FEEDBACK FORM FOR GVIC STRATEGIC PLAN 2021-2024, SHAPING FUTURES TOGETHER

GVIC Strategic Plan 2021 -2024 Shaping Futures Together (Consultation Draft) 22 November 2020 DRAFT

Contents 3 4 Chairman’s Message 5 Principal’s Message 6 New Logo 7 Our Vision and Mission 8 Our Values 9 Planning Context and Intent 10-14 The Strategic Architecture 15-19 Strategic Result Areas Priorities, Strategies and Indicators of Success 2 DRAFT

Chairman’s Message – M Yakub DRAFT The Green Valley Islamic College’s (GVIC) Strategic Plan 2021-2024, Shaping Futures Together, is our road map for education of today’s learners who will become tomorrow’s thought leaders, innovators and community achievers. Shaping Futures Together (SFT) builds on the steady progress of the College since its inception in 2002, setting out future direction for the next three years anchored to an optimistic vision, an ambitious mission and to a set of values we cherish. Our vision is to create a culture that inspires our students to pursue their passion and aspirations, in an Islamic environment, and achieve success by demonstrating the core values of our College: Respect, Ownership, Caring, Knowledge and Safety. The mission of the College is to develop an enriched learning community by providing holistic education and by promoting excellence and leadership, imbued with Islamic values, to be exemplary citizens in a multicultural society. Shaping Futures Together is committed to ensuring that all our students have equal opportunities to reach their full potential whether this be in academia, sports, student leadership or arts, regardless of their starting point. Extensive research and analysis underpins the SFT that involved consultation and collaboration with key stakeholders: students, teachers, parents, businesses, alumni and the general community. Initiatives associated with strategies identified in the SFT will be incorporated in the School’s business plan and implemented, with the progress of operational strategies tracked against relevant indicators of success. An exciting project over the next three years will be acquisition of a site for a second campus for the College to cater for increased demand for enrolment anticipated in the ensuing years. The new campus is expected to open its doors to new student towards the end of the planning horizon. Whilst we are aware that there will be many challenges in the next three years, I am confident that Shaping Futures Together provides us the necessary framework to ensure a rewarding, exciting and productive future at Green Valley Islamic College. 3

Principal’s Message – M R Ali DRAFT GVIC was established to provide quality secular and religious education to our students to be a well-rounded, successful and responsible citizen of the country. Eighteen years on, it is exciting to be part the school’s new Strategic Plan 2021 – 2024; Shaping Futures Together. It identifies five strategic areas for improvement: Student achievement, Quality teachers, Wellbeing and safety, Leadership and community engagement, Governance and management. Each of these has a stated ambition and priorities together with indicators of success. The initiatives that fall out from higher level strategies will be actioned in the College’s Business Plan supported by requisite resources. The outcomes of the strategies will be communicated to key stakeholders throughout the year through the usual communication channels and a more comprehensive account will be included in the College’s Annual Report. Our aspirations for an enriched learning community, embodied in Shaping Futures Together, will depend critically on the high expectations in respect to education set by students, teachers and the parents, and their collaborative efforts. During the next three years we will further consolidate our stellar achievement in the Primary School and redouble our efforts to lift performance at the Secondary School level through a number of strategies, including improvement in instructional capabilities, recruiting quality teachers, evidence based teaching strategies and retention of high performing year 6 students. I am confident that, Shaping Futures Together, provides a useful framework for creating a culture that encourages and supports everyone to perform at their best in a safe environment. I trust that the destination of this new journey of GVIC will be graduating students who are critical thinkers, problem solvers, innovators, well connected to the community, curious, excellent communicators, digital and global citizens. Imbued with Islamic values, they will also be at the forefront of conserving the environment for future generations. 4

