Where Will I Do My Pineapples?: The Little Book of Building a Whole New School (Independent Thinking Series)

by Gill Kelly

Imagine the scenario where a newly appointed Principal in charge of Curriculum Development in a new or upgraded school is confronted with challenges such as, 'How many RJ45 sockets would you like in your new classroom? What type of cables do you need? Or such challenging questions as, 'Where will I do my pineapples?'' (From a teacher who creates paper mache fruit in her class.) Add this to the relentless drive to raise standards as well as organizing the timetable, teaching, doing break duty and offering a friendly ear to staff…you get the picture. Written with the perspective of a senior leader, with many amusing and bizarre stories, this book describes how to keep sound educational principles at the heart of a project to build a new school. This book is not about the new building, it is about building a whole new school and the struggle, against all odds, to keep people and learning at the center of the whole project. It is about how to deal with the pain and lessons learned about how to manage change.

216 pages, Hardcover

First published November 22, 2011