Mansfield Steiner School Strategic Plan

STRATEGIC PLAN 2024 - 2028

INTRODUCTION

Together, we strive to ensure the continued success and growth of our school while remaining committed to our unique Steiner values and philosophy. We envisage Mansfield Steiner School students and families to be active members of both the school and the wider Mansfield community and we celebrate our efforts and achievements.

Enacting our core values of Goodness, Beauty and Truth, and understanding how these values are cultivated in different ways throughout the school relative to the age and stage of the students, is key to ensuring the school is a cohesive whole. We will aim to embed this focus as widely as possible throughout the life of this plan.

After achieving our goal of offering a complete education from Kinder to Year 12 during the last strategic planning period, the school now seeks to consolidate this position by refining and developing our educational program. Strengthening Steiner pedagogy in our secondary school, including further integrating the IBDP, will enable more students to complete Year 12 at the school.

Through this work, we seek to build our enrolments to reach a sustainable student population that is near to our total capacity across all classes.

We envisage that as our primary school classes reach capacity and numbers in our secondary continue to build, early childhood will become the primary intake point for the school. Over the first two years of this strategic plan, government expansion of free kindergarten and ‘Pre-Prep’ will necessitate changes to our early childhood service.

While there will need to be considerable growth and development at the senior secondary and early childhood ends of the school, the ‘middle’ of the school, being primary and lower secondary, needs to be supported with appropriate resourcing to continue providing a progressive Steiner education together with our community.

VISION

Our Vision is a School Community of free, responsible, and ethical contributors to our contemporary world.

MISSION

Mansfield Steiner School aims to awaken and inspire students' critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and artistic expression on a global scale, supporting their development to become open-minded and ethical individuals who can design their own lives with initiative and purpose.

VALUES

Rudolf Steiner contended that the fundamental purpose of education lies in the cultivation of students' capacities for thinking, feeling, and willing. These essential human qualities find expression in society through the enduring principles of goodness, beauty and truth. Furthermore, they manifest in the various forms of science, art, ethics (or belief systems) and the search for meaning.

Goodness is the inherent moral quality that arises from understanding, empathy, and the pursuit of actions that contribute positively to the wellbeing of oneself, others, and the world.

Beauty is the reflection of harmony and balance in the natural world, nurturing our senses and inspiring our creative spirits.

Truth is a living, evolving concept that unfolds through direct experiences, personal development, and a deep connection to the natural world.

STRATEGIC FOCUS

At Mansfield Steiner School our strategic direction is focused on three key areas:

PEOPLE

Our Goal

To create a harmonious and nurturing educational environment where students' holistic development, including academic, social, and creative growth, is fully supported and fostered through continued exploration and contemporary application of Steiner's insights into child development. Staff, parents and students share this responsibility.

STUDENTS

Strategies

» Ensure Steiner pedagogy is carried through the school from K-12 and that the school community is educated about how the curriculum matches the student's age and stage of development.

» Maintaining a safe learning environment and ensuring students have access to appropriately targeted wellbeing measures.

» Assessing the appropriateness of alternative educational pathways for senior students that meet the needs of differing academic levels within the student body.

» Develop our Kindergarten offering to meet government plans and community expectations for extended 3- and 4-year-old programs.

» Academic achievement rigour.

» Health/Fitness/Wellbeing.

Targets

→ Increasing numbers of students completing IBDP.

→ Improved documentation including scope and sequence for the Wellbeing program.

→ Positive results of student and parent satisfaction survey.

→ Increased student numbers, building from strong Kindergarten enrolments and student retention through to IBDP.

→ Overall student numbers building towards a capacity of 280+.

→ Kindergarten services adapted to the government program of 15hours of 3-year-old Kindergarten in 2025 and 30hours Pre-Prep in 2026 which are fully subscribed.

STAFF

Strategies

» Ensure staff wellbeing through regular review and continued improvement of pay and conditions, and fostering of a supportive and enjoyable work environment.

» Developing a formal mentoring program to support the alignment of new teachers’ practice with Steiner education.

» Restructure the College of Teachers to incorporate a separate meeting and focus on professional development, child study, and discussing/debating strategic decisions.

» Continue to build staff capacity/skills/knowledge through regular and targeted professional development.

Targets

→ Positive staff satisfaction survey results manifesting in continuing stability across all faculties.

→ Wages and conditions remain competitive and are reviewed annually by the School Leadership Team (SLT) & Governance Committee (GC).

→ Formal documented teacher mentoring program developed.

→ College of Teachers meeting regularly and able to conduct PD and Child Study, and contributing to the ongoing strategic direction of the school.

→ Staff PD log demonstrates that all staff are involved in regular professional development.

→ Individual staff have documented professional development plans.

PARENTS & COMMUNITY

Strategies

Develop measures to educate and align parents with the school's values.

» Ensure parents and the community receive timely and accurate information from the school.

» Continue to build the Parents and Friends committee with a clear focus on running selected events.

