Since 2007, Springboard Trust has supported more than 600 tumuaki/principals to develop their leadership and create concise, visionary strategic plans for their schools.   Working with more than 100 of these leaders every year, Springboard Trust gains unique insight into what our tumuaki are prioritising, planning and dreaming of for the future of our ākonga. With The Inside View, Springboard Trust is thrilled to present that insight.   An evaluation and analysis of a full year of strategic plans from principals learning with us, The Inside View identifies five key themes that are  common to the vast majority of these plans. From growing leaders among staff and students to specific strategies for connecting with communities, this report is essential reading for those interested in the future of our schools.   “We are in a very privileged position to be on the front lines of principals’ planning for the future, and we’re excited to present that knowledge in a way that can benefit the wider community and sector,” notes Springboard Trust CEO Dale Bailey.   “The prevailing themes are so positive, so focused on building and connecting – it really is an excellent snapshot of where our school leaders’ thinking sits currently.”   Building on our recent 2021 Impact Report and GoodMeasure Report from ImpactLab, The Inside View shows the specific areas of our schools and communities that principals want to effect positive change in – as well as how they plan to do it between now and the end of 2024.

Springboard Trust has an incredible network of tūao / volunteers, who dedicate so much of their time to supporting tumuaki across the country. But for many of them, our programmes are just one of many ways in which they give back to our communities. Vanessa McHardy is one such volunteer. Having returned to Aotearoa from the UK at the end of 2020, she leapt at the opportunity to work with Springboard Trust – particularly as it was such a good complement to her own Same Sea, Different Boats programme (Ngā waka rerekē kei roto i te moana) for schools. Bringing the learning to Aotearoa A trained psychotherapist and counsellor who has worked in schools for more than 20 years, Vanessa has spent eight years running the Life Skills for Mental Health and Wellbeing programme, winning awards for her How Are You Feeling communication system. In addition to that she developed What Happens at the Point of Not Understanding, a researched programme delivering great results for children, notably those who are neurodiverse. Stemming from this, Vanessa developed the Same Sea, Different Boats programme to support school communities with their wellbeing in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s a programme about space, really – giving teachers, students, the whole community the space to process their feelings and stressors in their own way. We bring in some scientific work around neuroscience and information about our stress responses, help with therapeutic ways of dealing with that, and have an big historic element where participants record their responses in a more permanent way.” For many schools who have taken part in the programme, that has taken the form of a combined quilt, with pieces created by each student that express their feelings about the current situation – the often-intangible made real and permanent. As Vanessa explains, the output from these exercises can be incredibly far-reaching. “Even just over the course of one hour, the very first session often, you see the physical change in people as they come away with tools for supporting themselves from a wellbeing perspective. Individuals start to acknowledge and address the smallest things, like drinking enough water, that haven’t been given space because they’re so focused on others.” “That all builds to this wonderful collective sense of yes, we need to look after each other and ourselves, and having the space to do that safely.” This sense of space is a common refrain in feedback on Springboard Trust programmes as well. School leaders are often so tied up in their roles or the daily operations of a school that dedicating time and space to something – be it their response to COVID-19 or their annual plan – can radicalise the way they think about it in the day-to-day. A change in perspective Bringing the Same Sea, Different Boats a programme from the UK to Aotearoa was a distinct shift, but one that Vanessa has thoroughly enjoyed. “Obviously, the countries have had two very different responses to the pandemic – and often in ways that we don’t acknowledge. There’s policy-level approaches yes, but also the granular cultural ones. For example, I’ve found that here compared to the UK there’s a lot of intensity, a lot of pressure on you when you do get COVID-19. It’s something that might change over time, but it creates another level of stress for something that, in a lot of ways, we don’t have control over.” “There are a lot of cultural similarities though – the toughen up approach, that overwhelming sense of fatigue about the pandemic, that it’s time to move on. If we move on without processing our feelings that will come at great consequence to our mental health and wellbeing, which is why I think Same Sea, Different Boats is so important. It provides simple opportunities for people to share, connect and really chart a path for their own wellbeing through a therapeutic lens, which from trauma work we know is essential for being able to move forward with confidence.” What is felt and expressed is let go of… then we are free to live in the now” Whakamaheatanga atu õu whīra Katahi ka pai te ora a mãtou īnaianei With the programme now supporting workplaces as well as schools, Vanessa is loving being able to deliver space and connection to a variety of communities around Aotearoa – the key, she explains, is keeping it simple. “With wellbeing, and especially wellbeing in schools where everyone is strapped for time, is making the takeaways simple and quick. With this programme, we’re encouraging people to find the activities that fit them. It’s meditation, it’s connective tissue exercises, it’s a phone call – but most importantly, it’s remembering to take the time for those.” “The principals and teachers I’ve worked with both in this programme and through Springboard Trust have so much love, and I don’t think people outside education really comprehend the amount of love they are giving to communities. They need the space to talk, to feel, to breathe!” The Same Sea, Different Boats / Ngã waka rerekë kei roto I te moana programme is available for both schools and workplaces – if you’d like to find out more about taking part, you can get in touch with Vanessa at lighteducationtraining@gmail.com, and visit Same Sea Different Boats or Light Education Training.

