HKA Strategy 2020-2025

STRATEGY
2020-2025
www.hkacademy.edu.hk

INTRODUCTION
Hong Kong Academy’s (HKA) strategy reflects our beliefs and values as a non-profit international school. Anchored by our mission and core beliefs, our
strategy serves as a guide and roadmap to ensure mission integrity and identify key data points needed to support sound decision making. Our strategy
helps to bring the community together towards a shared understanding of organisational growth. It provides a common language to articulate ongoing
schoolwide priorities and generate evidence of success.
PURPOSE OF STRATEGY
UNPACKING THE MISSION &
DEVELOPING THE STRATEGY
Our strategy process has been and will continue
to be a dynamic one. It enables the HKA
community to generate and analyse a range
of data sources needed to determine our
strengths and opportunities for growth.
As we work through the process of identifying
priorities for the next three to five years, it is
critical to explore how we might manage the
polarities of certainty and flexibility as we
consider a range of possible futures. We want
to have clarity about who we are and where we
want to go. We must ensure, as various needs
arise, all decisions continue to be driven by our
mission and core values. We also need to be
flexible and adaptive. We know that, in a system
composed of people and relationships, our
capacity to be dynamic is how we will grow
and thrive.
The Head of School along with
members of the School Leadership
teams and Board of Trustees
gathered and analysed feedback
generated through the accreditation
process and community focus groups.
They used this information to identify
seven assumptions that will likely
impact the future of education and
seven major priorities that will shape
the evolution of HKA over the next
five years.
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ASSUMPTIONS
AND MAJOR
PRIORITIES
PATHWAYS TO INDIVIDUAL EXCELLENCE
Because we assume that a future-focussed education
will require learners to ideate in authentic contexts and
generate ingenious solutions, we will shift our
emphasis from answers to questions, expanding
opportunities for every learner to be curious,
courageous and self-efficacious.
DYNAMIC LEARNING COMMUNITY
Because we assume that powerful
and
transformational learning is fostered by collective
identity and common values, we will cultivate a
strong sense of pride about what it means to be
a member of the HKA community.
ENGAGE IN RESPONSIBLE ACTION
Because we assume that social responsibility will
become a fundamental component of a rigorous
education, we will elevate global citizenship and
invite learners to contribute locally and globally
in dynamic, responsible and ethical ways.
MISSION STATEMENT
Hong Kong Academy is a joyful, dynamic learning community that provides a rigorous
international education characterised by mutual benefit and support. As an educational
leader, HKA empowers learners to pursue pathways to individual excellence by fostering
creativity, communication and problem-solving skills. HKA learners develop an evolving
understanding of themselves and our changing world, leading them to engage in responsible
action motivated by their interests, strengths and ongoing reflection. HKA is committed to
maintaining a diverse, collaborative and captivating learning environment in which students
become adaptable, confident and tolerant, equipping them for a sustainable future.
RIGOROUS INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
Because we assume that learners will be entering
a rapidly and profoundly changing world, we will
empower every learner to be flexible and creative
so that they can thrive in a complex, volatile and
ambiguous future.
EDUCATIONAL LEADER
Because we assume that research will demand that
we reimagine our instructional approaches and
expand our cultivation of self-directedness, we will
view every member of our community as a leader
who has the capacity to evolve, innovate and
develop the capabilities of others.
CAPTIVATING LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Because we assume that technology will become
an increasingly integrated and integral facet of the
learning experience, we will develop a culture of
innovation and digital entrepreneurship that
combines current best practices with next
practices to share ideas and engage with
authentic audiences.
SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Because we assume that we will be navigating a
period of political and economic uncertainty, we will
make decisions and take actions that are agile,
adaptive and built for the challenges we will face.
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THE CORE VALUES OF
HONG KONG ACADEMY
DYNAMIC LEARNING
COMMUNITY
Our seven core values serve as lenses through which we
can consider mission integrity and determine success
criteria for implementation of the strategy. For each of the
core values, we will be continuously asking three broad
questions as we remain agile throughout this process.
DYMANIC LEARNING
COMMUNITY
The students, teachers and campus at HKA all contribute to our culture of thinking, trust and
collaboration. We believe that learning should be joyful, collaborative and deliberate, and we work
in partnership with parents as well as with mission-aligned organisations to enhance the student
experience. By engaging each of our community members as an ambassador of our mission, we create
a supportive and caring environment for all.
As a dynamic learning community we will continue to ask:
• How will we nurture a culture of thinking?
• How will we promote shared responsibility for being ambassadors of the school?​
• How will we create and sustain effective partnerships?
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RIGOROUS
INTERNATIONAL
EDUCATION
HKA students become confident, resilient
and influential as they apply their
knowledge and skills in real-life contexts.
Globally sourced and carefully curated
based on the most current research,
our educational programme challenges
students to fulfill their greatest potential.
The curriculum is holistic in nature,
fostering intellectual, physical, social
and emotional learning for students from
early childhood through to graduation.
EDUCATIONAL
LEADER
In order to develop a rigorous international
education we will continue to ask:
• What will be learned?​
• How will learning happen?
• How will we know what has been
learned?
As an innovative and future-focussed school, HKA
develops robust programmes and exemplifies
exceptional practice. A culture of professional
learning is embedded into the ethos of HKA,
ensuring that students, parents, faculty and staff
all benefit from the school’s commitment to
continued growth and its position at the forefront
of international education.
As an educational leader we will continue to ask:
• How will we define future-focussed learning? ​
• How will we identify and incorporate current
research and thinking to support creativity
and innovation? ​
• How will we support personal, professional and
organisational growth?
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Because we know that every learner is
unique, HKA believes that student success
should be defined by the interests,
strengths and ambitions of the individual.
Our diverse community of learners mirrors
the world at large, and we embrace
inclusion as a guiding principle of our
philosophy and culture. Our programmes
are designed to challenge students to
explore new perspectives, maximise
opportunities for growth and develop a
strong sense of their own identity.
PATHWAYS TO
INDIVIDUAL
EXCELLENCE
ENGAGE IN
RESPONSIBLE
ACTION
HKA believes that students who have
meaningful and significant interactions
with their local and global communities are
inspired to engage in sustained action. As
members of a community that values and
elevates student voice, HKA students
learn to act with understanding, empathy
and compassion. By seeing the mutual benefit
of action for both themselves and others,
students navigate complex situations and
productively contribute to our changing world.
In order to develop pathways to individual excellence we will continue to ask:
• How will we help students build an understanding of who they are as learners?
• How will we co-construct learning pathways?
• How will we enculturate intentional diversity and inclusion?
In order to engage in responsible action we will continue to ask:
• How will partnerships be formed, leveraged and celebrated? ​
• How will student voice be nurtured and encouraged?
• How will student agency foster global citizenship?
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HONG KONG ACADEMY Strategy 2020-2025

