Shore – Planning for the Future
Where there is no vision, the people perish…
Proverbs 29:18
Dear Students, Parents and Carers
The old King James version of the Bible says “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” (Proverbs 29:18). More recent commentators have put it less prosaically: “failure to plan, is planning to fail”. Currently, we have a major Strategic Planning exercise underway at Shore as we try to prepare for, and, insofar as we can, shape the future for our students. Our School Council are, appropriately, taking the time to do this well, rather than quickly. At heart are the fundamental questions “What is Shore?” and “What do we want it to be?” These questions are not about the present, except insofar as the present is the context for the future. Shore is a great school now, with a wonderful tradition. How can we ensure that Shore remains relevant for the future and delivers optimally for our students and their families?
Formulation of Shore’s Strategic Plan will follow a cascading round of consultations. This week, the Executive Leadership Team, with a streaming relay to School Council, have benefited from a targeted consultation from the well-known demographer and social commentator, Mr Mark McCrindle. The Executive Leadership Team will meet in the holidays separately, and then with the School Council, to take the process further. We are undertaking research and on-the-ground investigations into some key questions, such as:
- What does research say is international best practice in boys’ education?
- What does the literature say about how students best learn and how can we best apply most recent research into neurology and its impact on learning and teaching?
- What is the most desirable shape of Co-Curricular offerings, including outdoor education, as we look at the third and fourth decades of the 21st century?
- How can a discussion of Christian faith be presented in a helpful, invitational and authentic manner in a society where beliefs and ideas are increasingly polarised?
- How can we best contribute to the positive mental health of young people?
- How may we best promote the emergence of young men of strong character, who are compassionate, keen to serve society and respectful of other men and women, including those who are fundamentally different in world view from themselves?
- How may we embrace technology helpfully, as a tool, and not as a master?
- What financial headwinds might come at parents/carers and the School and, hence, what is financially sustainable in the future?
- How can Boarding contribute most meaningfully to the ethos of the whole School?
- How can Shore contribute helpfully to reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?
- What is the future of work?
- What property developments might be necessary and appropriate for Shore in coming years?
These questions are not exclusive, but simply a sample of some of the issues under discussion. They will need to be informed by harnessing expertise and workshops amongst key groups within the School community. Already, the Executive Leadership Team and what we might inelegantly call ‘middle management’ (Senior School Heads of Department and Housemasters, Preparatory and Early Learning Centre Leaders) have been invited to contribute. As the process enters 2023, formal contributions will be sought from the Shore Parents’ Association (SPA), the Old Boys’ Union (OBU) and the Shore Foundation, as well as all of our teaching and support staff. Student leaders will also be invited to contribute. Depth and breadth of contribution will make for a better plan, where all stakeholder groups, we hope, will recognise their contribution and so have allegiance and commitment to the Plan.
A new Shore Strategic Plan will build on the past and lead the School into the future. It should be and needs to be, recognisably and distinctively Shore, capturing what is quintessentially Shore, and distinct from being, generically, any school. An excellent Plan will drive the School and will be our reference point for all decisions, particularly those initiatives which will be adopted or shelved in terms of whether they accord with the Plan.
The overall process is driven by a specialist consultant, whose role is simply to facilitate. We anticipate arriving at a finished product, which is ready to share with our School community, around the end of Term 1, 2023. Good planning takes time. To plan well, it is worth taking that time.
Dr J Collier
Interim Headmaster