From the Principal
Recently the reference groups have been working to review our school performance for the IPS review due in Term 3. My group is reviewing leadership in the school. The term leadership can be a misnomer as most in a school think that it refers directly to the Principal or the Deputy Principals. In fact, it is about all the layers of leadership in the school. From the Principal, (obvious) through the Program Coordinators and club organisers to the staff that are here after hours working to innovate their classes to achieve the goals of the school (not so obvious).
I recently read an article in Forbes that has this great quote,
'Real leaders rise and identify themselves. If you want to find the next generation of leaders in your organization, build a culture where they can soar'.
I believe that we have an excellent culture here that provides an opportunity for staff to take on leadership roles. Pivotal is understanding the vision for the school. If I can make the vision for the school really clear – anyone – anytime, can step into the space and lead their colleague, their learning area, a group of colleagues or the whole school to change practice that enables school improvement and hence student improvement.
En Avant
ANZAC Day
Thank you to all the staff that were involved in the planning and execution of our ANZAC day commemoration. It was very well done. I received an email of congratulations from Cr Brown who attended our commemoration, he was moved by the service.
I attended both the Bunbury City dawn service and the midmorning march on Sunday. Both were great events. I regularly attend dawn services but I have never been part of the veteran’s march. It was very moving. Please congratulate Megan Bain and Kaitlyn Myles who attended the mid-morning parade to represent Bunbury Senior High School and lay a wreath.
Nuts and Bolts
As I alluded to in the allstaff email, personally I am taking precautions to ensure my own health. Please continue to encourage good hand and contact hygiene among our students.
School Board nominations have closed and new board members will be announced this week.
Shared Instructional Framework
The Hook
The Hook strategy is a short opening into a lesson, that prepares the students for the upcoming material that they will be learning. The Hook is meant to be a short (ten seconds to three minutes)
Examples of a “good” hook are: an engaging story; an analogy connecting the following lesson to the students' lives and, or interest; some type of prop, to be used as a hands on example; a source of media (music or video) that is short and avoids distraction; something that promotes the status of the lesson or material that will be taught; give them a challenge that gets their minds thinking
Why it works:
- Our goal as educators is to get the lessons and information we are teaching into the long-term memory of our students. The Hook strategy can do this by starting your lesson with something that the individual can relate to, something that will grasp their attention. Once you have done this, the individual will then be able to relate the hook to their new information, making it easily accessible in their long term memory filing cabinet.