Professional Learnings NSWPPA Educational Leadership

Elevating Teaching and Learning with Strategic Clarity Learning Suite Implementation

• NSW PPA Professional Learning

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Uncover the secrets to transforming your educational environment with insights from the incredible Dr. Lyn Sharratt, Sue Walsh, and Maggie Orgham. This episode of the Professional Learnings podcast offers a treasure trove of strategies for implementing and sustaining the Clarity Learning Suite (CLS). We begin with an exploration of the CLS implementation and sustaining guide, revealing how it aligns with New South Wales' educational standards and the vital steps of the pre-implementation phase. From setting clear expectations to fostering a culture of shared responsibility, we delve into the foundational practices that pave the way for success.

As we continue, Lauren Phillips and Anastasia Galanos share their expertise on creating conditions for effective implementation through strategic resourcing. We uncover how the Clarity Learning Suite provides a structured approach to building instructional capacity by emphasising the importance of understanding student learning stories and leveraging data-driven strategies. Through tools like data walls and case management meetings, educators can highlight the strengths of their teams, fostering an environment where both teachers and students thrive. This asset-based model supports continuous professional development, nurturing the collaborative spirit essential for sustained improvement.

In the final stretch, we focus on the power of effective communication and the sustainability of CLS strategies. Consistency is key, and we explore how integrating new teachers through the strategic use of CLS tools can enhance teacher development and track student progress. With a focus on leadership modelling and celebrating achievements, our guests share stories of success and community building through learning fairs and shared experiences. Dr. Lynne Sharratt, Sue Walsh, and Maggie Orgham offer invaluable insights, inspiring listeners to harness these strategies for transformative educational outcomes. Explore these concepts further by engaging with the Clarity Learning Suite team and their inspiring contributions.


In podcast format: In webinar format view:

https://www.nswppa.org.au/clarity-learning-suite

or directly via Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/1052015192



To view our Professional Learning Offerings visit:
https://www.nswppa.org.au/professional-learning




Speaker 1:

Welcome to Season 3 of Professional Learnings, the NSW PPA Educational Leadership Podcast. I'm Drew Janetsky and I'm excited to be back for a brand new podcast season. It's great to have you with us as we continue this journey of learning, leading and drawing inspiration from the incredible insights shared by our guests. Let's dive straight into our latest episode.

Speaker 2:

Let's dive straight into our latest episode. The CLS team that's Clarity Learning Suite team have put together an implementation and sustaining guide. We're very proud of it. It will be soon launched on our website and it will include resources and input from our schools using the Clarity Learning Suite. I think it's really important that all of us acknowledge the deep learning that happens when we engage with the Clarity work and specifically think about how we're going to prepare for the implementation of the Clarity Learning Suite, what happens during that implementation and then, finally and most importantly, how we sustain this work. So it just becomes embedded as the way we do business at each of our schools.

Speaker 1:

Well, thanks for joining our podcast, which is also a webinar converted into a podcast format. If you're a visual learner, jump over and view the new south wales clarity learning website if you want to prefer as a visual medium. We'll continue in the podcast with the ongoing work of lynn charrett and the clarity learning team. Focus of this webinar podcast is successful implementation and momentum of the Clarity Learning Suite. We've already seen such success with so many schools that have been part of the Clarity Learning Suite through the New South Wales Primary Kids' Association. In this podcast webinar we discuss what does it take to successfully implement the ongoing journey of clarity learning in your context, as Lynn Sherrick describes the work as forever work. The clarity learning team have so many exciting implementation and support systems that continue to ensure success for all schools and students. So enjoy the podcast.

Speaker 1:

Well, welcome to our special series. Before we do start, I'd like to acknowledge Country and the traditional custodians of the land in which we virtually meet here today and pay my respect to both past, present and future Aboriginal people listening to our special webinar today. And what a special webinar it is today, connecting with the fabulous Clarity Learning Suite team, where we're going to be really diving into further work of the wonderful work of Clarity Learning Suite which has been such a refreshing piece and such important work to support the membership of the New South Wales Primary Principals Association and it gives me great pleasure with that to introduce Sue Walsh, maggie Orgham and of course Dr Lynne Sherratt Welcome.

Speaker 3:

It's great to have you.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much, drew. I'd like to pay my respects to our elders past, present and emerging on the lands where I live, on Lake Huron in Ontario, canada, and, of course, across the beautiful lands where you live and we all have the privilege to work. The CLS team that's Clarity Learning Suite team have put together an implementation and sustaining guide. We're very proud of it. It will be soon launched on our website and it will include resources and input from our schools using the Clarity Learning Suite.

