Innovating for a brighter future: Independent schools use design thinking to realise students’ highest potential

A new pilot program developed by the Association of Independent Schools of NSW (AISNSW) in conjunction with UK-based consultancy Innovation Unit is utilising “design thinking” to actively cultivate the leaders of tomorrow.

Recognising the needs of an evolving workplace and job market, the AISNSW seeks to develop “new approaches to learning that identify and realise the highest potential in all students”.

Launched in March of this year, the ELEVATE project aligns schools with industry to equip students with the necessary skills to succeed in the 21st Century.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is an enthusiastic supporter of the project saying: “The skills we need cannot be developed in isolation by schools. Effective partnerships between schools, business and government must be formed to identify and produce our future visionary and strategic leaders and industry innovators who will ensure Australia’s economic prosperity.”

Design thinking stresses collaboration and testing of prototype solutions prior to implementation.

In practice, this means that “ELEVATE will assist our leading educators, drawing on the best examples from around the world, to collaborate and design classroom learning approaches that respond and adapt to the needs of students, that challenge and engage them, so they can make the most of the opportunities that will come their way in the future,” explains AISNSW executive director Geoff Newcombe.

At Knox Grammar boys’ school on Sydney’s upper North Shore, ELEVATE is an essential part of its Quality Teaching platform providing “evidence, ideas and resources for our teachers to further improve their ability to extend and support all of our students.”

Meanwhile, at North Sydney girls school Wenona, design thinking is incorporated into the curriculum as part of the school’s Science, Technology, Maths and Engineering (STEM) learning program.

Wenona conducts Design Thinking days during which students solve technical problems using a five-step method of Empathise (develop a deep understanding of the challenge); Define (clearly articulate the problem you want to solve); Ideate (brainstorm potential solutions then select and develop a solution); Prototype (design a prototype to test your solution); and Test (engage in a continuous short-cycle innovation process to continually improve your design).

“Design Thinking projects allow engineering to be applied to real-world situations in a variety of curricular areas,” says Wenona’s head of STEM Studies Andy Draper.

“Many jobs of the future are expected to be in STEM fields,” Mr Draper says. “A familiarity and active involvement with STEM, developed by a range of interesting and exciting enrichment and extension activities, is helping to make a difference in students’ sense of involvement and their success in these areas.”

Wenona principal Dr Briony Scott concurs, “Wenona is breaking new ground in this area and we’re excited by the direction this is setting for our school.”

To learn more about these and other leading-edge initiatives being undertaken by independent schools, visit the North Shore Schools Expo. Staff and students from the state’s top schools will be available to answer your questions and provide detailed information about their establishments. This is an excellent opportunity to find the right school to maximise your child’s potential.

North Shore Schools Expo
When: Saturday, August 6 and Sunday, August 7
Time: 10 am to 4 pm, both days
Where: The Concourse Chatswood, 409 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood
Admission: Free

Read more:

Design thinking: new way to spark potential – Tim Dodd, Australian Financial Review, April 4, 2016
http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/resources.farm1.mycms.me/ics-nsw-edu-au/Resources/NewsImages/Tongarra/Elevate%20AFR%2004Apr16.pdf

ELEVATE media release – AISNSW and the ACCI, March 23, 2016
https://www.aisnsw.edu.au/Publications/News/Documents/Elevate%20launch%2023Mar16%20-%20media%20release.pdf

Quality Teaching – Knox Grammar School website http://www.knox.nsw.edu.au/about/knox-initiatives/quality-teaching

Putting the E in STEM – Powerpoint presentation by Andy Draper, Head of STEM Studies, Wenona School
https://www.aisnsw.edu.au/Services/Partnerships_in_Education/STEM/Documents/2015_Leadership/3Ab_Putting_the_E_in_STEM.pdf

STEM learning – Wenona School website
http://www.wenona.nsw.edu.au/teachinglearning/stemlearning.cfm

A matter of principals: great leaders lead to great schools

If you have ever pondered what it takes to be an excellent school administrator, researchers have now devised a formula for the perfect principal.

As part of their How Principals Affect Schools study, University of Melbourne economists Mike Helal and Michael Coelli rendered the elements of school leadership as a mathematical equation.

The formula seeks to calculate a principal’s impact on a school by accounting for variables such as student quality, socio-economic factors and random events like funding cuts.

The math may be complicated but the formula’s solution is simple. Coelli and Helal conclude that “the most effective principals are able to establish a coherent set of goals for the school’s workforce, to encourage professional interaction among staff, and to promote the professional development of staff.”

While the efforts of individual teachers are of utmost importance, together, these three staff management techniques are more likely to bring about an improvement to students’ academic results because “a high-quality principal can affect outcomes among all students in a school,” the researchers determined.

Dr Coelli told the Canberra Times: “It’s important that new principals are told that if you want to have these effects, particularly on literacy and numeracy, these are the kind of things you need to do,” Dr Coelli said. “Leadership is extremely important.”

This is where independent schools enjoy a distinct advantage. Being autonomous and answerable only to their own board and school community, independent schools are able to offer their principals significant professional latitude.

Principals in independent schools hire their own staff according to their school’s unique criteria to ensure the best fit between students and teachers; they shape a school’s professional development programs in consultation with individual teachers; and they enjoy the flexibility to attract and retain the best candidates from throughout Australia and overseas.

