e-newsletterMarch 2011

Practice Leader’s Foreword Thank you for taking the time to read the great stories from the Australian schools who have begun their ‘The Leader in Me’ (TLIM) journey. Currently there are 400 schools across the globe who have begun the process and are considered TLIM schools. In Australia we consider a TLIM school to be one who has completed the first year Implementation process which includes; The ‘Vision’, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, and The ‘Implementation’. The process is applied with the ‘Slow is Fast’ approach, allowing time in-between each development stage for true change and transformation. In this edition of TLIM e-newsletter we hear from two schools who have had the courage, passion and drive to follow this process and are now beginning to reap the benefits for their students, teachers, parents and communities. Thank you Masada College and Varsity College for sharing with us, you are truly on the path of Greatness.

Michael Millward

1800 786 346www.leaderinme.org Australia & New Zealand

A School StoryMasada College, NSW

KindergartenWho would have guessed that 5 weeks into Term 1 our “Kindies” would be telling one another to “be proactive!” and “have a plan!”. How exhilarating it is to see these little ones taking FranklinCCovey’s 7 Habits out of the classroom, into the playground and even into their homes. Last week a student could not wait to tell me “Mrs. Grauman you won’t believe it. I was proactive yesterday. I cleaned my room without my mother asking me to!”

This week we are learning about Habit 3 – Work first and then Play. We read the story The Little Red Hen and spoke about the importance of doing our work first before we play.

In the children’s own words:• If you work first you get the job done and that’s good!• If you don’t work and just play first you might miss out on

the fun things at school.

The students used their own handprints to make Little Red Hens to show how we work together as a class and then we play together as a class. I only realised how hard the “Kindies” are working when one child told me “If you do all your work, then you can go to sleep.”

Every day in Kindy is an adventure – for both me and my students. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for these wise young children!

Year SixBefore Year Six head to Canberra on their excursion, the Head of the Junior school posed this question to the students- “What are my expectations of Year Six in Canberra over the next two days?” The students responses were amazing after such a short time how quickly the language and thinking of the seven habits is in the forefront of the student’s thinking.

“We need to be proactive and think ahead so we are prepared at every venue for the activities. That would mean ensuring we have the right clothes on, packing what we need in our backpack and maybe thinking of some questions to have ready.”

“I think you would want us to synergize with our room mates so we all get on and work together not have to get the teacher to solve our problems.”

“We all need to be responsible for each other and show leadership so that nobody feels left out.”

A Facilitators Story

‘Fast is Slow and slow is Fast’

This has been our mantra for schools

implementing ‘The leader in me’ process.

The desire to be ‘up and running’ is

understandable but we are finding schools

typically take about a year to complete

the process – Vision, The 7 Habits and

Implementation, then the results quickly

become apparent.

To rush through the process in two or three

months can be counterproductive.

1800 786 346www.leaderinme.org Australia & New Zealand

Australia & New Zealand

A Schools Story Varsity College, QLD Varsity College is a P-12 college located on the Gold Coast in Queensland. It is the largest state school in Queensland, consisting of two campuses, our P-6 junior campus and 7-12 senior campus. As a Microsoft Innovation Partner school, it is a leader in developing digital learning platforms that enhance teacher practice and student learning. With core pillars of excellence in academics, sport, performing and fine arts, and community links, the college is a high achieving school in all year levels. This is a very good school looking to become great, great for our students, great for our staff, great for our community.

Initially seeking to develop a relevant and rich junior campus citizenship model, the leadership of the college encountered The Leader In Me process, though their leadership development activities based around Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. With a strong synergy between the journey of the college leadership, and the key recognition that our role was to prepare our students to be effective and contributing 21st Century learners, the college made the decision to embed ‘The Leader In Me’ into the culture and ethos of the college.

Making contact with Michael Millward from Franklin Covey was probably one of the best things we have ever done. Michael listened to our end in mind, encouraged us and provided valuable guidance through the initial stages of planning. We made the decision to follow the AB Coombs implementation model with a phased introduction (considering we have 55 junior school

classes in 2011). James Forrest, our Head of Preparatory School spoke individually with targeted staff, as well as presenting the concept with great passion at staff meetings. We initially had 6 teachers come and express an interest in leading the way. These teachers undertook to read the book, which they did, and within two weeks the number of interested had increased to 12. Incredibly we heard that both QBD and Borders at our local shopping centre had run out of The Leader In Me books and had orders for more than half a dozen more. By the time we were to send in final names for our ‘Vision Day’ we had 20 teachers (more than we had dreamed of) wanting to integrate TLIM into their classrooms in 2011.

