Putting our strategic plan in its context
Over the last 5 years the school has gone through substantial physical change. We have moved from the old buildings to the new learning spaces and our tamariki and kaiako have continued to shine, achieve well and make us proud. We have stronger connections to our neighbouring kura through the Kāhui Ako (a community of learning with teachers from local primary schools and colleges), and the final piece of the building project, the landscaping, is underway. This will give the tamariki and school community an enhanced physical environment in which to play and come together for community events. The process of developing our strategic plan has enabled us to take stock and decide as a community what direction we want the school to take.
Why we have a strategic plan and how it is used
Our strategic plan is a foundational document that outlines the objectives of the school and provides clarity for what is most important. It is used as a guiding framework for the management team, the staff and the Board of Trustees in decision-making about things like investment, curriculum, and deployment of resources.
Developing our strategic plan
The Board established a committee to lead the work on developing the strategic plan. Andrew Bird, our principal, and the Board of Trustees consulted widely with both our school's and the wider community (Iwi and Kahui Ako), worked with the teaching team and engaged with our students to develop a plan that can take Kelburn forward to 2024.
Identifying the three key values of our strategic plan
What we heard from our community is that we want to be a school where
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students have high achievements across the curriculum
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children and adults care for each other, and
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the community has a strong connection to the school.
From these themes we developed our three values that form the spine of our strategic plan. They are
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Pūkengatanga (excellence)
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Manaakitanga (care)
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Whanaungatanga (interdependence).
Through engagement with Te Ati Awa our kaumātua Kura Moeahu identified three mātauranga concepts to align with and frame our themes.
1. Te Hiranga Poutama
Taking steps towards excellence and is reflected in the tukutuku pattern that displays steps taken to grow upwards.
2. Oranga Tonutanga
To wrap around — with aroha we show manaakitanga to care for each other.
3. He Kura Herenga Tāngata
Binding together — through unity we experience interdependence, partnership and whanaungatanga.
To turn these concepts into actions, our principal and the teaching team have identified key focus areas, each with its own set of plans, innovations and expectations focussed on helping the school to progress. The details of these focus areas will be shared with the school community in 2022. In the meantime we have shared the highlights of the strategic plan as above.
Making our strategic plan meaningful
Our strategic plan prepares Kelburn Normal School well for the ongoing developments of the New Zealand Curriculum, which is currently being revised in a phased approach from 2021-2025.
Learning areas of the curriculum are being refreshed, starting with the inclusion of the new Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories content within the refreshed social sciences learning area, ready for schools to use in 2022. English, Mathematics and Science will follow and be ready for use in 2023, then Health and Physical Education, learning Languages, Technology and The Arts in 2024. Mātauranga Māori, key competencies and literacy and mathematics, as foundational learning, will be explicitly woven throughout the curriculum.
Our plan fits well with the teaching and learning content of the curriculum. To make our strategy work, we have established work streams that promote pūkengatanga, manaakitanga and whanaungatanga, as well as identifying key elements that support learning in Aotearoa in 2021, alongside the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.