There comes a time when we heed a certain call, when the world must come together as one

Currently, I'm gearing up for a return to active service with OneSchool Global.

During the last few days, a rebranding has happened, so that the NZ campuses no longer go by the Westmount School name.

Instead, we are now known as OneSchool NZ.

OneSchool is one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive, truly global schools, with over 9,500 students, 130 campuses and 2,500 staff operating across 20 countries.
The 130 campuses span five regions; Australia, North America, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and Europe – and cities including New York, Paris, Sydney, Rome, Auckland, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hastings and Gisborne (the last two, on the east coast of the north island of New Zealand, are now my patch).

If you want to know more, click here.

I'm really looking forward to getting back into some routines and helping to lead this innovative school as best I can.

Also looking forward to linking up with my NZ colleagues, in and out of OSG, over the remainder of this year.

Waiting for perfect is a never-ending game (Seth Godin)

Last week, I had a fantastic visit to a school in Palmerston North. The Manawatu campus of Westmount School was a vibrant, exciting, open campus with great leadership and staff. Nice muffins as well!

Gave me a great buzz of excitement about what is possible. Not talking about the muffins now.

Reminded me of this George Couros model. A lot!

Jim Seumanu, the Principal, would be that bloke with the fertile brain in the middle.

You say goodbye and I say hello (The Beatles)

The farewell I received from my Kaipara campus was unbelievable!

Very humbling, and emotional: from Brittany's handshake, to the seniors' passionate haka and farewell song, from the gifts (Fopp voucher will come in verrrrrrry handy) and cards to the special afternoon put on by the staff. And my video blooper reel from Cath and Sarah! 

Naively, I didn't expect all that. It was all overwhelming.

I promised to keep in touch, and I will. 

School here doesn't start for a few weeks so I have time to get acclimatised and settle back into life in England (which I love!!). 

But I'm planning to send back a video as a catch up as soon as I can. 

Until then, be careful out there!

Through the mirror of my mind, time after time, I see reflections of you and me (The Supremes)

Photo by Kevin Noble on Unsplash

Reflective practitioner (I am a).

I see that description on CVs that come my way (actually, I think it's probably on mine), but what does it mean?

For many, it means analysing an incident and changing something as a consequence.

Wikipedia have a pithy description: Stepping back from the action permits critical reflection on a sequence of events. 

For me, it means writing these posts on my blog, in an attempt to be BTB (better than before); my reflections are much more haphazard and of the moment.

As that Wikipedia article also indicates: The emergence in more recent years of blogging has been seen as another form of reflection on experience in a technological age.

Wahoo. I'm cutting edge!

I've noticed I spend a lot more time reflecting on experience as I go on (there's a lot more to reflect on for a start).

I've spent some of this week helping out our young Head of English. She's brand new to the role and feeling her way.

Takes me back to my dream team English departments over the last 34 years of teaching. I've been in and lead some doozies.

Of recent times, honourable mentions to the mighty earth shaking Woodford House team (2013-2016), and the King John School's rock steady crew (Essex 2004-2006).

Apart from me, they all had equally passionate, funny, and dedicated teachers. Some of the other teams I have been associated with have had individual superstars but lacked cohesion.

Reflecting on that, I put it down to individual personalities and strengths.

After all, teams are all about relationships and communication. Being in one and leading one. Relationships and communication. Full stop.

Curiously, of my senior management teams the King John School was large and had disparate personalities but somehow coalesced well.

In my current role I have a great management team made up of a Junior Lead Teacher, three Community Administrators from the Brethren community and me. 

The mix of personalities, strengths and skills is widespread but effective. Within the school there is no professional leadership team as such because the flat management structure doesn't allow for one. This hasn't been a problem or concern.

Not sure what to make of that - some distance and reflection required!

There's a city in my mind, come along and take that ride (Talking Heads)

Photo by Andrew DesLauriers on Unsplash

So, here I am at conference with all my Westmount colleagues and buddies. Wow - I must say they scrub up well!

All the effort to organise the event and actually get everybody under one Holiday Inn roof is, like, totally worth it.

Highlights from day one: 

• Chris Gregory producing a minor miracle - a maths lesson that I actually enjoyed AND learned something about cuboids from - thanks to my table colleagues!
• Catching up with my confrères including Renoir, K Dawg, Sunshine and Rainbows (gonna miss you)
• Dessert
• Being called 'Fearless Leader' by one of my staff
• Meeting all the Tasman and Manawatu staff - good looking bunch
• Getting locked out of the building because my entry card demagnetised (top tip - don't put it anywhere near your mobile phone) and walking around for ages outside on a beautiful calm night
• Buzz word bingo: the winner on the day was 'journey' way out in front (23 mentions). The rest? 'Roll out' 6, 'Unpack' 6, 'moving forward' 8, 2 'underpins' and one 'without further ado' (NOT by B Sloan shock horror)
• Gaining a few new acronyms - EAP, WIIFM, and the truly epic HCP (Human Capital System)

Day two - I wonder what you have in store...with any luck it's some more fun activities (Jim's PBL intro, Chris' maths lesson, Jon's musical warm downs) and far less being talked at for 40 minutes with wordy powerpoints.