Speaker 2:

I think it's really important that all of us acknowledge the deep learning that happens when we engage with the clarity work and specifically think about how we're going to prepare for the implementation of the clarity learning suite, what happens during that implementation and then, finally and most importantly, how we sustain this work.

Speaker 2:

So it just becomes embedded as the way we do business at each of our schools. It absolutely aligns with the New South Wales documents, the plan for public education and the explicit teaching and learning documents. The 14 parameters of our clarity research are aligned and supportive in the work across New South Wales. So, as I said, this guide is in three sections and so we're going to unpack in this webinar pre-implementation how you get ready for explicit instruction, explicit teaching and leading, what it looks like during explicit teaching and leading and finally, how do you sustain this work? How do you sustain the work using the 14 parameters? So I want to thank my team, sue, maggie, mike and Jim. We surround each other with the best thinking and the best listening to our folks across the field in New South Wales, and a particular thank you as well to Drew, who's supporting this work all along the way.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely Well said, well said all along the way, absolutely Well said, well said, and we're very excited to see that work and see that thinking. As you said, lynne, in terms of listening to what is current in the context of New South Wales and how the framework of clarity learning can clearly align, and I'm excited about the work and the alignment and also ensuring the successful implementation of clarity learning.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much, Drew. So we'll start, Maggie, with the pre-implementation stage.

Speaker 4:

Thank you, lynn, and thank you Drew. The pre-implementation stage is crucial really, and we think about leading from the outset and the leading imperatives to consider as you prepare to begin the suite. It's important to really embed CLS into your school's strategic implementation plan. It needs to be there, clearly. We're also going to consider in a moment the crucial questions that leaders need to be asking and then to look at some critical strategic leadership actions as well along the way strategic leadership actions as well along the way.

Speaker 2:

And, Maggie, what I think about when I think about that beginning. I think about the data that we want to consider as we embark on implementing the clarity learning suite.

Speaker 4:

Yes, indeed, and that comes up. It's fundamental, isn't it really to the suite, the importance of the data, and we always go back to the data, so thinking about crucial questions. So, yes, it's absolutely important that we begin by thinking about the rationale for implementation and what are the expectations that everyone has? Are those shared expectations of shared responsibility and accountability? Are they there so that everybody together can improve all students' growth and achievement? It's also to think about who will be our champion, or our champions, or otherwise the knowledgeable, others also known as, and who is going to lead CLS with the principle, the importance as well, of making sure you have a defined guiding coalition, if you like, and identify other early adopted leaders and teachers who are going to form that guided coalition. And how will we ensure that all teachers and leaders are clear on why they are completing this professional learning, this professional learning, what's going to make them want to buy into it and what this is going to mean for their teaching practice and how it is going to benefit and enhance their teaching practice?

Speaker 2:

Maggie, I was going to say how important all four big ideas are, and it's also about the careful selection of the guiding coalition, who might be your early adopters, but also bringing in people who maybe aren't quite there yet but are asking really great questions. So when I think of that guiding coalition, there'd be members of your leadership team, but also some teachers, classroom teachers. We want to hear those voices, so how are we moving this forward? We want to hear those voices, so how are we moving this forward? Listening to all voices. That guiding coalition can help us.

Speaker 3:

Indeed, yeah, and I'd say Lynne and Maggie in this early stage that the importance of having those other teachers on that guiding coalition is absolutely critical because they are the grassroots teachers and bringing them into the picture and they may not be the nominated leaders, but they're leaders in their own right because they are strong teachers, strong practitioner teachers. So it's a really critical part getting the leading, getting the guiding coalition together and not just designating it with the designated leaders. I think is part of the issue there.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, sure, and of course, you know the resourcing. This has to be clearly included in our strategic implementation plan. Thinking about how will we allocate and timetable for teachers to work together, because those conversations are so crucial. Has the clarity text been purchased for all leaders and teachers? Have we timetabled? We're thinking we mentioned earlier about the knowledgeable others. Well, have we timetabled and provisioned for them to work alongside the principal and the leaders and the teachers, because the knowledgeable others will be thinking about how they're going to go? Provision for them to go into the classrooms and to co-work with teachers. And are we mindful of what teaching and leading practices need to be taken out of the strategic plan? How are we making room to make sure that the focus is on this key work? And this is the way we do things around here and this needs to be given the time and this is how we're going to be building our culture of learning through the CLS.

