APDP Module 9 Strategic Planning and Visioning
“Kia tū rangatira ai te kura – kia puāwai ai ngā ākonga.”
“For the school to stand strong and proud – for the students to flourish.”
Module Objectives:
- Define the key components of a compelling school vision and mission.
- Articulate the importance of strategic planning in achieving educational goals and school improvement.
- Apply a systematic process for developing strategic plans within a school context.
- Contribute to the creation of a shared and inspiring vision for their kura.
- Identify effective methods for aligning team and departmental goals with the overarching school strategic plan.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of strategic initiatives and adapt plans as needed.
Strategic planning and visioning are fundamental to effective school leadership. They provide the compass and roadmap for your kura’s future, ensuring that all efforts are aligned towards common, aspirational goals. As a school leader, your role in translating vision into actionable plans and fostering a shared sense of purpose is critical.
Understanding Vision and Mission:
A vision is an aspirational picture of what your school aims to become in the future – its dream. It should be inspiring, clear, and concise, guiding all decisions. A mission statement, on the other hand, describes the school’s core purpose and how it will achieve its vision. It defines “what we do” and “why we do it.” Together, they provide the foundation for strategic direction.
The Importance of Strategic Planning:
Strategic planning is the process of defining your school’s strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. It involves:
- Setting Priorities: Identifying the most critical areas for development and improvement.
- Resource Allocation: Directing financial, human, and physical resources effectively.
- Accountability: Establishing clear measures of success and responsibilities.
- Adaptability: Providing a framework to respond to changing educational landscapes and community needs.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Ensuring that the school community (students, staff, whānau, Board of Trustees, community) has a voice in shaping the future.
The Strategic Planning Process:
While specific models vary, a typical strategic planning cycle involves several key stages:
- Environmental Scan/Discovery: Understanding the current state of the school – its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis). This involves gathering data on student achievement, community demographics, resource availability, and the broader educational context.
- Vision and Mission Review/Development: Reaffirming or collaboratively crafting the school’s aspirational vision and defining its core purpose.
- Goal Setting: Establishing clear, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) strategic goals that move the school closer to its vision.
- Strategy Development: Brainstorming and selecting the specific actions, initiatives, and approaches that will be implemented to achieve each goal.
- Action Planning: Detailing who will do what, by when, and with what resources. This is where the strategic plan translates into operational steps.
- Implementation and Monitoring: Putting the plan into action and regularly tracking progress against established metrics.
- Review and Evaluation: Periodically assessing the effectiveness of the plan, celebrating successes, identifying areas for improvement, and making necessary adjustments. This often leads back to a new planning cycle.
Aligning Team Goals with School Strategy:
As leaders, your role is crucial in bridging the gap between the school’s strategic plan and the day-to-day work of your teams. This involves:
- Communicating the school’s vision and strategic goals clearly to your team.
- Facilitating discussions that allow your team to understand their contribution to these goals.
- Collaboratively setting team goals that directly support the strategic plan.
- Providing resources and support for your team to implement their actions.
- Monitoring team progress and providing feedback that links back to the broader school strategy.
Task:
Reflecting on and Contributing to Strategic Vision:
- Reflection (Individual): Consider your current school’s vision and strategic plan. What do you find most inspiring or impactful about it? What is one area you believe your team could contribute to more effectively to help achieve a specific strategic goal?
- Visioning Application (Forum Discussion with Learning Partner): With your learning partner, discuss the following:
- Imagine you are tasked with reviewing or refreshing your school’s vision statement for the next five years.
- What are two key elements or qualities (e.g., student well-being, cultural responsiveness, innovation, community partnership) that you believe are absolutely essential to include in an inspiring vision for a New Zealand school in 2025 and beyond?
- Briefly explain your rationale for each, considering the current educational landscape and future aspirations for ākonga success in Aotearoa.
- Post your collaborative response on the forum (max. 150 words).
Assessment:
- Your personal reflections on your school’s vision and your team’s contribution.
