that closes
at 5.00pm tomorrow.
What are you, as the educational leader, going to do
about this by noon tomorrow?
What are you going to do?

38. Concurrence
The State Services Commissioner, under the State Sector Act
1988 has delegated the authority to the Education Secretary to
agree (grant “concurrence”) to a board of trustees wishing to
provide additional remuneration and other benefits in addition to
those specified in the Individual Employment Agreement (IEA).
An agreement between a board
of trustees and employee to
provide additional remuneration
or benefits is not legal or
binding without the Education
Secretary’s concurrence.

39. Additional remuneration or benefit are for the limited
purpose of recognizing and compensating the principal for
the performance of the additional duties or responsibilities.
The additional duties or
responsibilities performed must
be for the benefit of their
school.
Reasons usually considered
an acceptable basis for the
payment of additional
remuneration include (but are
not restricted to) management
of, and responsibility for:
Concurrence for additional Remuneration

40. When a board can apply for concurrence
Boards can apply for concurrence in two circumstances:
1.where the board has determined that the principal is
required to undertake responsibilities that are additional to
those normally required, and has agreed that it wishes to
pay additional remuneration.
2.following the settlement and
ratification of a collective
agreement. At this point all
remuneration or benefits that are
additional to those provided in the
the promulgated (IEA) are
terminated at the time the new
rates in the collective agreement
are paid for the first time.

41. Individual and Team performance
Teacher registration, performance management, and
appraisal are parts of many school scene. They are confirmed
as law in the State Sector Act 1988, the Education Act 1989
and its amendments, and the legal requirements of the
Employment Relations Act 2000.
You must follow their requirements.
You must be aware of how
collective or individual employment
agreements regulate some aspects
of appraisal and performance.
Linked to the legislation are
Ministry of Education regulations
and requirements.

42. Individual and Team performance
Increased emphasis on whole staff development has
expanded the importance of finding out how teachers are
performing, sharing teaching practice, and providing and
responding to meaningful teacher development.
A robust staff
appraisal system
will help you to
review how you
approach individual
and team
performance at
your school.

43.  understand the qualities of your staff.
 know and be satisfied with staff development processes at
our school.
know from regular reviews how staff development is
progressing and how to formulate teacher development goals
and strategies for the future.
know and understand the processes related to dealing with
teacher competency issues.
prepare to apply those processes to deal with competency
issues.
Staff appraisal system
A robust Appraisal system should be able to:
These sources of information focus on quality teachers,
quality teaching, and staff development:

44. A complaint about teacher performance
During the first month of being a principal, you have fielded
three expressions of concern about Mr Tim, a permanent
teacher, failing to provide his students with quality teaching.
Two of the concerns came from other staff and one is from
a parent you listened to at the latest school get-together.
The word 'concerns' is used because no-one has
specifically used the words 'complaint' or 'competency',
or committed their views to paper.
What are you going to do?
What are you going to do?

45. This guide contains useful information on understanding
school property.
It covers:
10 year property plans
School property policies and
procedures
Ministry’s guideline to
property and health and safety
Property management
Property and its relationship
to achievement strategies.

46. As principal you are responsible for ensuring the school’s
present and future achievement goals are served by your
school property.
Leadership related to property
involves:
ensuring compliance with
Ministry of Education property
regulations and requirements
resourcing strategically
ensuring a safe, orderly and
supportive environment
using the smart tools provided
by the MOE to efficiently
manage and enhance school
property.

47. 10 year property plans
The Ministry of Education property policies formally require all
10 Year Property Plans to to be based on the standardised
Building Condition Assessment methodology and the Modern
Learning Environments (MLE) assessment tool.
With support from their contracted
project manager, this process will
enable schools to rank planned
projects into three priority areas:
Priority 1: Health and safety
Priority 2: Essential infrastructure
Priority 3: Modernizing learning
environments to the
core standard

48. Check to ensure you have the core principles of school
property management, use and development sorted.
School property policy and procedures
Ensure school policies/procedures take
account of the resourcing, school
environment and smart tools leadership
dimensions and their application to each
and every phase of property decision-
making and actions.
Reflect on your property knowledge and skills that it meet the
expectations confirmed by the demands of your 10 years plan
Property Strategy and your school’s achievement goals.

49. Ministry’s guideline to property and health and safety
The Ministry of Education’s Property Toolbox is available
online. Its main focus is on state school property but has
some useful links for Integrated Schools.
It provides a clear explanation of
all the regulations and
requirements for state schools and
descriptions of the processes
involved for each stage of the
property management process.
It is essential ready reference for
all new principals and board
members.