Speaker 2:

And Maggie, we call that our. This is our forever work, don't we? And Sue and Maggie and I have said that for a long time. This is the only work, this is our forever work, and that's why it needs to clearly be planned and structured, with the end result of the work being embedded in every classroom.

Speaker 4:

And that leads us on to thinking about strategic leadership actions and, as Lynn was just saying, a clear and consistent message. Everybody was speaking the same language. Everybody's understanding, through clear communication and through having the learning language, everybody's understanding, through clear communication and through having the learning conversations, what it is we're doing and how we're doing it, and that there's a consistency in that and that everybody understands there is that shared responsibility and accountability to adopt those approaches throughout the school and there's a consistent message in that. Really, and to make sure that all staff have the time and the opportunity to raise anything that they're wondering or anything they need clarification on, and really as well, this is all part of providing that safe environment, isn't it? Where people aren't afraid, if you like, to ask any question and to seek clarification, and to ensure that all voices are heard and each member of the team is given feedback in relation to successes, roadblocks, challenges, to implementing the CLS practices.

Speaker 4:

Thinking about the executive leadership team, and that leads us on to the importance of them having an inquiry goal, a collaborative inquiry goal, and that they need again to message this clearly with the teachers. So we've talked and introduced the gap analysis tool previous times and the gap analysis tool you can will take you through each parameter on where you see it's an audit, really of where you see you're placed in relation to each aspect of the parameters and where you can see that you might go next, what your next steps might be. And then, of course, the importance of revisiting that regularly. All part of that ongoing reflection, which, lynn and Sue, I'm sure you'd agree, is all part of the suite, is a fundamental part of the suite that we're always reflecting, using our reflective journals and always going back and seeing where to next.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and the 14 parameters within that gap analysis tool. I think in working with Darwin leaders and teachers last week across Northern Territory, it was important that they started to think about how the 14 parameters are embedded in practice, in policy, in documents. Wherever they're writing documents, the 14 are there so that when they have an opportunity to be elsewhere, the documents, the research around the 14 parameters, stays in place, stays in place, and we talked about how, at the end of every term, they needed to look back at the gap analysis tool. How are we traveling in each of the parameters? Are there some that we've now embedded and can we move on to another one? Or maybe they're not embedded yet, will stay the course? So there's an opportunity for flexibility, but always maintaining that focus on the 14. As Michael Fallon said, there aren't any other categories. We need to stick to these categories and our gap analysis tool certainly helps us think about reflecting on each one.

Speaker 3:

And you know, when people have the chance to use the gap analysis, it actually is a real positive for the, for those looking at the gap analysis, because there's lots of things that they already have in place, which actually means that they're on the road. So it's a really can be a very affirming process to use up front and early so that teachers see that this isn't really all that different. This is actually a way of capturing their work and recognising what they've already got in place. So I think the use of the gap analysis is critical in all the elements of the work and as a way of saying to our teachers look at the great work we're doing. We're getting this in place. This probably needs a bit more work. This is fantastic. We haven't touched this one yet, so it's not as daunting. It makes it quite possible, I think.

Speaker 2:

I think that's great and I totally agree, sue. It's an opportunity to celebrate the wins that we've achieved.

Speaker 4:

Yes, yes and so important for the leaders to bring that affirmation in their messaging. We've talked just now about clear and consistent messaging and how, by bringing the positive out, that really energizes people. Doesn't it to feel inspired because it a sense of we can do this? You know we've done this much already.

Speaker 5:

Yeah.

Speaker 4:

So, as we close in looking at the pre-implementation stage it's just a few moments We'll hear from two leaders in New South Wales and their comments on pre-implementation and the important things to consider.

Speaker 5:

Something else that Anastasia and I highly valued was the notion and we've heard about it previously today about creating enabling conditions that are going to allow this work to be successful, and one of the biggest things that we thought was most important was that notion of strategic resourcing. We knew that if we wanted our middle leaders to be able to take on this work and effectively implement it within their teams, they needed time. They needed time to be able to come together and to engage in collaborative, robust conversations, and so Anastasia and I then took it to another level of how can we give that time within the framework of our school budget? So budgets, financial resourcing came into it, and so what we did was we were able, on a Wednesday, for our middle leaders to come together and have that time as a professional, collaborative practice time, and that is the time that we come together and engage in the clarity learning suite.

Speaker 4:

So we heard there from Lauren Phillips and Anastasia Galanos and they are primary principals who work collaboratively in the One School Network and there they've just given some key points to remember as you go through the pre-implementation process.

Speaker 2:

Maggie. It reminds me that exactly what they're doing is building on everyone's strengths. They're looking at the strengths of their teams within schools and across schools and building on those strengths as they move forward. So we're in implementation, Sue, Very exciting.

