Make a difference: Education volunteering opportunities with Springboard

Develop a principal's strategic skills Time commitment: 40 hours (approx) across nine workshops Runs February to November In-person, virtual or blended delivery Capacity Partners are matched with a principal undertaking the Strategic Leadership for Principals Programme, meeting one-on-one with them throughout the year with through nine workshops and supporting the beginning of the principal's leadership journey with Springboard. Capacity Partners build trust, understand the needs of the principal and their context and support them in building their strategic plan and their leadership in their unique situation.   As a Capacity Partner, you will work with principals who are new to Springboard Trust and may have backgrounds, specialisations and experiences vastly different from your own. Taking the time to listen, learn and leverage your expertise to support them is critical to success.   The experienced Springboard Trust team will match you with a principal, making all the necessary introductions before the programme begins. You’ll also be part of a cohort with up to five other principals and their volunteer Capacity Partners, as well as a volunteer who will facilitate each workshop.   Who makes a great Capacity Partner?  Typically, Capacity Partners are senior leaders in their organisation, who are highly capable and skilled professionals.  Experience is typically in strategic planning, change or programme management with strong coaching skills. They may also be emerging leaders hoping to support their learning and ongoing career growth, or who want to accelerate their development in this area.   Volunteers who are also skilled and experienced in leadership or facilitation.   You’ll have experience in coaching, understand how to lead people (particularly from a strategic perspective), and grasp the core ideas of strategic planning, change management and transformation. Time Requirements Capacity Partners are asked to volunteer approximately 40 hours of their time annually, including a three-hour induction for first-time volunteers and nine half day workshops over a calendar year. Programmes typically start in February or March and have their final celebration workshops in November. Participation in the workshops is encouraged to ensure maximum learning and impact for the volunteer but also encourages the conversation and discussion that happens within the cohort.  To find out more about volunteering with Springboard Trust, please get in touch with our Volunteer Manager Rebecca Brown.

Develop and care for a full cohort of principals and volunteers, delivering a unique learning experience. Time commitment: 50-60 hours across nine workshops (SLPP) or 16 hours over 12 weeks (HPLT) Runs February to November (SLPP) or during Terms 1, 2 and 3 (HPLT) In-person, virtual or blended delivery Build your group management and leadership capabilities while bringing Springboard's programmes to life for school leaders. Facilitators work in two of our programmes – the Strategic Leadership for Principals Programme and High Performing Leadership Teams (HPLT). In the former, they work with a full cohort of six principals and volunteers, while in the latter they work with full leadership teams from a single school. While facilitating SLPP means working with principals new to Springboard, in HPLT they will be working with experienced principals (not their first Springboard programme) and their leadership teams. This presents a unique set of dynamics every time, and can be an incredibly rewarding for those who volunteer their time.   What makes a great facilitator?  Typically, facilitators we work with are middle to senior leaders in their organisations, with extensive experience in people coaching or leadership. They may also be emerging leaders looking to accelerate their development, or highly skilled individuals in this area.   The key aspects facilitator should excel in are the art of facilitation itself, the ability to bring the content to life for the participants and how they can relate it to their own unique context.  Experience working with High Performing Teams and Leadership Development helps bring the programme to life for the participants.  Facilitation of SLPP in particular, facilitators should have experience in leading teams, as well as the ability to engage large groups of people and tell stories with ease.   It is critical that facilitators have strong emotional intelligence skills as you will facilitating cohorts often in varying situations of need , and contexts you are not familiar with.  Empathy and listening skills are a must.   Please note that in most cases, we prefer Facilitators to have prior experience as a Springboard Trust Capacity Partner so they have experienced the programme from that perspective. Time requirements Facilitation volunteers for SLPP will need to volunteer 50-60 hours, including induction (for first time facilitators), across the calendar year. For HPLT, facilitators are asked to commit to up to 16 hours over a three month period. To find out more about volunteering with Springboard Trust in 2021, please get in touch with our Volunteer Manager Rebecca Brown.

