Strategic Plan

By Dr John C. Kinniburgh, Headmaster

Toowoomba Grammar School launched its new Strategic Plan at the start

of Term 2, which establishes a clear focus and direction for the School over the next five years.

The creation of this strategy endeavours to respect the School’s 147-year history and traditions of the School, whilst at the same time it identifies areas of growth, development and opportunity for the future.

With guidance provided by independent consultant, Kathy Carruthers, an extensive consultation process was completed with the TGS community, the Board of Trustees, the School Executive, Old Boys, staff and families. The result is a Strategic Plan that will guide our actions through to the end of 2026 and each strategy is clearly articulated under five pillars including Character and Wellbeing, Teaching and Learning, People, Community Engagement and Stewardship.

A purpose and a vision

In any organisation, people seek to have purpose and meaning with all that they do and this can become an anchor point during both positive and challenging times.

Schools that have a genuine sense of purpose tend to be more successful, particularly if everyone understands what the purpose is, and every organisational decision must in some way link back to that core purpose.

A core purpose is an emotional connection to why we do what we do. It helps highlight the difference we are going to make to our students and their families, to our staff and to the wider world. It is the legacy that we are going to leave as an organisation.

Our purpose is educating boys and developing their good character for life.

Stakeholder feedback was central to the development of this purpose. The education of boys has always been the core of the School since its foundation. At the same time, there was a powerful sense from our community that the development of character was also extremely important, and that we have achieved this very well over the years.

Few would argue that contemporary schools have a significant responsibility to mould and teach the next generation of young men about how to improve and advance society amidst a complex world. So, it is important that when boys leave TGS, they have assured knowledge of who they are and how they should live. They should also have the skills to embrace the world of work, and to have a sense of self-worth. It would also be argued that they need to have skills to be a decent human being and to be a good citizen; skills to demonstrate compassion, passion, empathy, and tolerance; and an understanding of other people’s points of view.

If we can help our boys understand the virtues associated with common morality, they will have a greater understanding about what is excellent in all areas of human endeavour. There is no doubt that we want our boys to be independent, to be able to respond to challenges, to learn and cooperate with others, and perform at their best, but we also want them to be autonomous, to be reflective, to understand what is ethically important and to act for the right reasons. In this regard, character is important.

Our vision is that boys leave TGS with the skills to be independent, well balanced and successful in life, responding well to challenges and achieving lifelong wellbeing.

While this vision describes what we want to achieve in the next five years, it is our hope that TGS boys continue to strive for these things in the future. Our vision sets a defined direction for the planning and implementing of our strategies and importantly, it communicates our aspirations and seeks to motivate our whole community.

A vision should be forward looking, motivating and inspirational. It should also reflect our culture and core values as well as identify the benefits of the School. In addition to this, it should highlight where our improvements will be focused and it should define the direction in which we are heading as a school.

The ongoing success of Toowoomba Grammar School relies on a vision clearly articulated by the Board and the Executive team, but for a vision to have any impact we must convey its meaning to all within the community. This is what we have sought to do within the Strategic Plan.

It is also most important that as a community we develop a mental image of what is possible and the desirable future state that we want for the School and the boys.

The Board of Trustees and School Executive are extremely committed to ensuring the successful implementation of this plan. We firmly believe it remains true to our essential character whilst being aspirational. We look forward to working with our community to deliver the plan’s goals and to enhance our standing as a leading independent boys’ school in Australia.