New Logo In progress 5 DRAFT

Our Vision, Mission and Values Our Vision We endeavour to create a culture that inspires our students to pursue their passion and aspirations, in an Islamic environment, and achieve success by demonstrating the core values of our School • Respect • Ownership • Caring • Knowledge • Safety Our Mission We develop an enriched learning community by providing holistic education and by promoting excellence and leadership, imbued with Islamic values, to be exemplary citizens in a multicultural society. Our Values The values of the GVIC is the glue that holds the organisation together. Deeply embedded in the college’s aspirations and attitudes, the values are the essence of the College’s ethos, which define who we are and guide our behaviours and interactions with people. Our core or foundational values (respect, ownership, DRAFT caring, knowledge and safety) are supported by other values as stated below. 6

Our Values Respect  Having regard for yourself and others, lawful and just authority and diversity within Australian society and accepting the right of others to hold different or opposing views. Behaviourally, respect those you learn from and those who you teach. Ownership  Being accountable for your individual and community's actions towards yourself and others. Caring  Concern for the wellbeing of yourself and others including the environment, demonstrating empathy and acting with compassion. Knowledge  Acquire learning to become informed and productive citizens. Safety  Behaviours that display empathy and concern for others wellbeing and which thus provide a harmonious and supportive environment for school community to Integrity flourish. Excellence  Being consistently honest and trustworthy. Co-operation  Striving for the highest personal achievement in all aspects of schooling and individual and community action, work and life -long learning. Sustainability  Working together to achieve common goals, providing support to others and engaging in peaceful resolution of conflict. Fairness  Being conscious of the actions of human activity on the environment and supporting practices that promote sustainable living. Democracy  Being committed to the principles of social justice and opposing prejudice, dishonesty and injustice.  Accepting and promoting the rights, freedoms and responsibilities of being an Australian citizen, including participating in activities for the benefit of the society. 7 DRAFT

Planning Context and Intent DRAFT Muslim League of NSW Inc. established the Green Valley Islamic College Ltd in 2001 as a not-for-profit company under the Corporations Act. The Company is a registered charity under the Australian Charities and Not-For Profits Commission Act. The League is the sole member of the Company formed for the charitable purpose of advancing education in an Islamic environment, covering learning at pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary levels. GVIC admitted its first students in 2002 and has since grown steadily to record an enrolment of nearly 1000 students at its site 249 Wilson Road, Green Valley, Liverpool. Some eighty full time equivalent staff are engaged to support learning at the college, ranging from kindergarten to Year 12. The school has made significant advances in primary education as judged by the Naplan scores but its achievement in secondary education is lagging although in the recent years the emerging trend is promising. The School has reached full capacity and finds it difficult to retain students to complete their secondary education. The governance of the school has not kept pace with its growth and needs enhancements in a number of areas to comply with its obligations. These challenges were important considerations of the strategic planning exercise, along with other elements that fell out from the environmental scan: strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. The strategic planning exercise was informed by research, including perceptions of the key stakeholders: students, teachers and parents. This data was shared at a workshop attended by the Board of the School and representatives of various stakeholders. Ideas and understandings reached at the workshop, after further research and analysis, were synthesised into a draft strategic plan. Further consultation on the plan was undertaken with stakeholders and resultant feedback incorporated in plan. The final version of the Strategic Plan 2021-2024, Shaping Futures Together, was completed in December 2020, in time for it to inform the development of the Schools Business Plan. The 2021-2024 strategic plan (SFT) for GVIC identifies strategies that will be implemented to take the school towards its vision. The planning and performance management processes will ensure that strategies and their accompanying KPIs are cascaded down the lower echelons of the school with clear accountabilities. 8