Speaker 3:

Oh, it's very exciting, you know, moving into implementation, you set up the pre-implementation, you're ready, set, go, and now we're ready to launch Lynne.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely so. I'm always thinking about that vision, and the vision for us is parameters 1 and 14. Those parameters really talk about our beliefs and our understandings and how they really morph into all of us, owning all the faces of our adult learners and, of course, our students. So we think about the guiding principles and ensuring that there's a deep understanding, as we move through the Clarity Learning Suite, about why we're doing this, and hope is a strategy. Certainly in our world today, with so many catastrophes occurring, that has to be our hope-filled future. However, when we're talking about our students' faces and knowing each student, we need to ensure that we not only know our students, but we know how to teach each one, and that's where the Clarity Learning Suite really works Knowing the faces, knowing how they are progressing and learning and how we can stretch them way beyond where they are.

Speaker 2:

There are other guiding principles for you to take a look at here. I did mention before that we need to know our data multiple sets of data to come together to develop our data walls that lead to our case management meetings. But it's a structured, planned approach, which is provided for you in the Clarity Learning Suite. So we're not off doing bits of everything, but actually focusing on the tools that we've provided in the Clarity Learning Suite and I think, maggie and Sue, you'd both agree that laser-like focus on every face drives our own work- Now knowing the story about each student, their learning story.

Speaker 3:

Quite often we get taken in that behaviour well-being line. We need to know that, but that's only part of it. So how does a student learn? So it's about knowing the whole face of the student, lynne and Maggie. In the work that we undertake, digging down and looking at the individual student is critical and that's part of key to this work Knowing the places.

Speaker 2:

Thanks, sue. And as we look at our data walls and we see students who are struggling, who might be stuck or not being extended, we need to act right there. We need to have data conversations at the wall. Who needs to come to our next case management meeting? If we walk by and ignore those faces, it's a total disservice to our students. So the reason we have those walls is to illuminate who our students are and how we need to know how to teach each one.

Speaker 2:

It was many years ago now that Dr Ken Leithwood and I worked on a vision of what's possible when systems, networks and schools become learning organizations, and the vision soon became our research, the research into what are the dimensions of schools, networks and systems who are learning organizations, and you can see the five dimensions there that we wrote about. And those dimensions now are the what we need to attend to, and the 14 parameters are how we're going to do this work in the Clarity Learning Suite. So vision is absolutely key to our work. Parameters one and 14 are the non-negotiables, and to that we add how important it is to put faces on the data through parameter six, that those data walls that I've mentioned that lead to case management meetings, just 15 minute meetings short, sharp and shiny that are used to bring together the student through a piece of student work. The student doesn't come to the meeting, but certainly the classroom teacher presents the student's work, looking for support around what she or he would like to improve about their practice and how those recommendations can support the teacher in moving this particular student on. Although many recommendations might be made around the table, we need to hear that teacher's voice and say this is the one I'm going to try for three weeks, then come back together again.

Speaker 2:

So it's an ongoing cycle of building teachers' capacity to teach all students. So you see, 1, 6, and 14 in the parameters are really the foundational pieces of the Clarity Learning Suite. Certainly, I think Maggie and Sue and I have talked about the fact that Clarity Learning Suite is asset-based. It's not a medical model, it's not a deficit model. We're not looking for what the students can't do or what the teachers can't do. This is a supportive model where we learn together what are the strengths of our learners, both our teachers and our students. And in those case, management meeting forums it's a place to say what can the student do and what do we build on to ensure that the student moves on and we support the teacher between those weeks until the follow-up meeting happens. So always looking at case management meetings as building the capacity in instructional intelligence and knowing they're not for students, they're not for parents, they're for teachers and leaders to really think about how the assessment piece on the table informs our next steps in instruction.

Speaker 4:

The importance there again is a knowledgeable other and in that three weeks between the teacher and everybody around the case management meeting table, have decided what the strategies will be, have agreed them for the next three weeks. That the teacher is then supported by the knowledgeable other, going into the classroom, working alongside as well.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, and we never leave a teacher alone to think well, we've done the case management meeting, now go away and come back and let us know how it occurred, what happened in three weeks. That is absolutely not this asset-based model. We're supporting the teacher during the meeting and also the intervening three weeks before that teacher returns, using the follow-up template in Clarity Learning Suite. We can't say enough about putting faces on the data, so we're always returning to parameter 1 and 14. We really believe all students can learn and, having had an opportunity to work with aspect schools across New South Wales just this past week, we have seen educators who truly believe it is about all students understanding how they can unlock strategies so that they learn way beyond what we thought was possible, and that's a very good mantra to have and it's working really well with all of our students in aspect Very exciting. There are some must-dos that make this work for our leaders.