Develop a rural principal's leadership. Time commitment: 40 hours (approx) across workshops and one-on-one sessions Runs February to November (approx) Support a principal between workshops at your own pace, and take part in a one-day course at the end Impact Coaches are a new role for Springboard volunteers, taking part in our Strategic Leadership for Rural Teaching Principals Programme (SLRTP).   They work with an assigned school principal who performs multiple roles both in their school and in their close-knit wider community. The challenges these principals face are often very different from their metropolitan counterparts, and the Impact Coach role is designed with this in mind.  What an Impact Coach does   Throughout SLRTP, Impact Coaches work with their principal in our blended learning environment, encompassing both in-person workshops and virtual sessions. These volunteers will:   Support principals with the SLRTP course  Listen to, empower and challenge principals with empathy Help principals structure their thinking and build leadership capability and capacity Ensure principals meet key milestones through the course Provide support to their principal outside the block courses that Springboard presents   This is a unique programme in New Zealand, with little to no other programming specifically working with – and for – rural teaching principals. It is a special opportunity for volunteers to make a difference in communities that need it the most.   Who makes a great Impact Coach?   Typically, our Impact Coaches are senior professionals with extensive leadership experience and who demonstrate the utmost empathy, willingness to listen and ability to challenge and support others.  They take part in SLRTP for 12 months, attending in-person and online workshops through, while also connecting with their principal directly.   Previous experience volunteering with Springboard is not required.   To find out more about volunteering with Springboard Trust in 2021, please get in touch with our Volunteer Manager Rebecca Brown.

Ongoing support and one-on-one coaching with school leaders. Time commitment: 10 hours (approx) Runs in each of Term 1, 2 and 3 each school year Support and feedback through a 360-degree feedback process Volunteer coaches work in the Springboard Coaching for Leadership programme, building an individual principal’s leadership insight, capability and practice – all with the goal of them successfully leading their school to better student outcomes and delivery to their strategic plan. You could be working with alumni principals, their leadership teams or their middle leaders.  What makes a good coach?  Our coaching volunteers are typically senior or middle leaders in their organisation, with extensive people coaching experience . They may also be emerging leaders, looking to accelerate their development but still have a core capability to coach and development others  Due to the advanced nature of the SCL programme, Coaches should be highly skilled in the usual areas of requirement: coaching, leadership development and planning, accredited or experienced in debriefing 360-degree surveys and analysis, as well as in-depth emotional intelligence.   Time requirements Coaching volunteers will have to spend at least 10 hours on the HPL programme, over a 90-day period (a single school term).   To find out more about volunteering with Springboard Trust in 2021, please get in touch with our Volunteer Manager Rebecca Brown.

Bespoke support and development for school leaders Time commitment: Variable, anything from an hour to ongoing long-term support Work in existing programmes, deliver single sessions or support a leadership team The Subject Matter Expert (SME) role is a flexible opportunity to support school leaders as they take on a bespoke project built around their strategic plan.   This might be assisting them at a Kickstart Your Strategy workshop, helping them review an annual plan, giving a one-hour webinar for a cohort, or simply sitting down with a principal and/or their team to help them clarify goals for the year ahead. What makes a good Subject Matter Expert? SMEs are typically senior leaders in their organisation, and have a wide range of expertise, including but not limited to:  Change management  Strategic leadership  Instructional design and leadership  Project management  Transformation projects  Coaching  Strategy analysis and refresh Marketing, branding and communication  Depending on the project, we may require more specialist skill sets for principal support. We would ideally prefer SMEs to have previously worked with Springboard as a Capacity Partner.   Time requirements Due to the variability of the work SMEs do, requirements may vary. Setting up a project usually takes 8-10 hours, while implementation may be anywhere from four hours to 50, across three to 12 months. However, this role is also ideal for those who have only an hour or two of their time to contribute. To find out more about volunteering with Springboard Trust in 2021, please get in touch with our Volunteer Manager Rebecca Brown.