Culture and change

Waitaha School engaged Learning Architects to facilitate the Principal’s appointment process. The professionalism, knowledge and commitment the Waitaha School Board of Trustees experienced from Learning Architects was second to none. The Board felt listened to, valued and respected throughout the rigorous appointment process. The Board would recommend Learning Architects to other Boards making the very important and complex Principal’s appointment.

Rob has been a big help in assisting our staff, students, and parents, as we strive to develop capable and responsible digital citizens. He has run parent workshops, staff meetings and worked in classrooms with our teachers and students.
Rob provides professional learning in digital citizenship that is practical, a realist, supportive and not afraid to ask the challenging questions. Rob is digitally savvy and knowledgeable but also understands the importance of developing good working relationships and using a strengths-based approach to effect change.

Oaklands School has engaged Rob Clarke for a number of years in a variety of roles. In 2019 we have participated with Learning Architects in a PLD programme as part of the MOE funding scheme. All of our teaching staff participated in a professional development programme on writing within the classroom.
This programme was to build our teachers’ capacity in giving students feedback on writing using teacher inquiry. The staff were well-supported and engaged in this process and have commented positively on having this opportunity to develop their practice.
During the year Rob also worked alongside our leadership team to develop a feedback model which they have used to support our teachers in the classroom.
 
 

Over the last two and a half years Rob has been an integral part of the appraisal process and the professional development of our senior leadership team at Queenstown Primary School.
Initially, he worked with our six team leaders to help them grow and develop their practice and to help with consistency across our very large school. He then went on to work with the DPs. This was an 18-month journey of professional learning and development tailored to suit our needs as well as the BoT and teachers council requirements.
Rob is an experienced ex Principal and is knowledgable and passionate about the work he does. He helped me gain insight into my strengths and how best to put them to work in my work. He is always approachable and easy to deal with while remaining professional and honest. If you are looking for an appraisal that will fit your schedule while helping you grow and develop not just tick boxes I recommend giving Rob at Learning Architects a call.

It has been a pleasure to work with Rob for our leadership appraisal. He helped us identify our strengths individually and as a leadership team. He guided us on how to work with these strengths and support each other by delving into our potential as a team. Rob has a knack of being able to lead and support from the side without telling us what to do but by asking probing questions that enable us to think on a deeper level about our goals, both professionally and personally.

Craig is an insightful, reflective, leadership coach. I have appreciated his questions, prompting and input to help ensure my own ongoing development.
Craig has also worked with our Board of Trustees to facilitate a review of our strategic plan through effective engagement with staff, students and parents. We have appreciated the expertise Craig has bought to this role.

The Waitaha Board of Trustees and leadership team employed Rob Clarke to support and guide them during their two most recent strategic planning reviews.
Rob ensured that relevant and enquiring questions were the focus of the sessions, and he guided and challenged the Board to think critically and innovatively.
Rob’s in-depth and current knowledge of education practices ensured that the sessions were focussed and relevant to the Waitaha setting and to its community. His input ensured that the end goals were relevant, achievable and innovative.
Rob is extremely professional and he will deliver quality outcomes.

I have been privileged to work with Rob over a number of years now since Learning Architects were brought on board to support our School moving to cloud-based Systems – most notably Google.
Rob has supported the different levels of computer literacy in our team as we moved to Google using a range of resources, approaches, and strategies. This is particularly vital as our school community has grown significantly in the last 5 years
In 2018, Rob has been our PLD provider to facilitate the strengthening of our Middle and Senior Leadership team via strengths-based coaching. Working with individuals as well as the team, he has increased our understandings of ourselves individually as leaders while enhancing our collective leadership by using our individual strengths and talents.
Most recently- because of his understanding of our school, Rob was employed to work with our school community to appoint a new Principal. His work in this was diligent and innovative; this supported the Board of Trustees to reflect the community engagements that were held to be able to make an informed decision.
I have no hesitation in recommending Rob and his company- Learning Architects- to anyone seeking to support and enhance their systems and educational practices. Working with Rob has supported my own growth and development as a leader and I look forward to continuing to work with him in 2019.

