Tuggerah Lakes Learning Community principals have an agreement called a 'memorandum of understanding' (MOU) which is revisited regularly.
The MOU is as follows:
- This memorandum is to serve as a written undertaking and is made and entered into by the schools, which comprise the Tuggerah Lakes Learning Community.
- Its major purpose is to expand on existing collaboration and to ensure the long-term sustainability of existing professional relationships for the benefit of all children in schools within the learning community.
This memorandum recognises the value and benefit of joint collaboration to the Tuggerah Lakes Learning Community as a whole and separately to individual schools.
Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College and its partner primary schools have firmly established professional relationships based on:
- collegial networks of principals, executives and classroom teachers
- shared professional learning with executive meetings conducted jointly
- mutual respect, valuing and understanding of each other's strengths and needs
- exchange and sharing of information about student achievement and agreement for collaborative action in areas identified through this process
- sharing of resources through a firm commitment to improve and maintain these relationships in order to advance the academic, social and wellbeing outcomes for the students, across the sites particularly in the transition years across stages of learning.
Basic principles and guidelines
- recognition and valuing of contributions of individual members
- mutual trust and respect and regular communication
- close and effective collaboration in areas that particularly affect all members
- regular review of the scope of activities
- appropriate sharing of administration workload associated with the Tuggerah Lakes Learning Community, its meetings, functions, and costs
- promotion of an outstanding example of a proactive learning community built on strong collegial relationships and professional learning
- maintenance of the autonomy and integrity of individual sites within the framework of the learning community.
Responsibilities of principal members
- meet regularly to plan, implement and review progress in good faith
- communicate effectively especially on matters which impact on the community as a whole
- contribute to, exchange, and share information and resources in a manner which is fair and equitable
- support and fund agreed to activities including, but not exclusively, professional learning (including network meetings), school promotions and extended opportunities for students
- implement and support agreed plans and activities appropriately and inclusively to involve others in the learning community
- Jointly explore the broadening and extension of all appropriate collaborative activity, for example – staffing, cross-campus programs in KLAs and wellbeing
- develop and formalise a collaborative framework that will see shared access to data/information within the principles and values of public education
- participate in the local management of student services and development of an inclusive learning community.