Professional Context
In 2016, Salford School were appointed a permanent Principal after a series of Relief Principals that spanned over a few years. As a Year 0-6 primary school in a decile 8 socio-economic area Salford had become reliant on many out-of-zone enrolments due to historical events that had taken place prior to this time frame.
This opportunity has allowed Salford to re-establish the values of the school and begin to rebrand itself as a contender for future students in a already very limited zone. With a new Principal comes new systems and structures that in the long run should help to establish better practices within the school allowing the staff to be committed to a unified focus/purpose.
Louise Stoll (1998) recognises the impact of changes and how they can influence a school's culture. Salford School was an example of how this could be a negative impact or a positive impact. The school experienced both the highs and lows of changes and the ripple effect it had on the community at the time. As the school culture changed due to the school participants changing what was seen as problematic at the time has now become the driving force behind the success that the school is experiencing once again.
Salford has now established School Values to guide the students and help foster the ideal attributes of the Salford community:
- We are responsible.
- We are respectful.
- We are caring.
- We work hard.
These four values were the key qualities that our wider school community addressed in a recent school survey as the main values they want their child/children to achieve by the time they leave Salford. Stoll (1998) details in her journal article that culture is 'situationally unique' and that each school can have a different mindset of the way in which they do things. Salford School is currently working to grow on this and develop their own culture to reflect the mindset of their students, staff and wider community. From this we have been able to establish PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) across the school, therefore, minimising the occurrence of behaviour issues. Teachers are now becoming more confident in the systems and how to handle these type of matters unlike in previous years.
Salford School is often mistaken as a school that attracts students from affluent backgrounds but times have changed and being considered a decile 8 school is no longer a realistic reflection. A large percent of our student, almost half, are from out of zone or are moving from rental to rental frequently. Many of our students travel across town as their local school does not have a desirable reputation of behaviour. Socio-economically this distribution of students across our town does not match the Ministry's allocation of decile and funding.
Martin Thrupp (2006) is an advocate for engagement of families in schools and the benefits of a home-school partnerships. He believes this is a huge indicator in academic success with the lower socio-economic households. We strive to break down the current walls that have been figuratively built around our school and look to invite the community back into the school. Of recent months we have made the first steps to this commitment, especially with our bicultural families in the Māori community. This is a new initiative and has already presented some testing times but as a school we are determined to build this partnership. Many wanted to see changes in the school at a recent hui but have since distanced themselves from any changes that need their support or assistance. The school has then continued on their pathway with those that are committed to implementing biculturalism into the school as a natural component.
This opportunity has allowed Salford to re-establish the values of the school and begin to rebrand itself as a contender for future students in a already very limited zone. With a new Principal comes new systems and structures that in the long run should help to establish better practices within the school allowing the staff to be committed to a unified focus/purpose.
Louise Stoll (1998) recognises the impact of changes and how they can influence a school's culture. Salford School was an example of how this could be a negative impact or a positive impact. The school experienced both the highs and lows of changes and the ripple effect it had on the community at the time. As the school culture changed due to the school participants changing what was seen as problematic at the time has now become the driving force behind the success that the school is experiencing once again.
Salford has now established School Values to guide the students and help foster the ideal attributes of the Salford community:
- We are responsible.
- We are respectful.
- We are caring.
- We work hard.
These four values were the key qualities that our wider school community addressed in a recent school survey as the main values they want their child/children to achieve by the time they leave Salford. Stoll (1998) details in her journal article that culture is 'situationally unique' and that each school can have a different mindset of the way in which they do things. Salford School is currently working to grow on this and develop their own culture to reflect the mindset of their students, staff and wider community. From this we have been able to establish PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) across the school, therefore, minimising the occurrence of behaviour issues. Teachers are now becoming more confident in the systems and how to handle these type of matters unlike in previous years.
Salford School is often mistaken as a school that attracts students from affluent backgrounds but times have changed and being considered a decile 8 school is no longer a realistic reflection. A large percent of our student, almost half, are from out of zone or are moving from rental to rental frequently. Many of our students travel across town as their local school does not have a desirable reputation of behaviour. Socio-economically this distribution of students across our town does not match the Ministry's allocation of decile and funding.
Martin Thrupp (2006) is an advocate for engagement of families in schools and the benefits of a home-school partnerships. He believes this is a huge indicator in academic success with the lower socio-economic households. We strive to break down the current walls that have been figuratively built around our school and look to invite the community back into the school. Of recent months we have made the first steps to this commitment, especially with our bicultural families in the Māori community. This is a new initiative and has already presented some testing times but as a school we are determined to build this partnership. Many wanted to see changes in the school at a recent hui but have since distanced themselves from any changes that need their support or assistance. The school has then continued on their pathway with those that are committed to implementing biculturalism into the school as a natural component.
Comments
Post a Comment