Teaching & Learning Strategic Plan

TEACHING AND LEARNING PLAN 2022 – 2026 A CO-EDUCATIONAL SCHOOL IN THE ANGLICAN TRADITION – EARLY LEARNING TO YEAR 12

OUR MISSION

Yarra Valley Grammar is a learning community which nurtures a confidence to achieve.

OUR VISION

To be a great school fostering excellence, concern for others and a global outlook.

OUR VALUES

We value: • • • • • •

Safety and wellbeing Our Christian ethos and our Anglican tradition Community, service and leadership Creativity and compassion Excellence and endeavour Respect and integrity

SAFETY AND WELLBEING

COMMUNITY SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP

EXCELLENCE AND ENDEAVOUR

• conduct a review of the Yarra experience for students, staff and school families to see how this may be enhanced and improved

We will:

We will:

• respect inclusivity and diversity which will be explicitly taught in the curriculum

• continue to operate and be characterised as a high performing school

• find ways to celebrate excellence and endeavour in the workplace, minimise disruption and support teachers and those who support them

• conduct an audit of our community service operations to ensure that they are planned, integrated and expanded to include greater access for students

• commit to being a culturally safe and respectful environment for Indigenous students and their families

• hold a review of our student leadership to ensure that the positions are relevant to the contemporary school and allow for cross age interaction and leadership

• determine our own definitions of excellence which recognises the importance of high achievement and commitment to a broad range of pursuits – academic, cultural, and social. This will include recognition of personal rather than just comparative excellence

We will:

• commit to the safety of the child by providing explicit education regarding child safety, cyber safety, gender issues, equity and diversity to both students and staff

• explore greater opportunities to engage with the local community especially with local Indigenous groups

• place great emphasis upon teacher appointment, mentoring, professional learning and feedback

• use data collection to assist in monitoring student wellbeing

• investigate the merits of a House system to see if it might create greater community engagement

• articulate the qualities of an exemplar teacher: the teaching, interpersonal and modelling behaviours which make a great teacher

OUR CHRISTIAN ETHOS

• create greater connections between the community and the campus.

This would involve sustainability, care for our environment and ultimately a productive use of the school bushland

• integrate skills acquisition, careers advice, teacher and parent input and external links to ensure that students have a raft of competencies and are prepared for life after school

CREATIVITY AND COMPASSION

• emphasise the importance of reading, motivation, goal setting, self-sufficiency study skills and learning to learn

We will: • place a greater priority on Chapel as a way to be explicit about our ethos • promote Diversity Week and teaching comparative religions • survey our parents about the values of the school. This will both inform us of their views and educate them as to the school’s core principles • continue discussions regarding the higher purpose and direction of the school • conduct a review and refresh of The Resilience Project to ensure that it meets the needs of the school

We will: • explore the diversity in the way classes are delivered and look at hybrid models of teaching - building towards tertiary studies • provide time and resources to plan creatively and break down divisions between schools and departments to encourage a greater range of ideas • actively promote student interest groups and clubs to cater for the greater diversity of students • make learning at Yarra an encouragement of decision making, problem solving, academic risk taking, engagement and intrinsic enjoyment in student life • develop character strengths awards for students who demonstrate particular characteristics which Yarra values

RESPECT AND INTEGRITY We will: • be expected to conduct ourselves ethically and with integrity and all members of the school community need to be accountable for their actions • develop an explicit approach towards consistency across the school in our expectations of the students and each other • be mindful of the broader world and everyday global issues such as climate change, injustice, positive relationships and prejudice and refer to them with our students both formally and informally - holding the curriculum lightly enough to enable this to happen • continue to develop educative programs to support people in the classroom and the schoolyard and support the family too

FROM THE CHAIRMAN Yarra Valley Grammar is committed to excellence in education.

The Board, as custodian of the School and its mission, seeks to remain an educational leader in Melbourne’s east.

Yarra Valley Grammar is proudly open entry and co-educational, offering students an extensive range of curricular and co-curricular programs in an encouraging learning community.

Students are challenged to reach their potential, whether this is in the classroom, on the playing fields, stage or community programs. They are guided by exceptional

teachers and leaders who are committed to the education of young people.

The School is blessed to be situated in a natural environment with outstanding facilities, but our teachers and staff are the attraction for generations of students who have attended the School and graduated with the benefit of character and wisdom that our teachers have instilled.

The Board fully supports the Teaching and Learning Plan 2022-2026, and in doing so provides guidance to ensure the Yarra experience evolves and is compelling to the individual, family and community.

I commend the plan to you.

Mr Andrew Hirst

FROM THE PRINCIPAL Our school motto is a very important guide as to who we are and what we hope to achieve.

Levavi Oculos worn proudly on the school uniform is taken from Psalm 121 “I lift up my eyes” and was chosen by the Founders for a number of reasons.

When they first stood looking out over the property they looked up towards the hills.

They saw inspiration in the view towards the hills, a view we enjoy every day.

They also saw the importance of faith as inspiration and the need for us to look up and aim high in all that we do. This is an aspiration to have high expectations, to achieve, to be leaders in education and instil these qualities into our students.

These things are still very important to school life today and will remain important into the future.

As with any educational institution intellect and the mind are central to our work at Yarra Valley Grammar.

The intellect and intellectualism must remain an important concern for educators. An educational institution should not be shy of academic excellence. But an education which neglects character and neglects matters of the heart is a poor substitute for the true purpose of education and educating.

We educate to better ourselves. This means becoming more knowledgeable, more confident and more willing to place our skills at the service of others.

Yarra is a place of great opportunities.

I love a school where every student is challenged to do their best in their studies, where every student can play music, debate, play sport and contribute to the wider community through the Community Links program.

Our goal is to foster confident and competent young people who will take these skills with them once they leave school to serve their families, their friends and the wider community in a meaningful way.

Committed staff, engaged students and supportive parents – that’s a particularly powerful combination.

Dr Mark Merry

Kalinda Road Ringwood Victoria 3134 Australia Telephone +61 3 9262 7700 Email reception@yvg.vic.edu.au www.yvg.vic.edu.au ABN 44 004 584 552 CRICOS NO. 00356E