Pursuit Quarterly

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I would like to share with you the strategic
directions contained within the recently adopted
3 Year Strategic Plan (2017-2019). In my first term
article I explored the framework guiding our
strategic thinking and operational developments
as a College and in the last quarterly I outlined
the College’s newly developed Framework for
Flourishing with its eight attributes around the
central tenet of Christlikeness.These nowcombine
to inform and frame our explicit improvement
agenda for the next three years aligning with
CREST’s seven Core Intents and Values of:
Instilling Faith, Applying Biblical Principles,
Pursuing Excellence, Providing Nurture, Ensuring
Student Wellbeing, Engaging Real Life Issues, and
Connecting Community
1. A Vibrant Culture Of Faith & Learning
We are committed to developing a vibrant
College culture that promotes Christian faith and
discipleship, effective learning for all students,
and positive and caring relationships. Key to
building and promoting such a culture is having
shared beliefs and values, setting and maintaining
of high expectations, provision of opportunities
to participate and contribute, service learning,
Christian mission, and the development of
unifying traditions and meaningful celebrations.
We aspire to having all our students and staff
flourish as human beings, living and learning well,
as they encounter and follow Christ.
Key Strategic Elements
• Ensure a welcoming and vibrant community
for all students
• Actively support and foster the wellbeing of
all students
• Value and facilitate student voice and
leadership
• Enhance and establish a range of events with
a gospel focus
• Strengthen service learning and Christian
mission as vital aspects of College life
2. Exemplary Teaching & Leadership Practice
We are committed to employing and developing
inspiring, innovative educators skilled in the art
and science of teaching and able to articulate and
integrate a Biblical World View into their practice
and learning aim to have all teachers
be experts in the fields in which they teach with
the ability to apply effectively their pedagogy.
Key to ensuring such exemplary practice is
professionalism and a dedication to continual
improvement, collegiality and collaboration, and
an openness to helpful critique by colleagues.
We are thus committed to providing a robust
teacher development and appraisal system and
the ongoing professional learning of all staff. With
an increasingly experienced staff it is imperative
that we build a substantial and sustainable culture
of service-focused, effective, transformational and
sustainable leadership and leadership teams.
Key Strategic Elements
• Enhance staff collegiality and
wellbeing
• Prioritise staffprofessional learning
• Implement the teacher
‘Development and Appraisal’
system (developed in 2016)
• Deepen the leadership capability
and sustainability across the
College
3. Improved Learning Outcomes For
All Students
We are committed to realizing the
best possible learning outcomes for
all students, especially in academic
scholarship. This entails the continual
improvement of our curriculum design
and delivery, provision of a wide range
of subjects and co-curricular programs,
vibrant learning environments that
facilitate highly engaging deep
learning, and the setting and realising
of improvement actions and targets.
As we are inclusive of all students
regardless of ability, we will continue
to develop targeted student support
programs and resources, especially for
those with English as an Additional
Language, those requiring Learning
Support and those who are Gifted and
Talented. We recognise ever-changing
digital technologies will inevitably
shape the ‘why, what, and how’ of
learning with blended learning being
key to deep and flexible learning. It is
recognised that reliable data on student
outcomes is crucial to our improvement
agenda and so a high priority is being
given to professional development
aimed at building teachers’ and leaders’
data literacy skills.
Key Strategic Elements
• Ensure learning and assessment
data informs and shapes effective
teaching
• Continue to improve assessment
and reporting processes
• Ensure effective and consistent
documentation, implementation
and extension of curriculum
• Adopt and embed strategies that
engage and advance student
learning
• Develop high quality
extracurricular programs and
events – sports and performing
arts
4. Community Partnerships & Global
Connections
We are committed to forming and
maintaining strong community
partnerships that benefit both students
and the encourage high
levels of trust to be apparent across the
school community with interactions
focused on the learning and wellbeing
of students. The College leadership
team look to make deliberate and
strategic use of partnerships with
families, churches, community
organisations and local businesses
to access intellectual, physical and/
or other resources not available
within the school for the purposes
of improving student outcomes.
The plan is to increase our voice and
influence in the broader community
through intentional partnerships and
engagement with groups beyond the
College premises. In particular, the
wonderful provision of the excellent
facilities we have at Hillcrest must
prompt us to see how these may be
used to connect and partner with
those in the wider community. We
seek to bring the ‘global village’ into
focus through active connections with
communities in other countries.
Key Strategic Elements
• Strengthen the HCC community
• Improve local community
partnerships and connections
• Build global connections
5. Effective Staffing & Operations
We are committed to being and
growing an enterprise that places high
value on the provision of effective and
quality staffing, resources, facilities and
processes that reflect well our Christian
ethos and ethics. All personnel,
property and resources are employed
in ways that aim in bring about good
stewardship and the best outcomes for
families that enrol their children with
the College.
Key Strategic Elements
• Ensure the College continues
to enjoy positive patterns of
enrolment
• Ensure staffing structures are
maximising student outcomes and
corporate effectiveness
• Ensure organisation structures are
maximising student outcomes and
corporate effectiveness
• Design and build high quality
facilities – major developments
• Design and build high quality
facilities – minor developments
• Plan for future developments
Mr GreggWeaver: Head of College
headof college/