To embed any change requires time, it requires staying focussed on the overall goal. This comes back to having a real living vision for our school and its learners and then strategically working towards it. Real culture change takes at least five years. Without the awareness of what time is needed a strong coherent, connected vision will never be realised. From the interview opportunity  I was given at Waipahihi to today I have talked about four key elements that our shared vision had to work towards. They were:

1. An enriching and connected curriculum - connecting strong foundation learning with authentic curriculum learning context.
2. Digital tools used effectively and for the right reason. The right tool for the right job!
3. Collaborative practice - working together as teachers to meet the learning needs of all our learners.
4. Professional Practice - how do we get the best out of ourselves in what we do and not just deliver curriculum content?

These key elements are in the background of bringing our vision alive. The strategic aims of our plan and the key initiatives that are being worked on to achieve our vision are all part of that timeline. We are staying the course to achieve our vision of learners (and teachers) being 'Immersed in Learning'.

A lack of inclusiveness - in the context of this diagram equals people operating in silos. Over the past few years our school has worked at developing an inclusive, or in our case, collaborative, work environment. The leadership team has put significant time and effort into building a workplace that reflects a high degree of professional relational trust and effective school-wide collaboration. Our leadership structure, in partnership with our team of teachers and support staff, have fostered a transparent team culture that values accountability and professional reflection. Our collaborative leadership approach reflects a clear commitment to growing leadership capacity across the school which in turn works together to develop, implement and improve our systems and processes for coherent and sustainable practice.

The inclusiveness within our staff team develops consistency of understanding and clarity of direction across the school. 

A living vision is one that is both aspirational and measureable. The key to making this happen is creating a visual alongside that a catchphrase that sets the foundation from which key elements of the school, its connection to place, and an indication of what culture its working is apparent.