Shining a light on MACS

As I grow and learn in my new leadership role, I aim to shine a light on the truly remarkable and inspiring work carried out by passionate and dedicated MACS staff who, together with the schools, leaders and communities that they serve, ensure all learners "reach their potential and be the best version of themselves" (MACS manifesto). 

The light of the new MACS logo and the accompanying manifesto "lighting their path" (see below) could not be more apt. 

MACS logo - I acknowledge the source of the image located at this link

MACS Staff Seminar October 2022

The dining room at the Catholic Leadership Centre was full to capacity with almost 600 staff from all Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) offices (Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western offices and James Gould House headquarters).

This was the first in - person gathering of its kind post Covid; a golden opportunity for me to be immersed into a system undergoing deep change since the transformation from CEM (Catholic Education Melbourne) to MACS 24 months ago.

The purpose of the staff seminar was to provide a platform for staff voice in relation to the recently launched MACS Strategy 2030.

MACS 2030 Forming Lives to Enrich the World 

Purpose “why we exist” Forming lives of faith, hope and love in the light of Jesus Christ

Vision - “the impact we want to have” Every student is inspired and enabled to flourish and enrich the world.

You can access full details about the strategy at this link 

The energy in the room was tangible as colleagues from across Melbourne reconnected in person. Faces glowed with beaming smiles no longer hidden behind Covid masks.

Being invited along with 100 other newcomers (staff who joined MACS in the past few months) to stand up and be warmly welcomed to our first staff seminar was indeed a privilege. This was my first experience of interacting with all staff who contribute to Catholic education at the system level. Together MACS staff serve nearly 300 schools and 100,000 students from across Melbourne.

Three months into my new role as Regional Leadership Consultant (RLC) has meant a shift in mind set and culture for me. I have moved from leading one school to being responsible for supporting, coaching and mentoring principals & leadership teams across 15 schools. Together with my 4 RLC colleagues, our Regional General Manager and all 40 of the staff based in the Southern Regional Office (SRO), we support almost 80 schools.

Although I can draw from a toolkit of 25 years of leadership experience across 4 countries, I am still a novice in this exciting, new role. I am passionate about learning and keen to understand how I can adapt, develop and nuance my skills to best suit the diverse contexts of the schools and the MACS system. I am constantly asking questions as I continue to develop and grow in my role. I am fortunate to work alongside 40 talented staff where no questions is too difficult to answer.

During the seminar, we formed mini groups of staff from a wide variety of roles and were given the chance to discuss the questions below. Here is a summary of the responses from our mini group. All groups were invited to share with the wider group and were very appreciative of the chance to provide feedback and staff voice.

What do you find most exciting about MACS 2030 ? The strategy is fresh and broad enough for our diverse personnel to relate to. The timing of the strategy works well with the restructuring and change to the MACS governance model. The strategy connects and aligns the work for all of our groups through a shared vision and it encompasses all elements though such themes as flourishing learners, building capabilities, building relationships and a sense of community. The strong faith focus underpins our mission. Being given time today to focus on the strategy and understand it further, helps all of us to connect with it.

What changes do you want to see by 2030? We would particularly like to see equity for all learners so that they can all flourish. We want to retain high quality learning environments for every student and close the gap between privileged and underprivileged students. We want all students to become critical thinkers to prepare them to be active participants in the world beyond the classrooms.

How do we need to change by 2030 ? We want to see greater clarity for schools as a whole entity about the role that all MACS staff play for the greater good of our system. We want to ensure that we will work collaboratively across our offices and share consistent messages to all schools.

To help us achieve our Purpose and Vision, what suggestions or next steps do you have ?  The value in having more opportunities to collaborate like today where all MACS staff across regions & central offices can learn together and align their work would be beneficial. In summary, we conclude with the C's: role Clarity, Communication, Collaboration, Connection, Consistency and Courage for all of us going forward.

Following on from this activity, we were invited to celebrate mass together with Father Mark Reynolds. Fr Mark is the Episcopal Vicar to Catholic Schools. You can learn more about Father Mark's role at this link. Fr Mark reminded each of us to be God's flavour in the world. 

In November, after the annual thanksgiving mass for principals led by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli at St Patrick's Cathedral, Fr Mark presented the recognition awards to to new and retiring principals. 

At the Principal Celebration evening, Fr Mark Reynolds 
presented me with my certificate of recognition for principalship

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the MACS system and be able to shine a light on the positive impact that passionate and dedicated MACS staff, together with the schools, leaders and communities that they serve, ensure all learners "reach their potential and be the best version of themselves"(MACS manifesto) so that we can all flourish.

The manifesto

Light is a powerful thing.

It can lift you up. Guide the way. Help the world flourish.

That’s why we shine a light on each and every one of our students.

One that fills them with knowledge, skills, care, respect and experience.

Our guiding principles helping them reach their potential and be the best versions of themselves.

