WIS has developed a bold and detailed strategic plan which sets an inspiring vision for our school’s curriculum, culture, community and campus by the end of 2027.
In the 2023-24 school year, the school engaged in surveys and consultations with parents, students, staff, alumni, and board members to ask:
“What’s the best version of our school that we can imagine…
…and how will we get there?”
We asked three questions in particular:
What is most precious to WIS? What would you fight to keep?
When you think about WIS moving forward and if you had a magic wand that could change one big thing about WIS, what would you love to see change?
What are five things you want your children (or student, or yourself) to be able to do and be by the time they leave or graduate from WIS? What curriculum, activities, programmes, facilities, or ways of teaching and learning would you like to have emphasised in order to achieve this?
Our community’s answers to these questions were inspiring and insightful. With guidance from our consultant and former WIS Educational Director, Mr Kevin Bartlett, the responses were then workshopped with students, parents, and staff focus groups, and summarised into four thematic areas of focus:
CURRICULUM: What’s worth learning….and how is it all connected?
CULTURE: How will we do things at WIS? How will we live out our values?
CAMPUS: What facilities on our campus will allow us to achieve our vision?
COMMUNITY: How will our systems, staffing, and structures support our learning culture?
At its heart, what emerged from the strategic planning process was this message: The WIS community is deeply committed to our school’s values and to a student-centred and internationally-minded approach to education which is unique within Namibia.
The 2024-2027 WIS Strategic Plan is a phased, common sense approach to these next three years. This WIS Plan outlines the actions, evidence, and impact we wish to see as we prioritise our time and resources. It outlines how we will develop a Curriculum which is purposeful and aligned to our school’s values, a Culture which centres our People, Excellence, and Ownership Principles, and a Campus and Community which inspires learners to live creatively and sustainably.
Many thanks to all of the individuals who have thoughtfully provided their insights during this process. We are convinced that our WIS Principles, when lived out and institutionalised, will create students who are well-equipped to have a lasting positive impact on the world. As you look through this Strategic Plan, please consider what your role might be in this next stage of the WIS story.
This plan is budgeted over three years, and after considering our annual Capital Levy income averaging N$3.2M there are some capital expenditures which we already know we have the funding to build:
Our plans and hopes for our school exceed our projected capital levy revenue. We will require fundraising and creative sourcing in order to accelerate our school’s growth and achieve a truly transformational result by 2027:
Plans can change, but the planning process is critical for prioritising our actions and expenditures. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or ideas for how we can work together to improve our school over these next three years. I know that we can all contribute in some way to achieve this new vision for our school.
Sincerely,
Ethan Van Drunen
Educational Director
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