Speaker 2:

I'd first like to say everyone's a leader and we want to consider teachers and leaders working shoulder to shoulder to become those knowledgeable others for each other.

Speaker 2:

So a couple of words that really resonate with me is one of them is co-construction really looking at how we co-construct, meaning together, starting with operating norms, moving to protocols, understanding co-construction as a powerful way to develop data walls, looking at the word time and seeing time as an opportunity to cull what's not working, as Maggie said, and really focus on time to do the work of learning together through using that clarity learning suite not only with our leaders but also with our teachers, knowing that it will move beyond leadership to all of our teachers in our schools.

Speaker 2:

I think we have talked about looking at the parameters and how, at the end of every term, we review how we're doing, how we're traveling with them. This is an example. I was out in Forbes working and I could see in the staff room above their data wall that they had the 14 parameters visible and they had huge check marks on some of them. So, asking the teachers and leaders assembled looking at the data wall, what are the check marks for? They came together every term to put a check mark on yes, this one is embedded, but no check marks on the ones they're still working on embedding. So, even though we look at 1, 6 and 14 as our non-negotiables, it's really important that we consider all of the parameters, just not three. They all work together to increase students' achievement, growth and learning.

Speaker 4:

I think interesting here Lynn lynn as well is the way that schools develop aspects of the of the data wall to best meet their needs so they find a different way of doing it and become creative, obviously staying faithful to the basis of what data wall is about. But some people add goals bit by bit on stickies, don't they? And add to them so they're actually on the wall. Other schools use QR codes. That's right, so they have a sense of owning it. I think.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, absolutely. And some of the questions that teachers were wondering about in this situation are on those stickies. So what were they wondering about? What questions did they have further?

Speaker 2:

So there are so many different ways to display a data ball. I say there's no one right way way In thinking about leading using data. We also need to acknowledge the importance of student work as data and how we can begin every meeting by hearing teachers' voices, bringing a piece of student work perhaps something from September and then something from November and giving teachers time to share their craft knowledge. Here's Billy in September and through these instructional approaches. This is Billy in December and we're celebrating the move and the growth that he has made.

Speaker 2:

So student workers data needs to be foremost in our mind when I say let's begin every meeting with data. It can be our network data, it can be our school data, it can be multiple data sets, including student workers data. I think we've been talking consistently about how Clarity Learning Suite and the tools within the suite are the how we're going to do this work. We have very clear documentation in New South Wales, using the plan for public education, using the explicit teaching documents, and that's the what and the why we're doing this work, and the tools in the Clarity Learning Suite are the how we're going to do this together.

Speaker 3:

It's important, isn't it, that you return regularly to that communication, because sometimes it falls off. We're strong in the beginning and think that you know we've set it up, but it's actually going back to the what, the why and the how. All the time checking in with people that they actually know what we're doing and why we're doing it, that the message hasn't been lost. So don't be afraid to go back and do that check-in to find out if people are really in agreement about what we're doing. Particularly when new people come on board, how do you get them into the same mindset and use the expertise of the teachers and the leaders that are already in the school? So it's a critical part, that communication, communication it can't be forgotten, and quite often we're very energised in the beginning about it but forget to keep going back to the what, the why and the how.

Speaker 4:

It's for leaders as well to consider, if they have that new person coming in, well, who on the staff is the best person to spend time alongside them and to work with them as they learn about the clarity work really. So that can't be left to chance, can it? Again, it's strategic.

Speaker 2:

Exactly.

Speaker 2:

I'm looking at the tools and thinking about in the clarity learning suite are the tools that really can support all teachers and how we have to be very strategic around new teachers and I'm always asking in the new teacher handbook, are the 14 parameters there?

Speaker 2:

Do they know? This is the work, and I would encourage leaders to take an opportunity to ensure our new teachers go on learning walks with the leadership team, one other person, to look into classrooms to make the connection specifically for new teachers, either initial teachers just beginning in our profession or teachers new to your staff. Do they know what the data wall represents and how you got to this point in the data wall? Invite them not only to alongside you in learning walks and talks, but also invite them to case management meetings. I think we need to have an open to learning and an open to inquiry stance around our new people in and how we support them, not only through our policies, our documents, our handbooks, but actually the actual walks through the school looking at the specifics of professional learning that the school staff is engaged with.

