Our Strategic Direction
Girls are at the centre of everything we do at St Cuthbert’s, it’s our privilege to support every girl in becoming the very best version of themselves.
St Cuthbert’s has a rich mix of traditional values, expert teachers, a leading curriculum, and exceptional facilities. We ensure we offer the very best all girls’ education in an environment where she will make lifelong friends.
St Cuthbert’s strategy informs our school’s decisions to ensure every single girl leaves with the knowledge, skills, and values to be successful. To move forward we must first look back, as such, our strategy is underpinned by our school motto ‘By Love Serve’, whilst providing girls with the skills and resources to navigate a world we do not yet know.
Our Vision
To enable every girl to succeed and thrive – through developing her individual strengths, expanding her thinking, and building her inner confidence.
‘By Love Serve’
The St Cuthbert’s school motto, ‘By Love Serve’, was chosen by the first Principal, Miss Isobel Macdonald. Over 100 years later, ‘By Love Serve’ is an ethos which underpins all aspects of school life and bonds the St Cuthbert’s community.
‘By Love Serve’ is at the centre of our values and is a vibrant and meaningful part of everyday school life. These values guide the way we think, act and care for each other. St Cuthbert’s is committed to the vision of enabling every girl to succeed at her own pace through expanding her individual strengths, inspiring her thinking, and building her inner confidence. Through the rich values of ‘By Love Serve’ our girls embrace the importance of respect, leadership through service to others, and caring for one another.
“ ‘By Love Serve’ is more than just a school motto. It is a sentiment to carry with you throughout your life – it teaches us that the way you treat people must stem from a place of love and humanity no matter the differences that divide us.” – 2021 Deputy Head Girl, Helena Haldane
Our Values
- Supporting each girl to strive for her personal best;
- Leadership through service to others;
- Creating a sense of belonging and involvement in the St Cuthbert’s family; and
- Becoming Global Citizens and future leaders.
Our motto ‘By Love Serve’ is at the heart of our School Compass:
- Following Christian values in the Presbyterian tradition;
- Sustaining a commitment to academic excellence and intellectual rigour;
- Fostering a culture of continuous improvement, underpinned by research and models of best practice; and
- Providing each girl with the analytical, creative, digital, and entrepreneurial analytical skills needed to future-proof her chosen path.
Strategic Pillars
- Girls need to be happy to achieve their personal best, and we care for every girl’s wellbeing through leading wraparound pastoral care and self-awareness initiatives;
- Our all-girls’ environment offers every girl the freedom to just be herself so she can bloom in her own time;
- We are a Knowledge Rich School, providing a strong conceptual framework that is delivered by teachers with a deep love of learning;
- We develop the spiritual, physical, and emotional health of every girl through initiatives such as our unique outdoor social education programme at our award-winning Kahunui campus;
- We will ensure every girl develops a strong sense of Global Citizenship providing her with the knowledge, leadership skills and values to enable her to understand her individual and collective role in the world;
- With a strong focus on STEAM, we will teach every girl the financial and entrepreneurial skills to ensure she is independent and forward-thinking;
- We enable every girl to discover her unique strengths and talents, and support the development of well-rounded girls through sport, cultural activities, and the performing arts; and
- We recognise some girls learn differently, and we support diverse learners through our Personalised Learning Philosophy.
The Future
Each year St Cuthbert’s brings our strategy to life through an Annual Plan which outlines what our school wants to achieve in the future, and how we plan to get there. The plan connects to our strategic pillars and is focussed on enabling every girl to succeed.
We are continuously adding to and improving our facilities to best prepare St Cuthbert’s girls for the future, with a new facilities plan set for release later this year.