This document discusses strategies for a new principal to familiarize themselves with the culture of a school. It recommends tuning into topics like inspection reports, policies, and celebrations. Minutes from staff and board of management meetings provide insight into the school's self-evaluation process and improvement plan. The document also outlines "big ticket" priorities like frameworks for leadership, teaching and learning, wellbeing guidelines, and school self-evaluation. It stresses linking these priorities through the self-evaluation process. Finally, it offers tips for planning and running effective initial staff meetings, including checking past meeting minutes and agendas and focusing discussions.

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SETTING SAIL 1
Leo Hogan & Ed O’Donovan

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• Tuning in to School Culture
• ‘Big Ticket’ Items for 2017/2018
• Staff Meetings
Topics

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• WSE and inspection reports
• Mission Statement and other policy docs
• What’s celebrated – photos, Newsletters,
website and other social media
• Parent Council & Student Council agenda
• Get to know staff – family issues, areas of
involvement in school
• School role in the community
Tuning In

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• Minutes of recent Staff Meetings
• Minutes of recent BOM Meetings
• Records of the School Self-Evaluation (SSE)
process and the School Improvement Plan
(SIP) that was published
• LC Results
• Summer Exam Reports – pay close
attention to the teacher comments
Tuning In contd

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Are there other ways of
familiarising yourself with
the school’s culture?
Think/Share

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Big Ticket Items
1. Looking At Our School 2016
2. Framework for NJC 2015
3. Wellbeing Guidelines
4. School Self-Evaluation 2016-
2020
5. Circular 0040/2016 –
Continuing SSE
6. Circulars 0024/2016 and
0015/2017 –
Implementation of NJC
7. Circular 29/2017 – Junior
Cycle Resources
(Professional Time & Admin
Grant

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• These (LAOS, NJC, Wellbeing & SSE) are not
4 separate projects
• SSE should be used to implement
Wellbeing, which is part of NJC, and
develop LAOS
• The appendices to the Wellbeing Guidelines
are excellent SSE tools
Big Ticket

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A set of clear, definable standards in two dimensions:
• teaching and learning
• leadership and management
To be used selectively
• choose what is relevant and useful
• do so reflectively and collaboratively
What is in LAOS?

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Leadership & Management (LAOS)

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Teaching & Learning (LAOS)

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Teacher Questionnaire
(Wellbeing Guidelines)

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• You are required to publish the school’s SIP
and its Wellbeing Programme to the school
community – probably through website
• Use SSE and the Wellbeing Questionnaires to
(further) develop the Wellbeing Programme
• Use SSE to examine aspects of the domains in
LAOS
• JCT and PDST will support you and your school
• Your BOM has a role here also – you’re not
alone
SSE/LAOS/NJC Links

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• Check if the school has started the process
of developing and publishing a Wellbeing
Programme, with input from students,
teachers and parents
• Is there a Wellbeing Team in place?
• Has the use of Croke Park hours been
decided and ratified by BOM? How much of
this time allocated to SSE/LAOS/NJC? How
will the 22hours/teacher be used?
Next Steps

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• The school may use the old syllabus for
each of PE, SPHE and CSPE for its WB
Programme but….Appendix I
• Recommend using new specification for
each because the work already done and
you may assess as short courses if >100 hrs
• The decision between syllabus/spec should
be reflected in published programme
Syllabus or Specification?

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It is likely that you are at a table with principals from
ETB schools who have already been involved in
aspects of NJC and have availed of 3 days of
inservice.
1. What has your school and other schools
done to date, in relation to SSE/LAOS/NJC
& WB?
2. Where will you start in your school?
Think/Share

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• Teaching & Learning on agenda of every Staff
Meeting (& BOM Meeting)
• In secondary schools, your Trust may expect
the charter to feature regularly
• Check current systems for:
– Minute-taking and recording – who, where?
– Chairing meetings
– Deciding the agenda
– What’s recorded? Emailed or posted on board?
Revise/change, if necessary, through discussion
Staff Meetings

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• Venue
• Protocols – punctuality, mobile phones,
confidentiality,
• Prayer/reflection to begin
• Managing the strong/vocal staff, creating a
safe environment, democracy
• Create independence – you don’t have all the
answers
• Did you promise to do something in particular
for this meeting? Is it done?
Staff Meetings

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• Split items into
– Information
– Discussion
• Consider group-work for the items
requiring discussion: Selecting groups?
• In advance of the meeting, look at the
agenda and ask yourself, ‘what would be a
good outcome?’ This helps you to steer the
meeting towards a decision.
Staff Meetings – The Agenda

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• Seating arrangements – shouldn’t be an
area where a group always sits
• Self-aware: watch your personal triggers
• Begin to recognise indicators of impending
conflict
• Respect and other basic protocols
• Leadership is about positive influence
Staff Meetings - Other

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• Check minutes of last Staff Meeting
• Check the agenda and minutes of last year’s
first staff meeting when drafting this year’s
agenda
• In your letter to staff, invite items for
agenda
• Finish with lunch, provided by the school?
• Remember: your enthusiasm may not be
matched by staff
Your First Staff Meeting

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In your experience of Staff Meetings:
1. What works well?
2. What factors contribute to a poor
meeting?
Think/Share