School plan 2015 – 2017
Wooglemai EEC
5667
Planning template – V2.0
School background 2015 - 2017
School vision statement
School context
Our motto:
“Experiences today, thoughts and actions for tomorrow”.
Wooglemai Environmental Education Centre (WEEC) is
one of twenty five Environmental and Zoo Education
Centres (EZEC) operated by the NSW Department of
Education and Communities (DEC). WEEC actively
collaborates across this network to set directions and
develop the organisation for environmental and
sustainability education.
WEEC programs are designed to address primary and
secondary key learning areas including fieldwork and
sustainability education as a cross-curriculum priority.
The centre also provides for residential recreational
based camps (including outdoor activities such as
kayaking, archery and high ropes challenges) designed
to improve social outcomes and personal development
of students.
WEEC is located at Oakdale, adjacent to Nattai
National Park and the Greater Blue Mountains World
Heritage Area. The centre is a 16 ha residential camp
site catering for 7,500 students K-12 pa. As well as
programs at Wooglemai, WEEC uses other sites, works
in schools and presents at education events. Schools
using the services of WEEC are drawn primarily from
the Illawarra, Southern Highlands and Metropolitan
South West areas.
Teachers booking WEEC are offered support (including
phone conversations, pre-excursion visits, written
confirmation, program advice and online support via the
WEEC website) to ensure the service we provide meets
their needs. Communication covers logistics, special
needs of students, syllabus links, learning experiences,
resources and risk assessments.
WEEC caters for Aboriginal students and/or students
from areas of socio-economic disadvantage. WEEC
also offers differentiated learning experiences for
schools and communities of schools to provide for
gifted and talented, intellectual and physical
disadvantage and students at risk of disengagement.
NSW DEC has a lease with Guntawang Catholic Youth
Centres Incorporated for exclusive use of the
Wooglemai site during school terms.
Our vision:
“Learning and working together for a more sustainable
world.”
WEEC provides visiting students with “hands on” quality
student-centred learning experiences that build on their
normal classroom lessons and experiences.
We aim to ensure our students become successful
learners, confident and creative individuals and active
and informed global citizens and leaders.
Our core purpose is to assist students to make sense of
their changing world (with specific regard to sustainability
issues) and to realise that we are all capable of
contributing to positive changes in our families,
communities and society.
EZEC Vision:
EZECs will provide educational experiences and
opportunities that will engage and motivate all students to
learn, discover and critically analyse their knowledge, to
equip them to become informed citizens of the future
who are socially, environmentally and culturally
aware.
School planning process
WEEC teaching staff review and discuss previous school
plans and the new school plan documentation and
processes.
Preview Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for
Young Australians and the National School Improvement
Tool. Await the publication of the Schools Excellence
Framework as the key driver to the process.
Discuss the planning process with other Wollondilly
Network schools at meetings with Principal leadership
Brad Mitchell.
Discuss the planning process with EZEC Principals via
video conferences including the notion of collaboration on
a systems leadership based plan that can meet the needs
of individual centres.