Independent school principals hold a unique managerial role combining the jobs of chief executive, human resources manager and lead educator. They are invested with an immense responsibility but are also directly accountable to schools and stakeholders.

While this may seem like a lot of eggs for just one basket, the independent sector’s emphasis on autonomy and strong leadership is not misplaced.

The 2015 School Autonomy and Student Achievement report had three key findings:

* Higher levels of school autonomy are associated with higher levels of student achievement.

* The focus of autonomy should be on professional practice.

* The most powerful evidence linking school autonomy and student achievement is seen in the work of principals to build professional capacity through staff selection, professional development and appraisal; setting priorities on the basis of data about performance; and communication of purpose, process and performance.

Independent school principals agree.

Robert Phipps, principal of the Hills Grammar School in Sydney’s Northwest wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald last year: “After 40 years of experience as an educator there is no doubt in my mind that teacher quality is the single most important factor impacting student learning and development, with ongoing professional learning being the main determinant of teacher quality. While independent schools will approach staff professional development in different ways they all invest heavily in it because they know it directly improves teaching and thereby the learning outcomes of their students.”

Phillip Heath, head of Barker College, echoes those sentiments, also in the Sydney Morning Herald, saying that is the role of the principal at an independent school “to relentlessly pursue improvements in teaching and learning, to hold people accountable to their best possible selves and to help them achieve their absolute best rather than settle only for what is ‘good enough’.”

Read more:

How Principals Affect Schools – Mike Helal and Michael Coelli, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, June 2016
http://tinyurl.com/j44vat2

The formula for the perfect principal – Henrietta Cook and Craig Butt, Canberra Times, June 2, 2016 http://www.canberratimes.com.au/victoria/the-formula-for-the-perfect-school-principal-20160601-gp96ak.html

School Autonomy and Student Achievement Case Studies in Australia – Professor Emeritus Brian J Caldwell, University of Melbourne. June 11, 2015 http://educationaltransformations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/School-Autonomy-and-Student-Achievement-Australian-Cases.pdf

Professional learning the key – Robert J Phipps, Sydney Morning Herald, March 3, 2015
http://www.smh.com.au/national/non-government-schools/professional-learning-the-key-20150302-13stny.html

The role of principals – Phillip Heath, Sydney Morning Herald, March 3, 2015
http://www.smh.com.au/national/non-government-schools/the-role-of-principals-20150302-13slj3.html

Independent schools offer support for busy parents

At The King’s School in Parramatta, an after-hours program that sees boys staying at school as late as 9pm every evening is proving increasingly popular with parents and students alike.

As part of the school’s “flexible boarding” policy, the Extended Day program offers relief to busy parents by allowing day boys access to boarding facilities after school.

In this safe, supervised environment, students can pursue extra-curricular activities, play sport and get their homework done with the help of overseer teachers. They even have access to shower facilities. With the day’s work accomplished and afternoon tea and a hot dinner provided, the boys are relaxed and well-fed by the time parents collect them in the early evening.

Commuting difficulties on top of long working hours can be very stressful for parents trying to fit everything into overloaded days, particularly when both are working full-time. Flexibility around school pick-up times is a welcome perk for King’s School families. Student participation in the Extended Day program has doubled since its introduction.

King’s School headmaster Dr Timothy Hawkes told the Sydney Morning Herald that growing demand for the program is due to the changing nature of family life.

“The boundaries between that which traditionally operated at home and that which traditionally operated at school are now being dissolved,” Dr Hawkes said.

“Most parents are in a dual income situation. Many might be asset rich, but they are time poor – we can help out in that regard.”

The upside for the boys, said Dr Hawkes, is the opportunity to access extra academic support while developing life skills and independence.

While extensive after-hours supervision of students, especially at the high school level, is still a rarity in Sydney, Kincoppal-Rose Bay, The Scots College in Bellevue Hill and St Joseph’s College at Hunters Hill run similar programs to that at The King’s School.

Another solution for overstretched parents is weekly or casual boarding. Many of Sydney’s boarding schools offer casual and short-stay accommodation to day students.

For older students, occasional boarding offers a number of advantages. It can help them focus harder on their studies free of the distractions of home, allow them to participate more easily in early morning and late evening extra-curricular activities, and help them forge a deeper bond with their fellow students.

Indeed, the demand for weekly boarding is driving a resurgence in boarding numbers throughout the country.

As Australian Boarding Schools’ Association executive director Richard Stokes explained to the Australian Financial Review, the trend for city kids to board during the week is partially a response to the time pressure on families and but also recognition that commuting time can be better spent.

“One of the things that is contributing to more urban boarders is the fact that in our big cities – Melbourne and Sydney and, to a lesser extent, Brisbane – families are really struggling with travel. For a child actively involved in a school’s extra-curricular program, parents might question why their child might spend an hour or more on public transport, travelling to and from school when, in fact, they could live at the school and use that time wisely.”

For more information on out of school care and residential options, parents should contact their school registrar.

Read more:

The private schools where students aren’t picked up until 8pm – Cosima Marriner, Sydney Morning Herald, January 24, 2016
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/there-until-8pm–the-new-school-day-20160122-gmc05s.html

Boarding schools appealing to the city as much as the country – Emily Parkinson, Australian Financial Review, May 6, 2016
http://www.afr.com/news/special-reports/boarding-schools-appealing-to-the-city-as-much-as-the-country-20160503-golmnt