The Strategic Leadership for Principals Programme is just the beginning.
For hundreds of principals (and their leadership teams) every year, Springboard Trust’s Alumni Services offer continued professional development in numerous areas, ranging from individual coaching to fully distributed leadership.
As part of our ongoing dissection of the 2019 Impact Report, we’d like to break down how Alumni Services aided principals and benefited students throughout last year.
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2019 Impact Report
Alumni Services: By the numbers
In 2019, 285 schools utilised Alumni Services. That spanned 79 programmes and workshops across six regions of New Zealand, resulting in impact on 104,835 students.
Of course, that work doesn’t happen without our volunteers. Last year saw 80 individuals from our cross-sector network give more than 1,100 hours of their time to help school leaders upskill.
Across each of our offerings, that meant:
- 130 principals, senior and middle leaders took on High Performing Leadership Teams
- 91 principals, senior and middle leaders took on Springboard Coaching for Leadership
- 44 schools took on Kickstart Your Strategy
- 60 schools took on Talent Management Workshops
- 72 schools took on Annual Planning Workshops
- More than 200 school leaders attended our Learning Event
On top of this, our Kāhui Ako engagements under the Ministry of Education reached 198 schools and more than 78,000 students.
The Springboard leadership journey isn’t something that culminates after one year of SLPP. It is an ongoing process, in which principals and senior leaders learn from cross-sector experts and develop skills through programmes uniquely tailored to their strengths and needs.
“In school, PD is generally around teaching curriculum better and academic counselling. A whole programme focussing on people as individuals is incredibly powerful.”
SCL Principal, 2019 – Auckland
The impact of Alumni Services on learners
In our review of SLPP, we showcased the skills principals develop in their first 12-18 months with Springboard Trust. As they continue through Alumni Services, the impacts spread outward to leaders, teachers and students.
We conducted qualitative and reflexive thematic analysis on debriefs with principals after they finished HPL and HPLT, and found three significant themes:
1. Maximising student outcomes
Principals were unanimous in their ultimate goal with Springboard Trust being to create the conditions for maximised student outcomes. They reported direct improvements in student engagement and performance thanks to what they learned in ALS, as well as attributable increases in wellbeing and achievement.
2. Distributed leadership
Through HPL and HPLT, principals and their teams reported stronger trust, belonging, cohesion and efficiency as a unit. Individuals had more clarity on their role, development and respect from their peers as a result.
3. Personal and professional growth
Principals found new pathways for development through our Alumni Services – becoming aware of strengths, needs and perceptions (both real and imagined) that helped them improve as leaders. Principals unilaterally agreed that understanding their own leadership abilities better helped them build better student outcomes.
While the first year with Springboard Trust sees principals develop their own strategic leadership, subsequent work with our team and volunteer network helps expand that impact drastically.
With a focus on student outcomes and a desire to improve themselves to make that happen, principals demonstrate tangible growth through Alumni Services that ultimately improves conditions for learners.
