Our strategic plan and annual plan will be shared shortly with the school community but I wanted to ensure that all parents appreciate our focus areas for the year ahead. A snapshot of the key ones are;
Core skills – a continued focus on our numeracy and literacy planning and teaching.
Inquiry Learning – will involve improved levels of communication with parents including information workshops throughout the year.
Assessment – this includes reporting to parents (timings, conferences, report format/content etc), the introduction of portfolios and the use of assessment to inform teaching and learning in the classroom.
IB/CIS Visit preparation – it is hoped that we will be visited by members from the International Baccalaureate (IB) team and the Council of International Schools as part of our on-going commitment to the delivery of high quality education. This joint visit will evaluate our work since both organisations gave us accreditation in 2009 and we are looking forward to sharing with them our progress.
Catering for Individual needs – this includes differentiation in the classroom (catering for the different levels), supporting our less able (small group work and one on one) and working with those identified as gifted and talented.
Leadership Opportunities – this includes increasing the leadership opportunities for children of all ages across the school (student council, class prefects, house captains, environmental group, ambassadors etc).
Development of a learning technologies strategy – includes a review of how ICT is being incorporated at the school and also a debate about whether or not it is feasible/appropriate for the school to become an Apple school rather than a PC school.