Remembering always: you gotta take the crunchy with the smooth, there are many on-line sources for advice these days on 'how to give great presentations without talking to powerpoints for 40 minutes'.

It's swell of you (Duke Ellington)

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash

Appreciation was mentioned in my last post as something I received a lot of in my job at Westmount school.

But I wasn't prepared for this!

To be honest, I feel a little overwhelmed at the moment (can you be a little overwhelmed or is overwhelmed a thing that can't be quantified? Not sure). But I digress.

This week, I've had some lovely gifts from students, parents, the staff, the trust that operates our school, and the National Leadership team. Amazing gifts - food, wine, gift tokens, cards (a lot of peanut butter!!). 

It's been amazing!

All this in a week when we had the Magic Weavers' Awards at our national prizegiving. My Kaipara campus came up empty this year (we won two or three last year). 

But that's not the gripe from my colleagues.

The idea of celebrating a few out of the many has prompted a lot of debate within my staff. 

En Zedders like equity; we practise the tall poppy syndrome with some diligence. 

As a country, we were foundered on the concept that no one was better or worse than others and that still pervades - probably more so in teaching where we are so used to collaborating and working with others to make everyone better.

As a people, we are suspicious of the rogue ones (sorry 'bout the gratuitous Star Wars reference), the lone wolves, the popularity contest winners, the too good to be trues.

Teachers are also reluctant to adopt free market business strategies like performance pay, bonuses, and the idea that although we're all equal, some of us are more equal than others.

We just are, okay? 

Teachers like me went into the profession for noble reasons, not for money. I've tested this theory a lot and many of my colleagues wouldn't even know what their salary was.

So, back to me and the appreciation I've felt recently.

All of the gifts I received were amazing. The power of words - you can't put a money value on being told the following by your colleagues:

• He is brilliant at sorting out issues
• Weaves magic into the hearts of each staff member
• Plenty of humour
• Love working with him
• His positive energy and solutions based attitude have been inspiring
• Despite being an Arsenal fan, he is a Westmount Champion

Do you now see why I'm a little overwhelmed?

You know the sun gonna shine in my back door someday (Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee)

It's open letter time again people:

Photo by Leio McLaren on Unsplash

Dear Toni

Hey! It's a year on since leaving the familiar and launching myself into the mystery of 'what's next for Wozza?'

How has it gone? Well, last week I ventured up to Paihia for a meeting with other secondary school principals from Northland.

Being amongst tangata whenua protocols again was the first shock. The next was the generally dour atmosphere during the meeting.

Along the way, it was interesting to compare my life as a campus Principal at a private school with the poor saps, sorry, my fellow professionals at state schools.

Seriously, looking around the room, it took me back with a bump to my time ten years ago at Stratford High School when I would meet with fellow Taranaki Principals; the gradual beat down of demands trying to do an impossible job takes its toll.

As my Principal friends compared their heart attack histories I knew I was in trouble.

At that time, I quickly decided life was far too short to be in that situation so I left and went to the Middle East where I met remarkable people, had loads of adventures and learnt a lot about myself.

I learnt that I needed to push myself, to be busy, to be challenged, to try new things, to not settle.

As I pootled home through the beautiful Northland vistas, past some depressed looking towns in Rapid Roy I remembered how lucky I was to be living my life.

A few posts back, I included a quote from Hunter S. Thompson where he celebrates a life lived with the final statement being 'Wow, what a ride!'

When that feeling goes I start getting the 'what's next for Wozza?' vibe.

Do I miss Woodford House? At times, yes, of course I do - I definitely miss the great Woodford people (tip of the titfertat to my buddies), Bay Espresso visits, the time to pause and reflect that is so hard to eek out in the hurdy gurdy days I currently have (I haven't got that figured out yet), the twice weekly chapels (great meditation time) and I miss being in a formal classroom setting teaching English.

But...but, I love the way Westmount School is so keen to experiment with timetables and everything else, the balanced mix of autonomy and collegiality, the full-on environment of self-directed learning, the teacher inquiry process led by Karen Boyes, the challenge and the adventure (every day is a mystery box), the feeling that I am being appreciated and that my skills are being gainfully employed, the return of optimism and positivity (I was getting dangerously close to becoming a grumpy old fart at Woodford) and the Whole Food Cafe in Maungaturoto is a pretty gnarly substitute.

So, all up, going forward, I often think (to myself) that my skin is still in the game.

But enough about me! How was your year?

Love and peace, happy holidays and Merry Christmas to you and the family!

Wozza

I feel reborn, I'm like a Phoenix rising from Arizona (Frank Costanza)

Above the line thinking by the cool kids at Teacher Academy

Time at Teachers' Academy with the most wonderful Karen Boyes has reaffirmed some long held beliefs:

• Teachers are hilarious
• There are some great teachers out there in Westmount schools
• Teachers are not afraid (for the most part) to challenge themselves and give things a go
• My colleagues are great learners
• The group chemistry is a mysterious and wondrous thing and we had an awesome bunch. Especially the small group of Murray, Kelsi, Gina, Renée and me (none of whom I knew before starting this PD and only Renée I'd met briefly before)

How wondrous? When we were given a task during the three days at Teacher Academy and told we could go anywhere to work, we stayed together as a group without any tacit agreement to do so (the only group to do that btw) - we just liked each other's company obviously. Wondrous.