Because when we do, it leads to brighter futures.

Those in which our students can become a guiding light themselves.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools. Lighting their path.

Acknowledgements

MACS system leaders and staff for their contribution to the staff seminar

MACS Manifesto and Strategy 2030 sites for the links

SRO staff for their leadership, guidance and constant support for the leaders and schools across the region and for myself as a new team member

Vision & Core Values 3 Years After Inception

How do you respond when a school parent sends you an email and states This is not reflective of the St Patrick’s vision statement or policies ?

Towards the end of 2020, during the unprecedented challenges of COVID and when the students were back onsite, I received such an email.

Clearly there was a concern, however, direct reference to and a quote taken from our school vision statement were a joy to behold. We received "open and honest" feedback (one of our core values) aligned to our school wide vision. A member of the community was indicating that they related to our vision and were holding fast to it come what may.

Where did our vision narrative, core values and mental model originate from ? In preparation for a day of reflection with the staff, let me put our vision and core values into context ; three years on from commencing the Schools That Deliver professional learning process.

THE WHY

 Students become the leaders of the future through internally driven change 21 Nov 2017

PHASE 1

THE HOW

Empowerment, passion and unified purpose  (staff feedback about the process) 16 April 2018

Staff Generate Future Focussed Vision & Core Values for ALL Learners (27 April 2018) Summary of shared vision and values.

Disruption, Creativity: Innovate 2 flourish 22 July 2018 

Active participation and deep reflection stimulated by the Edward's and Martin Delivering Innovation Conference (June, 2018) led to the creation of a video. The personal challenge was to succinctly capture two full days of powerful learning in a three minute animated video to share with others.
This sums up the approach we are taking as part of the Schools That Deliver Process.

PAUSE & REFLECT

2020 Covid ?   Disruption? Comfort zones ? Creativity ? Innovation ?

Conference to reality ; shift happens together  17 Aug 2018 4 Research teams and practice fields

Practice Fields Lead to Quick Wins for Learners 11 Nov 2018. Shared outcomes of Practice Fields

PHASE 2

Storming to Norming; Multiple Voices Co Design Quality Actions to Propel Our School Forward 20 April 2019

Reflection of Phase 1 - Outcomes of staff research and recommendations during the first year lead to draft long term plan going forward.

Specific Focus Review Through a Core Values Lens  2 May 2019

Using the core values as a focus for the School Review. How will we gather evidence for our review ?
We will use the core values as the lens through which we gather data for the review. The values were chosen by staff in 2018 as the five key ways to treat each other at our school. The values link to the CEM (now Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools MACS) Horizons of Hope curriculum with a clear focus on honouring the sacred dignity of the human person. If we concentrate on the human element, we will build a sense of belonging and increase student wellbeing data whilst contributing to a natural lift in academic standards.

Archaeological Dig Unearths Invaluable Treasures. 7 Sep 2019

TEAMS

Recommendations from the review led to our staff and leaders developing a new leadership model at St Patrick's school that encourages everyone to take ownership and contribute collectively. It is a team based approach to growing leadership capacity and capability across our staff and was implemented at the start of 2020. 

The team based approach is a shift from silos of learning led by independent leaders to collaborative learning teams. Every staff member is part of an equitable team and together take responsibility within three areas developed and agreed on by staff: Faith and Community; Faith, Wellbeing and Diversity; Faith and Curriculum.
Just as all schools include Child Safety on every meeting agenda, we agreed to include the word "faith" in all of our teams. We want to ensure that the Catholicity of our school is kept at the forefront of all that we do. We are ALL responsible for the Catholic faith at St Patrick's. 
The first sentence of our shared school vision states: St Patrick's is a school where our Catholic identity underpins all we do. Our new School Improvement Plan reflects this innovative approach. Once a week after school, two POL leaders from within each team work alongside staff to achieve the annual actions developed by teams from the School Improvement Plan.

POST REVIEW FEEDBACK 

Twelve months on from the review and during the first week back onsite for our staff and children following on from the 100 day COVID lockdown, the leadership team met with Maree Homes (Regional Leadership Consultant), Brittany Ford (Religious Education Consultant) and Donna Anderson (Learning Consultant School Effectiveness). We had a forty five minute conversation in which all leaders contributed. Here is 3 minute excerpt of the feedback given to us by the MACS ( Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools) leaders from the Southern Regional Office.

All of the COVID posts during 2020 focused on our core values. "Throughout the challenges of the pandemic, holding tight to our core values with faith filled hearts enables our community to thrive".

Our core values are now aligned to the House Awards (daily) and Assembly Awards (weekly) and we continue to embed them in all that we do. 

Our values are a way of living and working together and our agreed mental models remind us of what is important to us in our work as we realise the vision for our community.

Our Mental Models

• Source evidence based research.

• Work in practice fields and trial innovations and interventions.

