Strategic planning in schools - rinse but don't repeat!

At Meld Studios we've helped many organisations to design their strategies. One of the things that we pride ourselves on is that we always tailor our approach to the organisation and the problem at hand. Nowhere has this been more necessary - and surprising - than in our work in schools.

Meldster, Nick Leigh and Vanessa Vershaw, a strategist, psychologist and leadership coach have partnered over the past three years to co-design strategies with four schools: St Hilda’s, Santa Maria College, Penrhos College and Ipswich Girls Grammar School.

Our approach

In 2020 we were approached to help set a new direction for St Hilda's, one WA’s oldest girls’ schools. Whilst an exciting prospect, this raised some fundamental questions including:

• What does the school community expect going forward?
• How might a long standing reputation be perceived when evolving?
• How open is the organisation to strategic change?

As strategists we saw an opportunity to differentiate in a highly competitive market, but were also cognisant of the need to ensure that education wasn’t seen as becoming commoditised or commercial.

As such, we set out with a research mindset and a determination to develop a direction for the school that was deeply authentic through being developed together with their unique community.

What we learned

• Each school community is completely unique. Whilst they share reasonably consistent infrastructure, curriculum, funding and hiring considerations, the essence of each community is individual and diverse. Discovery surfaced a series of vastly differing values, beliefs, issues and opportunities that are a product of school culture, heritage and its surrounds
• The dynamics of the team drive different outcomes. Again as with organisations, there is no consistent model of leadership team. The diversity of energy, experience and passion was reflected in the ways we engaged and the authentic and unique directions that emerged
• Flexibility in the process yields the right result. Practising what we preach - becoming adaptive - meant ensuring the process was malleable enough to accommodate feedback. With each project, testing proposed strategic intent with school community groups (staff, students, parents, alumni and school board) yielded vastly different responses - good, bad and sometimes distracting - that each team had to navigate to arrive at a strategy that appropriately incorporated community expectations and needs.

Outcomes for the schools we've worked with

Each school team produced a fundamentally different set of strategic priorities and brand values to rally behind, and we couldn’t be prouder of the generosity, openness and effort that went into rediscovering their north stars.

In every case the shared experience became a precious moment in time to reflect, deeply listen and collectively create a future that aligns the school community around a purposeful and celebrated way forward.

ST HILDA'S ANGLICAN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

St Hilda’s broke the mould through the co-design of its strategy, proving that they could acknowledge their achievements to date yet take them forward through a commitment to future learners and leaders.  In 2022 it was recognised by the Australian Education Awards for its work through winning the best strategic school plan - a testament to the collective work of the leadership team.

Fiona Johnston, Principal at  commented:

“Vanessa and Nick were a breath of fresh air in challenging, guiding and stretching our Executive Team and School Council, as we together crafted a Strategic vision that set St Hilda’s on a trajectory for success. We were encouraged to think beyond the walls of education and beyond expectations to fully realise our organisation’s potential and resourcing capabilities.

Our experience resulted in a clearly articulated strategy that was achievable and believed in. St Hilda’s Reimagined is our blueprint for future success and ensures that St Hilda’s continues to be a leader in girls’ education. ”

IPSWICH GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Dr Marie Perry, Principal & CEO, Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School including Ipswich Junior Grammar School commented:

“We engaged Vanessa Vershaw to assist us in developing our new strategic plan. Her approach was different from the start – in a great way! Having been through countless strategic planning sessions in the past, Vanessa’s approach was dynamic, exciting, and really enabled the whole team to understand where we have been, where we are, and where we want to go. We were stretched and challenged along the way, and this helped to cement our team as a solid force, working together for the betterment of our organisation. We were also ably supported by Nick Leigh throughout as well. They are a dynamic duo with wonderfully complementary skill sets. Thank you for bringing such a fresh approach to our strategic planning, we are very proud of the work completed and excited to deliver this great plan with our community.”

The future is in good hands

Every time we work with our clients, the learning journey is an adventure for us too, expanding our knowledge and mindset with each step we take.

Some of the things we discovered through our schools engagements about ourselves and the community we worked with:

1. Teachers are exceptional humans.Their commitment to their students, community and their craft cannot be understated. Many of the people we worked with had both teaching and leadership duties, and carving out the time to undertake a co-design process on top of an already hectic schedule wasn’t taken lightly by ourselves. As such, we iterated our own schedule to be flexible to their availability and capacity
2. It's safe to talk. Cultural and behavioural interviews always surface perceptions, issues, concerns and unrealised opportunities, but the act of coming together to collectively develop a future created the space to talk openly, warmly and confidently. With risk and opportunities on the table, we experienced teamwork that might have otherwise stayed dormant
3. Renewed resilience. No matter where the teams were at in their own leadership journeys, the work of shaping the future together resulted in enhanced team dynamics and reinvigorated energy and passion creating the future together
4. Outcomes over outputs. In every case, it’s clear that despite the strict guard rails of curriculum, schools are highly cognisant and passionate about creating a well rounded, capable and future-fit next generation who want to change the world for the better. Developing strategies that accommodate these broader needs whilst reflecting the unique attributes of each school community gives great confidence that we’re in diverse, confident and outcome driven hands
5. Education is critical for a bright future. The future of the next generation is incumbent upon the ability of the education sector to be able to successfully carve a contemporary path for our children to have extraordinary futures.
   
   

Image: School learning artwork, Queensland.

We’re continually evolving our strategy approach to put the collective needs and expectations of the people it serves first and foremost. School communities are ideal testing grounds given the diversity of stakeholders, tenure/heritage, and the highly complex and challenging education system within which they operate. 

For schools, opening the doors to co-create a future with their community has been a ‘challenge accepted’, and we hope that ongoing engagement means schools can flourish serving the needs of their students, staff, parents and sponsors.

Strategy is more than intent, it’s the experience of rediscovering an authentic self that offers something unique to your tribe. Get in touch if you'd like to know more about exploring your future.