Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School
STRATEGIC PLAN 2019 – 2024
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD
As I complete my third year as Chair of the Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School Board, I present to you the Ivanhoe Girls’ Strategic Plan 2019-2024. This plan has been developed via research and input received from students, staff, parents and the School Board of Directors. This Strategic Plan outlines a clear plan for the School’s immediate future. It builds upon our unique strengths and develops a way forward to ensure our three pillars guide all that we do and our three enablers allow us to deliver on these three pillars. This document outlines our five strategies to ensure Ivanhoe Girls’ remains a leader in girls’ education. It will continue to ensure we remain a forward-thinking community of learners who are thoughtful in our choices and brave in our actions and that Our Girls Speak For Themselves. As a proud past student myself, and also as a parent of
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two daughters who attended Ivanhoe Girls’, I am passionate about maintaining those unique qualities that identify an ‘Ivanhoe Girl’. Ivanhoe Girls’ is a place where lifelong friendships and enduring connections to the School are fostered. Along with members of the Board of Directors, together with Principal, Dr Deborah Priest, and her wonderful team, I look forward to playing a vital role in guiding the School into the future. Mrs Karen Frost (née Tresider) (Class of 1981) Chair Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School Board
MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
“We are facing unprecedented challenges – social, economic and environmental – driven by accelerating globalisation and a faster rate of technological developments.…. The future is uncertain and we cannot predict it; but we need to be open and ready for it.” 1 Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School looks to the future with great optimism. In this Strategic Plan we have identified five key strategies that we believe are fundamental for us to pursue as we support students to develop the knowledge, skills, dispositions and values that they will need to thrive, be successful and happy while at school and in their future lives.
Our School has a well-established and impressive reputation for nurturing strong, intelligent and compassionate women who go on to lead and serve the community in meaningful ways. We want this legacy to continue and will therefore continue to be a school that believes that the wellbeing of each child is a fundamental precursor to them achieving their personal best.
At Ivanhoe Girls’ we care as much about the developing character of each girl as we do about their academic achievement.
Dr Deborah Priest Principal Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School
1. Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills, OECD (2018) The Future of Education and Skills: Education 2030. Retrieved from www.oecd.org
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HISTORY OF IVANHOE GIRLS’ 1903. Cooerwull Girls’ School established by Frances Lowe, first Principal. It was on the corner of Marshall Street, opposite Sharwood House. Left: Frances Lowe with seven of her first students.
1993. Opening of the Doris Walker Centre (Senior Library and VCE Centres) by Mr Jeffrey Kennett AC, Premier of Victoria.
1972. First Girls’ School in Australia to introduce Chinese Language. 1976. Amos House purchased by School. Henry Amos was a founder of Ivanhoe Girls’.
2001. Hillsley Visual Arts And Hospitality Complex opened by Dame Elizabeth Murdoch AC, DBE.
1907. School could no longer accommodate all 36 the students. Moved to Hillsley (known as the School House) initially leased by Frances Lowe. 1920. Frances Lowe took over the Girton Kindergarten.
2002. Opening of the Heather Low Year 6 Centre. 2003. Our Centenary Year. 1963. Doris Walker retired, our longest serving Principal (1929 – 1963).
1979. Sharwood House purchased by School. John Sharwood was a founder of Ivanhoe Girls’.
2015 1903
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1980
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1981 – 1982. New Junior School established in Edwardian houses along Marshall Street.
2012. Woolley House purchased by the School.
1968. Opening on the Doris Walker Hall and Collins Wing. 1987. Laying of Foundation Stone John Shilliday Phys Ed Centre.
1929. First purpose built classrooms (six rooms). There were 108 day pupils.
1996. Opening of Performing Arts Centre (PAC) by Hon Richard McGarvie, Governor of Victoria AC, QC.
2010. Opening of The Cooerwull Centre by Governor-General Dame Quentin Bryce AD, CVO.
1948. Junior School established with Isobel Fiddian as its new Head. 1998. Opening of the Early Learning Centre (ELC), St James House.
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1968. Properties 121, 123 and 127 Marshall Street were purchased.
1988. Opening of John Shilliday Physical Education Centre (photo).
1999. Lowe Wing opened.
2011. Sharwood House extension opens.
2015. Redevelopment of Doris Walker Centre opened by Hon Alex Chernov, Governor of Victoria AC, QC.
ABOUT AN IVANHOE GIRLS’ EDUCATION
At Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School, we view the opportunity to educate girls, to prepare them for purpose and success in their adult lives, as a privilege. By maintaining our enrolments between 850 – 1000 learners from our Early Learning Centre (Three Year Old) through to Year 12, we are able to know each student as an individual, to monitor her progress carefully and to ensure she feels accepted, valued and validated as she learns how to fly high. With over 116 years of experience in finding and nurturing the strengths of our learners, Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School continues to provide a personalised education for each girl to explore and extend herself academically, socially and culturally while developing a disposition founded on integrity and generous service to our community. Our teachers unashamedly put the pastoral care and character building of our students on an equal
footing with their academic achievements. In so doing, we are proud to develop articulate, courageous, critical thinkers who are generous of spirit, have a lifelong love of learning, and who have a voice and use it to make a positive contribution to their wider community.
popular and successful subjects. The key to our learners’ success is for us to encourage and nurture passion, engagement and creativity in whatever combination of subjects our girls are interested to study and explore.
Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School has an inspirational tradition of leading innovative and socially progressive girls’ education with graduates achieving outstanding success in a broad range of Australian and international tertiary pathways including STEM-based courses.