Springboard Trust’s impact evaluation doesn’t just focus on the school leaders we work with – it also encompasses the benefits for our tūao.   And last year, there were some immense benefits to those hundreds of volunteers who gave their time to principals, schools and students across Aotearoa. In addition to the reward of supporting schools and forging lifelong relationships - the full details are found in our 2021 Impact Report – below are some key headlines of what volunteers told us about how their time with Springboard Trust benefited them. 1. Volunteering with Springboard Trust honed their own skills   Self-reflection is a key component of many Springboard Trust programmes, which encouraged that behaviour in volunteers’ own personal and professional contexts. Many noted their own leadership, coaching and mentoring capabilities improved over the course of just one programme.   2. Volunteers gained new tools for their work   Many frameworks and tools in our programmes will be familiar to our tūao, but many more still proved new – and useful in their own work. Notable mentions focused on tools for effective stakeholder engagement and maintaining a strategic, helicopter outlook as leaders, as well as taking away methods for improving their own communication as leaders.   3. Volunteers became education advocates   So many of our tūao noted that the job of a principal is one of the most difficult in Aotearoa, and that those who took on this role have unbridled passion and energy for our youth. Volunteers want to see more support for school leaders, with many advocating for such change outside of Springboard Trust.   Their challenges are so similar to the corporate world, but they have very little access to training and little time to focus on their own leadership skills. - Volunteer, Springboard Coaching for Leadership, 2021   4. Improved mental health for volunteers An indirect - albeit critical - benefit for volunteers outlined in our 2022 GoodMeasure report is the mental health improvements for volunteers. This will come from (and manifest in) different things depending on the volunteer's context, but is another independently evaluated impact for volunteers that we're honoured to see shine through. This is the spirit of ako in action – while the impact that volunteers have for school leaders is magnificent, the development travels two ways. It underlines the similarities between leadership across sectors, and reinforces what we already know – that our volunteers truly are the backbone of learning that happens at Springboard Trust.  

Te Wiki Tūao-a-motu (National Volunteer Week) is here once again – a time to shine the spotlight on the incredible contributions of our cross-sector volunteers.   Springboard Trust operates with a unique model for principal development in Aotearoa, in that we partner school leaders with volunteers from the public, private and philanthropic sectors. It’s ako based on trusting relationships, and is the “secret sauce” of what makes our programmes so impactful for so many.   To kick off National Volunteer Week 2022, we’re going to take a look at just how many volunteers we had supporting us last year.    Giving back to our tamariki – no matter where they are   Volunteers supported school leaders through Springboard Trust 218 times last year – an immense contribution, considering many of our programmes require some 10 months of commitment to the learning.  Many of them travelled far and wide, or – depending on the health and safety best practice at the time – supported schools in a remote setting. All told, we worked with:   17 volunteers in Te Tai Tokerau   93 in Tāmaki Makaurau  23 in Waikato  9 in Te Moana-a-Toi  9 in Tairāwhiti  7 in Te Matau-a-Māui  12 in Te Whanganui-a-Tara   6 in Whakatū  35 in Waitaha (Canterbury) and Ōtautahi  7 in our virtual Strategic Leadership for Principals Programme   Based on the average contributions of a Springboard Trust volunteer, that makes more than 10,000 hours of kindness, leadership and aroha given to schools in Aotearoa. This work saw volunteers work across a massive spectrum of programmes and workshops – from developing entire leadership teams to one-on-one support and mentoring. It is their care, guidance and support  that makes all the difference to tumuaki learning with us. So, to all or Springboard Trust whānau, be you a school leader, member of the team or one of our supporter – let's all give an especially loud thank you to our tūao this week!

