Change agent Iain Taylor gets Manurewa Intermediate moving

"Manurewa Intermediate is motoring and moving on up": it's the new catch cry for principal Iain Taylor, who took over as principal in term four last year, returning to the school he once attended as a child.

Mr Taylor is into catchy slogans like this because they sum up the journey ahead for the struggling decile one South Auckland school -- and he likes it because parents can relate to it, and he desperately wants his parents involved.

Behind the slogans is dead serious stuff. Mr Taylor is intent on turning around the school and leaving behind its seemingly ingrained culture of low student achievement, and poor teacher and parental engagement.

Anyone who has read the bleak Education Review Office reports on Manurewa Intermediate will be in no doubt as to the massive and daunting challenge ahead.

• Roll: about 740
• Decile: one
• Years: 7 to 8
• Student population: 44 percent Maori, 37 percent Pacific Island, 11 percent Asian,
  6 percent European/Pakeha
• Principal: Iain Taylor

Mr Taylor says it's a journey that has lifting student achievement as its pinnacle and parental involvement and belief in the school at its heart. It will be supported by strong and enthusiastic teachers who have great relationships with their students and high expectations of what they can do, with everyone working in a modern physical learning environment. For Mr Taylor (41), who wrote his masters education thesis on Passionate Leadership, the challenge is right up his alley. He's worked in change environments before -- as a 26-year-old principal he took Ponsonby Intermediate (then about to be closed) from a roll of 83 in 1994 to a strong 500 when he left the school five years later.

Manurewa Intermediate principal Iain Taylor

'I like to make things exciting'

"I like to make things exciting, I like to take risks and it's what I like my staff and kids to do. That is part of the excitement of questioning and reaching your potential.

"I also believe it's important for leaders to use their emotions and communicate them effectively – when you're really excited and happy about stuff, you should share that. Likewise when you are unhappy, you should be able to talk about it and make the hard calls as well. We are here for the kids and that is what matters the most."

Turning around Manurewa Intermediate is a five-year plan.

"When I first came here I thought there was apathy in the community about the school, but in the time I've been here, the support from parents and the involvement of parents has been amazing and I've been blown away.

"The apathy was because they didn't really know what was going on in the school when I started. So we developed plans. My first 75 days was called 'Count down 75 – setting the standard, changing the ways'. That was all to do with the board, the community, the kids and the environment and how these elements all worked together.

"Until the end of term three this year, we have 'Rocketing 290 – School Improvement, Motivating Manurewa'."

The 290 days will again mark another milestone in Mr Taylor's leadership of the school – essentially his first full year at the school. At that point, the school's strategic plan, now under development, will take over.

Mr Taylor says the key to the turnaround in parents' interest was to simply tell them what was going on, and bring them in to see for themselves.

As well as monthly newsletters, there is now a Principal Community Forum on the first Friday of every month after assembly, community whanau meetings and Student Involved Conferences where the child, their parents and teachers meet up for half an hour (instead of a ten-minute parent–teacher interview) – in the classroom to see what the child has been doing, and to talk about it.

"Sixty-six percent of parents came to the last Student Involved Conferences -- this is outstanding in a decile one school. I think parents are seeing the changes, they are happy about it, and they are wanting to buy into it."

School surveys are now also yielding high responses from parents, from 33 percent at the end of last year, to 60 percent in the latest.

"We are talking to the parents all the time about where we are heading, what we think is important, about our expectations for the kids’ behaviour, how we want to excite and enthuse them, and how we want parents to get involved in these things as well."

As Mr Taylor says, lifting parental expectations for their children's success in education is an important factor in helping kids learn – so keeping them involved is crucial.

Perhaps the most major focus for Mr Taylor, however, is developing positive relationships between the teachers (many who are immigrant teachers) and the children.

Relationships are vital

"These Maori and Pacific Island kids more than anything need to know that they are respected and that they are liked. Relationships are vital and we are mentoring staff about being motivated and communicating positively with their kids.

"As a teacher you have to show them that you care about them, that you are interested in them, that you believe in their potential and that you are passionate and energetic about your job -- not just because it's the only job you could get.

"It's a huge challenge and we've achieved a lot in a short time. For the teachers, it has been depressing for them. They've felt no support in the past, and the children have been able to get away with what they liked."

The school's strategic plan is being developed with the input of staff and students and parents, as is a school charter covering the community's vision for the school. They are working on a school code of conduct and behaviour management programme, and staff are now involved in ongoing professional development.

Starting with the basics

When Mr Taylor says he is starting right at the very basics, he is not exaggerating. There is not a single computer in any of the classrooms, school tests were once carried out over the intercom, classrooms haven't been touched for 25-odd years.

The lack of standard modern technology, and the shabby physical learning environment are being tackled -- a business case is in with the Ministry of Education for IT and building upgrades.

And while he can't rely on his low-income parent community to help boost his operating budget, Mr Taylor says government funding is thankfully double that of his last school -- Gladstone Primary (a decile 8 school).

And it is also back to real basics for the actual teaching and learning.

"We want our kids to be creative problem solvers and technologically savvy -- but they need to know the basics first. That is the real issue for me," Mr Taylor says.

"The kids here need to be taught explicitly. They need to know how to spell correctly, they need to know how to write a decent paragraph or five. They have got to know how to read and interpret different genres of writing and do basic arithmetic and how to work in a group and get along with others. Those sorts of things are so basic. But they are missing.

"I call these the basic building blocks for their future learning. At least if they have got those skills they can go and find out other information if they need it when they are older. This is where we are focusing."

And the ultimate goal for the school: having a modern and focused environment that gives kids the best deal because they deserve it. "We want Manurewa Intermediate to become a world-class multicultural low decile school."

The education battle against gangs

The Aucklander newspaper has reported that some Manurewa Intermediate pupils are targeted by gangs as potential gang prospects, and Mr Taylor is working hard to stop this by offering a wide range of activities to engage the pupils.

The Aucklander story is at this web page.

The man who turned around the 'worst school' in Britain

Check out another successful manager of school change – William Atkinson of Phoenix High School, West London, who has been described as Britain's most successful head teacher after turning around 'the worst school in the country'. His story is here.