From the Acting Head

Strategic Plans offer a birds-eye-view of an organisation. Those with their feet on the ground may have little cause or need for lofty vision to do their job well, and this is true in schools where the priority for teachers is squarely on the students before them each day in the classroom. However, the panoramic view invariably impacts events closer to home, so we were delighted last week to release our five-year Strategic Plan for Girton. 

For those on the Board and in the Senior Leadership Team who were directly involved in developing the Plan, its completion was cause for immense satisfaction for two reasons. Firstly, a Strategic Plan is crucial to the efficient allocation of resources and functioning of the school. Secondly, and perhaps even more valuably, the process itself of compiling the Strategic Plan forces us to stop and take stock, seek input from our school community and think about the type of future we are preparing our students to face. 

There is a section in the Strategic Plan titled “What the research says”. If you never lay eyes on the Plan (and I hope you do!), you should at least know the following, which is an excerpt from the research section: 

With up to 40% of jobs in growth industries requiring ‘soft skills’, preparing for the workforce of the future is not only about academic learning. It is about developing social and emotional skills to handle a dynamic labour market. In the next five years at Girton, there will be greater emphasis on creating an “emotional advantage” for our students, recognising that emotional intelligence influences personal effectiveness and success in all aspects of live and in the workplace. 

Knowing this, problem-solving, interactive and social skills and critical and creative thinking will be a focus of our curriculum development as we prepare to implement the new Australian Curriculum (ACARA version 9) in 2024. 

Further, I draw your attention to an ACER (Australian Association for Research in Education) report on the importance of the professional judgment of teachers, which is also included in our Strategic Plan: https://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=3919. The ACER report is part of a growing body of evidence that says that a fundamental element of quality schooling is being able to rely on the professional judgement of our teachers. 

We have all read about current teacher shortages and the ‘crisis’ in the education sector. While there is ample truth in the media reports, at Girton, we are fortunate to enjoy a community of highly professional teachers who are experts in their field. Perhaps more than ever, it is essential that we collectively respect the professional capacity of our teachers and have trust in the profession of teaching, and this is our intention, as encapsulated in the Strategic Plan in many places, especially Priority number 3 related to exceptional student and staff engagement and wellbeing. 

Thank you to the students, staff, parents, and carers who provided valuable input to our stakeholder report, which informed our five-year Strategic Plan. Understanding your views is the bedrock of formulating a relevant Strategic Plan for our community. We are now garnering input from various sections of our school on the specific 12-month deliverables that will support the Strategic Aims we have set ourselves. 

Since the recent release of the Plan, we have enjoyed Science Week, Book Week, Junior and Senior School Ensembles Concerts, a hugely successful Tournament of Minds competition, and a Year 7 orientation day. We have had netball teams progress to Grand Finals, and two netball teams win at the Victorian School Netball Championships in Melbourne, amongst other positive and successful school activities. The release of the Strategic Plan did not directly impact any of these things, but those who must take responsibility for the bird’s eye view of the organisation are thankful that the work has been done and have confidence in the clear view ahead. 

Dr Emma O’Rielly

ACTING HEAD