Find your North Star: Defining Values for Change

By rethinking their purpose and direction with us, this Ottawa school improved the experience of every student, increased engagement with the whole community, was more successful in fundraising and increased student numbers year-on-year.

Rethinking identity to unlock a new future

Too often, schools define themselves with a blur of clichés. OJCS knew it needed more than feel-good slogans—it needed purpose that worked hard. With NoTosh, they found it. Together, we sparked a transformation that resonated through classrooms, the boardroom, and—perhaps most surprisingly—fundraising campaigns.

A co-designed purpose, grounded in tradition

OJCS plays a vital role in Ottawa’s Jewish community, with a long history of enriching lives through values-driven education. But as the world changed, so too did expectations. Rather than top-down decisions in a boardroom, school leaders chose a co-created path. With NoTosh guiding the process, a diverse Design Team of parents, teachers, and board members stepped forward to shape something real: a set of usable, visible core values. Six “North Stars”—concise, plain-English principles—now guide everything at OJCS, from pedagogy to professional conversations.

From sticky notes to strategy

We didn’t start with strategy documents. We started with people. Project Nest, a physical and digital hub, capt Read More

Reimagining Values at the American School of Warsaw

The Challenge

After more than six decades of history and growth, the American School of Warsaw (ASW) reached a turning point. Years of rapid change had left the Board and leadership with a clear sense that something vital had drifted: the school’s founding values no longer felt visible or meaningful to the community they served.

Before tackling strategy or planning yet more change, the school knew it needed to rebuild its foundations. They needed shared language. A clear sense of identity. A way to bring the community together around what truly mattered.

The Approach

NoTosh was brought in to support a whole-school process of rediscovery.

We worked alongside a Design Team of students, staff, parents, school lead Read More

Creating a school from scratch

We supported a small team to design Colina Noua Learning Center's purpose, values, vision, learning model and curriculum, from scratch, entirely online during the pandemic. Today, the school is thriving with a curriculum centered on a personalised approach, that inspires learning for life, beyond exams.

With a Masters in Education, a background in business and previous experience of building from the ground up to establish one of the finest schools in Bucharest, Colina’s Founder, Andreia Mitrea, has every credential for success. Inspired (but dismayed) by the statistic that only 6% of what we learn through formal and traditional education remains with us long-term, Andreia’s vision was for a school where learners received an education that would prepare them for

At Colina, children are encouraged not just to dream, but to define those dreams, and then develop the objectives and resilience to make them come true. Enabling and supporting children to learn for themselves, so that no matter where they go after school they thrive rather than survive, means that Colina’s model for learning is based around head, heart and hands – it’s about learning, but also about emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing too. The result is an accredited system that is robust yet flexible, preparing young people for whatever the world throws at them in the future.

What's the purpose of curriculum?

In 2015, the OECD proclaimed: “This is a watershed moment for Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence”.

But any notion that 2015 might have been a watershed moment was thrown into sharp relief in 2020.

It was the events of 2020 that brought "lift off", “a historical change in direction”, a “monumental event”. Within weeks. 2020 brought many in Scottish education that watershed moment, showing what’s possible where there is a will and need for change.

Those events also made us question the purpose of our education system.

Commissioned by Education Scotland, our independent team listened to the voices of around 150 educators, youth learning specialists and over 600 young people over the first five months of 2022. We also included the v Read More

1: Introduction and rationale for exploring purpose

"I can't believe we're still talking about this."

That was the exclamation from one educator in February 2022, at an early interview session to explore the four capacities of the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. She had a point.

And it’s a point we’ve heard at least implicitly at every step of this journey, as our team listened to the voices of around 150 educators, youth learning specialists and over 600 young people over the first five months of 2022. We also included the voices of another 130 or so educators whose ‘curriculum stories’, told during the height of the pandemic, showed how curriculum purpose and the four capacities perform under pressure. We adopted a trademark empathetic approach, reflecting a Read More

2. A moment to decide a curriculum's purpose

In 2015, the OECD (2015) proclaimed: “This is a watershed moment for Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence” (p. 16).

But any notion that 2015 might have been a watershed moment was thrown into sharp relief in 2020.

It was the events of 2020 that brought ‘lift off’, “a historical change in direction”, a “monumental event”. Within weeks. 2020 brought many in Scottish education that watershed moment, showing what’s possible where there is a will and need for change.

2022 is perhaps the year we need to decide what to do with this watershed moment we’ve experienced. That’s why we want to explore the four capacities.

It’s 20 years since the last ‘National Debate’ on education led to the launch of Curriculum for Excellence in 2004. The curriculum was conceived to ‘ Read More

3. Consensus on purpose is the norm

 We asked over 600 learners from schools a straightforward starter question: “Have you heard of the four capacities?” And they were shown the most recent four capacities icon.

We discovered that the majority hadn’t heard of the four capacities. 60% hadn’t heard of them at all, and over 20% more weren’t sure. 

50% of upper primary school learners had heard of the four capacities, therefore backing up the evidence that they are more commonly referred to in primary schools than elsewhere. However, the results for S1-3 and Senior Phase are stark. 74% of S1-3 learners and 68% of Senior Phase learners have never heard of, or have entirely forgotten, the four capacities.