50. Property management
Each board manages school property through applying
systematic processes that meet the requirements and
responsibilities defined in the Property Occupancy Document.
These are:
The 10 Year Property Cycle.
General maintenance from the bulk
grant.
Ministry of Education general support,
advice and, in special cases, funding in
times of emergency.
Community support and funding
where locally generated funds provide
for district facilities on the school site.

51. Property management
For example for a sports hall or a Gym, Health and Safety
procedures to meet the standards are required for all aspects
of school property use and maintenance including meeting the
requirements for building warrants of fitness.
Some large schools have
one or two board members
who undertake much of the
policy and implementation
work associated with
property.
Many boards will expect their principal to lead the processes
and step in to take action as required.

52. Property and its relationship to achievement strategies.
Most property projects now require
the employment of a professional
project manager. The principal
plays a key role in building strong
working relationships with the
MOE, property advisor and
property project managers.
Some rural schools have pooled resources so they can
employ a part-time person to oversee correct application of
Ministry policies and attend to sorting tenders, contracts with
builders and liaison with the property advisor.
In this way you learn quickly about property matters but do not
get buried in the details.

53. Capture the view of the school facilities and their use
Find out property needs, safety issues and wish lists:
Discuss classroom
capacity to provide the
setting for meeting
achievement goals with the
teachers and students.
Do this in their space.
(If there is a worst classroom in the school go there first)
Property and its relationship to achievement strategies.

54. This guide contains useful information about school finances
and resourcing.
It provides a financial
checklist and also covers:
sourcing general financial
information
school funding sources
keeping the accounts
preparing the budget
reporting on and reviewing
school finances

55. Sourcing general financial information
School finances information and resourcing is available in
Ministry of Education (your MOE) online handbooks:
Also known as the Funding,
Staffing and Allowances
Handbook, this sets out the
way schools are resourced
and includes associated
regulations and processes.
Schools need to have this in ‘hard copy’ but check that
updates in your copy match what is online.

56. School funding sources
Aside from funding school property, government money for
state and integrated schools comes in two main 'parcels‘,
paid through generated roll-based formulae. One is salaries
of all teachers, the other is operational funding, commonly
called BG or Bulk Grant.
Property funding for capital
works and funding for special
activities come from funds that
are administered through the
ministry property division.
Community-generated funds collected from fundraising,
donations and parental payments, trusts or fee-paying
students are another source of income for schools.

57. Teachers’ salaries (TS)
This funding is paid directly to teaching staff and the
Principal is responsible for ensuring that the level of staffing
for the school does not exceed the levels confirmed by the
Ministry of Education and that the specific payments to
teachers are correct in terms of employment agreements.
Each teacher should have
an employment file where
pay increases etc. are
located and noted through
a bring-up system.
Banking staffing monitors
the teachers’ pay.

58. Teachers’ salaries (TS)
It is important all principals fully understand how this works.
Banking staffing gives boards some flexibility in timing the
use of staffing entitlement.
In one year, schools can choose to:
anticipate up to 10 per cent of their
staffing entitlement - using it in
advance or going into overdraft; save
up staffing to use later in the year -
under-using or banking.
The school staffing clause provides a
clear explanation of staffing and
salaries regulations and processes,
including banking staffing.

59. It covers:
-presence and absence in schools:
-the administrative requirements
-your school attendance as it is now
-analyzing the data
- engagement and attendance
- getting beyond just data collection.
This guide focuses on the administration of attendance,
attendance levels at your school, and getting beyond the
collection of data.

60. Presence and absence:
-the administrative requirements
A good attendance system needs to be in place to support
quality learning. Good attendance systems help create
conditions for staff and students to work together
effectively.
In such a system, simple, clear
goals and effective procedures
are known and expected by all.
Directions, regulations, and
practices for managing student
attendance are well-defined and
available online.

61. Directions, regulations, and practices for managing student
attendance are well-defined and available online.
Use the Student Attendance collection as the source for
regulations and guidelines for in-school actions.
(Within the Student Attendance collection, use the
Attendance Guidelines for Schools to give you a clear
picture of the legal requirements and Ministry
expectations.)
Use the Attendance in School Report to get the picture
about attendance.
Keep up to date about attendance regulations with
an Electronic Attendance Register page.
(electronic registers provides useful policies and protocols,
reports on its use and tips about attendance practice. )

62. Your school attendance as it is now
Attendance and absence data collection is a daily chore
that involves every member of the school community.
However, as a daily, very familiar, routine, it can lack urgency
and importance in the minds of some students and their
families.
Checks are easier where
average presence is
consistently > 90% per cent.
In the 80–90% range, the
daily chore is very
demanding in terms of time.

