REFLECTIONS
This last financial year has been a very different year for everyone globally, and certainly for QELi, it has had an impact on our business. 2019/20 was a year where we had a very strong outlook throughout most of the year with significant increase of participants and engagement in program design with key stakeholders. As we would be all very aware COVID-19 impacted on us all in March 2020, the last quarter of the financial year. The impact on QELi during what would normally be one of our highest activity periods, saw schools and systems dealing with the quick move to students accessing education from home, staff working from home and social distancing strategies heavily in place. Like many businesses, the operational impact on QELi was significant. We ceased all programs for a lengthy period with all staff working from home.
Despite the incredible time required to ensure all program delays and indefinite postponements were communicated to participants and negotiated with sponsors, the team worked hard to prepare new products to support our educators during this challenging time. With the ongoing support from our Board, chaired by Professor Donna Pendergast, we were able be agile and innovative in our response to the environment. We were proud to release QELi TV and Webinar Series which provided educators with free online resources to support them through the COVID environment and later, access to a range of low-cost webinars from high impact thought leaders throughout the year. During this time, we accelerated our work to begin moving key programs online with all QELi staff learning new skills in this area and even changing role description to respond to new organisation demands. It was essential that the programs remained of a high quality and informed by latest research on adult learning and online delivery.
LOOKING AHEAD
We are now proud to announce QELi’s exciting calendar of programs for 2021, including a new suite of online programs that allow participants access anytime and anywhere to our high-quality leadership and development programs. Our leadership programs continue to harness evidence-based research, provide access to nationally and internationally renowned facilitators and coaches, and model the critical skills, knowledge and practical application to support educators to develop personally and professionally.
Educators at every level – from teachers, principals and school support staff to corporate and system leaders –who participate in QELi programs can expect high-quality learning experiences that will build their leadership capability and empower them to succeed in their own school context.
Our annual overall program satisfaction rating for 2019/20 was an average of 4.7 out of 5 and reflects our participants’ satisfaction with the high-quality and actionable learning they experience in our programs. Equally important is the long-term impact of professional development. Recent data collected from participants up to 18 months after completing QELi programs found they observed a ‘major to significant’ impact on 80 per cent of our participants’ leadership practices, confirming the long-term positive influence of our programs on the sector.
QELi is committed to working collaboratively with schools, education sectors, high education institutions, associations and industry groups to ensure we support all educators to create the highest quality learning environments for our students.
I look forward to connecting with you during 2020-21.
Neil McDonald
Chief Executive Officer