Communication Plan

Goal (objective): To facilitate change processes at SMUS through improving communication practices among all stakeholders in the school community
Performance target: By the end of year 3, 80% of stakeholders will report back that efforts to improve communication have facilitated smoother transitions at
SMUS
Focus

Strategies

Indicators of Success

Timelines

Responsibility

Status Updates

Action Team
for

A 12 person committee (ATC) consisting

of board members, directors, teachers,
staff,, alumni, parents, and students will
review the strategic priority Energizing
Relationships (SMUS, 2012) and
related key actions, conduct a Starting
Points Inventory (Epstein, 2009, pp. 174177) to inform recommendations on
improving communication to facilitate
school improvement through stakeholder
engagement. The committee will develop
details of the Communication Plan to
include:
Rationale behind the Communication
Plan
Definitions of effective communication
practices
Guidelines for effective communication
between and among stakeholders
An outline of the roles and
responsibilities of stakeholders with
respect to communication, change
processes, and conflict resolution
Proposed activities to facilitate
communication, utilise diverse
channels, and reinforce the important of
partner relationships for improved
student learning

Committee formed of
volunteers from all
stakeholder groups

Year1,
term 1

Board of
Governors task
force overseeing
ATC

Years 2 & 3

Starting Points Inventory

created, distributed,
collated & analysed

Year1,
terms 1 &
2

Communication Plan
published and distributed
to all stakeholders via
SMUSs secure School
Data System (SDS) with
comment and question
feedback mechanism

End of
year 1

Annual evaluation of
activities (Epstein, 2009, p.
314)

End of
year 2;
ongoing

Communication

(ATC)
(Epstein,
2009, p. 103)

Years 2 & 3

Revisions

Year 2

Professional
Learning
Community

Community
Engagement

Administrators, teachers, board

members, and non-teaching staff will
engage in National School Reform
Facultys,(2013) Critical Friends Groups
(CFG) training, to acquire experience
with diverse protocols designed to
facilitate effective communication,
change processes, and develop mixed
role CFGs for school improvement
priorities around student learning
(SMUS, 2012).

Three full professional

development days devoted
to NSRF CFG training
facilitated by staff who are
certified as trainers
through the pilot
programme

Year1,
terms 1 &
2

Director of
Academics &
Professional
Development
planning team and
SMUS NSRF
certified trainers

Years 2 & 3

Staff will facilitate the transfer of group

agreements and protocols to departments,
professional learning partners, heads of
department group, school committees,
and the classroom, to facilitate improved
communication practices, collaborative
processes, and conflict resolution among
and between teachers, students, and
administrators.

Staff survey using the

feedback model on
integrating protocols and
their impact on
communication,
collaborative practice, and
learning

End of
year 1

All staff

Years 2 & 3

Administrators and teachers will engage

in school-wide Harvard Instructional
Rounds (HIR) (Harvard Graduate School
of Education, 2012) to observe student
learning in a diverse array of classroom
settings, foster de-privatised practice, and
provide recommendations around a
problem of practice (Lofthouse, Hall &
Wall, 2012, pp. 171-187).

HIR pilot team and

processes established

Year1,
term 1

Director of
Academics & HIR
pilot group

Year 2

SMUS HIR informational

videos and blogs

End of
year 1

Recommendations for
school-wide
implementation of HIR

End of
year 1

Student councils across all 3 campuses

will utilise National School Reform
Faculty (2013) CFG protocols towards
more effective and efficient
communication around initiatives,
feedback mechanisms, and cross-grade
activities.

Student survey on the

efficacy of protocols using
feedback model

End of
year 1

Years 2 & 3

Teacher sponsors
and student heads
of councils

Year 2

Schoolwide HIR

Community
Engagement
(continued)

SMUS Parents Auxiliary (PA) will

facilitate focus group discussions (FGD)
(Coleman, 2012, p. 255) around
improving communication with all
parents in the community to facilitate
dialogue concerning parenting in the 21st
century, volunteering, learning at home
and decision-making and communication
processes (Epstein, 2009, pp. 58-59).

PA FGD recommendations
and opinion poll

End of
year 1

SMUS PA
executive

Years 2 & 3

SMUS Alumni Association (AA) will

utilise a variety of mechanisms such as
group meetings, social media, alumni
receptions, volunteer activities, and
alumni weekend, to participate in formal
and informal discussions around
improving communication between
alumni and the school, feedback
mechanisms, and supporting school
improvement initiatives (Epstein, 2009,
pp. 58-59).

AA recommendations and
feedback survey

End of
year 1

SMUS AA
executive

Years 2 & 3

A sub-committee of the ATC (including

an administrator, board member, teacher,
parent, alumnus, and student) will
develop a community relations plan with
respect to maintaining positive and
productive relationships with the
schools neighbours at all times and
especially during times of change
(Kowalksi et al. pp. 197-198).

Neighbourhood and
community relations plan

Year1,
term 2

Years 2 & 3

Conflict resolution policy

and practices

End of
year 1

Board of
Governors, Head of
School and
designates (SMUS
PA, staff, students,
mediator)

Neighbourhood incident
log

Ongoing

School Directors

Years 2 & 3

Public forums

As needed

Head of School

As needed

Years 2 & 3