• Action authentic cycles of deep inquiry. 

• The knowledge is in us all.

• Slower is faster and less is more.

• Move forward and deeply through powerful questions. 

• Listen, listen and listen.

• Be outward facing through active participation in the following networks and collectives: RE Network, RE Collective, STEM Network, SWIF (School wide Improvement)

Strengthened and enriched as a committed staff team, we will continue to propel our school forward with renewed energy, quality, passion and purpose to ensure "learners leave St Patrick's self motivated ready to make a positive impact on their world".

Action without vision is only passing time, vision without action is merely daydreaming, but vision with action can change the world (Mandela & Barker, 2013)

                                        

Rome, Review, Regeneration leads to Faith, Hope and Innovation

Two incredibly deep and rich experiences in 2019 contributed to the regeneration of a leadership model enabling authentic growth of shared capability across our school in 2020.

Principals from across Melbourne connect at the Trevi Fountain

Rome
The first experience was a sponsored, residential formation program in Italy entitled Educating Head, Heart and Hands made available through a partnership between Catholic Education Melbourne (CEM) and Australian Catholic University (ACU). The intensive residential programme was taught through ACU's postgraduate unit Catholic Education - Mission, Culture and Spirituality. After three weeks of lectures, workshops and excursions to places of religious significance including an audience with Pope Francis, I attempted to capture my reflection in several ways. I presented a slideshow of photos and gifted artefacts to the staff, board and the children at my school. Yet, this was all at a superficial level. I remained dissatisfied with my efforts.
Eight months later, I realise that the breadth and depth of the Rome immersive learning experience was boundless.
The powerful experience still lingers within my very being and is subconsciously influencing my thoughts, decisions, interactions and dialogue with colleagues, family and friends.
Here is a brief snapshot of statements that reflect my experience in Rome:

• Rome oozes Catholicity from every nook and cranny 
• Rome is a vibrant city where social actions abound
• Frescoes from the past tell stories that bring rich Catholic and interfaith traditions to life today
• The Vatican offices shared strong messages about the need for an educational revolution focused on humanity (Global Compact on Education)
• Encyclical "Laudato Si" is more than caring for the environment but about caring for the sacred dignity of humanity.
• "Education is a matter of the heart.." St John Bosco
• Be positive and celebrate our Catholic faith. Celebrate all of the good that Catholics from the past have done and Catholics from the present are doing now.
• Celebrate the faith-filled God that is welcoming, forgiving and loving, not condescending or judging.

Wise words from CEM leaders during the post-program session continue to resound within my head, heart and hands: "tap into something rich and deep"; "it's a well to draw upon"; "our system will be richer for the experience" (Sharkey, Fumei & Lennon, 2019).

Review
Immediately after Rome, I was immersed into the second experience, our four yearly school review. We were fortunate to be able to choose the style of the review. We chose a Specific Focus Review as a specialised challenge for improvement in specific, focused areas emanating from rigorous, evidence-based self-reflection.
The review was an authentic, deep inquiry into school wide practices led by an independent reviewer in conjunction with CEM. You can read about the review process at this link. As the review was a true inquiry, the outcome was unexpected, yet aligned with our school vision and core values and made perfect sense. You can read the full review report prepared by Mary Wilson, the Lead Reviewer at this link.
An outcome of the review was that staff developed a totally different leadership model to trial as a "practice field" for 2020. The process of developing this model and the way it is still evolving in practice is innovative for our unique school community. The model is inherently underpinned by the message from Rome:
We are all responsible together as teachers and leaders in our school to carry out the message from Vatican II - the mission of the Church ; to enable the full flourishing of humanity.

Regeneration
For the past two years, staff professional learning with the Schools That Deliver Network, is enabling our community to flourish. Every staff member has en equal voice in all decisions within our school. At the same time, we make space and time for every individual to share their gifts and talents and contribute to bringing our school wide shared vision to life not excluding students and parents.
For example:

• "We seek opportunities for social justice connections.." Student-driven initiatives such as Hayden's Helping Hands led by the Palmer family is an outreach action from the heart.  
• "St Patrick's school taps into the expertise and initiatives of our parents.." numerous parents are contributing their skills to workgroups including: Child Safety; Occupational Health and Safety; Inclusion and Diversity; Grants; Education ; Parents and Friends

Using a "Schools That Deliver mindset" where every voice is heard, staff reflected on the recommendations from the review (the "archaeological dig") and a new leadership model that encourages everyone to take ownership and contribute collectively emerged.

At the staff Consultative Meeting in October 2019, based on the review data, it was clear that school wide traditional Positions of Leadership (POL) needed to be revisited and recontextualised to align with the review outcomes and school vision narrative. The Consultative Committee agreed that the Leadership Team (8 teachers representative of all areas across the school) would work together and use the review data and staff voice collated from two post review staff meetings to develop a team based POL model. The outcome is a team based approach to growing leadership capacity and capability across our staff.