The Strategic Architecture DRAFT The Board has identified five strategic result areas: • Student achievement • Quality teaching • Wellbeing and safety • Community engagement and leadership • Governance and management Weaved into these strategic result areas is the overarching goal of a vibrant life-long learning culture whose distinguishing characteristics are: • A stimulating and inclusive learning environment for all students where they feel valued and safe • Excellence in teaching, aligned to students learning methods • Resilience of students • Well managed and resourced programs to allow students to reach their full potential • Setting high expectations • Collaborative planning to improve both staff and student learning • A cutting-edge technology platform to drive digital literacy. GVIC aspires to make significant progress in digital literacy, enabling staff and students to find, evaluate, utilise, share and create content using information technologies and the Internet. To this end a comprehensive technology strategy will be developed whose implementation in the ensuing years should make GVIC a leading digital learning organisation. The strategies underpinning each strategic result area, priorities and indicators of success are highlighted below whereas the tactics pertaining to the priorities will appear in the School’s Business Plan. 9

Key Strategic Result Area 1 – Student Achievement Nearly one thousand students, ranging from kindergarten to year-12 attend GVIC. We realise that their learning outcomes are greatly enhanced when each student increasingly takes responsibility for his or hers academic learning, behaviour, relationships and the environment of the school. Further, a rich and comprehensive co- curricular program makes the learning more stimulating and balanced. High parental and teacher expectations motivate students to improve their academic performance as well as their engagement in learning, especially when they are provided more opportunities to learn in contemporary and non-traditional ways inside and outside the classroom. The endgame of education is to prepare students for life post-school. Our Goal The aim is to help students become better learners, to face challenges and uncertainty calmly, confidently and creatively and to ensure they Our Strategy learn to excel academically and at the same time be resourceful, imaginative, self-disciplined and collaborative to succeed in the modern world. Our Priorities We will do this by: Fostering a culture of high expectations among students, parents and teachers to empower every student to realise their full potential in learning; integrating differentiation strategies in teaching practice; increasing the range of subject on offer to senior students to support the achievements of all students; increasing participation in co-curricular activities, including sports, to build pride in school; evaluation of the effectiveness of improvement plans to lift academic achievement. High expectations culture; differentiated learning: enriching learning; building pride; evidence-based improvement plans. How will we track our strategies? External academic results; benchmarking; documented co-curricular activities, satisfaction surveys. 10

Key Strategic Result Area 2 – Quality Teachers 78 (full time equivalent) teachers are employed by GVIC. The primary school has received high marks in Naplan national test which is a testament to the resourcefulness of the teaching staff. Further improvement in teaching will underpin improvements in student achievements. For example, formal and informal learning experiences undertaken by teachers and school leaders will be vitally important, leading to improvement in student attendance, engagement with learning, wellbeing and academic achievements. It is understood that teachers learn to improve their teaching through feedback, self –reflection and ongoing coaching. Working in teams, teachers and their assistants learn together, plan together and teach together to collectively improve practice. The Leadership team ensures that structures are built into the school timetable to allow staff to reflect, provide feedback and engage in coaching conversations to lift their competencies. The school places high importance to performance management, a formal and informal process of evaluating and supporting a teacher’s performance in the School. It is a continuous process of reflection, goal setting, improving professional practice, feedback and review about an individual’s performance in achieving personal and organisational goals. At GVIC, staff will be further encouraged to demonstrate accountability for their performance and have access to growth and development opportunities; guided by school priorities and personal aspirations. Our Goal We intend to continually develop teachers and the professional relationships between students, teachers and parents to achieve superior Our Strategy learning outcomes. Continue to improve instructional capabilities of all teachers to effectively support learning; enhance the role of middle management in developing teacher quality; ensure supportive but rigorous teacher appraisal takes place throughout the school for recognition and improvement; recruit the best quality teachers available; promote teacher wellbeing to nurture a quality professional environment. Our Priorities Practice excellence in teaching; mentoring; performance appraisal; recruitment and empowerment. How will we track our strategies? Feedback from staff and student satisfaction surveys, evidence of professional development activities undertaken, audit of selection process; review of assessment criteria. 11