The latest evaluation of Springboard Trust programmes has highlighted long-term impacts for both academic achievement and mental health in students who learn under a “Springboard Trust principal”.   The GoodMeasure report, conducted by ImpactLab and commissioned by Springboard Trust, analysed the overall impact of our programmes based on principals who learned with us in 2020. It assessed Springboard Trust in terms of benefits to participants  of the programmes, as well as longer-term societal changes that are influenced by participants, right down to long-term student outcomes.  ImpactLab found that for every dollar of philanthropic funding Springboard Trust received, more than three times that was returned to Aotearoa schools and communities in the form of social value.   "This is a staggering result for us," notes Springboard Trust Chair Ian Narev.    “For 15 years Springboard Trust has benefitted from the extraordinary generosity of a number of families and organisations, and hundreds of volunteers. We take very seriously our duty to ensure that their investment in us has a high impact. So we are delighted that Impact Lab has affirmed and quantified the high social return on investment from our programs. Impact Lab’s methodology is rigorous, and the report is the culmination of months of effort. Beyond the headline high return, the way in which we have worked together has enabled us already to identify ways to increase the value we create. We are grateful for the professionalism of the Impact Lab team, and also for the vision that Next Foundation showed in funding this work.”   Beyond this, the GoodMeasure report notes the following positive impacts for principals, schools and students as a result of learning with Springboard Trust. Increased academic achievement (NCEA Level 3)   Improved mental health for students and tūao  Increased social connectedness  Increased student, whānau and community engagement  Increased teacher satisfaction and motivation  Much of this aligns with our own evaluation, notably our recent 2021 Impact Report, which outlined the depth and breadth of increased engagement and satisfaction of school leaders, teachers and students throughout the motu.   This latest report is a landmark for Springboard Trust, pinpointing the impacts our programmes have on students in specific, meaningful ways. You can read the full GoodMeasure report below.

Equity is a priority for almost all school leaders – but focusing on what that means in the day-to-day can prove difficult.   After all, unfairness in both opportunity and outcome has deep-seeded structural roots that regularly stymies progress of those on the margins. Identifying and solving the issues that result in statistics like Māori having the lowest NCEA level 2 rates in the country is often deemed something for the too-hard basket. What can school leaders do from their sphere of influence to change that?   Yet the reality is, it is at that school leadership level that change can be incredibly effective, influencing teaching staff and school culture to create the conditions for change. And in Ishimaru and Galloway’s Radical Recentering paper, we find some key ways to turn equity from an end goal into leadership practice.  10 steps for equitable leadership: An overview  Radical Recentering is a paper that sets out standards for school leadership that put equity at the core of the role. This isn’t limited to race, and incorporates class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and more marginalised identities.   Essentially, they want to outline concrete practice that centres the marginalised and provides blueprint for school leadership that affords all the same opportunities. Those ten practices are as follows:   1. Engaging in self-reflection and growth for equity  In this action, leaders proactively interrogate their values, biases and privileges. They practice ongoing inquiry into the place they hold in the world, as well as the place of each and every member of their community.   Key questions: Who is included by my school, and who is excluded? Who has the greatest need for a school leader’s service?   2. Developing organisational leadership for equity   In this step, leaders distribute the first step among their team. As a group, you foster an ongoing dialogue about equitable teaching practice in your own context and giving every student the highest quality of learning.   3. Constructing and enacting an equity vision  Here, leaders engage the entire school community, especially those traditionally without authority or power in education decision-making, to create an equity vision. This is similar to the work we do in the Strategic Leadership for Principals Programme, but with a laser focus on a vision that recognises the structural underpinnings of inequity in schools.   4. Supervising for improvement of equitable teaching and learning  Teachers remains the most direct channel of influence on learners in a school environment, and this step recommends leaders support those team members to adopt equitable practice. That means culturally response or sustaining practice and critical thinking with regards to issues like race, class and gender identity. Leaders create a culture of feedback, as both leader and teacher hold each other accountable.   5. Fostering an equitable school culture  Build sincere relationships throughout the community, enhancing the sense of belonging for all students, especially those typically on the margins. Leaders will actively confront and challenge ideas that students are “less than” based on any aspect of their identity, and enacts school policy that aids restoration of power and healthy learning conditions.   6. Collaborating with families and communities  This step puts meaningful relationships at the centre of equity – speaking with and listening to everyone in the community, especially those whose voices may not usually be put at the centre. This includes understanding everyone’s beliefs and promoting the school as the centre of a community that supports everyone.   7. Influencing the sociopolitical context  Here, influencing means working within and outside the community – for example with other schools, coalitions or organisations – to spread the focus on socially aware practice. Effectively, ensuring that the work you do in the school begins to reflect elsewhere, utilising your position as the fulcrum of the community to change structural inequity piece by piece.   8. Allocating resources  This may be time, finances, material or labour hours, but focusing these resources on those who are historically marginalised, bringing everyone to the same level.   9. Hiring and placing personnel   This means ensuring your staff have the understanding and experience to empathise with and promote the perspectives of those ‘othered’ groups.   10. Modeling  This is where school leaders embody all of the above practices in the way they comport themselves. From the largest speech to the smallest interaction, placing the voiceless at the fore.   There is considerable overlap between some of these initiatives, and the exact form they would take in your own school may be wildly different from another, depending on your unique context. But the principle is clear – school leaders are in a unique position of influence, and can take practical steps to ensure the wellbeing and strong education of all.   Many will already be doing this – but by reiterating the importance of placing equity at the centre of everything we do, we shine a light on the often unnoticed ways people get left behind.   At the bottom of it all is one simple way of looking at things: who is in the room when decisions are made in your school? And how can your school better include those who are left out?  