Faith
The team based approach is a shift from silos of learning led by independent leaders to collaborative learning teams. Every staff member is part of an equitable team and together take responsibility within three areas agreed on by staff: Faith and Community; Faith, Wellbeing and Diversity; Faith and Curriculum. 

Just as all schools include Child Safety on every meeting agenda, we agreed to include the word "faith" in all of our teams. We want to ensure that the Catholicity of our school is kept at the forefront of all that we do.
The first sentence of our shared school vision states: St Patrick's is a school where our Catholic identity underpins all we do. Our new School Improvement Plan reflects this innovative approach. Once a week after school, two POL leaders from within each team work alongside staff to achieve the annual actions developed by teams from the School Improvement Plan.

Hope
Four years ago, little did I know that the words inscribed on a thoughtful gift from a colleague; "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a for a future "(Jeremiah 29:11) would inspire our whole school community.

The gift is the centrepiece of the meeting table in my office and has remained in view for those gathering around the table for numerous meetings over the past three years.
When our 2020 Leadership Team met before the new school year began, the theme of hope emerged in light of a summer of devastating bushfires and ongoing challenges for colleagues, family members and friends and the more recent Coronavirus (COVID -19) pandemic.

As a principal representative on the Victorian Association of Catholic Primary School Principals (VACPSP) conference committee, all members agreed that the theme for the 2021 conference will be Hope - Hope for now and whatever lies ahead. I was pleased to be able to share aspects of my Rome experience to underpin my contribution in supporting the hope theme for the VACPSP conference.

We have commenced 2020 with a renewed focus on who we are as teachers and leaders in a Catholic school today within a plural context. We have hope for our community and each other.

Innovation
We are hopeful that our planned approach to build staff capability will "create autonomy for staff to drive innovation for things that matter to them " (Edwards 2018). Being innovative is not about jumping in at the deep end and trying the latest fad. Innovation means "stretching our learning and going beyond what we already know ; moving beyond the safety of competence" ( Edwards 2018). Innovation is about being purposeful about understanding the needs of a context and taking brave actions for improvement based on an in depth analysis of data.
The focus of the 2018 Schools That Deliver Conference was a powerful Innovation Model designed by Edwards and Witten-Hannah. You can read my reflection at this link and watch the short video I created. The Innovation Model has a proven record of delivering significant results in business, sporting and educational institutions.

Edwards and Witten-Hannah Innovation Model

I can liken our regeneration and recontextualisation experience to the Edwards and Witten-Hannah Innovation Model:

• Phase One of Innovation: The Understanding Phase The strong, deep and effective self-review process led by Mary Wilson, enabled us to deeply understand our needs with the one resounding recommendation that came for all parties: To embrace, embed and embody in all we do.... "St Patrick's is a school where our Catholic identity underpins all we do".
• Phase Two of Innovation: The Design Phase The post review engagement activities with staff and leadership enabled an opportunity to present multiple solutions and identify the strongest leadership model to test in 2020.
• Phase Three of Innovation: The Implementation Phase The team leadership model is now being tested as a practice field for 2020 and six weeks into the school year response from staff so far include: "We are all learning together";"Authentic staff voice is guiding our decisions";"We are all hands on now, problem solving together. We are no longer reliant on one person's knowledge"; "We have to remind each other of the Senge mental models we follow as a staff - "slower is faster" and "less is more"; "the knowledge is in the room".
• Phase Four of Innovation: The Refine Phase Weekly cadence review meetings focus on feedback and invite rich, open and honest dialogue enabling ongoing refinement of the model.

As recommended in our review report: "Teachers and leaders are all taking responsibility with the powerful voice of classroom practitioners guiding the pace, peeling back complex layers and aiming to do less and do it well, enabling the Catholic identity to authentically underpin all that we do at St Patrick's."
Pope Francis reminds us that he is still learning. We are all learning and we are responsible for deepening our faith together. Our diversity is a gift and contributes to our ability to enrich the head, hearts and minds of each other and the diversity of our community. We are fortunate to work in a system that allows freedom to innovate and places trust in school leaders to understand the unique needs of their school communities.
Purposeful and continuous iterations of our leadership model will contribute to the regeneration and growth of shared capability across our school and provide agency for our community to flourish.

