RTLB

RTLB - Resource teacher of learning and behaviour

So on Monday Teena Vincent came into school and gave us a lovely talk about what RTLB's do in school.

They are there to support students from years 0 - 10 and their organisation can provide funds to schools to put programmes in place for years 11 - 13.

They are a collaborative service to work with parents, teachers and students. All RTLB's are fully qualified teachers who then do a further 2 years of training to become RTLB's. They are there to advocate for students. Schools will often need to change their ways of dealing with students to support them.

Referrals are made in at the beginning of terms and cases must be closed at the end of every year. Students can't be in the scheme for more than 3-4 terms as this would increase the wait times for others by too much. Students can however be re-referred at any point.

In my experience the changes I've made to my teaching have all been really good for all students and not just the one's that are being supported by the RTLB's.  I have learnt so much from these amazing teachers and feel that collaboratively working with them is always beneficial to students.

Leadership

In the last few weeks I have been thinking hard about what makes a good leader and how can I become one. It started when I went to a Soroptimist breakfast and several female leaders spoke about being bosses and how being female affects their leadership styles. I realised that being a leader is something that I've been trying to do in my professional life and that I actually need to reflect on this as much as anything I do in the classroom. So I've come up with 6 things I have observed in great leaders.

1.  Of the amazing leaders I have worked with one of the most important things I have noticed is that they build people up. They support people to achieve and be the best they can be, and they aren't worried that you will be too good and take their job.

2. Accept responsibility, if you make a mistake own it. This was something told to me a few years ago and it has stuck. If you accept responsibility then you can move forward, it clears the air and remarkably you get a lot more respect for it. Tried this on both sides this definitely works.

3. Honesty, seems obvious but telling the truth to people is really appreciated.

4. Consistency, if you know where you stand it is lovely. Some of the best leaders I have worked with have been consistent in their attitudes but happy and willing to change their ideas if they are given evidence.

5. Actions, they say that they are louder than words. A good leader will be the first to action something. They will be the one who if they ask the whole staff to learn something they will be the one who asks how to do it first.

6. A good leader isn't threatened by someone who is better than them at something. This one is hard and sometimes it's easy to get threatened if someone is better than you at a particular job. Hopefully they will be better than you and you will get an awesome leader who will support you in the same way you've supported them.

I'm not sure if women make better leaders but I do know that we make different leaders. I can't copy the styles of some of the great leaders I have worked with but I can get tips from what they do. Trying to copy someone else's ideas has never worked, but sharing good practice will always be in style.
Sometimes the leaders I have learnt from have been fellow teachers, sometimes they have been students. I have learnt a lot from watching and interacting with truly amazing people. Hopefully all this leadership malarky will rub off at least a little.