Identify evidence to drive the planning process and
articulate strategic directions. Evidence includes:
Academic review of the EZEC network 2013-2014
Leadership Learning and Improvement project.
Teacher evaluations of WEEC programs.
Teacher evaluations from SEEDS sustainability network
Student evaluations of academic and student welfare
aspects of WEEC teaching programs.
A shared EZEC survey of past WEEC visiting teachers
(prepared by Observatory Hill EEC) to inform school
service needs and inform school planning.
Work with Leadership Principal Brad Mitchell to prepare
WEEC school plan.
Work with Education Director Public Schools NSW
Wollondilly Margaret Turner during PARS meetings to
monitor planning and implementation of new plan.
Wooglemai Environmental Education Centre
Page 2
Planning template – V2.0
School strategic directions 2015 - 2017
STRATEGIC
DIRECTION 1
Improving learning
outcomes for all
students through
consistent high
standard educational
practice
Purpose:
To provide educational experiences and opportunities
that will engage and motivate all students to learn,
discover and critically analyse their knowledge, to equip
them to become informed citizens of the future who are
socially, environmentally and culturally aware.
STRATEGIC
DIRECTION 2
STRATEGIC
DIRECTION 3
Building stronger
partnerships to
achieve systems
improvement
Fostering excellence
in positive values and
student leadership
Purpose:
To build strong partnerships that will provide a range of
varying expertise to support and enable systems to
improve the quality of outcomes. Working collaboratively
enhances organisational and individual health and wellbeing. Teaching staff in EZEC’s require collaboration
overcome geographical and professional isolation.
Purpose:
To develop and facilitate student social skill programs
that enable successful peer support and student
leadership at school level, effective transition to high
school, specialist programs for Aboriginal students, those
at risk of disengaging with school and sustainability
ambassador/ leadership programs for our Youth
Environmental Network.
Wooglemai Environmental Education Centre
Page 3
Planning template – V2.0
Strategic Direction 1:
Improving learning outcomes for all students through consistent high standard educational practice
Purpose
People
Processes
Products and Practices
Why do we need this particular
strategic direction and why is it
important?
How do we develop capabilities of our
people to bring about transformation?
How do we do it and how will we
know?
What is achieved and how do we know?
Students: engaged in specialised, quality
teaching programs developed in line with
the new Australian curriculum having
sustainability as core cross curricular
priority
Provide teacher professional learning
to enhance the capacity of schools to
deliver new Australian curriculum
specifically to facilitate the integration
of sustainability as a key crosscurricular priority area.
To provide educational experiences and
opportunities that will engage and
motivate all students to learn, discover
and critically analyse their knowledge, to
equip them to become informed citizens
of the future who are socially,
environmentally and culturally aware.
Improvement Measures
Positive evaluation by visiting schools of
pre and post visit material
Increase in number of students actively
engaging in sustainability programs
Staff: build teacher capacity via ongoing,
focussed professional learning that
supports students to achieve outcomes
Implement 21st Century Learning
pedagogies such as SOLES and PBL
Staff: model sustainability education
programs on current examples of best
practice.
Collaboration with COS, Wollondilly
Network of Schools, SEEDS and EZEC
to develop model sustainability
education programs
Community partners: collaborate through
EZEC on current and new programs that
will facilitate best practice in sustainability
education.
Evaluation plan:
Regular reporting against milestones.
Community partners: develop and
maintain partnerships with Aboriginal
Communities, NSW OEH, local councils,
Oz-green to maximise resourcing to
support existing and new programs.
Post visit teacher surveys on WEEC
program quality/ delivery.
Leaders: develop school capacity to
implement NSWDEC Environmental
Education Policy and to deliver
curriculum/ sustainability outcomes via a
range of professional learning networks
(EZEC, Wollondilly Network, COS)
A post visit continuum of feedback from
students and staff about student
progress in direct relation to learning
experiences at WEEC.
Post visit student surveys on WEEC
program quality and delivery.
Products:
SEEDS membership increased
Pre and post visit curricula that supports
student learning
Schools adopt global citizenship and
sustainability pedagogy and practices
What are our newly embedded practices
and how are they integrated and in sync
with our purpose?
Practices:
High quality teaching and learning
practices demonstrated within WEEC
programs
EZEC consultation on programs.
Teachers include WEEC visits into their
excursion planning calendar.
TPL delivered by WEEC staff is applied by
teachers and implemented into teaching
practice.
SEEDS member feedback regarding
level of support for sustainability from
WEEC.
Student surveys that reflect attitudes of
learning experiences based around
sustainability and citizenship.
Wooglemai Environmental Education Centre
Page 4
Planning template – V2.0
Strategic Direction 2:
Building stronger partnerships to achieve systems improvement
Purpose
People
Processes
Products and Practices
Why do we need this particular
strategic direction and why is it
important?
How do we develop capabilities of our
people to bring about transformation?
How do we do it and how will we
know?
What is achieved and how do we know?
To build strong partnerships that will
provide a range of varying expertise to
support and enable systems to improve
the quality of outcomes. Working
collaboratively enhances organisational
and individual health and well-being.
Teaching staff in EZEC’s require
collaboration overcome geographical and
professional isolation.
Improvement Measures
SEEDS attendance improved.
Significant correlation between visitation
and network participation.
Visiting Teacher surveys show positive
feedback based around program
outcomes.
Improvements in centre utilisation return visits as well as overall schools
accessing WEEC services.
Students: Engage either directly with
partners (NGOs, Government
Organisations, EZEC Community,) or the
knowledge from partners to help facilitate
quality learning experiences that support
responsible and productive citizenship.
Staff: WEEC staff utilise partners to draw
upon current research, data, evidence
and evaluation to inform planning and
teaching practice. WEEC staff work in
collaboration with NGOs, OEH, UWS and
NSWDEC consultants to deliver lessons
to students.
WEEC staff assist schools to deliver
services in an environmentally
sustainable way.