I've known this feeling before a few times. At UNITEC 1999-2000 doing a post graduate diploma I was in a large bunch of educators and we all instantly clicked. Even the co-ordinators of the course commented on it!

The power of a team that clicks. Mighty.

So - raise your glasses and salute Super G, Muzza, K Dawg, Renoir and, erm, me.

Well she's walking through the clouds with a circus mind that's running wild (Jimi Hendrix)

It's conference and PD time in Wozza's World this week.

I am super impressed at the commitment by my current employer to provide all staff with quality PD opportunities. Yes, all!

These things aren't cheap - three days out of school for each staff member, accommodation for two nights, flights and so on. A massive undertaking.

With great outcomes! In all sorts of ways.

One of the things I missed at Woodford House (and I do really love you WH and I do kind of understand why but not really) was the lack of such opportunities for me personally.

This week there have been two great professional development events for me to attend. The first was about Campus Trading and the financial aspects of what makes Westmount and OneSchool Global keep on ticking. 

Sure, some of it was gobbledegook and way over my pretty little head, but it was wonderful to see colleagues getting so passionate about revenue streams and stuff. Very inspiring!

Now, okay, normally my eyes glaze over when finances are involved but I came away with new, and deeper, and more meaningful appreciation for the context I work in. And that was a good feeling people!

Next up are three days leadership PD with the delightful Karen Boyes. Rightfully world famous in Nu Zild, Karen is a superb presenter, and all round lovely person. She makes learning fun! 

Three days with Karen is a joy.

Niggles: sorry, but, going forward, if I hear one more , learning journey underpinning the nitty gritty, I will cover off a retreat...and may just scream!

Again we are positioned in rows facing forward, looking at a screen, as a talented individual lectures us (at times about the nastiness of this practice in the 21st century). The irony is not lost on them. But still it continues.

And the English teacher in me hates it when slides to power points have grammatical errors. Okay, I know most people d'o'n't' care about apostrophes but would it kill to get them proofread?

Ch ch ch ch ch changes (David Bowie)

An open letter to a former student at Woodford House:

Dear Zoe

A big howdy from a REAL New Zealand town. As you turn off State Highway 1 onto State Highway 12 you'll see a sign for Maungaturoto and underneath it is the legend - A REAL NZ town. So it's official.

Mr Semmens for lemons sent me your winning entry in the wide reading standard and I enjoyed, as always, reading your thoughts. In this case - your thoughts about my earlier post on the concept of change.

Change is a BIG thing in my current school. Change is the new normal here. 

Curious thing I've noticed when there is lots of constant change - some people love it and thrive off it (picture me with a cheery thumbs up), a few are resistant (paradoxically - the older, the more resistant, generally speaking), and many go with the flow (Mr Semmens is a great go with the flow exponent).

All this change has been great for me because it means we are all learning at the same time. A few times, I've assumed something has always been done that way but then people quickly set me straight, which is great!

Why? is a great question, Zoe. Why is it done that way? Why don't we...?

What if? is also an excellent question. What if we pulled down those walls? What if we changed the timetable structure?

Most change/decisions start off with a what if or a why.

I urge you to adopt these questions, Zoe. You will be leading change (rather than reacting to someone's imposed change) before you know it.

Anyway, loved your written response to my blog post. Say hi to all my friends at Woodford House and keep reading the blogs!

Love and peace - Purdzilla

This is just a wild guess, Chief, right off the top of my head (Maxwell Smart)

Past colleagues and students know my cultural markers (touchstones if you prefer) well. I am now teaching at Westmount's Kaipara campus, where the students are all from the Christian Brethren Church. 

Lately, it slowly dawned on me that the students and I don't share all of the same cultural markers.

Music, and the Beatles' ties I wear? Tick. Positive comments, of the 'I like your tie' variety!

Sport and the Arsenal jackets and ties I wear? Tick. Already there has been some good natured ribbing from the boys, in particular.

Star Wars quotes, the Jedi references? My Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions? TV references such as 'Good thinking 99'?

All have been met with a kind of quizzical expression and a polite smile.

One of my students looking at my Twitter profile said, "What is gee-day?"

The light bulb in my brain went from dim to bright at that point.

Although our students can watch films and videos in class (I saw a really old video showing Vietnam War footage in a history Video Conference recently), they don't watch TV at home. Nor do they go to the movies, and even if they did, cosmic space dramas like Star Wars wouldn't be on their radar.

During our recent educational conference (much more coming in the next few weeks), a call came from Frances Valintine to allow students to use their phones at school and from others about the value of YouTube and using the internet during exams.

These things, like my other cultural touchstones, are simple not possible in my new context.

So, as we pilot our way into the future, we will need to consider all of that along with what is possible, so that our students can embrace the many changes to learning that are coming, and keep their way of life intact.