Rob has an amazing knowledge of the Google Suite, and his tips and support will most certainly make a positive difference to a principal’s or office manager’s daily workload by managing emails and providing tips that are in place daily. Rob is well worth considering if you want to put good systems in place.

Learning Architects has helped Ararira Springs Primary start our journey as a learning community.
When helping set up our Google systems to getting our website live, Rob has listened to our ideas and helped facilitate a solution.
Google Hangouts, online support tools and face to face meetings have been used to maximise time and meet needs.
We have loved working with the team at Learning Architects and look forward to our relationship developing.

I have appreciated the expertise and professional experience that Rob has brought to the work he has done with us.
This coupled with a willingness to listen and problem solve together has seen us achieve results that are collectively owned.
Kāhui Ako o Wakatipu is well set up to collaborate and innovate.

I have worked with Rob through our Kāhui Ako to develop the digital communication systems.
Rob’s ability to listen carefully, ask relevant questions and then develop systems collaboratively with our large Kāhui was greatly appreciated.
His knowledge and expertise were highly valued, together with his ability to connect with all members of the Kāhui at their own capability level in a respectful and constructive way.
His strong sense of what works well and how we can make use of this knowledge helped us to develop a system that is working very well for our Kāhui Ako.

The Puketeraki Kāhui Ako Leadership Team employed Learning Architects very early in our development. We were aware that to connect leaders and teachers across seventeen schools we needed some form of digital communication system.

Rob Clarke sat in on our early management discussions and was able to co-construct a google on-line communication system. This system has been a building block for our Learning Community.

With simple ideas relating to naming protocols and filing to more complex google plus communities, Rob guided us through a process of development. We are by no means a finished product but we are currently functioning enthusiastically and building an effective learning community.

Thanks, Rob. Your knowledge of how schools work and how to blend possibilities with technology is unique and makes this sort of community building possible!

Rob’s help, at the end of the phone and by clever use of Google Hangouts, for both small and complex technical support with getting the most out of google apps has been helpful beyond explanation, many times.
Rob knew my technical strengths and limitations, and provided instant assistance with my next step learning, enabling me to move forward independently with the task that I was working on.

I tried several times to get my head and my staff across the line in using google doc’s and google sites. Having contracted Learning Architects to work remotely in a support and mentor role I achieved this and more.
Beyond the technical expertise, what really helped was the strategic, feet on the floor and considered recommendations. You don’t know what you don’t know so to have Rob push my thinking, share new ideas and guide into a better way was a huge win.
I see my schools’ connection with Learning Architects as a partnership, a mentorship and a great ongoing decision.

Rob catered so well for our staff with the wide range of experiences and confidence using computers and familiarity with Google. He inspired staff and since the day we have had staff that are keen to try things and are using their computer so much more than they ever have.
Rob gave us a thorough introduction to the Google platform so that we have all been successful transitioning to being a GAFE school.
He also made things fun and our teachers loved the quiz that we created guessing random facts about each other using the collaborative nature of google docs.
Communication and follow up support was a real positive too. Rob was always available to interpret emails and explain in basic terms to us.
He built leadership capability within our school and the two of us who are super admins are able to do many of the admin tasks ourselves that we were previously paying others to do for us.

I have had Learning Architects training through my school and for a BOT I was on so I consider myself to be fairly au fait with Google Suite.
In saying this I always learn heaps with Rob ie deeper understanding of apps I use, tricks and tips, and apps I’ve never heard of.  
Love how the training is flexible and suited to each individuals context and needs.

Small group, great people, learning lots of little trick to make working easier, great to know that others had the same concerns, “You know your stuff” enthusiastic presentation, good pace, good content.
I didn’t feel brain dead at the end of the session but couldn’t wait to share what I had learnt with the others in my team.