Governance

The Rainforest School is registered with ASIC as a Company Limited by Guarantee under ACN 653 868 547.

School Board

The School Board consists of the following Directors.
Contact: board@trs.qld.edu.au

Fiona Nicotra
Chair & Director
Pamela Gurner-Hall
Director
Julie Abbott
Director
Carolien Franken
Director & Secretary
2023 – 2026

Strategic Plan

The Board of The Rainforest School has developed a Strategic Plan that outlines 5 key focus areas and long-term goals for the school.

Strategic Plan

Curriculum & Pedagogy
Deliver the Australian Curriculum 9.0, with a balanced mix of pedagogy, real-life activities and a focus on The Arts to improve student engagement
  • Extend ‘place-based learning’ as an organising principle for learning experiences across the school, drawing on our natural environment, local facilities and expertise and First Nation People’s cultural and historic values
  • Deliver high quality curriculum by integrating learning areas such as STEM and English with The Arts to showcase students’ outcomes with performances, productions and exhibitions
  • Develop our students’ entrepreneurial skills with real-life experience
  • Integrate the Kitchen Garden Program into Mathematics and other learning areas
2026 Goal

The school inspires and motivates creative individuals with the confidence to showcase their work in ways that has meaningful connections and positive impacts on our community.

Sustainability & Conservation
Embed Sustainability as an overarching school priority and baseline the school’s sustainability baseline and progress
  • Embed Sustainability as a cross-curriculum priority into the educational program by working toward becoming a five-star accredited school with Cleaner Greener Schools and a Green Flag accredited school with Eco-Schools
  • Build strategic partnerships to achieve our sustainability and conservation goals
  • Measure our sustainability baseline with NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System)
  • Share our success on media platforms to tell our story, expand our reach, increase our engagement, inspire others and activate our branding
2026 Goal

Sustainability is embedded into the curriculum, decision-making and brand and the School has a strong baseline from which to measure future goals.

Community & Connection
Communicate our school’s mission and vision and educational philosophy and values to engage stakeholders and diversify our partnerships to improve the learning outcomes of our students as global citizens
  • Welcome the wider community to our school through planned functions, events and information sessions
  • Develop a marketing plan to engage future stakeholders, enrolments and partnerships
  • Liaise with early years educators, schools and universities both national and abroad to collaborate on best practice
  • Diversify our partnerships to extend on the range of service-based projects our students undertake to improve our local and global communities
2026 Goal

Key stakeholders are aligned with the School’s values and a diverse range of partnerships have successfully improved the learning outcomes of our students on real-life global issues and solutions.

Space & Place
Relocate the school to a place in the Mission Beach area which caters for the School’s future development needs
  • Pursue capital funding linked to ‘Green Bond Principles’ and launch our DGR (deductible gift recipient) Building Fund
  • Purchase land/property in the Mission Beach area which will cater for the school’s future development needs by referring to our stakeholder survey and checklist
  • Develop a Masterplan and apply for BGA (block grant authority) to fund building and infrastructure
  • Build a school campus with relocatable historical Queenslanders and using sustainable practices to create a ‘home-away-from-home’ while conserving and/or regenerating the surrounding tropical rainforest
2026 Goal

The School has transitioned to a new location with buildings and grounds that encapsulate the North Tropical Queensland essence.

Business & Governance
Maximise the working potential of the School Governance to improve financial viability and achieve the strategic goals
  • Recruit future Board Directors who will provide the School with objective advice, actionable insights and the required skillset to achieve the strategic goals
  • Form a sub-committee to project manage the relocation of the school location and new campus
  • Pursue alternative capital funding sources from private institutions, sponsors, donors and philanthropists
  • Increase self-generated private revenue while assisting our community to reduce its ecological footprint
2026 Goal

School Governance is functioning at an optimal level, financial viability has improved and the strategic goals have been achieved.