Implementation Process

How do we know that we made and impact and some difference?

As this work was underpinned by the school’s experiences of completing projects with partners and networks of schools, the following planning strategies were put in place:

• Identifying potential and current partners who could work with the school. The school had the advantage of leveraging from the experiences of working initially with a small group of long-term partners as well a seeking opportunities for new partnering relationships and this needs to be a consideration, especially for principals, as almost all organisations will expect a high level of engagement from the principal, especially at the start of the relationship. Not all partnerships will benefit the school or students, no matter how well meaning the organisations offering the program appear to be. 

• A value proposition for each partnering relationship that assessed the effort/outcome coefficient and determined the cost/benefit of the relationship based on the costs (financial, time and staffing) compared to the benefit to students. The following table includes examples of strategic partnering and the ways the school has delegated the “partner care” and programs to enable more partnering linked to specific school projects.  

3. Professional learning for the school’s Professional Learning and Leadership Teams and for use by colleagues in other schools (including schools in the SVA Bright Spots School Connection) designed in consultation with our academic partner.

4. A common set of practices (new ways of doing) implemented consistently:

• Change the traditional partnering conversation by changing who is in it – student agency and voice are critical to the success of partnering.

• People support what they create – co-creation, mutual two-way learning and commitment is a design feature for each relationship.

• All partners take ownership for their individual and collective actions in terms of how much they do, how effective it is and how they measure the impact of the work.

• Ensure that continuous feedback and insights allows the partnering (how) and actions to achieve the intended outcomes (what) to “pivot” on the basis of formative tracking and reporting.

• Build experiences that create high value outcomes using a range of universal, targeted and intensive experiences that are engaging and ensure opportunities.