A Mini School Structure
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The school structure I implemented in a school of over eight hundred pupils to maximise the best opportunity for our pupils, their families and their teachers, provided a personalised learning environment and empowered both teachers and learners. We called it Mini Schools, the concept of a number of smaller autonomous schools within a larger school setting. They are based on the expertise of teacher teams, fully focussed on the learning continuums of their pupils, vertically grouped and resourced according to their needs. Such a management model empowers teachers to become far more autonomous and opens the opportunity for Leading Teachers to emerge amongst their peers. In very large schools where the top heavy Admin Team is seen as the promotional opportunity the "drop out" rate for teachers is much higher than if they can feel integral to all of the decisions their Mini School team makes and implements. Mini Schools when running to their optimum hardly even need an Admin team to tell them what to do.
I shall describe our Mini School model in the present tense, though it ceased to exist some time ago.
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Each Mini School is fully resourced to ensure its independent integrity and accountability and resources are better utilised and cared for when they have ‘owners’ not ‘hoarders’ as responsibility for their care and maintenance is personalised to a team of eight, with the appropriate teacher aide and specialist teacher allocation. Hoarding of teacher aide time is in the past. When all resources, both human and physical, are equitably shared and used and cared for by Mini Schools the opportunity for teaching to be richer and less by chance is possible for all. The wrongful belief by single classroom alone teachers that ‘ownership’ and ‘hoarding’ of resources gives them power and status, an enhanced opportunity for their own “Grade #” class, has significant impact on budgets and the principles of equity and social justice. The effectiveness of teaching and learning, with continuity the overriding condition, is greatly enhanced when teachers work and plan collaboratively, sharing their expertise and their resources for the greater good rather than their own personal gratification. The children in their care are the beneficiaries year after year.
Everything the school does can be organised on the basis of Mini Schools. Sporting teams are the mini-schools so practices and competitions are easily organised. Excursions, community visits, school camps, cultural visits, parent education courses and so much more are all collaboratively organised. Planning, preparation, professional development and in-service are all done using our ‘Nine Day Teaching Fortnight’ model so curriculum team building, shared planning and resource development is a reality.
For school administration each Mini School is represented with a junior and senior teacher on the School Management Committee which meets monthly for a breakfast bar-b-que at 7.00am with the Admin team and specialist teachers. The agenda for the hour long breakfast meetings is as much the input and concerns of the Mini School reps as those of the Admin team and others. The bureaucratic agenda and demands of education ministers is better disseminated on pieces of paper rather than the never ending whole of staff five o’clock marathon meetings. If teachers don’t have a voice in the running of their school for the best educational outcomes for the children in their care maybe they can better be replaced by subservient robots. Maybe they already have been forced to be so.
Over the years our four Mini Schools operated the benefits were profound. As each was treated and considered as an entity in itself so it was resourced accordingly with key teachers, with literacy and numeracy aides, with English and Maths key teachers and so on. All of our children and their families benefited greatly as their total team of teachers was as balanced as best possible, all offering the best continuous personalised education we could manage at the time. The GERM has done its best to destroy that ethos.
Mini Schools allowed for specialist teacher blocks for a term for each and intensive work was proven to be most beneficial. Our camping program was approached in the same way and the planning of venues and development of programs was tailored to meet the needs and expertise of each group and their teachers. Each Mini School was able to develop a special relationship with its parent group as children and their siblings went through the seven years (now six plus Prep) in the same Mini School with generally the same group of teachers. Parents had less teachers and personnel to get to know and were more comfortable in helping in classes, joining excursions, going on camps, every class having a parent liaison person, PLP, and that network played very important roles in assisting their classes and getting other parents involved.
Whilst our school was moderately large it did not appear that way in its management. Some children very occasionally crossed over mini-school but problems are best solved at their source, so when absolutely necessary changes occurred. Over a few years each had developed its own character, its own flavour and that made for healthy relationship development and growth. Competition was evident, but was fairly easily kept in check. A spirit of all the parts cooperatively developing a stronger whole is part of everyday life, from litter control to our lunch time quiz shows.
The monitoring of many variables is enhanced through this structure, from behaviour management, academic results, participation in sporting or cultural events and much more. The structure gives real opportunities for teacher leaders to evolve as a key component of teacher development. There are many opportunities for lead teachers to emerge and contribute in very visible ways within their Mini School and to influence the wider school community. The regular management committee meetings coordinate these teacher leaders’ contributions and offer further avenues for their personal and professional development. They complement the work of the administration and provide a more balanced and authentic perspective on decision making, a risk that some principals are loathe to take. When new teachers are transferred to the school lead teachers play an important role in their orientation. If they are filling the position of a teacher from a teaching team the class hardly misses a beat.
Finally mini-schools provide a management structure which fully enhances the principles of multiage classrooms. These classrooms excel in the team spirit of continuity and seamless educational pursuit. Children become very used to a consistent way of learning and the teams ensure that their pupils reach their potential at each level. Also for lock step classrooms the structure provides junior and senior teams time to plan for learning outcomes beyond the single year of their class. Teachers seem to support each other better when they are fully aware of the planning being done both above and below their class level. All teachers appear to be much more aware of any difficulties their peers may be having and work cooperatively towards solving problems earlier and supporting each other. Children see this mutual respect and support and are more likely to relate it to their own relationships.
Our Mini School structure stood us in good stead for managing the many changes and challenges schools faced as they transitioned from the Good to the Bad to the Ugly of today’s GERM Model with its unchallenged control of our nation’s education system. It would be hard to imagine any school now operating in the ways I have described, but I can give you a hand if you’re game to try.
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