Please click here to the Sacré Cœur Strategic Plan 2012

From strong foundations:
Strategic Plan 2012 – 2015
Sacré Cœur
International School of the Sacred Hear t
1. Introduction
Sacré Cœur is a highly regarded school with strong
foundations, well positioned to build on its many successful
years educating students at Burke Road. Our Catholic
faith and commitment to the educational philosophy of St
Madeleine Sophie Barat are part of what makes Sacré Cœur
distinctive and guide all that we do.
The school has solid finances, excellent
infrastructure and a high performing team
of talented teachers and administrative
staff. Sacré Cœur is forward thinking
and embraces world’s best practice in
education including collaboration with other
schools in person and online; adopting a
global outlook; offering virtual classroom
experiences; and a commitment to full
implementation of the National Curriculum.
Our alumnae are an active group of
women and are well represented among
community leaders.
Sacré Cœur’s Strategic Plan is based on
consultation with students, staff, parents
and others across the school community. It
sets out our shared approach to improving
what we do; responding to a changing
environment; and achieving our collective goals. The Plan
covers a four year period but looks further, including and
anticipating future opportunities and challenges. It will be
monitored and reviewed regularly.
Our Strategic Plan will be achieved in conjunction with the
School Board, Foundation Board, Parents’ Association, Past
Parents and Alumnae Association.
Academically,
Sacré Cœur girls
achieve results among
the best in the State,
and they participate
widely in sport, music,
the arts and social
activities.
2. Sacred Heart goals
As a Sacred Heart School, we find our meaning and
purposes in the educational vision of the Mother Foundress,
St Madeleine Sophie Barat, who founded the Society of the
Sacred Heart in France in 1800.
A Sacred Heart education is marked by a distinctive spirit.
A Sacred Heart school emphasises serious study, social
responsibility, personal growth and
resilience, wise decision-making, and lays
the foundations of a strong faith.
The essence of a
Sacred Heart school
includes that it be
deeply concerned for
each student’s total
development: spiritual,
intellectual, emotional
and physical.
This Sacred Heart spirit is expressed in
the five Goals of Sacred Heart Education
that members of the school community
endeavour to ‘live out’ in our everyday lives.
The goals are:
• A personal and active faith in God
• A deep respect for intellectual values
• Building community as a Christian value
• A social awareness that impels to action
•P
ersonal growth in an atmosphere of
wise freedom
The Goals are fundamental to Sacré
Cœur’s day to day operations, providing the framework for
our specific objectives and helping hold us true to the Sacred
Heart philosophy of education. For each Goal there are several
Criteria guiding how it may be achieved and these are detailed
on the Sacré Cœur website.
3. Distinctly Sacré Cœur
Sacré Cœur is a Catholic school of the Sacred Heart tradition.
Our education is guided by the vision of St Madeleine Sophie
Barat, building on educational and institutional foundations laid
over many years in the French tradition. These are the things
that make us “distinctly Sacré Cœur”.
•T
he school offers a continuous, integrated education for girls
from Prep to Year 12.
It is one of 150 schools
that makes up our
network of International
Schools of the
Sacred Heart.
•W
e provide a strong faith based
dimension in a contemporary context,
following the Five Goals of Sacred Heart
Education.
• O
ur purpose is to help our girls achieve
the best they can, academically, socially,
in their faith, and to become leaders.
•W
e promote a nurturing environment that
supports individual needs and student
wellbeing.
•W
e are committed to educating our girls to become
internationally minded citizens with opportunities to develop
a deep appreciation of cultural awareness, diversity and
social justice.
•S
acré Cœur introduces students to the wider world with
connections to many international Sacred Heart schools, a
close network with our sister schools in Australia and New
Zealand, and teaching languages - including French as per
the tradition.
•S
acré Cœur encourages wide participation in co-curricular
activities including via Girls Sport Victoria and performing &
visual arts, especially in conjunction with other schools.
•T
he school - a single, non-residential campus on Burke
Road, Glen Iris, Victoria – caters for a maximum of 775
students a year.
This Strategic Plan seeks to build on these special qualities
and enduring foundations.
4. Our Strategy
Our school is built on the tradition of St Madeleine Sophie
Barat and our philosophy is a living link with her and the
French traditions of her Order. It remains vibrant and relevant
at Sacré Cœur today. This Strategy is guided by this spirit
and tradition and our School Improvement Framework
program – a quadrennial, evidence based
review of the school’s goals, achievements
and opportunities for improvement. The
Framework covers spiritual and academic
aspects of the school, providing detailed
insights and action plans for achieving our
goals.
