Working on our school

Businesses often stagnate or even fail because those involved spend most of their time working ‘in’ their business rather than working ‘on’ their business. At times the same can be said of schools. At the end of January almost all of our 48 staff spent two days at Wainui on Banks Peninsular working ‘on’ our school.

The mission was to work out exactly what we value and believe about learning, teaching and working at Waimairi School. Our new school curriculum, our policy documents, our rules and procedures and our daily interactions with children and parents need to be based on a common and agreed set of values and beliefs to make sure everyone is working to realise our shared vision for the school.


It takes a long time, and will always be an evolving process but thank to parent input, the staff and Board are now forming our School Charter for 2009 - 2011. This public document will contain:


Who we are - information about the school, its community, history, location, etc.

The school vision

How the Board will recognise New Zealand’s cultural diversity and, in particular, how i will provide learning opportunities in Tikanga Mäori and Te Reo Mäori.

A strategic planning section that sets out the Board’s objectives for student achievement for the next 3 to 5 years and the ways in which the Board intends to achieve those objectives.

The expectations set out in this section will reflect the Board’s decisions as to how it intends to meet the aspirations of the school’s community, and how it intends to contribute to the achievement of national education priorities.

This section will also contain or refer to:

the Board’s longer-term curriculum development and implementation priorities;

the Board’s 3 to 5 year financial objectives, including how the Board will monitor and control Board expenditure in a prudent fashion and how it will meet its financial reporting and auditing responsibilities.

the Board’s plan for providing a safe and healthy learning environment, including either a copy of or summary of the school’s 10 year property plan.

The Charter must also include an annual plan that will need to be updated each year.

In this section the Board will set out the short-term priorities and targets for improving student achievement, which it has set for the coming year, to make progress towards its strategic objectives. This must detail how the Board intends to achieve those outcomes.

In this section the Board will also describe or refer to:

its capital improvement and maintenance projects for the forthcoming year including all significant expenditure items;

its plans for personnel development, performance management, and meeting EEO obligations;

its financial plans which show how resources will be allocated to achieve improved student outcomes; and

the school’s annual budgeted financial statements;

its health and safety strategies for staff and students;

how the Board intends to implement and integrate programmes for which the school may have been granted special support or additional resources.

The Board will also use the Charter to communicate:

Its proposed processes and timelines for consultation with the school’s community including the Mäori community (as required in the NAGs).