Strategic Planning

School Strategic Plan 2024- 2028

DOWNLOAD THE SCHOOL STRATEGIC PLAN

School vision

Our college’s vision is to be an environment in which every student achieves their highest potential. High expectations of students, teachers and parents underpins the work that we do and provides a framework as we aspire to continually improve our learning environment, professional practices and student achievement outcomes.

School Values

BELONGING – UNDERSTANDING – RESPECT – GROWTH

The Craigieburn Secondary College (CSC) values that guide our decision-making process and shapes the way we work together are Belonging, Understanding, Respect and Growth. At CSC, we foster genuine connections and celebrate individuality, ensuring every member of our diverse community feels embraced, accepted and cherished. At CSC, we create opportunities for our students to grasp concepts and ideas and empower them to apply these in real life situations. We celebrate diversity with openness and curiosity. At CSC, respect is the foundation of our community, fostering an inclusive and supportive environment where every individual is celebrated, heard and valued, and at CSC, we inspire and support our students to reach their full potential and constantly evolve as lifelong learners.

We respect ourselves, our school and each another, and understand that our attitudes and behaviours have an impact on the people around us. We are responsible for ourselves as learners and for the learning environment and opportunities that we create. We strive to achieve our best. We are members and representatives of our learning community in our classrooms, on school grounds, in the wider community and in our homes.

Craigieburn Secondary College is committed to providing a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for all students, staff and members of our community. Our school recognises the importance of the partnership between our school and parents and carers to support student learning, engagement and wellbeing. We share a commitment to, and a responsibility for, creating an inclusive and safe school environment for our students.

The programs and teaching at Craigieburn Secondary College support and promote the principles and practice of Australian democracy, including a commitment to:

• elected government
• the rule of law
• equal rights for all before the law
• freedom of religion
• freedom of speech and association
• the values of openness and tolerance.

MISSION

We are a community where there are high expectations of students, teachers and parents and there are structures and processes that work purposefully to engage students in learning.

• Build a culture of inclusivity
• Build a culture of high expectations for learning and interactions across the College
• Build student agency in learning and develop students as partners in school improvement
• Deliver a seamless and aligned learning program that meets the needs and aspirations of students and their families
• Develop capacity for distributed instructional leadership to enhance teacher practice
• Ensure rigorous, consistent and differentiated teaching and learning practices occur so that we can plan for, monitor and evaluate
  student learning and teacher impact

OBJECTIVE

Craigieburn Secondary college’s objective is centred around the instructional core with a foundation of high expectations, orderly environment and strong leadership. We are committed to the development of:

• Students who are self–managed learners, who actively and effectively contribute to their communities as individuals at the local and global level
• Professionals who employ best practice teaching strategies within a culture of continuous improvement, and who are responsive to the changing educational needs of wider society, the local community and their students
• A broad-based curriculum that suits the specific needs of students and develops them as thinkers, problem solvers and creators

BEHAVIOURAL EXPECTATIONS

Craigieburn Secondary college acknowledges that the behaviour of staff, parents, carers and students has an impact on our school community and culture. We acknowledge a shared responsibility to create a positive learning environment for the children and young people at our school.

• model positive behaviour to the school community
• treat other members of the school community with respect
• support school staff to maintain a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students
• utilise the school’s processes for communication with staff and submitting complaints.

Context challenges

Established in 1984 on the lands of the Wurundjeri people, our community is wonderfully diverse with over fifty different language backgrounds being represented through our families and staff. We support and celebrate this diversity with a team of multicultural and integration aides, events and performances. We proactively recruit teachers and staff with cultural backgrounds that align to our families and student cohort.

Our current enrolments sit at 970 students with 55% being male and 45% female. With an SFOE of 0.6149, a significant proportion of our students experience challenges at home and the school is supported with equity funds which are directed to a range of support programs that include breakfast and homework clubs, tutoring and an extensive EAL program. Learning and Wellbeing are supported through the School Wide Positive Behaviour framework, for which we received a gold standard accreditation in 2024. We also run targeted literacy and numeracy fluency and explicit reading programs, with Inclusion Education Leaders ensuring Individual Learning Plans are developed and effectively implemented. Craigieburn Secondary College is focused on retaining students who are at risk of disengagement through our on campus Engage program which offers places to year 8 students, and Hands on Learning both of which provide a curriculum that is adjusted to student learning needs and building strong connections and a sense of belonging to the school and wider community. The College also offers an enrichment and acceleration program that provides extension opportunities for students in all areas of the curriculum in years 7-9 and leads into accelerated learning opportunities in year 10.  The High Ability Program is expanding with increasing numbers of students enrolling and strong connections to CHES and associated Universities.

Craigieburn Secondary College follows the Victorian Curriculum and Teaching and Learning Model 2.0. Core and elective programs at years 7 -10 lead into senior schooling options including VCE, VCEVM and VET subjects. These programs are supported by a strong pathways team that appropriately directs students according to their strengths and also includes SBAT’s and a strong involvement in the Headstart program. We offer two languages with these being Italian and Arabic. There are many and varied opportunities for students to participate in school life, including Visual and Performing Arts, Instrumental music, Sport, Camps, Excursions, Creative Writing, Community Service, Peer Mentoring and an extensive Student Leadership program. Over the past two years we have established a Sports Academy that currently focusses on Rugby and will hopefully expand to include Basketball and other sports. We have also established a Business Academy that provides strong links to local businesses with a mentoring and specific industry skills component that has proved to be successful with ongoing employment for participating students.

Student and staff wellbeing is a priority for our community with an extensive allied health team that includes student counsellors, a mental health practitioner, a speech pathologist, behaviour specialists, staff wellbeing officer, fully manned sickbay, doctors in schools, youth workers and cultural aides. For all members of our community, we actively promote understanding and celebration of, diversity and equality across cultures, genders and abilities. In 2024 we introduced our Social and Emotional Learning program, which is focused on building self-awareness, emotional intelligence, resilience and respect. It is drawn from the Respectful Relationships program and is delivered with strong alignment to our school’s values of Respect, Belonging, Understanding and Growth.

Teaching and Learning at our school is underpinned by a strong professional learning program for all teachers. This program is informed by our Teaching Code of Practice and Calmer Classroom strategies that set out our high expectations and incorporates an instructional framework that is used by all teachers in every classroom. The Code of Practice also ensures there is a focus on positive relationships within the classroom, where teachers actively seek and give feedback in the pursuit of personal best. Craigieburn Secondary College expects its students to work to the best of their ability, respect the rights of all others, to strive for excellence and to take pride in their work and our school.

Craigieburn Secondary College has embedded an organisational structure that prioritises relationships between the school and family with year level principals and leading teachers following their cohorts up. Form teacher structures now exist through years 7 to 12  with the number of teachers reduced for each student, particularly at the younger year levels. Knowing our students and building relationships between the school and families are the keystones to ensuring that the learning and wellbeing needs of our students are addressed in a holistic way.

Intent, rationale and focus

In this strategic plan our focus will be in the following directions:

Student Learning:
– Supporting our students needing additional support across numeracy and literacy measures
– Implementing the DE VTLM 2.0
– Implementing the Disability Inclusion reform
– Providing professional learning and support for teachers to enhance knowledge and expertise in the VTLM

Student Wellbeing and Engagement:
– Student absences
– Parent involvement with, and connection to the school

We encourage all our families and friends in the community read our 2024-2028 Craigieburn Secondary Strategic Plan with an intent to honour the privilege of being part of our thriving and strengthening community. If you wish to provide constructive feedback or speak to leadership about the Strategic Plan, please call 93081144.

Strategic Plan - 2024-2028