Today is a special milestone for my wife Anthea and I. It’s our 20th Wedding Anniversary. Sure, there are some who would say that this special achievement has been a little more arduous for Anthea than for I (which is so cruel!) but we can at least look back on photos like the ones above and agree that one major achievement is both of us is aging incredibly well. Anthea is well schooled in agreeing with me when I need to feel a confidence kick!
It got me to thinking about milestones and achievement. In my two decades of family life, it’s been the addition of two incredible and unique children, nine years spent adventuring and changing our lives in the Northern Territory and also abandoning the relative safety of Principalship to launch Real Schools in 2012.
An ability to see, to recognize and to celebrate milestones creates a lovely sense of achievement and motivates you to do more. We’ll be doing more!
Do the Teachers in your school see the milestones your school has passed recently? Has there been a moment where you’ve stopped to look back on the achievements and the extraordinary successes? Have you put the great data you have achieved on a placemat and served a special lunch on it … just to say well done?
Or have you lost sight of the distance covered? Don’t panic. This can happen when your nose is so firmly pressed to the grindstone. That’s not to say it has to be this way either.
Never fall for the trap of thinking that the future is all that counts in our schools. Our past achievements are many and they often come against the odds. See it, mark it and shine a spotlight on them.
Reflective Professional Learning in FNQ
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We’ve spent time in tropical Queensland this week with Principal Vicki Conomo and our Partners at St.Rita’s School in South Johnstone. For ‘Mexicans’ like me that’s near Innisfail … which is near Cairns.
This pic shows a vibrant and collegiate staff (with, I might add, an incredible fetish for morning teas and outrageously tempting home cooking!) engaging in using the Restorative Operating Domains to reflect on their ‘code’ as educators. It was an honest, reflective and productive session.
If you’d like to consider becoming a Real Schools Partner like St.Rita’s you should check out our dedicated Partnership Page by clicking here.