FROM THE DESK OF PRINCIPAL (SH. SANJEEV SURI)

MY VISION AS PRINCIPAL FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL
Great Schools do not exist apart from Great leaders. In today’s climate of heightened expectations, principals are in the hot seat to improve teaching and learning. We need to be educational visionaries; instructional and curriculum leaders; assessment experts; disciplinarians; community builders; public relations experts; budget analysts; facility managers; special program administrators; and expert overseers of legal, contractual, and policy mandates and initiatives. We are expected to broker the often-conflicting interests of parents, teachers, students, district officials, unions, and state and federal agencies and we need to be sensitive to the widening range of student needs.

THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AS LEADER
Principal’s job is to help teachers to improve their teaching, using data to review and refine the instructional program and ensuring that the school is kept clean and safe. The more abstract but very tangible elements of leadership, however, are often what spell the difference. As leader of learning Principal can develop a team delivering effective instruction:
1. Improving instruction to enable teachers to teach at their best and students to learn at their utmost.
2. Managing people, data and processes to foster school improvement.
3. Shaping a vision of academic success for all students, one based on high standards.
4. Creating a climate hospitable to education in order that safety, a cooperative spirit and other foundations of fruitful interaction prevail.
5. Cultivating leadership in others so that teachers and other adults assume their part in realizing the school vision.
Each of these five tasks needs to interact with the other four for any part to succeed. It’s hard to carry out a vision of student success, for example, if the school climate is characterized by student disengagement, or teachers don’t know what instructional methods work best for their students, or test data are clumsily analysed. When all five tasks are well carried out, however, leadership is at work.

FIVE KEY PRACTICES:
As an effective Principal I will be responsible for establishing a schoolwide vision of commit- ment to high standards and the success of all students.
1. Shaping a vision of academic success for all students: A collective interest in reaching that goal, this means teachers and students wish for improvement as well and are prepared for that result. Goals exist on different levels: school-wide, team-wide and individually. While my school-wide goal is to motivate students and improve student achievement, and individuals are generally inclined to set their own goals, many may not realize the importance of working in teams. Building teacher teams ensures that all teachers respect and understand all students as well as their co-workers. Once individuals are organized into teams, they implement a school-wide plan for student improvement. The schools in which faculty had a positive view of the school Principal but no overarching triumphs were made, had a pattern in which improvement implicated individuals rather than being applied systematically. An equal investment in a collaborative goal maintains a sense of community and spirit. I will take teachers' meeting times for a pre-determined purpose was found to be a productive way of encouraging teacher leadership and imposing goals. One way to use this time intentionally is by monitoring and tracking student progress. Various types of data can include behaviour, school attendance, grades, student work, test scores and other school assignments. I will observe data per individual student and per student group, whether organized by department or teacher.
2. Creating a climate hospitable to education: As an effective principal I will ensure that my schools allow both adults and children to put learning at the center of their daily activities. Such “a healthy school environment,” is characterized by basics like safety and orderliness, as well as less tangible qualities such as a “supportive, responsive” attitude toward the children and a sense by teachers that they are part of a community of professionals focused on good instruction. To change this kind of climate – and begin to combat teacher isolation, closed doors, negativism, defeatism and teacher resistance –As the most effective principal my focus will be on building a sense of school community, with the attendant characteristics. These include respect for every member of the school community; “an upbeat, welcoming, solution-oriented, no-blame, professional environment;” and efforts to involve staff and students in a variety of activities, many of them schoolwide.
3. Cultivating leadership in others: A broad and longstanding consensus in leadership theory holds that leaders in all walks of life and all kinds of organizations, public and private, need to depend on others to accomplish the group’s purpose and need to encourage the development of leadership across the organization. Schools are not different. Good leadership improves both teacher motivation and work settings “Compared with lower-achieving schools, higher- achieving schools provided all stakeholders with greater influence on decisions. My main role as Principal is to provide leadership, direction and co-ordination within the school. My main focus will be to develop and maintain effective educational programs within school and to promote the improvement of teaching and learning in school.
4. Improving instruction: As Effective principal I will work relentlessly to improve achievement by focusing on the quality of instruction. I will help define and promote high expectations; keep check on teacher isolation and fragmented effort; and will connect directly with teachers and the classroom. As effective principals I will also encourage continual professional learning. I will emphasize research-based strategies to improve teaching and learning and initiate discussions about instructional approaches, both in teams and with individual teachers.
In practice this all means that as Principal I will become intimately familiar with the “technical core” of schooling – what is required to improve the quality of teaching and learning.
Principals themselves agree almost unanimously on the importance of several specific practices, according to one survey, including keeping track of teachers’ professional development needs and monitoring teachers’ work in the classroom.
5. Managing People, Data and Processes: When it comes to data, as effective Principal I will try to draw the most from statistics and evidence, having “learned to ask useful questions” of the information, to display it in ways that tell “com- pelling stories” and to use it to promote “collaborative inquiry among teachers.” Will view data as a means not only to pinpoint problems but to understand their nature and causes. As Principal I will approach my work in a way that will get the job done. As school leader pressing for high academic standards would, for example, map out rigorous targets for improvements in learning (planning), get the faculty on board to do what’s necessary to meet those targets (implementing), encourage students and teachers in meeting the goals (supporting), challenge low expectations and low district funding for students with special needs (advocating), make sure families are aware of the learning goals (communicating), and keep on top of test results (monitoring).

THE ROLE OF THE PRINCIPAL IN PUBLIC RELATIONS
Good public relations create the climate and understanding between school and community that helps make possible an even finer job of teaching. As principal I should involve the community in planning and evaluating school policies. All of this can be accomplished through planned activities and media. As educational leader of the school, I will take the initiative to develop strong community support through a public contact system and through the accurate assessment of student needs. As Principal I will maintain healthy public relations. Public relations are about sending the right messages to the right place and the right people, creating a stronger brand reputation. No matter how prepared one is, being a school Principal can come with a lot of challenges. As Principal I have these most important qualities for the all-round development of institution and to overcome the difficulties:
➢ I am a visionary.
➢ I have leadership qualities.
➢ I’m an excellent listener.
➢ I’m fair and consistent.
➢ I’m a bridge builder.

“Being a good leader isn’t about having power over others, but about instilling power in others.”