Sacré Cœur has an
excellent reputation
and the quality of our
education and student
wellbeing is well
recognised.
Our academic program is based on serious
study, a love of learning and the best
of contemporary teaching and learning
practices. It is delivered flexibly and
anticipates the demands of academic and
career pathways beyond school.
The school is financially secure and this strategy consolidates
and provides for financial resilience in a changing economic
environment. We are accountable to students, parents,
government and our community. We operate a sound
governance model with suitable mechanisms to oversee
decisions and decision makers.
Sacré Cœur’s strategic direction in the period to, and beyond,
2015 includes:
• Providing an education in faith
• Fostering an environment of learning and
teaching excellence
•M
aintaining a nurturing focus on student
wellbeing
•D
elivering responsible and
empowered leadership and
management
•B
uilding a strong school
community with focus on our
internationalism
•C
ontinuing good governance
and financial management
•H
aving a creative and innovative
focus on infrastructure
• Preparing for the future
4.1Education in Faith
Sacré Cœur is foremost a Catholic school, inspired by a particular Catholic
tradition – the Sacred Heart tradition. Our strategies for providing an
Education in Faith include:
•E
ducating the community about the Sacred Heart charism and promoting
it so that we develop our Catholic identity and share it more widely.
Seeking the meaningful, relevant engagement of students, parents and
staff in their spiritual journeys.
•C
ontinuing to provide opportunities for community Eucharistic
celebrations; further developing Sacramental Preparation Programs where
the student-school-family relationship is core; and increasing opportunities
for the participation of the school community in prayer and liturgical life.
•B
uilding on our out-of-school social justice action and outreach activities
within a clear framework of Catholic values and involving students in their
planning.
•E
ncouraging more of our teachers to be accredited to teach Religious
Education and clearly mapping this through professional learning
pathways.
4.2Learning And Teaching
Sacré Cœur’s commitment is to create an environment, and provide an
education, for girls to achieve their full academic potential and gain relevant
skills to equip them for global society. Our learning and teaching strategies
include:
•A
ctively engaging girls in learning through the highest quality teaching
practices, and seeking to inspire a lifelong love of learning within a
framework that is designed to respond to individual needs.
•O
ffering a differentiated curriculum and environment in which teaching
staff add value to all programs and commit to achieving the highest
academic outcomes possible for students.
•E
ngaging students from Prep to Year 10 with an inquiry and problem
solving based curriculum which incorporates differentiated and explicit
teaching to add value to programs and continually improve learning
outcomes for all students.
•E
nhancing our middle years philosophy and supporting transition
program such that it recognises, celebrates and builds on this stage of
development — particularly emphasising engagement, resilience and
social skills — giving girls room to grow at this important stage of their
lives.
•D
eveloping processes to formally identify, evaluate and introduce new
teaching and learning tools. We will strengthen the use of assessment
and program reviews and make appropriate changes to achieve improved
outcomes for all girls.
•S
upporting innovation and initiative by continuing to encourage teachers
to take ownership of the learning environment and culture, and to be open
to new ideas.
•A
dopting new approaches to achieving the best learning outcomes
in numeracy and mathematics throughout the school, particularly
recognising the importance of this within Joigny.
4.3Student Wellbeing
In developing confident, resilient young women, we equip them to thrive
in the ever-changing world. Planning and providing safe, contemporary
and effective learning environments will help us achieve excellent student
wellbeing outcomes, including:
• Encouraging greater independence in student learning.
•D
eveloping a common language and approach through Prep to Year 12 to
foster resilience, wellbeing and raise the student voice.
•R
eviewing, refining and implementing
the Cor Unum Program which delivers
pastoral care.
•E
valuating and creating authentic
student leadership experiences at all
levels of the school, focussing on sharing
life experiences via mentoring for senior
students by alumnae and other women
from a broad range of endeavours.
•C
reating frameworks to promote
communication between year levels.
•H
elping our students bridge any gaps
between life inside and out of school.
4.4Leadership and management
Sacré Cœur’s leadership and management strategies are based on
responsibility, empowerment and mutual respect. We promote:
•A
culture of collaboration, creativity, and innovative practice, where
leaders empower each other and colleagues to explore new and improved
structures and approaches to learning and teaching.