Speaker 4:

And always to be checking in with those people new to the staff too on.

Speaker 2:

Do they have any questions or wonderings, or what's something they're not sure of, etc yeah, absolutely, and I think we have some wonderful data that we've collected that shows the strength of the clarity learning suite. This is recent data, obviously. Nat plan has changed and now we're looking at strong and exceeding across new south Wales and I began to work here in about 2017, and it was on site and combined with the Clarity Learning Suite, and the growth has been so impressive, as we can see on the screen. I love it when our growth moves steadily towards the northeast of the grid and this is a strong example and we have many of them and case studies as well, to show that the research behind the Clarity Learning Suite works everywhere for every student. So I think King Sue will listen in to a leader in the field and then you'll take us forward to sustainability.

Speaker 3:

Thanks, Lynne.

Speaker 6:

At the beginning of staff meetings. So we would always reflect back to our data wall. So whichever way it looked like at that particular time and we're obviously being a very small school as well, knowing where everybody was we would identify. So if we were looking at those students that needed extending, then we would always have a discussion down that end of the data wall what ways we could look at extending and that sort of thing. So we'd always start with a rich discussion around what we could see and our PLC meetings would also start with that discussion around what we were seeing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's excellent. So it wasn't always the struggling students. You also thought about stuck students on the wall or extending students Fabulous, and so I was really taken with you saying that teachers would come to the wall and look at the students' learning goals. I always thought that using the QR code was just a really quick way of documentation, but you think that actually having the learning goals right there is important.

Speaker 6:

Why is that? Because it's there in your face. You see it, you see the student's face, you see the learning goal and if you're working with that or if that's a student you're going to go and ask a question about, you know what it is that you're trying, that you're looking for with their learning and, I think, the conversation. Then you can see the other learning goals set as well and that conversation you can have with the teacher. You've got four children in your class who are all working towards what can we do to support you with that, whereas QR codes you're going to have to click on, click off, that sort of thing. So it made it a lot more. Um. It was a better resource for us as a school and you know we smaller school, we're able to do that with the learning goals there and they just build up over the year. We just keep putting them on top of each other and then you can see data. You can see the progress throughout the year too.

Speaker 6:

We had our system coaches come into the school to go through learning walks and talks in the school.

Speaker 6:

Our students were amazing during that time.

Speaker 6:

They were just as nervous I, I think. But once the questions started flowing and they knew that that was exactly what was happening when other teachers walked into the school and they were the same questions that they were very comfortable and very proud to show off their bump it up walls, their learning intentions and things like that as well. So we were very fortunate to have system leaders, as well as system coaches, come through the school and really working as a system to support the implementation of clarity. All of our staff and ESOs are involved in case management meetings. We've specifically designed our timetable to allow the teachers to meet together in PLCs and our school support staff come into those meetings as well. During the PLC times we have our case management meetings and the ESOs are heavily involved in supporting those students and I think that's been critical to seeing an improvement in all of our students' learning is because they're able to hear, they're able to support, they're able to have input into how these students learn and what is the best thing for them.

Speaker 3:

How great that was to hear from Shannon, who has been full-blown into the implementation and as we're moving along now, we've looked at the pre-implementation, we've looked at implementation-implementation, we've looked at implementation and we come to sustaining. And quite often when we think about sustaining, this is the part that can be left. It can't be left to happenstance. It actually has to be planned for. It's how long term you're going to sustain this work, and it's not going to happen by a hope and a dream. It actually requires a very focused piece of work at this stage. Quite often at this stage, we talk about really having a detailed plan. You've done the work, you've done the learning together, you've got a plan for how you bring your people into the learning, but how are you going to keep it alive? And that's a critical part, because all that great work can just fall away if you don't have a very strong plan, prioritised, timetabled. When are we going to revisit it? When are we going to go back to it? So and I think it's a great opportunity to revisit the gap analysis Keep your gap analysis. Keep them so that you can see where you've been, monitor your journey. It's a great celebration and sometimes, when you look at that gap analysis at the sustaining stage, you might actually say, whoa, we're not on this one at this moment. We need actually to go back and revisit and reinvigorate it. So when we're looking at sustaining, we're looking at a very detailed plan who's going to do what and when we're going to do it and use the gap analysis. So it's really about taking a time to say what's really going well, what do we need to focus on and what's my next learning move? So when you look at that gap analysis and you see that you've dropped off, say in your case, management meetings, you say, right, how do we reinvigorate that? How do we go back to it? Do we need to go back to the modules and have a look at the, the modules on the clarity learning suite, or have we got best practice going in the school, in in in part of the school? So it's about not being afraid to say let's have a go, let's have a look at it and let's readjust the plan. It's about being concise and knowing what's effective and actually taking that next learning move.