SUSTAINABLE
FUTURE
We believe it is both an individual and collective
responsibility to contribute to the longevity of our
school as well as our world. We are committed to
implementing adaptive systems which empower and
support current as well as future decision making for
all stakeholders. As an ethically minded community,
sustainability is fundamental to and should be evident
in our learning, people, practices and facility.
CAPTIVATING
LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT
Our purpose-built facility and virtual
spaces both inspire innovation and invite
robust partnerships to emerge and flourish
through a common sense of identity. Within
these physical and digital landscapes, we
nurture a sense of belonging for and
between students, parents, faculty and staff,
promoting the importance of individual
and collective wellbeing and recognising
the contributions of each member to
the community.
In order to develop a captivating learning
environment we will continue to ask:
• How will our physical and digital
spaces sustain a safe, healthy and
innovative learning environment? ​
• How will we promote and embed a sense
of belonging throughout the school?
• How will we create an environment
which supports individual and collective
wellbeing?
In order to build a sustainable future we will continue to ask:
• How will we remain responsive to an ever changing landscape and context?
• How will we ensure the longevity and viability of decisions that are taken?
• How will we make responsible decisions?
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HONG KONG ACADEMY Strategy 2020-2025

DATA
SOURCES
The process of strategy development
at HKA has drawn upon the following
sources of data collection.
CIS/WASC/IB Accreditation Process
Self-study teams with representatives from all
community stakeholder groups gathered
data and evaluated our progress towards the
accreditation protocol standards, producing
a self-study report. An external visiting team
then verified that report and provided
feedback on all aspects of school operations,
and offered major and minor commendations
and recommendations for further development.
Board/Leadership Workshops
The Board of Trustees and Senior Leadership
Team engaged in generative dialogue in order
to review the previous strategy, interpret the
accreditation feedback and identify short and
long-term priorities for HKA that might feature
in the next strategy. This also resulted in some
revision and re-alignment of the HKA Core
Values Statements.
Student & Parent Feedback
Focus groups of students and parents
offered valuable comments and questions
on the revised Core Values Statements. By
considering their experiences as members
of the community, they helped to shape the
way that we can provide evidence of mission
integrity in our strategy.
To ensure that the development
of the strategy continues to be an
inclusive process, we will be seeking
community engagement to advance
different aspects of the mission.
Community members will provide
ongoing feedback by participating in
focus groups, completing surveys and
sharing stories that provide evidence
of mission integrity.
We are accredited by the Council
of International Schools (CIS) and
Western Association of Schools and
Colleges (WASC). We are also an
International Baccalaureate (IB) World
School, offering the Primary Years (PYP),
Middle Years (MYP) and Diploma (DP)
Programmes. We use the strategy to
align our practices and procedures with
accreditation standards and to launch
our next accreditation cycle.
ONGOING
ENGAGEMENT
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HONG KONG ACADEMY Strategy 2020-2025

33 Wai Man Road, Sai Kung,
New Territories, Hong Kong SAR
+852 2655 1111
office@hkacademy.edu.hk
www.hkacademy.edu.hk
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