63. use evidence to monitor
progress, plan, and manage
change
delegate the running of systems
to appropriate staff
establish contingency strategies
for when unseen circumstances
arise
analyse the attendance data to
understand school patterns.
Your school: attendance as it is now
Principals who use management systems to support and
enhance student learning: know effective management
practice and systems, use them, prioritize and select
targeted areas for improvement,:-

64. Analyzing the data
Look at the bottom 10 %. What is the impact of their poor attendance on
both, their achievement and school? Compare this with the nationwide
picture.
Identify issues that need consideration – like in-school variations and
truancy.
Provide staff with regular snapshots of absence issues.
What do students think 'poor attendance‘ is? Need for a change of
perspective?
Are you satisfied with your school’s absence record, collection, analysis,
follow-up, and benefits gained from the processes involved?
Take your in-school attendance data for a period, (say the
month of May) and analyze the patterns for girls, boys, different
ethnic groups, year levels, and Mondays and Fridays

65. Who has excellent attendance?
•Take the data for those who have excellent attendance and analyze it.
•Provide a report to the staff and board on those who attend well.
•What is done about students with very high levels of attendance?
•Do the characteristics of those students who have excellent
attendance provide any understandings that will help raise the levels of
attendance of others?
•What do students think 'excellent attendance is'?
Your school attendance patterns
•What are the correlations between attendance patterns and student
achievement for specific groups?
•What can you do about altering the present attendance situation?
•Keep these results readily available to assist school decision making and
action.
Analyzing the data

66. Engagement and attendance: beyond data collection
"Principals who focus the school culture on enhancing
learning and teaching:
-build distributed leadership
networks that secure commitment
and responsibility for continued
improvement through all levels of
the school
-challenge and modify values and
traditions which are not in
students’ best interests.”
(School Culture in Kiwi Leadership for Principals)

67. Non-attendance does not go away. Students may leave,
but the issue remains visible in school attendance records.
Engagement and attendance: beyond data collection
'In-school' or 'school-based'
factors offer the best starting
points for principals and
teachers to apply strategies
to reduce non-attendance.

68. Engagement and attendance: beyond data collection
Promotion of the school as a
supportive and caring place is
commonly at the core of
strategies to strengthen
engagement.
The nature of teaching and
learning is being included in
strategies to reduce absence
levels.
Such strategies can be viewed as 'pull factors', working
to retain or increase engagement in learning.

69. Dealing with poor attendance
-put in place a school-wide
attendance focus
-emphasize teachers'
responsibility for attendance
and
-to engage support agencies,
counselors, and other services
Decisions and actions to deal with poor attendance has to
be based on analysis of the school’s attendance data. A
guide as your school’s engagement in learning strategy:

70. Put in place a school-wide attendance focus
Put in place a school-wide attendance focus as part of
your school’s learning strategy to have a daily recording of
attendance that provides accurate and timely summaries
every week.
use the attendance data
across a range of people
(class or form teachers,
deans, senior staff) as a
basis for strengthening
student engagement through
personalized approaches and
systems
Dealing with poor attendance

71. Reflect (at least every 6 months)
the attendance issues of concern
to teachers and provide action
based on the day to day data
analysis.
work collaboratively with other
schools and other agencies.
Put in place a school-wide attendance focus
Dealing with poor attendance
apply absence and truancy procedures fully and consistently.
informed parents regularly about their children’s attendance
weaknesses and ask to play a key role in rectifying them.

72. Emphasize teachers' responsibility for attendance
Dealing with poor attendance
Reduce in-school variation in attendance: Teachers taking
responsibility for the attendance at their class(es) will
personalize messages to students about any lack of
attendance.
Such action is likely to bring
improvement when combined with
active work on engagement
processes to provide "dynamic
class rooms led rather than ruled
by teachers”

73. Target: Clearly identify those students who are not meeting
school expectations and require teachers to provide a
focus on them.
Dealing with poor attendance
Emphasize teachers' responsibility for attendance
Such an approach will bring
attendance improvement with
another 5–15 per cent of
students as they respond to a
more personalized education
system.

74. Engage support agencies, counselors, and other services
Dealing with poor attendance
Take responsibility for the truants and difficult cases by
participating in district support systems. Be able to clearly
identify who is in this group.
Truancy service group, social
welfare agencies, drug and
alcohol counselors and other
social services may all play a role
in working with the students who
have the worst attendance.
Develop effective communication
with these agencies. Ensure that
daily information flows are working
well, as required.