Speaker 3:

And I think that as we move on, we talk about the high impact strategies that we use in our school and we've spoken about these. Um lynn, in particular, spoke case management, learning walks and talks and our data walls. But let's talk about the power of the learning walk and talk in in the area of sustaining. It's how you prioritize that, making sure that they're regularly happening, they're not falling off the agenda. How are you revisiting the protocols so that you are actually looking for the best practice that is happening around the school, not a day or two, but always looking for how the practice is in place and where you can point others to have a look at the work that is in place? And also, I think, lynne, you would say that the leadership team. It's their work to know how it's being implemented and where the strengths and where the challenges are, and it's important that the leadership team don't delegate this out. It is their responsibility to do this work.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. And you know, sue, when we're starting to think about learning walks and talks, it can be somewhat intimidating and teachers believe that they're being evaluated, so we talk about ghost walks first. So a gentle implementation that leads to sustaining, because teachers love ghost walks. It's a way to begin every staff meeting by having pairs walk through the school, leaving warm fuzzy post-its where they have noticed something that reflects the work they've been doing in professional learning. It might be an example of students thinking on the wall. It might be a learning intention that has the why. It might be a success criteria that you'd leave a warm fuzzy note about how it's been co -constructed so gently, introducing the learning walks and talks through ghost walks and then ensuring, just as you've said, sue, that principals take, or leadership team members take, one teacher at a time looking through the classrooms for something specific, through the classrooms for something specific. Learning walks and talks need to be purposeful and they need to inform us, as leaders and teachers, of our next best learning move as instructional leaders.

Speaker 4:

Can I just too as well, come in there thinking about how important it is that those in leadership model to the teachers through prioritizing the learning walks and talks and being consistent in that and not letting them drop off, but make sure that you do do them consistently and to ask yourselves if that's not working out, why is it not happening and what do we need to do about it?

Speaker 3:

yeah, so what we've talked about just there is the importance of whilst we've implemented, whilst we've used this high impact strategy in part of our professional learning. It's actually a critical way of maintaining and sustaining the, the practices that we've put in place and, similarly, when we go to data walls, this is a great opportunity for teachers to stand at the wall regularly. Stand at the wall, make a time, don't leave it to chance. Stand at the wall and look at the wall and say what's going on here, what do we observe? What do we see? Why is this so? These are the questions, and just listening to a couple of school leaders talk about how they've broken up the data wall in their school in different groups and how that those groups visit each other's data wall and ask those questions. It's how do we keep this alive so that it's at the, at the forefront of our teachers thinking? So, standing in front of the data wall and asking is this data relevant? Is it telling us something about our students? Is it showing progress? What are we missing? Is there something that we need to add to this data? So the data wall isn't just a high-impact strategy when you're implementing. It's actually a way of sustaining the work, keeping it alive so that it's at the forefront lynn. You spoke earlier about knowing the faces of the day of the students, so this is the most critical part those faces are the faces that we're responsible for and pulling, pulling those faces off, one of those faces off and taking it to the case management meeting. So we move on to the case management meeting as a really important strategy, also an important high impact approach that impacts on sustaining because it's such a collaborative across the school approach. But if it falls off, if it needs to be revitalized, um, do a, do a fishbowl at a staff meeting and bring it back to the forefront of people's thinking, revisit the protocols so that they don't slip, because they're the things that actually make sure that we have fidelity to the clarity learnings week. So we always need to return to our base, have a look at our sessions and see what the sessions might have been saying about a case management meeting and really go back to those things. Keeping it alive is a critical part of the whole process. The sustaining just doesn't happen. It has to be planned for, executed.

Speaker 3:

