Jigsaw Semester 1 2012 - International Grammar School

Contents
From the Principal ....................................ii
IGS Strategic Plan ....................................1
IGS overseas band tour ...........................2
Staff profile—Jacqui Baker ......................4
Familiar faces for working families ...........5
Good Causes and Clubs .........................6
HSC celebration with global reach ..........7
Going sports international ........................8
Meet the Head Boy and Head Girl ...........9
Student leaders centrefold photo ............10
Introducing ADDaM ..................................12
The Book of Everything
(anniversary book) ...................................13
More music...............................................14
IGS connections .......................................15
Reflections on Exchange 2011–2012.......16
Drama spotlight and Building resilience ..18
In harmony with safety........................ ......19
Arts Fest times..........................................20
Cover: IGS overseas band tour.
4–8 Kelly Street, Ultimo NSW 2007
Phone: 61 2 9219 6700
Fax: 61 2 9211 2474
www.igssyd.nsw.edu.au
ABN 74 002 807 525
CRICOS Provider Code: 02281C
Jigsaw is a regular publication produced
by International Grammar School.
Editor: Rosemary Pryor
Road map to 2016
One of the exciting aspects of being
a school principal is planning, and
implementing, a strategy which will
see the school grow and improve.
The School Board and Leadership
Team spent a good deal of 2011
working on the School’s strategic
directions, and a new strategic plan to
replace the one which ended in 2011.
Like many organisations, schools
operate in ever-changing
environments; ones in which
'unknowns' can creep in at any time.
If we look at the last few years,
government initiatives such as Building
the Education Revolution and National
Curriculum have required schools to
respond in short time-frames to a
dynamic and, at times, volatile
educational landscape. The great
challenge is therefore to charter a
course which is true to the core values
and mandate of the School while
equally recognising that “we don’t
know what we don’t know” about
the future.
For this reason, our future planning has
been structured around a two-tiered
approach: a five-year Strategic Plan
(2012–2016) supported by a biennial
II
Operational Plan (2012–13). The
former sets the long-term vision while
the latter is the road map of how we
will get there.
The Strategic Plan 2012–2016 was
ratified by the School Board at the end
of 2011, and presented to the school
community for the first time at the
PTF’s Annual General Meeting in
March. I am delighted to share it with
you in this issue of Jigsaw. See page
opposite.
For the reasons cited above, the
fourteen goals in the Strategic Plan are
quite broad, and intentionally so. What
do these look like on the ground? The
following is a snapshot of some of our
Operational Plan actions which will
support the realisation of our Strategic
Plan over the next two years.
It is an ambitious but exciting agenda
for the School; one which I look
forward to implementing with the
School Board, Leadership Team and
the wider School community.
Michael Maniska
Principal
Strategic Goal Operational Plan Action
To be a lighthouse school for student
well-being
To provide a dynamic and rigorous
curriculum and pedagogy which embrace
intercultural understanding and promote
personal achievement
To connect effectively with past, present
and future members of our school
community
Implement a new Memorandum of
Understanding with the Brain, Mind &
Research Institute at Sydney University
Undertake Consideration Study to become
an International Baccalaureate school
Build and maintain a database of Alumni
To attract, retain and develop quality staff Establish a bursary program for relevant
staff professional learning opportunities
To secure the long-term accommodation
requirements of the School
From the
Principal
Develop long-term strategy in light of 2012
Rent Review