What is it?
The School Strategic Plan sets out the school strategic directions for the next four years, expressed through goals and targets, and key improvement strategies. This most important document needs to reflect the views of the whole school community and so must be developed in cooperation and consultation with parents, teachers and students at the school.
School Strategic Planning involves:
- Defining the school core purpose and values
- Taking a future perspective of the needs of children and young people and the wider community
- Agreeing on the outcomes the school is striving to achieve for its students
- Choosing a few key improvement strategies that are critical to the school success
- Deciding how resources will be generated, enhanced or allocated to achieve the desired outcomes
- Planning the implementation of the strategy
- Identifying how the school will know when success has been achieved
- Ensuring that all stakeholders know and understand the school strategic plan.
How can parents take an active role in its development?
It is important that parents understand the purpose and content of the strategic plan as this is the guiding document for the direction of the school.
If parents understand the content of the plan, they will be more likely to feel comfortable in taking part in its development and evaluation. The parents club therefore, has a role in familiarising parents with the content. Perhaps at club meetings, different sections of the plan could be identified and discussed.
All parents in the school should have access to a copy of the plan in an appropriate language.
Meetings, inviting all members of the school community to participate, should be held during the process of development and evaluation. Small working groups are extremely useful in generating debates and ideas. Parents must also insist they have representation on strategic plan development sub-committees.
Evaluation is a continuing process. Parents are very able to ascertain the degree of success of the priorities of the plan.
The Parents Club is a forum already operating within the school. It is the ideal place for parents to not only become familiar with the strategic plan already in place, but also to discuss the ongoing priorities of this most important guide for our children’s education.
More information
See the Policy and Advisory Library for more information on School Strategic Plans.