• Authentic and effective communication principles and practices.
•S
taff accountability for their own specialist areas and for contributing
to the overall strategic goals of the school as well as knowledge and
expertise sharing and mentoring wherever appropriate.
• Our leadership and management strategies also include:
•C
reating an appraisal and performance development culture in the school
with an emphasis on developing emerging leaders; in particular, the
school will embrace the tenets of the Melbourne Archdiocesan Leadership
Standards Framework.
•A
ctively managing effective succession planning and professional staff
development all so staff can be at the professional leading edge and are
able to pursue fulfilling career paths. Pursuing a professional development
plan will include formation in being a Sacred Heart educator, education in
faith, student wellbeing, learning and teaching needs.
4.5School Community
Sacré Cœur seeks to build community as a Christian value. We achieve this
through greater consultation and network building across our community national and international. Our strategies include:
•E
nhancing Sacré Cœur’s identity as a Prep to Year 12 school through
improved transition into, through and beyond the school, and with
particular emphasis on fostering active links with younger alumnae.
•W
orking in partnership with parents, alumnae, external bodies, other
schools and the wider community, particularly ANZNet, the Australasian
Sacred Heart education network, and improving our communication
across the board.
•F
ostering and expanding our
internationalism, changing the focus of
our exchange program and significantly
deepening the experiences.
•S
trengthening our French heritage links
and support for our sister schools in
Australia, New Zealand and worldwide.
•S
etting up a scholarship/bursary fund
for an annual learning and teaching
exchange of two Sacré Cœur teachers
to other Sacred Heart schools either in
Australia or overseas.
4.6Governance & financial management
The governance of the school will continue to be well designed, and
effective in overseeing the commitment to the five Goals, the delivery of this
strategy and the operational activities of the school. Our strategies include:
•F
ormalising existing processes to monitor and measure the performance
of the Board and its subcommittees.
•C
ontinuing to seek parent feedback and encourage a greater degree of
input to strategic discussions about the school.
•P
rioritising the financial security of the
school to create a sustainable financial
basis for the longer term, and provide
predictable and adequate funding
for activities including infrastructure
development and maintenance.
•M
aintaining effective financial oversight
and operational practices to ensure that
budgeting and expenditure are effectively
managed; and concentrating efforts on
securing predictable funding through
the careful management of the enquiry,
application and enrolment processes.
4.7Infrastructure
Sacré Cœur’s Master Plan guides the completion of projects and our plans
for future infrastructure. Providing a safe environment and ensuring our
buildings continue to be available and functional in the longer term is a key
part of our strategy. The Master Plan will be reviewed and updated with a
focus on:
•P
roviding a sound, secure, long term platform for learning tools to be
acquired, developed and delivered to students, including the development
and implementation of a robust supporting ICT strategy.
•A
dopting a creative and innovative
approach to both aesthetic and functional
renovations of current buildings and
grounds to provide for personalised
learning for students, professional
standard amenities for staff, and
opportunities for community involvement
in whole school events.
•C
ontinuing our established, long term
maintenance strategy for routine and
preventative programmed maintenance
as well as a program of building updates.
4.8Preparing For The Future
Sacré Cœur strives to be the school of choice for existing and potential
parents and students; to attract the best staff; to achieve excellent results;
and to be seen as a leader in Sacred Heart, Catholic and school education.
Additional strategies for a successful future include:
•S
upporting the efforts of staff as leaders representing the school and
engaging our alumnae to benefit from their wisdom and experience;
encouraging these important groups to contribute to Sacré Cœur’s welldeserved reputation for excellence.
•E
xploring innovative ways of using our
campus and building on our positive,
professional relationships with Korowa
so that we can continue to offer the
flexibility of a larger scale school within
the familiarity of our current size.
•A
ssessing the impact of demographic
change within our catchment area,
monitoring trends and opportunities,
including emerging social and faith
characteristics as well as public and other
transport access to the school.
•M
anaging our communication and marketing efforts and actively planning
for and managing emerging issues relating to the image of the school, our
students, staff and broad Sacré Cœur community.
When it’s right, your heart will know.
Sacré Cœur
International School of the Sacred Hear t
172 Burke Road, Glen Iris, Victoria, 3146
Registrar: 9835 2713
Email: registrar@sac.vic.edu.au
www.sacrecoeur.vic.edu.au