The attendance at our ‘Vision Day’ demonstrates one of the key elements of our journey. Varsity Lakes, where Varsity College is located, is a distinct community, developed by the Delfin Lend Lease Corporation. Rather than seeing the implementation of TLIM as a school-based initiative, we have sought to set it up as an initiative that will impact the wider Varsity Lakes community, incorporating our families, as well as the many local businesses in the area. At our Vision Day we had in excess of 20 Varsity teachers, our four 2011 college student leaders, representation from our Parents and Friends Committee, our local state parliamentary member, representatives from the Varsity Lakes Community Limited, and a number of local businesses. Just as many of the schools benefited from having Bruce Walker guide their steps, we were very fortunate to have Franklin Covey facilitator Rosie Aitken as our guide and mentor. A former teacher, Rosie led us through the first steps in developing our vision with empathy, tolerance

and understanding. Of course, by the end of the day our teachers were ‘champing at the bit’ eager to work out how this process, philosophy, way of doing things, was going to look in their classroom.

So rather than writing further essays on the success of the 2 day training and the implementation day, where are we now? 2 weeks into term one of 2011, we have 21 classes implementing TLIM into their class operations. TLIM trees are visible in all rooms, some magnificently hand made sculptures by husbands and fathers. The language of TLIM is already becoming common place. (My son is in one of the classes and fully understands what being proactive means). We are working on concepts for our visual artefacts that will reinforce the message around the school, and parents and teachers are providing many simple anecdotes as to the learning students are doing and how it is positively impacting their lives.

There is no doubt that The Leader In Me will have a lasting and significant affect on the lives of our children. It’s the impact it is already having on our teachers and parents that is equally exciting. As one of our little boys is fond of saying, “let’s keep sharpening the saw”.

Andrew Taylor

1800 786 346www.leaderinme.org

Australia & New Zealand

+

•LiteracyInstruction•Reportingtoparents•MusicProgram

∆•StudentsSelfDiscipline•StudentsSelfConfidence•CodeofCooperation

1800 786 346www.leaderinme.org Australia & New Zealand1800 786 346

www.leaderinme.org

GUIDELINES FOR SCHOOLS CONSIDERING EMBARKING ON

’THE LEADER IN ME’ JOURNEY

At the risk of stating the self evident, introducing ‘The Leader In Me’ process to a school, represents a major change. Consequently, school principals need to manage this change as they would with any other major new initiative. Of course, they key element of change management, is to gain ‘buy-in’ from key stakeholders.

Suggestions for Gaining ‘Buy-In’

1. Distribute copies of ‘The Leader In Me’ by Stephen R Covey, to staff, parents and school councillors, and have them read the book – particularly Chapters 1 to 5. Alternatively, distribute copies of the audio version. Schedule a discussion at a staff meeting or some other forum and get people’s views on what they’ve read or heard. Consider how ‘The leader in Me” aligns with current key school programs.

2. Search ‘You Tube’ and watch ‘The Leader in Me’ videos. Share these with staff and parents.

3. Talk with Principals of schools who have already implemented the process. Franklin Covey’s leader of Education Practice, Michael Millward (02 9954 1577) can assist you with contact names.

4. With staff, construct a T Chart (+/∆) On the plus(+) side, list what you are doing well in your school now. On the delta (∆) side, list what needs improving. When com-plete, consider whether ‘The Leader In Me’ process could support and enhance the + items and whether it could address the ∆ items.

5. Establish a team of willing staff members to conduct a ’Focus Group’. They would then convene a representative group of stakeholders (parents, students, school councillors, community members etc) and outline ‘The leader in Me’ initiative. Gauge their reaction to the initiative. Are there any concerns? Were there any questions you couldn’t answer? Etc.

1000 School’s in

1000 days

NSW 5 VIC 3 WA 2 SA 1 TAS 0 NT 0 QLD 3

Starting TLIM JourneyJohn xx111Yarra Junction Primary

1st Year Completed: Establishing a Culture of LeadershipMasada College NSWVarsity College QLD

FranklinCovey Contacts

Michael MillwardEducation Practice Leader

michaelm@franklincovey.com.au

Bruce Walker Education Practice

Facilitator/Content Specialist

brucew@franklincovey.com.au

Australia & New Zealand