Category Archives: Uncategorized

What’s a school’s role in dealing with a “boozy” culture?

Posted on July 1, 2012 by mwalker

Recent articles in the press (The Age), in Britain and in New York all point to community problems around the control and effects of drinking – particularly binge drinking. Over the past 12 months we as a school council have … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Susan McLean presents on cyber safety at Elsternwick PS.

Posted on June 20, 2012 by mwalker

Last week as part of Education Week we held our second parent and teacher forum on cyber safety. The presenter for this session was Susan McLean. We had 50 parents attend Susan’s presentation and this combined with the first cyber … Continue reading →

Posted in cyberbullying, Family, parenting, Technology, Uncategorized, Video Clips | Leave a comment

Personalising is really an outcome of differentiation: points to note for educators

Posted on June 10, 2012 by mwalker

At a recent regional Principal conference I heard Vic Zbar, an educational consultant based in Victoria; speak about personalising teaching and learning. Personalising learning he put it was really an outcome of differentiation. Vic then made a number of points I … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Assessment, differentiation, Geelong Conference, Instruction, school, teacher efficacy, Teaching, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

School Autonomy

Posted on June 10, 2012 by mwalker

Recently I heard Jim Spinks speak on school autonomy. He described autonomy as a moving beast for it means different things depending upon where you are in Australia or around the world and what is politically happening at the time. … Continue reading →

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Knowing our core work

Posted on June 10, 2012 by mwalker

Recently I heard Major General Jim Molan, a retired Army officer who served in the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars talk about leadership. He opened with the observation that the army and schools have something in common – they both … Continue reading →

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Staff Achievements.

Posted on June 10, 2012 by mwalker

Last week I presented 3 staff members with certificates for the successful completion of the Data Wise 2 online course from Harvard. We had the certificates framed and presented them with a book to acknowledge their efforts. In the meeting feedback it … Continue reading →

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Explorers in Classrooms!

Posted on May 29, 2012 by mwalker

This week I was in and out of classrooms and couldn’t help but notice one group of highly engaged inquirers as they moved around the room looking at various exhibits and writing their wonderings on the topic of explorers. I spent 15 … Continue reading →

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The purpose of a school is………………

Posted on May 29, 2012 by mwalker

Last week I was working with Dr George Otero on trying to navigate through the various theories of action that underpin our work at Elsternwick. What are the connections between relational learning framework, Data Wise inquiry cycles, instructional rounds observations on task … Continue reading →

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Creativity: alive and well

Posted on May 25, 2012 by mwalker

  I was walking past some art work at school today and was so impressed with the quality of the pieces I felt I had to showcase them by putting them on my blog. We hear about creativity being a … Continue reading →

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To be a Surgeon

Posted on May 14, 2012 by mwalker

I spent the day supporting my wife going through various tests to determine the cause of blood swelling up around her left knee. The orthopaedic surgeon who had previously operated on that knee was great and concluded it was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Leadership, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

A Harvard Coach!

Posted on May 13, 2012 by mwalker

One of the great privileges Penny and I had at Harvard was the allocation of a dedicated coach (Emma) who assisted us in the preparation of our presentation and helped us determine what the next level of work. Prior to … Continue reading →

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The honour of presenting at Harvard

Posted on April 28, 2012 by mwalker

A few weeks ago we were asked to present our work on changing a school culture whilst engaging with the ‘Data Wise’ inquiry process at Harvard. It’s an honour to be invited for it acknowledges our work and commitment to … Continue reading →

Posted in Data Wise Program, Harvard, school, school structures, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Industrial Agreements for Principals

Posted on April 20, 2012 by mwalker

This week I attended a meeting for members of the Australian Federation of Principals (APF) where we heard about the progress on a log of claims to form a new industrial workplace agreement for principals across Victoria. Not wanting to … Continue reading →

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Community Project – a school orchard

Posted on April 5, 2012 by mwalker

Last month my school community led by a dedicated group of parents came together to construct a school orchard. This project has been in the planning phase for over 12 months as the committee rasied funds, involved some university students in the … Continue reading →

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Meeting the Minister

Posted on April 4, 2012 by mwalker

Recently I, along with 2 colleagues, were nominated by our network of schools to meet with the Minister of Education to chat over a few concerns our colleagues wanted us to raise. We raised a number of points that he … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, school, Uncategorized | 2 Comments