It fascinates me pulling back the curtain and exploring worlds we take for granted. We go about our day and things happen around us. We travel by train, bus or drive. Do you ever stop to think about all the components that make that happen? There is a person who designs the road, a science behind it, someone who studies the flow of traffic and co-ordinates traffic lights to ensure traffic flows freely. Do you ever stop to consider the mechanics of the things we take for granted?
I’ve spent the last seven weeks pulling back the curtain on how St Luke’s operates. I have two boys, both in primary school, so I’ve had some exposure to the current education system, or so I thought.
I always knew that teachers did way more than the standard teaching hours. I knew their time was taken up with parent meetings, class preparation, reports, assessments, and the list goes on.
I spent a lot of my time visiting the office at my children’s school last year and I saw first hand how busy the office staff were and how often their days were interrupted by me, students, parents and other school matters.
So when I saw the position for General Administrator advertised I thought I knew what to expect. I certainly felt like I had the skills, a strong background in administration, coordinating staff, rostering and compliance. The diversity of the role was what drew me to it. I knew I would be busy and challenged. I didn’t think the challenge would extend to writing my first blog post or should I say, ramble but life is full of surprises.
The other draw card was St Luke’s ethos, how could it not be rewarding to immerse myself in a culture of growth and change, educating children and in the process oneself, to become more self aware. I knew I would be surrounded by inspiring people, people challenging themselves and those they teach. This was/is extremely important to me as an individual and as a parent.
So I took a leap of faith as did the Leadership team at St Luke’s, in choosing someone with no background in schooling and no real idea of the mechanics involved in making a school work efficiently and effectively, to work together to explore and expand on the traditional General Administrator’s role. The focus being to free up the Leadership team and teaching staff to do what they do best, teach and lead. We took a risk and will continue to take risks and so far I’m glad we did.
As I reflect on the last 12 months, I realise that what has unfolded has prepared and led me to exactly where I need to be. I’m surrounded by a team of people all on their own journey, the majority of us out of our comfort zones, learning as we go. There’s a comfort in this, knowing that we are all pushing personal boundaries in an environment where getting things wrong means growth.
My learning curve is steep, luckily I’ve always loved a challenge. I may or may not have a long list of acronyms to assist me in deciphering emails, conversations and meetings. I am starting to get my head around the basics of Timetabling, Faces and Compass, the complexities of compliance, coordination of training, excursions, school photos, vaccinations, Naplan, payroll codes. This list goes on.
There is a genuine satisfaction in completing a weekly duty roster without doubling up on someone’s duty – it’s the little things I know. I’ve survived coordinating casuals after a minor gastro outbreak occurring during EYA/MAI testing which saw my casual pool stretched to the limit.
The most exciting part, I know there’s more coming. I know that I will continue to be challenged each year at St Luke’s. Each year will bring more students, more teachers and each year my days and nights will become busier.
There is so much I don’t know but there is also a lot that I do. The biggest lesson for me so far has been to get out of my own way, to ignore my inner voice telling me I can’t possibly learn all I need to learn in such a short period of time. So I continue to jot down my daily to do list and continue to tick off very little each day. I continue to get things done without worrying that I wont be able to or I’ll get it wrong. I trust that I can do this and I trust that I’m surrounded by those who will support me when I sometimes get it wrong. I do recognise that I might be pushing the friendship if I ever forget to organise a casual to cover someones leave though!