Understanding school property

Overview

As principal you are responsible for ensuring the school’s present and future achievement goals are served by your school property. Leadership related to property involves:

  • ensuring compliance with Ministry of Education property regulations and requirements
  • resourcing strategically
  • ensuring a safe, orderly and supportive environment
  • selecting, developing and using smart tools.

These four strongly support school achievement goals.

This guide contains useful information on this important area of system management. It covers:

  • newly signed 5-10 year property plans
  • school property policies and procedures
  • information about the Ministry’s online guides to property and health and safety
  • property management
  • property and its relationship to achievement strategies.

Important information about 5 - 10 year property plans

From July 2010 Ministry of Education property policies and regulations formally require all newly signed 5-10 Year Property Plans to to be based on the standardised Building Condition Assessment methodology and the Modern Learning Environments (MLE) assessment tool.

With support from their contracted project manager, this process will enable schools to rank planned projects into four priority areas for the 5 Year Agreement:

Priority 1: Health and safety

Priority 2: Essential infrastructure

Priority 3: Modernising learning environments to the core standard

Priority 4: Other Discretionary Projects (only if the other three priorities are addressed)

The Building Condition Assessment methodology and the MLE tool (at far right of page) provide the objective quality analysis to help sort out the priorities.

School property policy and procedures

  • Check the Property Occupancy Document to ensure you have the core principles of school property management, use and development sorted.
  • Ensure school policies/procedures take account of the resourcing, school environment and smart tools leadership dimensions and their application to each and every phase of property decision-making and actions.
  • Reflect on how well your own property knowledge and skills meet the expectations confirmed by the demands of the Modern Learning Environments (MLE) strategy and your school’s achievement goals.

Online guides to property

  • The Property Management Handbook contains a clear explanation of all the regulations and requirements. Section 1 provides an excellent description of the processes involved. It is essential reading and ready reference for all new principals and board members. The detail in the other sections is essential reading for each stage of the property project management process requirements.
  • Property Forms and Templates provide clear guidance for all property processes. Note the Project Management set for use when carrying out 5 Year Property work.
  • Property Management Information System (PMIS) is an essential reference for all principals. It provides a detailed summary of each state school’s property including projects carried out in the last 15 years, the pattern of school roll change over that time, summaries of 5 Year Property, and details on all school buildings . It even includes summaries of the amount of building space in relation to school roll and whether the school is over code or under code.
  • From July 1 2010 each school has a Ministry of Education School Property Adviser (SPA) for property. Yours is listed on your school’s PMIS under Property Information. A good working relationship with your SPA will help you understand your property responsibilities.
  • Network Noticeboard and Network News provide the latest topical details on property issues. Also look for helpful tips and checks in the Ministry of Education Regional Newsletter at the beginning of each term.

Online guides for health and safety

  • Pay particular attention to the checklists for use in times of emergency. These are on the Worksafe at School page.

Property management

Each board manages school property through applying systematic processes that meet the requirements and responsibilities defined in the Property Occupancy Document.

These are:

  • The 10 Year Property Cycle and its two 5 Year Funding cycles.
  • General maintenance from the bulk grant.
  • Ministry of Education general support, advice and, in special cases, funding in times of emergency.
  • Community support and funding where locally generated funds provide for district facilities on the school site. For example for a swimming pool or hall.
  • Health and Safety procedures to meet the standards required for all aspects of school property use and maintenance including, for most schools, meeting the requirements for building warrants of fitness. Rural schools are likely to have procedures to ensure water supplies are safe for consumption.

Some large schools have one or two board members who undertake much of the policy and implementation work associated with property. Many boards will expect their principal to lead the processes and step in to take action as required. Some rural schools have pooled resources so they can employ a part-time person to oversee correct application of Ministry policies and attend to the chores of sorting tenders, contracts with builders and liaison with the SPA. Most property projects of any size now require the employment of a professional project manager.

The principal plays a key role in building strong working relationships with the Ministry of Education SPA and property project managers. In this way you learn quickly about property matters but do not get buried in the details. Ensuring their expertise directs property processes to strongly support school achievement goals is to be your goal.

Achievement strategies and property

  • Well defined school achievement goals and plans should be the basis for property decision making and strategy. Use the Modern Learning Environments (MLE) assessment tool to help.
  • A regular pattern of prioritising spending and actions to maintain and add to a school environment that provides a pleasant and encouraging learning place for both staff and pupils will strongly support school achievement goals.
  • Keep in mind that property-related actions can be at the maintenance, refurbishment and/or new capital work levels.
  • The Performing Classrooms collection provides a wide range of links to assist in-school property evolution that is tied to achievement strategies.

Engage in “open to learning conversations” about school property and its use.

For example:

Capture the view of the school facilities and their use through the eyes of the daily users, both students and staff. Find out property needs, safety issues and wish lists by:

  • discussing classroom capacity to provide the setting for meeting achievement goals with the teachers and students. Do this in their space. If there is a worst classroom in the school go there first!
  • using staff and students in applying the health and safety requirements for hazard identification and minimization and keeping up to date with maintenance. Recording and acting on hazards can be supplemented with minor maintenance actions. Many eyes help identify property needs and speeds up the process.
  • ensuring there is regular observation and analysis of student and staff travel patterns around and in and out of the school. Identifying and alleviating bottlenecks and crowdedness may reduce student conflict and bullying issues. Staff at the perimeter of a large school may feel isolated and find the long trek to the staffroom an issue. Evolving traffic patterns at the beginning and end of the school day can create new needs and hazards.
  • viewing the school property after extreme weather conditions. Heavy rain and drainage issues may have a significant impact on student and staff well-being.
  • looking for what needs maintaining, what has been improved by student/staff action or what would benefit from a re-think about use and appearance.
  • making sure the school has an operative maintenance plan. Do not forego maintenance. An active preventative maintenance regime will avoid serious and expensive problems occurring later.
  • encouraging the use of displayed evidence of student achievement in public spaces and all classrooms. Living reminders of the community and its culture are important.
  • asking on each trip around the school, “What is not evident in our school’s property that would strengthen our achievement capacities?”

Take advantage of the expertise of your SPA to gather advice and guidance about how to work through the complexity of property issues. Use the expertise of Property Managers/Project Managers to help develop solutions for property issues and the needs of achieving classrooms. You are not expected to be a property ‘expert’, but the skill is recognising when you need help, and where to go to get it.

Engaging in these two groups of open to learning conversations will provide for two way learning and recognition by all that there are limits and constraints that force you to prioritise.

Does this guide meet your needs? If not, let us know: contact@educationalleaders.govt.nz

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