MAKING EVERY SCHOOL YEAR COUNT: A SIMPLE GUIDE TO GETTING THINGS DONE IN YOUR SCHOOL

As school leaders or educators, we all have certain goals we want to achieve by the end of the school year, semester, or term. Whether it’s improving student behavior, boosting parental involvement, acing the National Assessment Test, or slashing absenteeism, these goals are important. But here’s the big question: Are our day-to-day activities, school processes, and overall culture really helping us hit those targets? 

 Identified Issues

A common challenge we face is, juggling a bunch of activities that don’t always lead to the outcomes we want. For example, your school might aim to increase enrollment and reduce absenteeism, but instead, you get caught up in unrelated tasks like upgrading software or adding new buildings. This often means resources and efforts are being spread too thin. Even when we do come up with good solutions, it’s easy to get bogged down by too many activities that don’t deliver the results we’re after. Take a local school that introduced mock exams or interim assessments to boost test scores of their finalist, however they didn’t see the results they hoped for just because the team of teachers were simply overloaded other alternative tasks during that same period.

Proposed Solutions

So, how can we make sure our efforts actually pay off? Lets talk lean management—a fancy term for focusing on what truly matters and cutting out what doesn’t give value.

1. Get Everyone on Board - Gather your team of teachers and stakeholders around the table. - Brainstorm the goals you want to achieve in the next month, semester, or year. - List out all the current activities and processes. - Together, decide which activities are actually helping you reach those goals—and which ones aren’t.

2. Plan and Prioritize - Pinpoint the activities that are truly valuable in reaching your goals. - Prioritize these activities, delegate tasks, and hold everyone accountable. - Clearly outline who’s doing what and when, based on your available time.

3. Track Your Progress - Set up simple metrics to measure your success. - Agree on what works best for your team to keep improving and staying on track with your goals.

Conclusion By adopting lean management principles, you can transform how your school operates. Focus on activities that directly add value and contribute to your goals. With everyone involved, a clear plan in place, and regular progress checks, you can drive meaningful and lasting improvements in your school.