Key Strategic Result Area 3 – Wellbeing and Safety Our students will grow and flourish, do well and prosper if they have a safe learning environment. Similarly, teachers and other school staff are more likely to realise their full potential if they feel that their working environment is safe. It goes without saying that emotional health, extra-curricular activities and a harmonious school environment, devoid of bullying and intimidation, are vitally important for the wellbeing of the School community. Our Goal Foster a safe and supportive environment for everyone to flourish, with a focus on augmenting confidence and resilience of students. Our Strategy Our Priorities Ensure facilities are properly maintained to reduce the risk of physical injury; update and implement policies to manage safety, privacy and bullying; integrate mental health in the school safety plan and practices; continue to provide opportunities to teachers and students to appreciate Islamic teaching and understand the impact this can have on their lives. Safety; misconduct; mental health; pastoral care How will we track our strategies? Students and parents satisfaction surveys, external auditors’ report, feedback from regulatory agencies; data on incidence of safety breaches; complaints register. 12

Key Strategic Result Area 4 – Community Engagement & Leadership GVIC is nestled in a community, rich in diversity. The school interacts with nearly 500 parents of various ethnicities which naturally poses some coordination challenges but these are more than offset by their willingness to show strong support and advocacy for the school. Connectivity with the community is vital for the school to remain relevant to their needs and to foster collaboration to maximise student achievement. Similarly, the School expects students to be actively connected to their learning, have positive and respectful relationships and experience a sense of belonging to their school and community. The students may well be learners of today but they will be the leaders of tomorrow. GVIC is committed to listen to their voices, respect their feedback and empower them to make decisions that impact on their learning and wellbeing generally. Our Goal Lift the level of parents and the wider community’s involvement with the school and encourage students to take leadership roles. Our Strategy Our Priorities Improve communication with the school community to ensure that parents are engaged with the life of school; Parents and Friends Association will coordinate regular social events; expand the range of activities for parental involvement by appointing a program coordinator; build productive relationships with special groups, sporting bodies and businesses to increase learning opportunities for children; improve transition into schools and between year levels for students at all year levels to build students resilience; empower students to assume responsibility for their behaviours, including school activities, and demonstrate their commitment to community service. Building communities; collaboration; careers; SRC. How will we track our strategies? Students and parent’s satisfaction surveys, number of social events hosted involving parents; number of businesses and social groups that have ongoing relationship with the School; students’ perception of SRC and other documented co-curricular activities. 13

Key Strategic Result Area 5 – Governance and Management Governance is a multifaceted process which primarily rests with the GVIC Board, with the School Principal assuming responsibility for these operationally as delegated by the Board. Its financial dimension involves allocation of money among competing needs of the school by budgeting, and regular reviews of expenditure and income ensure that cash flows and financial risks are well managed. Since an effective technology platform is critical to learning and teaching in the School, its technological capabilities must be continually reviewed to ensure that it remains at the forefront of technical change. The Board of Directors ongoing training program enhances the School Board’s effectiveness. Policies pertinent to the school operating environment need to be continually updated to keep abreast of changes in regards to any work, health and safety issues. Board governance and executive management processes are regularly reviewed as are risk management processes. Compliance with regulatory requirements is assured through ongoing review. The school will develop a facilities master plan including an ongoing scheduled maintenance. The school website and portal are the key tools for communication and dispensing of information and their efficacies are regularly evaluated and when necessary upgraded. Our Goal Improve sustainability of GVIC through effective and efficient management of resources and assets. Our Strategy Our Priorities Maintain sound financial standing; create a tax deductible entity for donations received from public; create and enhance amenities and facilities to support learning of current and future students; develop a brand that encapsulates the new values and mission of the school; communicate achievements of the school through appropriate channels to keep the community informed, engaged and supportive of the school; manage risk effectively; Meet all statutory compliance requirements; reduce waste and inefficiency; enhance Board performance; review the Strategic Plan 2021-2024. Financial capacity; facilities; communication; efficient business processes; strategic direction How will we track our strategies? Students and parent’s satisfaction surveys, launching of new brand; 100% compliance with regulations; external auditors report; savings generated as a result of efficiency drives. 14