Acknowledgements:
Catholic Education Melbourne for sponsoring the Educating, Head, Hearts and Hands formation program for Principals and Leaders 2019.
Dr Paul Sharkey, Paul Fumei and Chris Lennon (wise CEM leaders quoted above).
Professor Sr Peta Goldburg rsm (LIC), Professor Br David Hall fms and Fr Anthony Casamento csma from ACU & CUA Campus Garibaldi 28, Rome
Mary Wilson from BATS Your vision your future
William Martin, John Edwards, Mary Wilson, Teresa Edwards from Schools That Deliver
Annie Nelson, Principal, St Mary's Gore, New Zealand (thank you for your gift of hope x)

Addendum:
Research for the above blogpost began in 2019 during a time when Rome was untouched by COVID-19. Today, on the 26th March 2020, only two weeks after publishing this post, Italy and many countries around the world including Australia and New Zealand have gone into lock down to enable humanity to survive the fatal virus. I recently read that although silence abounds in the deserted streets of Rome, the church bells continue to ring out. With heartfelt prayers for healthcare workers and essential service personnel at the forefront of this pandemic may we hold tight to the sacred dignity of humanity with a profound sense of hope and a renewed future.

I wish to acknowledge Laura Kelly Fanucci, the author of this poem published on 18 March 2020:

When this is over, may we never again take for granted

A handshake with a stranger, Full shelves at the store, Conversations with neighbours, 
A crowded theatre, Friday night out, The taste of communion
A routine checkup, The school rush each morning, Coffee with a friend, The stadium roaring
Each deep breath, A boring Tuesday,
Life itself.
When this ends, may we find that we have become more like the people we wanted to be, we were called to be, we hoped to be and may we stay that way — better for each other because of the worst.

Archaeological Dig Unearths Invaluable Treasures

After returning from a trip to Rome, a city known for it's archaeological treasures,  I was astonished to discover that our school review would mirror an "archaeological dig". The"dig" was an authentic, hands on experience, where open ended questions generated rich, deep dialogue and the unearthing of layer upon layer of invaluable treasures.

An archaeological "dig" in Rome.

In April 2019, our leadership team began gathering evidence of student, staff and parent voice to inform our Specific Focus School Review (this link provides background information about the review). The evidence reflected our core value focus around respect and positivity and included records of conversations, emails, See saw posts and notes from meetings with the Student Representative Council. Preparation for the review involved completing a self-assessment of the Leadership and Management, Student Well Being and Religious School Improvement Framework (SIF) Rubrics from Catholic Education Melbourne. We also revisited our Enhancing Catholic Identity survey data and RE surveys in light of the Horizons of Hope education framework for the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

The review led by Mary Wilson (renowned international, executive coach ) took place towards the end of August 2019. The agreed focus question that drove the review was:

How could our research and inquiry culture be further developed to maximise impact for the learner?

Striving to remain loyal to the voice of staff explicitly articulated in a vision narrative developed with the Schools That Deliver Network early in 2018, meant making sure our review specifically aligned with the vision. You can read about the vision process at this link.

In the shared vision it states:

“The whole staff are involved in decisions regarding Action Research. Any research is relevant to the needs of our learners and is used to strengthen outcomes, ensuring the curriculum has a positive and meaningful impact.”

The agreed review methodology was:

1. Staff action research will inform the review and the future focus.
2. The action learning process will be utilised throughout the review period as the data is used to design action, perform the action, gather more data and design new action, perform that action and so on.
3. The review will involve all staff, students and wider community.
4. The review will be led by the leadership team.

On the second day of the review, Mary invited the leadership team to carry out an archaeological dig of the evidence. We worked in pairs to examine the evidence in depth, leading to the revelation of treasures; affirmations, commendations and recommendations. Here were some of the questions that guided the archaeological dig:

How has our research inquiry process maximised impact for our learners ?
What are the things we need to develop further ?
What are the key impacts of our action research based culture ? and What have we done really well ?

Commendations -  Based on the data, what are the key things we have embedded with great quality ?
Affirmations - What are we doing well and need to keep working on ?
Recommendations -What are the next steps going forward ?

At the end of the "dig", we met with staff and shared the process but not the treasures with them. Staff were given time to work in pairs and record their commendations, affirmations and recommendations.

SNAP !! When we matched the leadership treasures to the staff treasures - they aligned perfectly.

What are the treasures ? What are the affirmations, commendations and recommendations ?
Once we receive the formal report from Mary, we will proudly share our treasures and our next steps forward.

Rest assured, feedback about the experience of the review was resoundingly positive.
Some of the words and phrases used by staff to describe the review included :
ownership, transparency, collaboration, explicit, supportive, energising, exciting, trust in the process and the facilitator, the archeological dig, the time for rich dialogue and reflection with leadership and staff, triads gave everyone a voice.
One leader said, "In the past, reviews have been academic centred. This was more about the social and emotional well being of the students"

Another leader stated, "I am proud of the progress we have made. We now have a positive staff culture where everyone is committed to our vision and the well being of all learners ".

An archaeological dig unearthed invaluable school treasures. 

The treasures align with our vision.

We can be assured that:

Learners leave St Patrick’s self motivated and ready to make a positive impact on their world.

A recent student led Daffodil Day

Special thanks to Mary Wilson, Maree Holmes (Principal Consultant, CEM), our St Patrick's leadership team and all staff, students and community members who contributed to the review. Thanks to Catholic Education Melbourne for allowing our school to take ownership of the process and enable the review to be an authentic, organic, energising and engaging action research project.

