Greetings from news.desk, best wishes for a blessed Christmas and a very happy new year.

This year has gone by in the blinking of an eyelid, time has flown very fast though hours, minutes and seconds have moved at the same pace since the beginning of time. It is just that this year we were blessed with so much more to do and have packed in so many more things that we did not have time to stop and realize that time was moving. As the year ends, we thank all our readers for their continual support.

Technology in schools has seen a swift evolution from the times when computers were introduced to simplify the administrative workflow, to when computer labs were created to impart computer skills, and later for the purpose of learning other subjects, to the present times when technology has moved into the classroom. Schools, big or small, have realised the potential of getting multimedia-based content to support teaching in the classroom. Digitisation of classrooms includes curriculum on smartphones, digital content management and infrastructure to support technology.

A few years from now, students who are not computer literate, despite having degrees and diplomas, will still be called illiterate, because by then the rest of the world would have moved much ahead with digital education, and our children will be left behind, despite having completed 14 years of education.

What is required is that schools should go digital in the true sense and that students should get to learn every subject in a digital classroom. Only then can we say that a digital revolution has occurred. Only then can we claim our students to be on par with the rest of the world and say that our schools are Develop(ed) Schools.

In this edition:

• Our Business Editor, Melwin Braggs shares his views on "Strategic planning for successful school running".

• I introduce "Reading".

• We bring you  Web links on the happenings in the education industry.

• You could know more about services offered by Develop Schools, the itinerary of our associates for you to benefit from during their visit to your locations

Send us your articles. If your entry is selected we will cover your article in our forthcoming newsletters. I now invite you to read on and send us your feedback / suggestions. After all we improve when you assist us. Feel free to FORWARD this newsletter to your Trustees / Managing committees / References.

Sincerely,

Chief Editor 

Mrs. Rita Wilson

Strategic planning for successful school running

The value of strategic planning in a school is more than having a blueprint that guides leadership decisions. It is a powerful and effective way to build consensus and motivate team support, and is particularly useful in defining priorities for the Board, the Head of School, and staff team who are charged with the implementation of the plan.

Strategic Planning: What It Is - and Isn't

Quite a few strategic planning efforts have run aground because they were based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what a strategic plan is. To put it simply, not every plan is a strategic plan and so let us begin by defining the various plans.

A strategic plan is a tool that provides guidance in fulfilling a mission with maximum efficiency and impact. As a rule, most strategic plans should be reviewed and revamped every three to five years. An Operating plan is a coordinated set of tasks for carrying out the goals defined in a strategic plan. It thus goes into greater detail than the strategic plan from which it is derived, spelling out time frames and the roles of individual staff and board members, for example. It also has a shorter horizon than a strategic plan- usually one fiscal year. A Business plan is typically focused on the actions and investment necessary to generate income from a specific programme or service. A case statement is geared toward marketing and fundraising rather than planning. It describes the organization's goals, capabilities and strengths and the benefits it provides. Its purpose is to secure contributions and grants from individuals, foundations, corporate giving programmes and other philanthropic entities

Plans into action
1) A clear and comprehensive grasp of external opportunities and challenges. No organization exists in a static environment. Social, political and economic trends continually impact the demand for its offerings and services and hence a realistic and comprehensive assessment of the organization's strengths and limitations is required.

2) An inclusive approach. Involve employees beyond those on your planning team. Ask them for inputs and help. Educate your Staff team to the strategic planning process. Make sure they all understand the definitions and the importance, of terms like 'mission' and 'goals', also the critical role they play in both strategy development and implementation.

3) An empowered planning committee. Encourage open communication. If you're the leader, you'll play the most difficult role in the process, encourage others to participate.

4) Involvement of senior leadership. Remember that strategic planning is a process, developing the plan is just the beginning. Implementation is where you'll spend the bulk of your time and resources; it needs to be taken seriously.

5) Sharing of responsibility by board and staff members. Communicate your strategy. Once you have developed your strategic plan, let your employees and stake holders know your plan. After all, they are the ones who will help with implementation. Remember, it is one thing to develop a strategy, and quite another to implement it.

6) Clear priorities and an implementation plan. Link your strategic plan to your budgeting process. As part of your action plan development, estimate the resources required to accomplish all of the action steps to implement the strategy. Those resources should include: people, money, facilities and equipment. These estimates feed the budgeting process. So your budgeting cycle should follow your strategy development and your action plan development.

7) Patience. Allow enough time for your strategy sessions. Strategic thinking involves thoughtful discussion. This simply takes time. Those who rush, end up with inferior plans. Also, preferably, hold your strategy sessions away from your place of work. Avoid the interruptions and distractions that often arise when planning team members' offices are 'just down the hall'.

Reading

Rita Wilson, Chief Editor

(Ex-chief executive and Secretary, ICSE)

Albert Einstein was once asked how we could make our children intelligent. His reply was both simple and wise. 'If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.' He understood the value of reading, and of imagining. I hope we can give our children a world in which they will read, and be read to, and imagine, and understand.

When children read fiction it builds empathy. When you watch television or see a film, you are looking at things happening to other people. Prose fiction is something you build up from 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you alone using your imagination, create a world and people it. You feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You're being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you're going to be slightly changed. Empathy is a tool for building people, for allowing us to function as more than self-conscious and self-obsessed individuals.

Literacy is more important today than it ever was, in this world of text and email, a world of written information. We need to read and write, we need global citizens who can read comfortably, comprehend what they are reading, understand nuances, and make themselves understood. Books are a way of communication. They contain tales that are older than most countries, tales that have long outlasted cultures.

We have responsibilities to the future. Responsibilities and obligations to children, to the adults those children will become. We have an obligation to imagine. It is easy to pretend that nobody can change anything, that we live in a world in which the individual is less than nothing. But the truth is, individuals change their world over and over, individuals make the future, and they do it by imagining that things can be different. We have an obligation to help develop the imagination of our students which we can do by encouraging the reading habit.

Reading is the basic foundation on which academic skills of an individual are built. Our education system acknowledges the fact that reading is important for the holistic development of a student, and hence 'it' is considered a top priority. Reading doesn't just enhance the child's ability to comprehend various concepts with ease, but also develops critical thinking skills. 

Educational researchers have found that there is a strong correlation between reading and academic success. Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes. Reading is an activity that involves greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader. It consistently enhances the knowledge acquired. 

Reading is the single most important skill necessary for a happy, productive and successful life. A child who is an excellent reader is a confident child, has a high level of self-esteem and is able to easily make the transition from learning to read to reading to learn.