Guides for managing your school

These practical guides for first-time and recently appointed principals look at applying school leadership across systems on a day-to-day basis.

Primary principals' annual calendar

This guide contains a downloadable calendar for primary principals. It will help you to keep a month-by-month overview of what’s ahead so that you can bring coherence to your planning. Each month has been grouped into sections that cover leadership actions and outcomes. You can customise the calendar to suit your situation.

Secondary principals' annual calendar

This guide contains a downloadable calendar for secondary principals. It will help you to keep a month-by-month overview of what’s ahead so that you can bring coherence to your planning. Each month has been grouped into sections that cover leadership actions and outcomes. You can customise the calendar to suit your situation.

Starting the year off

This guide offers some suggestions that will help you to:

make the first term a positive one
avoid major issues
develop good processes.

Effective communications

This guide contains suggestions for managing the everyday communications you apply in your role as a principal.

Dealing with complaints

This guide will help you to apply simple, broad principles to the way you deal with complaints.

Facing the time challenge

This guide offers some suggestions that will help you to:

manage your own time
fit in your own learning
manage others’ time agendas.

Understanding school employment

This guide contains useful information about school employment. It looks at:

legislation and regulations
payroll
appointing staff
individual and team performance.

Understanding school finances

This guide contains useful information about school finances and resourcing. It provides a financial checklist and also covers:

sourcing general financial information
school funding sources
keeping the accounts
preparing the budget
reporting on and reviewing school finances.

Attendance

This guide focuses on the administration of attendance, attendance levels at your school, and getting beyond the collection of data. It covers:

Presence and absence in New Zealand schools: The administrative requirements
Your school – attendance as it is now
Engagement and attendance – getting beyond just data collection.