In late July, the Australian Education Union (AEU) Victorian branch called on the state’s government to give schools more flexibility to prevent students affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns from falling behind in their learning.
While all schools must adhere to COVID-Safe guidelines, leaders of Independent Public Schools (IPS) generally have more autonomy and flexibility in their decision-making – and during the massive disruption caused by COVID-19, this has counted greatly.
One leader who has been leveraging this to great effect is Southport State High School principal Nigel Hughes, who was recently named a finalist for School Principal of the Year in the Government School category ahead of the Australian Education Awards 2020.
“This year has been like no other in the history of Queensland education, and as a result, has been one of the most interesting – yet challenging – leadership periods in my life,” Hughes told The Educator.
“The major focus in my leadership has been to continually remind our staff and students that they have the ability, resilience and determination to face this pandemic and, can with the right support and mindset, thrive”.
Hughes said that while the shift to remote and flexible learning has presented its fair share or challenges, there has been a silver lining.
“Change is about learning and learning is about opportunity,” he said.
“I see this as a time in which we have the so much opportunity to rethink and innovate how we deliver programs and engage students and staff, and to test new strategies to enhance learning”.
Hughes said the widespread acceptance and engagement of these opportunities may have taken years if it weren’t for the urgency of the pandemic.
“We have spent the last three to four years developing our LMS and have a 100% digitised curriculum,” he said.
“The pandemic has made as look at how we have structured the curriculum and by moving to online learning have adapted our structure so that Learning Intention and Success Criteria are very clear and easily understandable for students learning remotely”.
Hughes said the instructions and information contained in the school’s LMS are now more precise and easier to follow.
“This allows students better access to the curriculum and resources in order to experience success”.
‘An unrelenting focus’
Hughes said he, along with his school community, are excited about what can be achieved in 2021 and beyond.
“The school has continued to show impressive growth in numbers, reputation and results over that last five years and we are currently working with our community to develop our next four-year strategic plan,” he said.
“Once completed, the plan will deliver clarity to our community on how we will focus on creating 21st century learners with the digital skills to be able to be successful in the post pandemic world”.
Hughes said the plan will have “an unrelenting focus” on inclusion, developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will provide “the springboard for all of the school’s learners success now and in the future”.
While acknowledging that the pandemic continues to have a disruptive impact on schools, Hughes said being the leader of an IPS principal over the last few months has been “incredibly rewarding”.
“Seeing our community and the whole education sector pivot so quickly in response to the COVID-19 school shutdowns and the incredibly innovative ways that schools, teachers, students and families adapted to the changes was incredible,” he said.
“This is one year that will be spoken about for a long time”.