It can be really tricky to know where to start. Sometimes the vehicle for this is sitting right under our nose. For May Road School this vehicle was the Reading Together programme which gave them the opportunity to begin those important in-depth conversations with parents. This partnership has then underpinned the master-planning for the design of their new buildings. How might you empower the teachers and leaders in your school to have conversations that lead to innovative change and greater community partnership?

In this Leaders’ Connect Lynda Stuart will share their story and lead us in a discussion about how we might listen to what parents want and to navigate a way forward despite the constraints. .

Speaker: Lynda Stuart

Lynda is currently the Principal of May Road School in Mt Roskill. She took up this position in October 2006. Over the three year period of 2017-2019 she was in the role of President of NZEI Te Riu Roa and based in Wellington. She returned to May Road at the beginning of 2020. Lynda has been extensively involved in leadership within the education sector and spoken at both national and international conferences about what is happening in education in Aotearoa. She has a commitment to working with diverse communities and has a strong belief in the importance of embracing the language, culture and identity of each child and their family.

About the Leaders’ Connect online series

Leaders’ Connect is an interactive, relational, online space for education leaders. These one-hour online hui occur fortnightly and the aim is to:  

• Provide a safe place of connection for education leaders within NZ
• Support leaders’ wellbeing 
• Gain fresh leadership knowledge and capacity 
• Create professional connection via an online platform
• Provide a space for learning and sharing innovative practices and ideas 

“The topics for these Leaders’ Connects are so relevant. I have attended as many as I can since the start of the year. My school is a smaller rural school just south of Auckland, so the opportunity to discuss these types of topics with others in the education space is great, Kia pai to rā”, Kris Burden, Tumuaki, Hunua School.

Leaders Connect was initiated by our team during the COVID19 lockdown in March 2020 and facilitated 15 Leaders Connect sessions in 2020.  In October 2020 the Ministry of Education agreed to sustain this initiative through resourcing it till the end of 2021.

Videos from past events

https://leadershiplab.co.nz/videos/