With population growth on the rise in the region, Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong is planning the next iteration of its strategic plan. It serves 38 schools and over 19,500 families. It builds on 200 years of success, focusing on harnessing growth opportunities for education, its religious activities, and increasing student and community needs.

Fire up was engaged to guide a collaborative and people-centred process to develop the next strategic plan.

HOW WE HELPED

• Aligned the leadership team and lifted their capability to get ready to mobilise the change
• After completing a survey, guided a core team to facilitate a series of deep listening sessions (focus groups): including students, parents and school staff, and clergy, to gather stories and deepen understanding of system needs and priorities
• From the outputs of listening, developed 3-4 core opportunities: including the student and teacher experience, safety/well-being and formation journeys and inputs to the corporate plan
• Facilitated collaborative workshops to reimagine how to bring the new strategy to life to meet the needs of the community
• Brought all the leaders together to agree on a clear strategic intent, narrative and collaborative program governance model - including a school reference group
• As an output, we developed an integrated plan to help guide the next 18 months of activity