We welcome every girl as a unique individual and we foster in her the confidence to discover her talents and to build upon them. Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School is a remarkable and forward-thinking school that enthusiastically embraces innovation and learning that is connected to real-world applications. We want our girls to explore and develop their potentials in a friendly, nurturing and welcoming school and to leave as graduates who are ‘life ready’ as well as ‘tertiary and career ready’.
Our School community enables girls to challenge stereotypical views of what they can and should achieve, with Mathematics, Science, Visual Arts and Music being among our most
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STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School is a forward-thinking community of learners who are thoughtful in their choices and brave in their actions.
THE THREE PILLARS THAT GUIDE ALL WE DO ARE: Quality Learning and Teaching
Quality Pastoral Care
Connected Community
We value an education that challenges and connects, leading to powerful and progressive thinking.
We value courage, inclusion and diversity, leading to resilience and compassionate, respectful relationships.
We value curiosity, authenticity and service, leading to connections to others and to the wider community.
THE THREE ENABLERS THAT ALLOW US TO FACILITATE OUR PILLARS ARE: Quality Staff
Quality Resources and Facilities
Sustainability
We employ highly-skilled employees who bring expertise, unique talent and a depth and breadth of relevant skills to Ivanhoe Girls’.
We plan for and provide the most appropriate and relevant resources and facilities to optimise learning, participation, productivity and overall wellbeing of students and staff.
We are well connected to our broader community and manage our physical, human and financial resources wisely. We ensure that the quality of educational and personal development opportunities and outcomes of staff and students are widely known, resulting in strong enrolments and ongoing financial security for the School.
OUR STRATEGIES
In seeking to realise our aspirations, Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School will focus its planning, leadership and resources on five major strategies for continuous school improvement:
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STRATEGY 1
STRATEGY 2
STRATEGY 3
STRATEGY 4
STRATEGY 5
Facilitate engaging, holistic and connected learning and teaching.
Provide exemplary student pastoral care and opportunities for personal development.
Attract and develop expert academic and professional staff.
Provide engaging, flexible and innovative learning and work spaces.
Strengthen community awareness and engagement.
STRATEGY 1
Provide Engaging, Holistic and Connected Learning and Teaching Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School provides every student with the opportunity to find individual passions in academic and co-curricular learning, pursuing them to her full potential.
We will: • Provide an education that challenges, leading to powerful and progressive thinking • Provide opportunities for students to develop creative and entrepreneurial skills • C onnect theoretical learning to real-world applications and collaborate with industry experts, alumni and parents
Enable students to learn • in different ways, in different settings, taking on the roles of leader, team member, collaborator and independent learner • P rovide a continuum of learning from the ELC to Year 12.
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STRATEGY 2
Provide Exemplary Student Pastoral Care and Opportunities for Personal Development Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School provides a supportive, responsive and flexible pastoral care environment in which students can develop their own individual values, character, identity and beliefs.
We will:
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• S et high and clear expectations of students in all aspects of school life
• Value inclusion and diversity leading to compassionate, respectful relationships
• Develop and implement a whole-school approach for the pastoral care and personal development of all students
• Encourage bravery leading to resilience • Nurture a widely inclusive community founded on the strong Christian values of the Anglican Church.
STRATEGY 3
Attract and Develop Expert Academic and Professional Staff Ivanhoe Girls’ engages and develops the most expert staff available to facilitate learning and to operate and lead the School.
We will: • Invest in the continual professional learning of all staff • R eview learning and teaching management roles to ensure they support flexible and crosscurricular teaching approaches • O ptimise the engagement, fulfillment and effectiveness of staff by providing them with appropriate resources and facilities
• Strengthen succession and leadership development opportunities • R eview and realign staff appraisal, ensuring it supports and drives professional growth and development, and affirms individual’s contributions to the School’s Strategic Goals • E nsure all members of staff maintain a key focus on child safety, embedding it in all aspects of school life.
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STRATEGY 4
Provide Engaging, Flexible and Innovative Learning Spaces Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School will provide learning spaces that inspire and personalise learning, facilitate optimal student engagement and, where appropriate, reflect the sophistication of real-life and workplace environments.
We will: • Implement a long-term vision for Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School campus • Develop spaces to facilitate and encourage collaborations with the community and industry professionals • Develop a state-of-the-art centre for the enhanced and expanded learning of Science and Technology-related subjects
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rovide spaces that are • P flexible, engaging and innovative, supporting students to learn in diverse ways and optimising student wellbeing • Increase participation in physical activity programs by providing outstanding physical education learning and recreation spaces • P rovide secure and readily accessible information technology systems that support learning and teaching outcomes.
STRATEGY 5
Strengthen Community Engagement and School Sustainability Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School is a thriving and inclusive education community that continues to attract the loyalty and connectedness of a lifelong network of alumni.
We will: • Develop and extend relationships with current and past students, staff and parents to engage them with the School in meaningful and mutually beneficial ways • Continue to responsibly and successfully manage the School’s financial resources to ensure the ongoing success of the School
• Expand environmental sustainability practices • Provide relevant and real opportunities for the educational and personal development of our students to become widely known, encouraging others to join our community and ensuring the ongoing success of our School.
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123 Marshall Street Ivanhoe Victoria 3079 Australia T +61 3 9490 6222 E iggs@ivanhoegirls.vic.edu.au W www.ivanhoegirls.vic.edu.au CRICOS provider No. 00974A/018621A
This Strategic Plan is printed on ‘ecoStar 100% Recycled Silk’ which is an environmentally responsible paper made Carbon Neutral and the fibre source is FSC Recycled certified. The paper is manufactured from 100% post-consumer recycled paper in a process chlorine 12 free environment under the ISO 14001 environmental management system.