PENOLA Primary School principal Anna Copping has landed a spot on a four-day development program hosted by Harvard University.
Ms Copping will be one of three Limestone Coast principals to travel to Sydney in early 2020 for the Leadership for School Excellence program, which will be led by Harvard faculty, drawing on global expertise in learning.
“This program will provide all of us principals with a national perspective of what is happening, as well as a global perspective,” Ms Copping said.
“It is about developing our ability as leaders and how we can better support teachers to develop their capabilities and improve student outcomes.”
Excited to be selected for the event alongside Mount Gambier High School’s Chris Edmunds and Millicent North Primary School’s Graham Slarks, Ms Copping said the program would help participants develop a broader perspective on education skills in each state.
“I think we can be quite isolated as we are so far from other schools,” she said.
“I do believe this opportunity will be great to gain some experience and further networks.
“We will be able to learn a lot more and develop skills which will come back in part in our partnerships and schools.”
The program will focus on areas of critical importance to Australian school leaders including instructional leadership, school culture, leadership development, strategy and family and community engagement.
Ms Copping said the program’s timing would allow for the new skills to be transferred into the new school year.
“We can then use some of the things we learn to kick start the new year,” she said.
“I am hoping that we can work more with other principals who are attending and do some work in teams to follow on from the Harvard experience.”
Alongside developing an array of skills, Ms Copping said networking and bringing skills back to the classrooms would be major benefits of the program.
“I am also hoping to gain a broader perspective of national education tools and develop myself as an industrial leader,” Ms Copping said.
“We can then use this to improve student outcomes and it is a very valuable opportunity which I feel very privileged to be a part of.
“It will allow me to develop as a leader and is just a very exciting opportunity.”