- Forum Post: Your collaborative response with your learning partner outlining key elements for an inspiring school vision in 2025, with rationale.
Resources:
Future-focused Strategic Planning for Schools: The ‘What’ and the ‘Why’ need a ‘How’.
https://thinkstrategicforschools.com/strategic-planning-for-schools/
Governance Support Resources – Community Consultation
https://www.resourcecentre.org.nz/helpforboards?aId=ka0RF0000008fdtYAA
Local Curriculum Strategic Planning Guide
School Communication Planning Guide
https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/296999/School-Communication-Planning-Guide.pdf
7 Reasons Schools Need Strategic Plans
https://envisio.com/blog/7-reasons-schools-need-strategic-planning/
4 Responses
Our vision has been updated for 2025. It is “Our Place: Learning and Leading Everyday”. We worked hard as a leadership team, discussing the future and the vision for the next few years at the end of 2024, and built understanding within the leadership team over several months. The simplicity of our vision resonates with me. It is something the school and the community can buy into and understand. All our strategic goals and key initiatives fit under this umbrella. We spent time embedding knowledge and understanding of the vision with our students and community, ensuring everyone is on the same page and can discuss what the vision means. Our staff and students can talk about what they do as leaders and learners.
One of the key roles the leadership team needs to continue to support is keeping the vision at the forefront of all our thinking. We need to ensure that decisions that are made support the vision and one of the goals. We also need to be better at checking in with the people responsible for each goal and ensuring that it is on track.
If I dare to dream, for a New Zealand school in 2025 and beyond, two essential elements for an inspiring vision would be:
1) Bilingual and Multilingual Empowerment – Valuing and nurturing every learner’s language and culture helps them understand who they are and where they belong. This identity is the foundation for confidence, connection, and a genuine love for learning in all areas.
2) Building on Foundations in Literacy and Numeracy – Literacy and Numeracy are not endpoints, but tools that empower ākonga to know themselves, express their ideas, and explore the world. When anchored in creativity through The Arts, these foundations support each learner to grow as a thoughtful, capable human being, ready to engage fully with life and learning.
These priorities create a vision that places identity, humanity, and creativity at the heart of academic success.
At ROPS, our vision—Care/Manaaki, Respect/Whakaute, and Empower/Whakamana—is deeply embedded in our kura. I’m proud to have helped shape this vision and to see it actively lived by our tamariki. From their first days at school, students begin to understand and embody these values, which grow stronger as they support and guide younger peers, creating a cycle of learning and leadership.
As we look ahead to 2026 and beyond, two essential elements to strengthen our vision are cultural responsiveness and student wellbeing. Our kura is wonderfully diverse, and embracing all ākonga requires ongoing commitment and understanding from staff, whānau, and the wider community.
Wellbeing, especially resilience, is vital in today’s unpredictable world. Equipping tamariki with the tools to navigate challenges fosters confidence and emotional strength. Resilience is a cornerstone of positive wellbeing and must be nurtured from an early age.
Both cultural responsiveness and wellbeing are foundational to our vision. They ensure every learner feels valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.
Task: Reflecting and contributing on Strategic vision: Our vision is ‘Confident, connected learners making a positive difference”.
I really like this vision, as it It looks to the future and includes everyone, while still being clear and meaningful.
Two essential elements to include if this was to be refreshed for 2025 and beyond are cultural responsiveness and student wellbeing.
1. Cultural responsiveness means valuing the diverse cultures, languages, and identities of all ākonga. Honouring Te Tiriti and embracing te ao Māori builds belonging and equity. It shows a commitment to inclusive education where every learner matters.
2. Student wellbeing is key to learning. Supporting emotional, social, and physical needs helps ākonga to grow, engage, and thrive. A focus on wellbeing shows we care about the whole learner.
Together, these elements enrich the existing vision of “confident, connected learners who make a positive difference” by grounding it in relationships, inclusion, and hauora, ensuring all learners are equipped for the future as they enter the big wide world!