by Julia Campbell-Ratcliffe
Empowering students to run their own projects, and serving their communities is a key element in (international) education. As leaders, we encourage our students to take action, to bring their learning to life in the real world. These initiatives teach them skills that reach far beyond the curriculum and their time at school. Organising, running and leading projects, collaborating with different stakeholders and celebrating a successful event is very impactful for our students development. That is the ideal scenario. The reality often looks rather different: Students are overwhelmed, projects lose momentum or cannot be completed, issues that arise are too difficult to handle for students and even staff who are supporting the students, budgets are overstretched or simply no one would like to take on the project in the future. Resources are not being used effectively and everyone feels stretched too thinly. This raises the question of how we can better support our students with actions and service projects that are sustainable.
School Leaders as Connectors for Sustainability:
As leaders, it is our responsibility to connect all the dots. We have to provide a strategic framework for our schools to operate. We set the vision and direction for the development of our school and therefore our students. We aim to empower our students and give them ownership over their learning. It is also our job to be liaisons between the students, the faculty, the parents and the community. It is on us to provide the leadership that connects all these elements in a sustainable way.
Creating the Culture for Student Projects and Initiatives:
As leaders, we have to communicate to our community that we value student initiatives and projects. This includes providing the time, space, and resources for student agencies and projects. In our case, at Strothoff International School, student empowerment and (service) projects are an essential part of our guiding statements and our school’s core values are based on “everyone’s contributions” to the community in which the students, of course, play an integral part. We embed service learning lessons in our CARE (homeroom) curriculum. Our school has both a service-learning coordinator for the Middle School, as well as a CAS coordinator in the Upper School to support student projects. These structural decisions such as staffing and time foster a culture of sustainable student agency and projects in our school community.
Connecting Student Initiatives to the Curriculum:
The most sustainable projects in our school have been those that are directly linked to the curriculum. They are part of the unit planning process, often with a service focus and are therefore part of the assessments and reflections. One example of a successful initiative is a project between German as a foreign language, arts and CARE. The students learn about Christmas traditions in Germany in their language classes as part of the curriculum. They then design Christmas cards in their arts and CARE classes, also linked to the arts curriculum. Last year they designed over 500 cards and collected little gifts. It then became their project to visit elderly care homes in our community to hand them out to the elderly. After reflecting on the previous year, the students decided that they also wanted to sing Carols and read self-written stories to the people in the homes. As evident in the example, the student action resulted from the initial curriculum content of learning about German Christmas customs, designing cards and then students deciding to give them to the seniors’ home as part of their service learning.
Linking Student Initiatives to the School’s Guiding Statements and Strategic Plan:
Ideally, the student council and the students, in general, are familiar with the school’s guiding statement and strategic plan and are supported to come up with initiatives that help to fulfil the school’s mission and vision or support the strategic goals. This ensures that resources and time can be allocated by the school’s leadership and helps rationalise decisions for approval.
At Strothoff International School, we have workshopped the guiding statements within our CARE classes (what they mean, who we are as a school and what our goals are) and have encouraged the students to think of projects that fit within those guidelines. Strategic ambitions and the school’s mission and vision also provide good benchmarks for reflection and evaluation of whether the projects achieved the expected outcomes and have created the desired impact.
Alignment with the Guiding Statements and strategic goals also helps with the ongoing support and buy-in from the school community so that the projects are easier to maintain.
Supporting and Mentoring Students:
Students need mentorship and support with their initiatives and projects. The teachers model leadership for project development for the students and guide them in their progress. This can be done, for instance, when leaders in school collaborate directly with the student leadership team.
At SIS, we meet once a month where the student leadership team pitches ideas and receives feedback on their ongoing projects. We also provide them with reflection and documentation tools that we use ourselves for planning projects and excursions. These documentation tools are essential for the sustainability of projects. At our school, we help the students fill them out and provide the time for reflection and sharing experiences so that the next group in the future have a starting point and can learn from the mistakes of the previous group. Documenting the projects and outcomes also serves the purpose of potential evidence in evaluating the progress of reaching the strategic goals. Evidence can also be used to fulfil ongoing accreditation requirements. It additionally teaches students valuable project management skills for their time after school.
Connecting the dots…
Supporting sustainable student initiatives requires intentional leadership that integrates vision, structure, culture and community engagement. Leaders in schools play an important role in bridging the gap between student-driven ideas and long-term sustainability. By creating a culture that values student agency, linking projects to the curriculum, and aligning initiatives with guiding statements and strategic plans, leaders can ensure that these initiatives become deeply embedded. Sustainability is not just about ensuring projects continue; it is about empowering students with the skills, confidence, and mindset to make meaningful contributions to their communities. Through mentorship, structured support, and clear connections to the school’s mission, student projects can develop into opportunities for growth and leadership, preparing them for life beyond school.
Ultimately, when we as leaders in schools connect the dots – between curriculum, culture, and strategic goals – we support our students with initiatives that become sustainable life-long learning experiences reflecting the heart of our school’s values and vision.
Julia Campbell-Ratcliffe is International School Principal at Strothoff International School, Dreieich, Germany.
Next week’s Principal’s Blog is written by Simon Johnson, Assistant Director – Boarding, Dulwich International High School, Suzhou
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