The passing of World Teachers’ Day this week had me reflecting a little on my time as a School Principal. It’s true that this is largely because I miss the special morning tea and the scrumptious cake that usually accompanied this event! I also pondered a little about the choice of date for World Teachers’…
There’s not much time until our only two public events for the rest of 2016. Restorative Practices Teacher Training 22nd October 2015 in Melbourne CBD And yes, you probably should FIRST click on the above link about the value in this amazing day! School Culture In Focus 29th October 2015 in Melbourne CBD Who should attend the RP…
We’re running a FREE webinar on Wednesday, 17th of September at 3.30pm (AEST). School Leadership sometimes feels like being all things to all people. That said, you can’t actually be all things, to all people … in all places and at all times! Leadership is about the trust we provide in others and the support we…
Only once a semester, we offer an opportunity for Teachers to experience our 1-Day Training in Restorative Practices. This semester – it’s in Melbourne on Thursday October 22nd. It’s an incredible day and one that inspires change and transforms practice. Of course, you shouldn’t take our word for that – why not click on the…
In education, we’re perhaps better at buzzwords than any other industry. One that has been enjoying significant limelight in the last few years is ‘disruption’. Clayton Christensen’s groundbreaking book “Disrupting Class” and then Michael Horn’s “Blended” are two must-reads for any School Leader or Teacher looking to explore flipped learning or the concept of incorporating…
We’re launching two new events for October in Melbourne designed to launch you and your school to a whole new level. 1) Restorative Practices Teacher Training (Melbourne – Thursday 22nd October). We’re continually being asked to run more of this training. Perhaps it’s because of the feedback that we get from Teachers who attend – click…
We’re running a FREE webinar on Wednesday, 19th of August at 3.30pm (AEST). A huge number of Australian Schools are discovering the benefits of Restorative Practices as a fundamental platform for: developing classroom climate resolving conflict focusing on relationship building maximising student engagement addressing bullying And while that all sounds fantastic – there’s an anxiety…
One of the reasons I built Real Schools was a very genuine frustration I had as a Principal. That frustration was the gradual decline in focus and implementation of my staff following Professional Learning ‘events’. Now don’t get me wrong, there are some incredible PL providers out there marrying some wonderful intellectual property with an…
All the literature on Teacher and School Leader focus, intention and activity tells us that Practice is what falls off the agenda as the year progresses and busy-ness envelopes us. Put simply, we don’t want that to happen in your school. Right now, we have Teachers enrolled in our Teacher FastTrack program who are benefiting…
How did Semester One end for you? I know that in my time as a Principal or Teacher, there were occasions (of course, not all of the time!) when I pulled into the mid-year break without another drop of fuel in the tank. Usually, when this happens it was the superfluous or operational tasks that…
One of the great buzzwords surrounding schools in recent times is sustainability. It seems that all decisions, programs and approaches must be underpinned or at least tarnished by the great sustainability brush. While it seems a reasonable, or indeed noble, aim that sustainable approaches be chosen for our schools, I always wondered if there are…
We are so excited to have Resilience Expert Michael Licenblat as Guest Presenter at our next FREE webinar on Thursday 16th July at 3.30pm (AEST) for current and aspiring School Leaders. We’ve talked a lot about Resilience in schools lately – but it always seems to be with a student focus. What about us? What…
We’re running a FREE webinar on Thursday, 18th of June at 3.30pm (AEST). I’ve been amazed at the number of Teachers who are lately talking to me about their concerns about student health. In particular, they are concerned about the food that parents are choosing to fuel their children’s brains and bodies. But how do…
For many School Leaders and Teachers we’re in the midst of one of the most challenging stretches on the school calendar. June is often when a combination of: Report writing. Exam/NAPLAN administration. Winter lurgies Wet day timetables … and just about anything else you can think of! … conspire to consume what feels like more…
As a School Principal, I remember saying this. Surely sitting down with somebody who has never been a Principal or perhaps even a School Leader at all, is just going to be a series of regular hours lost that I could actually use working. But what if you could sit down with somebody who knew…
One thing that we know about human behaviour is that it doesn’t change randomly. Prior to any change is either a positive or a negative experience that prompts thought – usually aligned to also be positive or negative. We’re offering you a chance for the right kind of thought … leading to the right kind…
I often make a ‘tongue in cheek’ joke when working with educators that one mantle the Education Sector can lay claim to would be that of World Champions of ignoring our own research. I get where that comes from – perhaps the scathing criticism meted out to any school who tries something a little different…
I’m a firm believer that every single educator has both a SuperPower and a Kryponite. A SuperPower is something that we’re not often comfortable describing to others for fear of coming off boastful and arrogant. Yet, we all have them. So diverse is the craft of Teaching that all of us have a particular kernel,…
I was in a Year 5 class just last week when a familiar topic arose – especially in the good state of Victoria. A boy noticed my car keys as I packed up my bag after the lesson, and in particular the house key I have resplendent in its Richmond Football Club head and colours…
As a fervent advocate for Restorative Practices in our schools, I’m continually frustrated by two big myths that surround what is the best available tool for schools looking to build a rich, sustainable, relational and productive learning culture. Myth #1 – It’s too soft. Many schools where training alone has been the approach to embedding…
It was Einstein who said “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” Understand. It’s an interesting word and one that paused me to reflect a little on exactly why it is that we do what we do. As much as I sometimes become frustrated with many key aspects around change in our schools…
Restorative Practices Teacher Training Melbourne Training & Convention Centre – 2nd June 2015 We’re amazed by just how many schools are identifying that Restorative Practices is a productive and effective way forward – not only in the student wellbeing and behaviour realm, but also in terms of exponentially improving student learning outcomes. That said –…
Many schools have Mission Statements of either a formal or an informal nature. Greg Jarvis was a truly great Principal I knew whose informal Mission Statement for his school was “The home of happy children” and the wonderful part was that this Mission Statement, regularly and cheerily espoused, rubbed off on everyone who came into contact…
Through Real Schools, I’m constantly asking if certain things need to stay the way they are in schools just because they always have been. Examples include: Must the status of Teachers in society continue to decline? Must bullying really continue to be so prevalent in our schools? Should schools really focus on outcomes at the…
We poke the bear – but we listen to the bear too! At Real Schools, we really like to give you something to think about with our Newsletters. Sometimes it’s about your School Culture and sometimes it’s about the critical Practice of our Teachers. From time to time we also touch on challenges in Student…
