Our Area of Concern
Our Area of Concern has been written in past tense because it is looking back twenty-two years. Like a Future Scene
or present tense Area of Concern it is the springboard from which the six step problem solving process proceeds.
The Beginning - 1992
It was the year 1992, and Loreto Normanhurst was rather different. Girls flurried around in
cobalt uniforms, classes were named by colours, the few computers were slow, and only four
houses existed (Mornane, Mulhall, Barry, Ward). The Principal, Sr Denise Desmarchelier who
had plans to move the school forward, employed the first full time teacher of special needs
and expected her to support students at both ends of the academic scale.
This teacher, from Tasmania, had been teaching in junior high schools for the previous
seventeen years and was not greatly familiar with the state of education in NSW. Whilst the
whole experience was new to her, she decided to support academically gifted students by
introducing the little known extra-curricular activity, Future Problem Solving (FPS). She hardly
knew about the program, but believed that it would be rewarding and worth doing. However,
none of the staff could support her. “What’s FPS?” they asked. “Never heard of it in my life.”
The program was not cheap either, and the NSW Education Department had decided to
sponsor a different problem solving program. However, the teacher was confident that FPS
held a great gift which would positively benefit all the participants.
Would FPS be a one year wonder? How determined did the teacher need to be? She hadn’t
been appointed as head of a department, but as a “Learning Needs Advisor” so how easy
would it be for her to gain staff support? Could FPS succeed against competition within the
school from debating, public speaking and Mock Trial, which were all popular academic
extra-curricular activities? And what about the competition from sport? Would FPS fit with the
ethos of a Catholic school? Would it ‘die’ in its first few years? So many doubts.
On the following pages, this Area of Concern has been analysed using the six step Future
Problem Solving process. The Action Plan in Step 6 explains the successful strategies and
timeline that have sustained Future Problem Solving at the school for the past twenty-two
years. We hope these ideas will help other school coaches and leaders.
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