75. Engage support agencies, counselors, and other services
Dealing with poor attendance
Participate in district truancy
initiatives and support any local
committee.
Recognize that at intermediate
and secondary school level, the
complexity of working with truants
is often beyond the resources of
your school alone.
Ensure there are means to reintegrate students who have
had lengthy absences so the ‘pull factors’ of school can get
to work.

76. This guide offers some suggestions that will help you
to: -make the first term a positive one, -avoid major
issues and -develop good processes.
.It covers:
Making changes
Getting to know staff
Information on school performance
Building partnerships and networks
Professional advice
Being a teaching principal
Short-term goals
Relationships
Being a new principal
Sharing challenges & rewards

77. Make the first term a positive one
Listen, ask, and observe
before acting on any issues.
Check out traditional school
activities.
Become familiar with the
board and community's
expectations of their principal.
Starting off well in a school will make all the difference for a
new principal. Tuning in to the culture of the school will be
one of your key tasks when you begin your new job.

78. Making changes
Make the first term a positive one
Every new principal will make some changes, and your staff
will expect this. Before making a change, make sure everyone
who will be affected knows why and remember that 'winning'
your first challenge is important.
Be considerate in your decision-
making around change.
Some people may raise issues
and want instant answers or
solutions. Premature action
could lead to the very
relationship problem you want to
avoid, so look at the issue
carefully first.

79. Making changes
Make the first term a positive one
Let staff know that you are going to work in this way, but
avoid statements like, “I won’t change anything during my
first term here.” You may miss a good opportunity.
Some issues 'hanging over' from the
previous administration might have
to be dealt with.
Not making any changes may
suggest your tacit acceptance of
situations that could come back to
bite you.

80. Getting to know staff
Make the first term a positive one
Gather information that will help you get to know staff and
learn about the school at the same time.
Organize individual meetings in
their space. This is an opportunity
for a personal connection and to
find out about the school:
What do you value most about
the school?
What needs changing?
Responses to the latter question may be shared as long as
privacy is maintained.

81. Getting to know staff
Make the first term a positive one
Showing a personal interest
in staff members is
important.
In this way, they know you
care about them as
individuals, not just as
teachers or support staff.
Be visible around the school. Attend school social functions,
even initiate them if nothing is planned.

82. Information on school performance
MOE keeps information on your school set out in graphs and
tables, and compares your school’s it with collated information
for schools like yours on a number of issues.
You can access from the
appropriate site, with a user name
and password. You can also
access the last 15 years of property
development in your school,
including your current 5-year plan
and maintenance grant.
Have a look at your school’s last annual report, charter,
analysis of variance, and current goals. These will give you
information about the recent priorities and the financial position.

83. Building partnerships and networks
Local community will see you as an important person, so work
on developing your profile with them. Use any local events to
make yourself known and demonstrate that you are interested
in what's happening.
In rural areas,
there are many
opportunities for
becoming involved
in local events.

84. Building partnerships and networks
Principals’ meetings are places to make contact with
colleagues in the schools that yours contributes to, or that
contribute to yours; this includes early childhood if yours is a
primary school.
However, it is your school that
really counts. Your parent
group, board of trustees, PTA,
and any other school groups
are your most important
contacts.
Make the most of these contacts and listen to what they say.
You will build a picture as you do.

85. Until you find your feet, you might need ongoing support for
everyday management and organizational matters and for
dealing with professional, personnel, or community issues.
Professional advice
Ask for help when you need it.
Your principal colleagues will
respond. Cultivate a relationship
with a valued and trustworthy
colleague who can provide
support.
Everyone needs professional support and advice, especially
in the early stages of principalship..
If you do not have a personal contact who can help you,
contact a local Leadership and Management adviser.

86. If you are in this position, you will need to balance time spent
in the classroom with time spent out of it. If your teaching
component is small, you could use it in a specialist role, or to
meet a need in the school.
Being a teaching principal
If you have a sizeable teaching
component, you have the added
burden of significant teaching
preparation and the need to be
seen by others as an effective
classroom practitioner, as well as
a manager and leader.
Plan and prioritize your time out of the classroom so that you
deal with the most important matters. Delegate where possible

87. It is difficult to look too far ahead in a new job, so concentrate
on short-term goals until you have the confidence to start
thinking and planning for the longer-term future of the school.
Short-term goals

88. Research and experience make it clear that the vast majority
of problems in schools occur as a result of a breakdown in
relationships.
Relationships
As a new principal, one of your
most important tasks is to build
good relationships and help to
ensure that those of staff,
board, parents, and students
are working well too.
Make sure you deliver on what you promise, and avoid
statements like “at my last school …".

89. Being a new Principal
Sharing challenges & rewards