Specific Focus Review Through a Core Values Lens

What is a school review ?
Every four years, a school is formally reviewed to compliment the school's ongoing self-review practices. A formal review is an opportunity to ensure the full flourishing of every student in the school's care and the school's commitment to achieving the highest possible standards.
Our school is due to be reviewed this year.
The following information is a summary of Catholic Education Melbourne (CEM) resources with regards to a school review.

These are the key questions a review should answer:

• How do we ensure that review covers the multi-dimensional nature of learning?
• How do we ensure that review has a clear focus on supporting teacher quality?
• How do we ensure that review leads to specific and disciplined cycles of improvement?
• How do we ensure that the religious dimension is deeply embedded within the review process? 

How do we make the review an authentic part of school life and not an extra ?
Schools can decide on the review style that best meets their needs. In order for the review to purposefully align with our shared vision and core value work, we have chosen to have a Specific Focus Review. For this style of review, we engage an independent expert to work with the school and plan the review in partnership with the CEM regional office. The independent expert is known as a critical friend. The critical friend supports the leadership team to carry out a rigorous review and concludes with a report. The report provides recommendations to ensure the school is committed to achieving the highest standards possible and contributing to the full flourishing of every student. Our Specific Focus review will take place in Week 7 for two days during Term 3.

The final review report is prepared by the critical friend.

A necessary component of all styles of review is the compliance audit. This is carried out over one full day by a VRQA (Victorian Registration & Qualifications Authority) compliance auditor. Our compliance audit will take place for one day during Week 8 in Term 3.
By the end of Term 3 our review will be complete and we will receive a personalised report to inform our school improvement planning for the next four years.

Religious Dimension for 2019
 All CEM schools engaging in school review will engage with the religious dimension during 2019 through a process of self reflection which incorporates a newly developed School Improvement Framework Religious Dimension Scaffold and Rubric.
The Religious Dimension Scaffold will suggest ways in which all of the dimensions of the review might be considered from a Catholic perspective. The scaffold will also support schools to evaluate those elements of school life which are explicitly religious: prayer, Religious Education, liturgy and pastoral care. The rubric will highlight the critical areas of school life which need to be evaluated to ensure that its Catholic identity is at the centre of the school’s ongoing improvement agenda.

Core values agreed on by staff

 How will we gather evidence for our review ?
We will use the core values as the lens through which we gather data for the review. The values were chosen by staff in 2018 as the five key ways to treat each other at our school. The values link to the CEM Horizons of Hope curriculum with a clear focus on honouring the sacred dignity of the human person. If we concentrate on the human element, we will build a sense of belonging and increase student wellbeing data whilst contributing to a natural lift in academic standards.

We will spend about eight weeks focusing on each of the core values beginning with We respect and value one another, followed by We are positive. We will develop shared meanings of the values and  be explicit about what they look like in action. This will help to strengthen them and bring them to life in our community. Staff and children will be able to be "core value detectives" and gather real life examples of children demonstrating the values happening in a positive way in the playground and in the classroom.
During Term 2 and the first half of Term 3 we will review the way the core values are maximising impact for the learner by gathering evidence of the values in action through:

• Stories and feedback from conversations with parents
• Academic data through NAPLAN and assessment reports
• Insight SRC data
• Resilience Survey Data
• Stories from children at school
• Newsletters, website, social media, staff meetings and board meetings 
• Personnel around the school such as teachers, office staff, LSO's
• OSH Team Kids (share the core values with them too)
• Awards recognising the core values in context
• Seesaw across the school
• Explicit reference of the values during dialogue and meetings with each other, children and parents.
• Linking the values to school wide displays

It will be important to share what we are doing with our community and encourage parents to let us know if they see something that doesn't align with our core values.

We aim to ensure we have authentic, real, caring, compassionate human beings in the classrooms, in our school and within our community.  The core values are our "soul stuff". Through using them as a lens for our review we will be able to enhance performance for the benefit of our whole community.

Storming to Norming; Multiple Voices Co Design Quality Actions to Propel Our School Forward

St Patrick's school is committed to a positive, proactive three year professional development plan to shift us from being a great school to an outstanding beacon of excellence that delivers optimum results for the whole community (Hawkins, 2018).

The above quote is taken from a reflection entitled Empowerment, Passion and Unified Purpose which includes valuable feedback from staff after Phase 1 of our Schools That Deliver professional learning journey in 2018. At the time, all staff articulated a shared vision and identified the core values needed to bring the vision to life. 

When one staff member stated, "... Let the ruckus storm journey begin..." little did we comprehend the enormous challenges we would encounter during the storming phase of our journey.

