19 February 2021

Post date: Feb 18, 2021 10:4:31 PM

After many years in the UK, I came back to teach in New Zealand ...... and a lot had changed! We had 'Tomorrow's Schools' where the centralised control was distributed to Boards of Trustees and we had a very different National Curriculum. One that had a huge amount of Achievement Objectives for every learning area ... a massive tome. I can still vividly recall the Board of Trustees at Clyde Quay School inquiring as to how someone who had been out of the country so long would get their head around such documents in the interview. (....Um, I'm not sure I really ever totally did!)

Then fast forward and I was working in the Ministry of Education at the time of the development of the 'New Curriculum', a curriculum which was held up globally as a gem. Enter the key competencies and less prescription which could also be interpreted as somewhat vague. But so much better than before. The pendulum swung.... and as these things do in many environments... it's now about to swing more to the middle. Which I think will take the mystery away and create greater consistency whilst maintaining each community's local flavour - this is what we call place based, or our local curriculum.

Sitting above all of this is each school's Strategic Plan. Due to changes afoot, we need to always check that the vision and direction is aspirational, broad enough to align with upcoming changes and also represent us. We are thrilled to unveil the new plan. It's a visual delight on one page.

I'd love you to spend some time having a look over it and please check out the background pages as they explain the visual.

Worser Bay School Strategic Plan