Every school seems to have a vision statement these days, whether it’s a one-liner or a whole paragraph. The concept may sound a little corporate, but these statements are important - they describe the values of the school, hopefully creating consistency in the community, ensuring everyone is aiming for the same things.

But how can you make sure that, in creating a vision statement, it becomes an honestly worthwhile process rather than simply a PR or box-ticking exercise?

It’s tempting to take a look online and simply reword another school’s vision statement for your own use. But to be meaningful, a vision statement must be a unique and original creation that truly represents your school.

What’s more, you need to make sure that staff, students and the wider community are involved in the drafting process. A good vision statement can act as a compass for senior leadership teams and department heads. It can provide staff and students with an understanding of why certain things are done in a certain way. It can give families an insight into the type of school they will be sending their children to. However, all of this will only be possible if these stakeholders are invested in the process and can therefore see that the exercise is truly useful, rather than being done for the sake of it. Here’s a step-by-step guide to making it work.

1. Run a Swot analysis

First, form a working group that can work on a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Swot) analysis of the school. This could be with the SLT or a slightly larger group. It is important to start with a small but diverse group that truly knows your school well, to avoid an overwhelming number of ideas being produced immediately.

Next, cross-reference the suggestions and find common themes. Through discussions and the sharing of ideas, the points that everyone agrees on will soon become clear.

This project will prompt passionate opinions that naturally lead to heated debates, so it is wise to lay out an expectation beforehand that not everyone will get their own way. Gentle reminders can be shared throughout the process that compromise is key and an openness to change is the cornerstone of a solid, broad-minded working group.

2. Identify the key words

After the Swot, identify the key words. Perhaps many of these link to the idea of community or wellbeing - it will look different for every school. It is vital that words taken from every area of the Swot are used. A good vision statement will highlight opportunities, but it should also explore how to overcome weaknesses. By that, I don’t mean that your one-line vision statement needs to offer some kind of risk assessment for avoiding problems, but it could convey a message of confidence, preparedness and attentiveness that projects the strength needed to avoid threats when they inevitably arise.

3. Draft the vision

Now that you have a word bank, the foundations for the vision have been laid. Each person from the team can craft three visions of their own. At this point, time and space are your friends. Send the team away to spend some time thinking and writing individually, to stop ideas from being stifled while giving people the freedom to express what they truly believe. Then bring everyone together to cross-reference their ideas to see what is starting to stand out. For example, if everybody has used the term “achieve”, this may well be something to focus on. A first draft of the vision can now be written.

4. Share with the community

After a first draft has been created, the larger community of teachers, admin staff and the parent-teacher association can review it. The draft can be shared and word choice, structure and grammar can be picked apart. Think carefully about the way this is conveyed so that everyone feels that their opinion is valued. Remind staff that each of them has a useful role to play and that every idea will be listened to and valued, even if it is not used.

There is the potential for a snowballing effect at this stage. As each piece of feedback comes in, review it. A multitude of small adjustments may be suggested, and while you should consider each one, don’t let yourself lose sight of the overall message.

5. Share with the community again

After amendments have been made, share with the community once again for another round of feedback (it should be a shorter exercise the second time around). After collecting feedback from the second sharing, make any final changes. If these are huge, the sharing process may need to be repeated, but otherwise it should just be minor tweaks that lead to a finalised piece.

6. Prepare for the big reveal

Once the vision is finalised, it’s time to unveil it. This is an exciting time as it sets forth the goals that everyone at your school is working to achieve. After all the hard work to develop your vision, it’s worth making a fuss about. Perhaps you could dedicate a day of learning to focusing on the vision, or get pupils to contribute work towards a whole-school, collaborative display.

Celebrate your creation but, most importantly, start putting it into action.

The vision can now be used as a driver for all the ambitions the school wishes to pursue. It will help to inform your school improvement plan and act as a guiding light for what you want to achieve in the next three to five years (by this time, the school will have no doubt evolved and will need an updated vision that reflects its new position).

Now that the vision has been created, be proud of it. It is the reference point for all actions and a unifying statement that can keep each department focused on the same overall goal. Wave it like a flag in the most prominent areas of the school and display it with the importance it deserves.

Matt Payne is head of lower school and a Year 1 teacher at Nord Anglia International School New York

This article originally appeared in the 26 February 2021 issue under the headline “How to get everyone’s eyes on the same prize”