Edwards and Martin's definition of the storming phase based on the work of Tuckman

The April 2018 to April 2019 research year resulted in deep storming. Storming is the outcome of tension between where a group is at and where it needs to go; in our case to align with the shared vision. Weathering the predicted stormy seas during the action research year was challenging for many staff. Eventually, every voice contributed to outstanding research presentations and in doing so grew as educators ready to embark on Phase 2; the norming part of the lifecycle of a healthy, collaborative group. 

Slide from presentation Day 1 Schools That Deliver Conference

How did we get to where we are at now ?
Here is a link to the process that led to the Schools That Deliver professional learning journey. Students become the leaders of the future through internally driven change.
Here is a link to our shared vision and core values as voted by the staff in April 2018. Staff generate future focused shared vision for all learners.
The slide below from the Schools That Deliver presentation shows the forming and storming part of Phase 1 of our professional learning journey.

Phase 2 April 2019 - Staff Share Powerful Presentations
Staff are to be commended for the research they carried out as evidenced in powerful and creative  presentations (including treasure hunts, quizzes and dance) shared on the first of two days of our personalised Schools That Deliver Conference.
After a school term that highlighted the resilience and collegiality of our incredible staff, every research team member gave of their best when presenting the culmination of twelve months of learning. Staff shared analysis of rich survey data and professional readings to support their recommendations.
The four research teams focused on key areas that staff had collectively agreed were vital for realising our shared school vision. The four areas are prayer, well being, feedback and inquiry.

Here is an outline of the key recommendations from each research team and the connection the teams made to our shared vision:

Our Faith Community
"St Patrick's is a school where our Catholic culture underpins all we do. Our staff teach and model Catholic values making our faith real and relevant to the students. We practice daily prayer and promote fluidity between our parish, school and parent body..."

• We have a Catholic culture that invites all to prayer, enabling deep encounters between faith and contemporary life.
• To enable this encounter with God through prayer, all staff and students learn about the different forms of prayer and make them a part of our daily practice.

The Faith Community team present their research to staff.

Social and Emotional Wellbeing for ALL Learners

" A healthy mindset, coupled with resilience and well-developed social skills ensures all learners are equipped to deal with life's challenges, and have the skills to positively resolve conflict and communicate their ideas and emotions... Learners leave St Patrick's self-motivated ready to make a positive impact on their world."

Students leave St Patrick's with a sense of belonging, self-motivation and ready to make an impact on their world...Sense of belonging. This will happen through:

• A well being programme that targets the needs of our learners and builds their "sense of belonging'
• A whole school Wellbeing program created and owned by all stakeholders at St Patrick's
• This program would be a working document that evolves and can be adapted/customised to meet the needs of our learners.

One of the slides from the Social and Emotional Wellbeing for All presentation 

The Power of Feedback

"We value rich, regular, quality feedback..."

• We have a feedback culture where staff, students and parents receive rich, timely, regular feedback.
• All staff have a clear understanding of feedback strategies

Inquiry based learning

" Ongoing data tracking leads to learning that is differentiated therefore optimising engagement...Both students and teachers are excited about learning, involving themselves in rich, open ended tasks both inside and outside the classroom...Learners leave St Patrick's self motivated and ready to make an impact on their world."

• We access a comprehensive Prep to Year 6 Inquiry Planner that follows a "good fit" model,
• Our inquiry planner reflects student voice which is collected in the early stages of the unit of work

Staff Co Design Actions in the Norming Phase 
Following the staff presentations, a facilitative questioning process (Butler & Edwards), was used to determine agreed mental models (values and beliefs that drive behaviours) to guide future actions. Then design teams contributed recommendations towards the sequence for a school improvement plan. The plan addresses the priority work needed for the next five years to drive the school vision forward and ensure we make a positive impact for all learners.

The School's That Deliver facilitators used this approach to draw out staff mental models

The principal was given the challenging responsibility to creatively merge diverse staff recommendations into a concise school improvement plan. Then staff teams worked to unpack the immediate, short term actions in great detail. As a result, a whole school community renewed focus on our core values and the official launch of SeeSaw will commence immediately.

Draft plan presented to the staff by the principal in response to staff recommendations

Special recognition is given to the Schools That Deliver Network for the inclusion of their slides in this reflection. In particular, our heartfelt thanks go to Mary Wilson, Bill Martin, and Teresa Edwards for facilitating the conference with great wisdom and expertise; involving the active participation of our team of forty staff over two full days.

Teresa, Bill and Mary 

Bill Martin shared with staff, "If you action your staff research recommendations, with great quality over time, there won't be many Catholic schools like you in the world. You will be the best there is."

Strengthened and enriched as a committed staff team, we are eager to propel our school forward with renewed energy, quality, passion and purpose to ensure we make a positive impact for every learner in our care.