» Adopt an online enrolment process.

» Develop a resources hub for parents through the school website.

Targets

→ Attendance at parent nights, events, information sessions, festivals and events is fostered and promoted through messaging and marketing leading to an increase in attendance.

→ Daily organiser role is effectively implemented.

→ Sentral becomes the primary communication portal for the school.

→ P&F committee successfully runs selected events, raises money, and completes projects in partnership with staff.

→ Online enrolment platform successfully implemented.

→ New website completed, parent resources developed (i.e., parent handbook), and process for updating completed.

PLACE

Our Goal

To improve our school's physical environment, further promote Steiner education, foster a sense of community, and strengthen our commitment to holistic education, sustainability, and a profound connection with the natural world and Indigenous history and futures.

Strategies

» Increase the intrinsic connection our community feels toward the school's physical environment and interweave this with First Nations’ perspectives and history.

» Regularly review the School’s Master Plan to prioritise and guide infrastructure development.

» Create work and learning spaces that support staff and student needs.

» Preserve and improve the beauty of our gardens, grounds, and learning spaces with a connection to the environment and sustainability at the forefront of design.

» Improve play spaces across the school.

» Enhance Early Childhood learning spaces to support the enrolment focus in this area.

» Improve on-site parking and traffic management.

» Leverage capital works grant opportunities to complement investment built upon a sustainable financial position.

Targets

→ Reconciliation action plan (RAP) developed.

→ School Master Plan maintained to ensure relevance to the school’s educational priorities and community needs. Biannual reviews of Masterplan by GC and SLT published.

→ All rooms meet the demands of a capacity class of 24 students.

→ Increased school community involvement in P&F, class reading, cooking, gardening, working bees, festival, and event attendance.

→ A prioritised list of capital works maintained and regularly reviewed.

→ Location for Prep 2026 developed and EC supervision sightlines improved.

→ Parking and traffic management planned for and improved.

→ Access to grant and alternative funding opportunities are regularly realised.

PATHWAYS

Our Goal

To foster a deep understanding of the core threads of Steiner education that connect through the school community, particularly the enacting of our values of Goodness, Beauty, and Truth at all stages of the students' experience. Thus creating a nurturing and seamless educational journey from early childhood to young adulthood, supported through a rigorous, contemporary Steiner and IBDP program, strong governance, and financial sustainability.

STUDENTS

Strategies

» Students' pride in the school and sense of responsibility is nurtured.

» Ensure alignment between the Steiner philosophy and the IB program.

» Ensure students are engaged with the IB curriculum and that alternative options are available.

Targets

→ Student leadership and involvement opportunities increase.

→ Assess and plan for alternative senior school pathways.

→ IB Music added as well as additional subject options explored.

→ Assess school curriculum scope and sequence from a whole school perspective.

→ Develop and foster Alumni membership and promote the achievements of our graduates.

→ Waitlist pressure is shifted to Early Childhood to ensure students coming through the school can benefit from a complete Mansfield Steiner School education.

STAFF

Strategies

» Ensure continuing professional development for staff in Steiner and contemporary education practice.

» Leadership opportunities and career pathways for staff are nurtured.

Targets

→ All staff provided training and professional development opportunities in Steiner education and contemporary practice.

→ Individual PD plans and annual reviews for staff are maintained.

→ Appointments to leadership positions within the school are predominantly internally sourced.

GOVERNANCE

Strategies

» Ensure the Governance Committee has a diverse membership and capacity to meet the financial and regulatory requirements of the school.

» Ensure the finances of the school are managed in a sustainable manner that contributes to its growth and stability.

Targets

→ Governance Committee membership is reflective of the School Community demographics.

→ Members of the Governance Committee and Executive participate in at least four hours per year of professional development in Steiner Education and best practice governance and financial management.

→ Review the five-year Business Plan on an annual basis to ensure the financial projections remain relevant to actual performance.

→ Achieve an operating surplus that enables infrastructure, maintenance and development of facilities and programs.

COMMUNITY

Strategies

Internal/external marketing focus on:

» the value of a complete (K-12) education offering.

» increasing the understanding of school values and their application.

» increasing the understanding of IBDP and its relationship with Steiner education at Mansfield.

» Promotion of our early childhood and prep program.

Targets

→ Widespread understanding of the complete educational journey at Mansfield Steiner School, as demonstrated through parent surveys and engagement.

→ Widespread understanding of the IBDP at Mansfield Steiner School translating in increased IBDP enrolments.

→ Fully subscribed early childhood program.

OUR JOURNEY.. SO FAR

First Waldorf (Steiner) school opens in Stuttgart, Germany based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, that educates the whole child. 1957

1985

Maindample School opens with a kindergarten and 3 students, growing to 6 students by mid-year

A classroom is added to the school to cater for students in Class 1-5

The Marble Room is built for more classroom space, indoor play and storage

School

Two

Art Room and Science building added -

and Marnalong Melliodora Hall built