And don't forget to celebrate. You know you've done all this work. How important it is to say wow, look what we've done. Look what we've achieved. Look at our first gap analysis. Look at this. Bring a student that has been successful to the table from your case management meeting and say look at the difference we've made to this student. So don't be afraid to celebrate. Teachers need to feel that they're making progress and that their work is being acknowledged. So do leaders. So it's a really important part. And I think the learning fair. Sometimes, when I used to think about the learning fair, I was thinking about there's a huge learning fair, but it could be smaller learning fairs in grades, networks, cohorts, with your school next door. But it's a way of people being able to talk about their learning, keeping it fresh. They're reflecting when they're presenting and it's a way of celebrating what they've achieved. So learning fairs, small and large scale, are critical to how we do Clarity Learning Suite, because they're all about the celebration, the celebration of our success.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, sue, and I think it's the celebration of putting faces on the data for both our leaders and teachers. It's that sense of accomplishment that we celebrate. Yesterday there were 13 schools from across New South Wales in schools for students with autism, satellites and main sites and they came together and it's a celebration and also everyone learned from each other and so we heard across the day. That's a great idea. I'm going to try that. I'm going to put that in my plan. So today they're working on their school improvement plans and yesterday, when they heard the work of other schools, they were able to take the ideas and implement them in their own plans and it's very, it's very fulfilled. I think it gives us a sense of accomplishment when we come together and teach each other about our small wins and of course, that builds relationships as well, doesn't it across schools?

Speaker 3:

and builds connections, yeah, relationships as well, doesn't it across schools and builds connections? Yeah, and as we come to the last arm of sustaining, we're going to hear from Antonella. And just talking about learning fairs, Antonella is one of our, a leader in New South Wales, principal in one of our schools, and Antonella actually presented at our learning fair Clarity Learning Fair so it's great that we're going to hear from Antonella now.

Speaker 7:

Definitely the power of the Clarity Suite is what it develops amongst your school in shared beliefs and understandings. Everybody talks the same language. Everybody knows what the expectations are, particularly around success criteria and learning intentions. The power of it has enabled a culture that is very open. It's very collaborative and trusting, where staff will openly and students will openly reflect on their teaching and their learning and looking at their steps going forward. The power of it as well is that it's allowed us to really focus on our data. It's allowed us to strategically put the kids at the center of all our learning through our data walls and our conversations. Our stage meetings that we have with our teachers are around the data wall. It's's moderating. We are more focused on the learning of those students and the needs of the students. The power of it is the language. It's given us to talk the same language across the school and that has also been highly reassuring for our parent community that they hear the same language being spoken to amongst the staff.

Speaker 3:

Very strong words about Clarity Learning Suite and their school. Has been on the journey for some time and really strongly focused on the strategies for sustaining Clarity Learning Suite in their school.

Speaker 4:

So I'm wondering now, lynne, perhaps you'd like to bring our conversation to a close and some closing comments.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. Thanks to you, maggie, and to Sue, and to our whole team. It takes a whole team to really embed the work of clarity. So I know Mike is listening in, and Jim and, of course, drew as well. So for me there are a few points that highlight the essence of the Clarity Learning Suite, and one is to quarantine time for Clarity Learning Suite learning, for the professional learning that involves all of our staff. That's probably the first one that resonates for all of us, and the other one is identifying your knowledgeable others so that you can lead alongside.

Speaker 2:

I think about the opportunity of learning walks and talks every single day, whether it's on your way to deliver the lost lunch bag or it's a walk that you've scheduled with someone else. Take the opportunity to purposely walk into a classroom with a focus that you can then generically feed back to staff. This is what we're noticing in terms of our travel using the Clarity Learning Suite. Make those noticings very positive. Another trend and pattern that I'm seeing from this webinar today and also from our work across schools, is how important it is that the 14 parameters are seen as the how. How you ensure explicit assessment that improves instruction every day. What are the tools that we can use and how can we ensure we have integrity to those 14 areas of system network, school and classroom improvement. And finally, in saying thank you for listening, we always want to remember that we put faces on our data and we make our faces come alive and grow and achieve. Thank you so much for listening to us.

Speaker 4:

So, Drew, would you like to make some final reflections for us please?

Speaker 1:

In terms of closing, thank you again to Dr Lynn Sherratt, thank you again Sue Walsh and thank you Maggie as well, all coming with different perspectives and, as we say, it's the forever work. And as we say, it's the forever work and what you have given us is the framework and also the why behind the work, why it's so important setting those parameters up, walking through for that success, ensuring there is success, but also giving us how to sustain the work and the strategies to ensure the learning, walks and talks, the data and analysis as well, and making sure you celebrate as well, so crucial to sustaining and developing the work. As we say, it is the right work, it links really well and, on behalf of our association and those listening, thank you for listening and being inspired by the amazing CLS team. Thank you.

Speaker 2:

Thanks Drew. Thank you Drew.

Speaker 3:

Thank you, Drew.

Speaker 1:

That concludes our podcast with so many takeaways from the clarity learning suite team. If you are listening and would like to take the clarity learning suite journey into your school, go to our dedicated website and take action. Visit wwwnswppaorgau. Forward slash clarity dash learning, dash suite.

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Drew Janetzki

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