Mrs Christine Bartley Reflects On The MANSW Autumn Leadership Program

I am thankful to have had the opportunity to attend the 2023 MANSW Autumn Leadership Program in Canberra at the start of March. I arrived with anticipation as I had not attended a leadership conference in the past. On arrival I was expecting to be one of many leaders to undertake the course but was pleasantly surprised when I was greeted by Zina Di Pino to learn that I was one of only sixteen leaders in attendance. She reiterated the purpose of the conference was for leaders to relax, get to know each other over the coming three days, hear from speakers, to be able to connect and collaborate and share experiences in a supportive environment.

The MANSW program was certainly full over the next few days and was invaluable both personally and professionally. The program included several sessions that included discussing the types of leadership practices and strategies that we could employ in our own schools, along with the resources, tools and strategies to plan and enable us to move forward in our leadership journey. There were numerous opportunities along the way for us to dialogue and raise questions.

We had the benefit of hearing from Nathan Ford, the CEO of AMT; Lee Hyland, the MANSW President; Rachael Whitney-Smith, ACARA’s Curriculum Specialist Mathematics; Darius Samojlowicz MANSW Executive Officer; and Miriam Lees MANSW Education Consultant. These speakers each provided us with knowledge, information and experiences that were invaluable in growing us as leaders.

It was refreshing and encouraging to get to know and talk with other leaders, to hear where they were from, about their leadership journey thus far, the practices in their school and to observe their leadership style. Although each of us came from very different schools, it was quickly apparent that we were on a similar path with common struggles and joys. We were united to learn how to better lead and grow our staff and to facilitate the best educational outcomes and learning environment for students in our care.

The program offered a variety of informative sessions, team building and opportunities to sit and relax together over a range of scrumptious meals. It was a memorable occasion when we stood together at the Australian War Memorial and listened to the last post and watched two colleagues lay a wreath on behalf of MANSW.

I thoroughly recommend this course if you are a leader or aspiring leader in Mathematics. It was fantastic. It was a humbling experience to be in the presence of such a talented and dedicated group of people. I had the opportunity to build relationships with other leaders who I can now collaborate with and get support which I have done since returning home.

I would like to say a very special thank you to Darius Samojlowicz and Miriam Lees for their teaching and wisdom and to Zina Di Pino for her amazing organisational skills ensuring the weekends activities ran smoothly, finding such delicious food for us and ensuring we were all accounted for on the bus.

Mrs Christine Bartley

Mathematics Coordinator