"When teachers and other school leaders effectively engage in establishing caring and learning relationships, they are then able to use the pedagogies that we know make a difference for Maori and other marginalized students’ learning.” Russell Bishop, ONZM, hopefully does not need much by way of introduction. He is the past Director of Te Kotahitanga, now Emeritus Professor of Māori Education at the University of Waikato, and author of a wealth of essential research on Kaupapa Māori education and education reform processes. Perhaps most relevant for us right now, he is also the keynote speaker at our Leading for Equity event on September 9! Ahead of Russell’s presentation, we caught up with him to discuss his latest work Teaching to the North-East, and how both teachers and leaders can improve their practice in this regard. Where to find the North-East “The North-East is a metaphorical position,” Russell explains, “on a scatter plot with two axes – relationships and interactions. When teachers are teaching in the North-East, they are proficient at establishing caring and learning relationships (the ‘East’ on the relationships continuum) and using these relationships to enable those dialogic interactions we know make a difference for students’ learning (the North on the Interactions continuum). "When you teach in the North-East, you are able to teach all students – rather than just some, or just those of the majority culture.” “Teachers in the North-East perform well on both axes – they implement effective relational practices in the classroom, and they also use the pedagogies that make a difference. It isn’t enough, particularly for Maori and other marginalised students, to do one without the other – you must have both.” It’s a model borne out of Russell’s theories about the centrality of relationships for researchers and teachers being able to undertake their work more effectively, tested through Te Kotahitanga, then developed further with Cognition Education, laterally with a focus on how to sustain teaching and leading in the North-East. “Sustainability is enabled by teachers continually monitoring student’ progress and the impact of the processes of learning on student learning so as to be able to modify relationships and interactions in a formative manner. Such modifications are supported by coaching so that you’re teaching everyone involved in a classroom and the school to learn, so they can help others. In this way, creating a cycle of self-determined learners at all levels.”Creating the right conditions from the top "The simple message for school leaders who are wanting to promote equitable outcomes in their school is to replicate in their practice what they expect their teachers to do. That is, North-East Leaders supporting North-East teachers in what will become a North-East school." Be they principals, senior leadership team members or any other leaders, they need to learn to create caring and learning relationships, interact dialogically within this context and monitor learners’ (in this case, teachers’) progress so they can modify and sustain their North-East leadership practices.  “A further major role of leaders here is to challenge and support – particularly those who persist with strategies we know don’t work and in fact, are harmful to students’ learning. The aim is to promote a common code of effective practice at all levels in the school.” “Leadership in this approach is essentially a coaching process. And just as we coach teachers into the North-East position, leaders need to be coached and mentored as well so that all are working to the agreed common code of practice.” “If you don’t constantly emphasise a relationship-based environment, and then interact and modify practices within this environment in ways we know make a difference to students currently not benefiting from their participation in schooling, then the chances of Maori and other marginalised children realizing their potential is very limited.” Russell Bishop is the keynote speaker at Leading for Equity – a Springboard Trust learning event on September 9 and 10. For more information and tickets, please click here. For more information on Teaching to the North-East: Relationship-based learning in practice, Russell’s book is now available through NZCER press.

What did NZ principals do well – and want to improve on – under a COVID-19 lockdown?   Throughout 2020, Springboard Trust has maintained a close relationship with principals across the country – providing support, adapting to the conditions to deliver leadership development remotely, and listening to their concerns and successes.   Between March and May (the Level 4 lockdown period), we undertook a survey of 65 principals nationwide, asking them about what had gone well, what hadn’t, and what kind of support they wanted for the future.   We’re very excited to present the results of this survey in Connecting with Principals - a brand-new report based on reflexive thematic analysis and research from the Springboard team.   The results tell a tale of immense strength – how school leaders and their teams kept their students, whānau and communities engaged from a distance, where they found support and how distance learning has reshaped the way their schools run.  Of course, it is also a tale of challenges – inequities in resourcing, maintaining school culture without face-to-face interactions and the competing demands of home and school environments.   All told, we believe this report provides useful and detailed insight into school leadership during the most difficult of times to be in this role. You can read the report below – we hope you find it enlightening and useful.