Networking with professional EZEC
community
Products:
Strong authentic partnerships that improve
student learning outcomes.

Networking with NGO/GOs and other
organisations outside DEC
Engaging learning experiences centred
around sustainability and citizenship.

Networking with COS
Improved systems within schools that can
better help embed and support curriculum
for sustainability.
Evaluation plan:
Regular reporting against milestones.
EZEC Annual Conference/ Principal’s
Conference attendance.
SEEDS surveys.
Evaluation of partnerships with external
organisations.
Community partners: Partners bring their
knowledge and expertise to help build
workforce capacity by engaging in and
delivering professional learning that can
be used to improve learning practices for
students.
What are our newly embedded practices
and how are they integrated and in sync
with our purpose?
Practices:
WEEC teaching staff actively contribute to
professional dialogue, policy and products.
WEEC actively pursues partnerships with
schools, business, tertiary institutions,
government and non-government
organisations and the community to access
human, physical and financial resources to
enrich our programs and services to
schools.
Leaders: Facilitation of networking
opportunities for leaders with EZEC,
community of schools, Wollondilly
Principals Network, SEEDS groups that
will allow for collaboration to develop
efficient systems and practices.
Wooglemai Environmental Education Centre
Page 5
Planning template – V2.0
Strategic Direction 3:
Purpose
Why do we need this particular
strategic direction and why is it
important?
To develop and facilitate student social
skill programs that enable successful
peer support and student leadership at
school level, effective transition to high
school, specialist programs for Aboriginal
students, those at risk of disengaging
with school and sustainability
ambassador/ leadership programs for our
Youth Environmental Network.
Improvement Measures
YEN successfully endorsed (student
attendance/ school numbers).
Leadership camps successfully endorsed
(student numbers).
Fostering excellence in positive values and student leadership
People
How do we develop capabilities of our
people to bring about transformation?
Processes
How do we do it and how will we
know?
Students: Challenge students to reflect

on problem solving, personal interactions
and social skills, critical thinking and
decision making through challenge-based
learning activities. Enable students to
make choices and take responsibility for
their own futures.
Build specific knowledge of sustainability 
issues, presentation skills and foster
active citizenship and leadership for
better future outcomes.
Are actively involved in volunteering,

community projects and special events
such as YES.
Successful delivery of values based
programs eg Peer support/ Leadership/
Transition to HS day and residential
programs are evaluated favourably by
client schools.
Staff: Network with schools to develop
programs based on the needs of schools.
Provide professional learning for staff to
develop capabilities to better teach
sustainability and facilitate student
leadership in schools.
Evaluation plan:
Regular reporting against milestones.
Community partners: WEEC will
collaborate with community partners to
develop and deliver leadership programs
that best suit schools and students (ie
UOW, Oz-Green, COS, SEEDS).
Community partners will be made aware
of events and PL that supports leadership
and learning for sustainability.
Products and Practices
What is achieved and how do we know?
Products:
Student projects developed (at a high
standard) around the theme of
sustainability.
Impacts of projects analysed.
Youth Environmental Network (YEN)
camps fully subscribed and positively
evaluated.
Improved models for student leadership
Special events attendance and
feedback positive.
Practices:
Transition to HS school, peer support,
special education and Links to Learning
programs delivered successfully.
Visiting staff surveys.
Monitoring and reporting on student
achievements (linked to a school
program and assessment).
Active representation at Sustainability
events YES, Youth Enviro-Forum, etc.
WEEC programs embed the DEC core
values and develop student leadership
through explicit, clinical teaching programs.
WEEC leadership programs link school life,
social skills, sustainability and opportunities
for active environmental citizenship.
Leaders: Network with all partners to
support leadership and learning for
sustainability.
Wooglemai Environmental Education Centre
Page 6
Planning template – V2.0