Chris John Merbein P-10 College

The initial plan was to work one-on-one with the three classroom teachers. The flaws in this plan quickly became apparent: No common needs to work on Teachers had no clear idea of what they wanted to work on Initial lack of data When data was introduced it appeared to become a performance management tool We were trying to implement it alongside other PD around the merger I fulfil many roles – Literacy co-ordinator, campus principal (PD focus), Ultranet Lead User, leadership team to manage the merger and so forth. My workload and constant meetings detracted from the coaching program Beginnings

I attempted to simplify the role to allow me to manage my workload. The first step was to gather data on our students We began with Students observations Over a two week period teachers were to select three students to observe (one below, at and above expected standard) 5 minutes of daily observation during the Literacy session for this task Data reporting session Discussion of the observations and implications for teaching Each teacher was then asked to observe one more student each of my choosing. These students present with interesting issues related to under-performance Data reporting session 2 Discussion of new insights gained on the students and the need for these students to be closely monitored and for ILP’s for some Teaching and Learning goals established Middle

Individual discussions with teachers using on-demand results My goal -To establish an understanding of the needs of the class and the progress made to date Teacher perception - This was a performance management meeting Result -A changed perception of my role as a coach/confusion with the performance management aspect of Principal/Teacher relationship -Altered relationships, breach of trust Lesson learnt -Keep the two components of my role completely separate Bad idea

If we were to be authentic in aligning the practices across the 3 primary sites we had to find a way of doing this. One site had a network coach One site had no coaching but a member of staff capable of fulfilling that role One site had me And each of us was teaching literacy as best we knew how, in our own way, with varying degrees of success We had across the 3 campuses the expertise required to be more strategic in our thinking. I also believed we needed to work as a team and tap into that expertise so we could learn from each other and bring about powerful, sustainable change. I voiced my ideas in a meeting of campus principals, our NLIO and RNL who were very receptive to the idea. Realisation and reorganisation

With support of the network coaching co-ordinator, NLIO, RNL and literacy leaders across the campuses we now have the following in place: Regular coaching cycles facilitated by coaches Focused learning PD for all staff Professional Reading Peer observation cycles based around that PD Reflection meeting, setting of new focus Protocols, observation and reflection tools Rollout of LM Region Literacy Modules to all P-10 Staff Professional learning portfolios for teachers, including peer observation feedback Sharing of data across primary campuses, showing improvement in student learning Team Coaching & Peer Observations

Professional learning around Persuasive Text Implementation in the classroom Peer Observation Cycle Debrief: Coach: The students were able to explain the purpose of an exposition and how it would be set out. They shared the stimulus you used and some of their arguments. They shared the scaffold they were working on and could elaborate on what had to be included in each section. There was some inclusion of temporal references and use of emotive language. What might be your next level of work? Teacher: We need to build on from there to develop their sense of audience and build up their vocabulary appropriate to exposition. We also need to add references to research and avoid generalisations which were evident in their writing. Evidence of Impact

Persuasive Texts - Exposition There is still some work to be done on focus on task!

Cross-campus peer observations have also been held and will continue to be held in 2011 (due to demand by teachers) Further development of the coaching capacity of self and other members of staff Continued professional learning through network initiatives for internal coaches Continued monitoring of student learning data through common assessment schedules and tasks Marching Forward