Kimberley "Good Liyan" for Melbourne Principals

"..It's hard not to come away.....with anything but admiration for these strong, spirited, dedicated women who made a home in the remote region and were embraced by the community there." The ABC online review of the documentary Sisters, Pearls, and Mission Girls is referring to the Irish and Australian Sisters of St John of God who sailed from Perth in 1907 to the remote Kimberley coast in the far North West of Australia and founded the Beagle Bay Mission.

This year marks the Centenary Celebrations of the Sacred Heart Church also known as the Mother of Pearl Church in Beagle Bay. The artwork of the church is unique to the Kimberley region represented by mother of pearl inlays, Aboriginal designs, Christian symbols and European mosaic techniques.

Mother of pearl inlays in the altar, Sacred Heart Church, Beagle Bay

Today, there are only two Sisters of St John of God. Twenty principals from the South Eastern Principal's Network of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, were fortunate to learn about education in the Kimberley from one very humble woman born in the Kimberley area, Sister Pat Rhatigan AO SSJG.

Our travels took us from Broome to Cape Leveque (image from en.wikipedia.org)

Before we met Sister Pat, at the Sisters of St John of God Heritage Centre in Broome, we were welcomed by Erica Bernard with a smoking ceremony. Erica is the Community Liaison Officer for the Broome Catholic Office. Erica explained that the smoking ceremony, gifted to her by her elders, cleansed the way, to keep us safe during our stay. Erica asked us to open our hearts, eyes and ears as we felt the smoke make our whole being stronger and provide us with "good liyan" (for the Yawuru people "liyan" represents emotional strength, dignity, pride and well being).

Erica Bernard, Community Liaison Officer for the Broome Catholic Education Office welcomes us with open arms on behalf  of elders.

The inspiring woman, who helped us to understand the "good liyan" was Sister Pat. Sister Pat's first words to us were that she had a good news story to share. However, we came to realise, that the dedicated work of this very modest nun was a good news story in itself. Sister Pat's invaluable personal contribution during the past sixty years as a Sister of St John of God cannot be overlooked.

Sister Pat was recognised as Western Australian Senior of the Year in 2007 and received the Order of Australia in 2008. This award recognised Sister Pat's educational endeavours with Aboriginal people by ensuring the history, culture and religion of the Aboriginal people were part of mainstream studies. Among many initiatives, Sister Pat facilitated the opening of several Catholic schools, ensured Aboriginal Teaching Assistants received suitable training, established the Broome Campus of the Notre Dame University and the Broome Catholic Education Office. Today, Sister Pat, a passionate educator, curator and researcher, shares the rich history of the Kimberley region. Sister Pat coordinates staff and volunteers to support locals and visitors to reconnect with their family history through the 60,000 photos in the archives and gallery open to the public as part of the permanent Relationships Exhibition at the Heritage Centre.

May 2018 Newsletter, Sisters of St John of God Heritage Centre

During our stay in Broome, we visited several of the Catholic schools in the Kimberley. While visiting the schools, we met with passionate teachers and leaders all wishing to ensure that the children experience rich, diverse and personalised learning opportunities amidst the challenges of climate, culture, distance, isolation and limited resources. 

At some of the schools, we coincidently crossed paths with the school photographer taking the annual class photos. We saw the smiling faces of children standing in rows beside dedicated members of staff. Having seen the faded images of the sisters from the past standing beside the children in the Relationships Exhibition, one could sense the remarkable transition over the years from the early missionaries, to the religious to the lay persons of today. Through passages of time, passionate practitioners meet the needs of the communities across the remote Kimberley region. Our respect for the present day staff of the schools in the Kimberley region is comparable to the work of the pioneers and the sisters who went before them. 

As leaders of Catholic schools today, we have a responsibility to carry on the work of our forebears to ensure Catholic education remains a beacon of excellence within our schools. We have challenges unique to our individual school communities but as Sister Pat reminds us, we need to work with our challenges and with each other to overcome problems in new ways.
"We need big dreamers, leaders, movers and shakers" and  " We need to respond to the needs of the people of the time" (Sister Pat Rhatigan, 2018).

Just as Sister Pat forged ahead to ensure educational equality for the Aboriginal people of the Kimberley and supported the healing and acknowledgement of past wrongs, we too can contribute. We can encourage and prepare staff to venture to the Kimberley and other remote areas of Australia to support the continuation of this educational mission. Closer to home, we can work to enhance the life and protect the rights of every child and person who is created in the image and likeness of God within our schools today.

Erica and Sister Pat at the campfire used for the Land, Fire and Water Closing Prayer

"Light of the world ! Salt of the earth !

Be for the world the face of love!

Be for the earth the reflection of his light !"

Pope John Paul II (taken from the Closing Prayer led by Erica Bernard).

Special thanks to Richard Hodgson and his wife Sue who planned and coordinated this remarkable principal conference as an opportunity for Melbourne Principals to truly experience the Kimberley "good liyan".

Here is a video reflection from the trip.