So, instead, we asked these 600 learners how they understood the purpose of school. W Read More

4. Curriculum about more than just ‘preparing’ for the future

“Let’s shape educational thinking towards being in the moment and present. Seeing young people as citizens now - not seeing education as simply turning out widgets and workers - but focussing on individuals, family, and the globe.” Trade Union representative

School is no longer just about preparing learners for an unpredictable future. Since the four capacities were baptised, a combination of global trends has tested the old idea that schools are merely a preparation ground for life beyond school. The four capacities talk about learners becoming confident, successful, effective, and responsible, now and in the future. In reality, educators see evidence that they are capable today of being and doing all those things, arguably more so now Read More

5. A curriculum In search of a “big idea”

6. The language of the capacities isn’t the language of learners“Students might remember them from primary school. They appear to have been pulled from thin air. Where did this pairing of words come from?” Secondary Educator

It is vital to show where ideas come from. Educational policy is strengthened by having a clear map of the philosophical journey, and the various sources of ideas and tributaries of thought that help steer it towards its final destination. Put another way, proving provenance helps curriculum-makers and policy-makers understand when certain ingredients may be outdated and worth changing or eliminating.

For example, the International Bacca Read More

6. The language of the capacities isn’t the language of learners

“A capacity is an ability or potential to do something - however, it’s also a constraint - better words might be attributes, capabilities, behaviours or dispositions.” University Educator

The language around the four capacities is a significant barrier to using them effectively. There is a wide range of opinions about the language of the four capacities. Suppose the four capacities were used predominantly as a design tool by educators planning learning. In that case, we might consider any language barrier a limited one - a problem we can train ourselves out of. But as educators increasingly seek to co-design learning with students and community partners, the intention and accessibility of the word ‘capacity’, and the pairings of nouns and adjectives, bec Read More

7. The new normal - our choices

The COVID-19 pandemic was the watershed that no one predicted or proclaimed. The pandemic experience ‘shone a harsh light on the vulnerabilities and challenges’ (UNESCO: Education Sector, 2020) school communities faced in Scotland and globally. Rethinking education in the ‘new normal’ (Cahapay, 2020) poses sensitive and complex challenges to any next steps of the entire education system.

On the one hand, there’s a case for change, or at least rethinking how we teach and how learners learn. On the other hand, there’s a fatigued profession wary of significant change:

“This is a tired, stressed profession who are hunkering down. The tension around the reorganisation of the curriculum is coming at the wrong time. And when the chips are down, people resort to the accountab Read More

Defining Curriculum Purpose: Our references

In addition to these secondary references, we undertook primary research with over 600 young people and around 300 adults working in and around formal education settings. You can read more about that in the PDF version of the report.

You can download the full paper (PDF) or return to the overview.

Australian Curriculum. (2022). Learning Areas. https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/learning-areas/

Biesta, G. (2008). What kind of citizen? What kind of d Read More

The NoTosh approach to strategic planning

If you're being asked to make a strategic plan that’s actually just a multi-year budget with some big words around it, you don't need us.

If you need development plans for the year ahead, your own teams are the best in the world at creating those.

If your instincts are telling you: “We need to do something different and explore beyond our comfort zone”, then we can help. That’s what strategy is.

NoTosh developed its flexible, community-driven strategy process when we realised schools and government bodies needed an alternative to the rigid five year planning cycle, and the top-down nature of “strategic plans" that rarely captured the imaginations of the people who had to make the action happen on the ground.

We have now worked with hundreds Read More

Designing Learning Spaces

Why design a learning environment based on what’s worked in the past? Instead, we set out to discover what learning experience people are trying to create, and how space could help them achieve that quicker, better.

When a school or university has a chance to upgrade and renovate learning spaces, or start from scratch with a fresh build, there is an opportunity to do more than just make things look different, shiny and new.

Alongside educators, leaders and students themselves, learning spaces are a key partner in developing incredible learning experiences.

But unless we involve students, educators and leaders in reimagining the kind of learning experience they want, spaces will always underperform at supporting their dreams.

The HUB at Nanjing International School

Challenges

The single-storey library occupied a large volume, meaning it felt echoey, impersonal, unwelcoming, despite the best efforts of library staff. Students and faculty desired a richer choice of cosy and inviting spaces, which could extend the possibilities of their learning beyond a traditional classroom.

Objective

Rethink the use of a large single-storey space so that the existing library is repurposed into a space that more students can use, and which provides richer opportunities for students to learn in different ways.

Approach

To reinvigorate the library, we reinvig

Student choice is the paramount principle behind the design of 30+ different types of learning space. Each caters for different tasks, group sizes and resource accessibility. The HUB also reinforces the school’s continued strong brand identity as part of the exciting developments in Nanjing.

The HUB represents the third space designed through the collaborative NoTosh process. EIW created a simple, coherent design language so that the whole campus reflects that ‘uniquely Nanjing’ context.

For example, EIW articulated:
· the connection to nature,
· the access to daylight,
· the curves that welcome and spark conversation and,
· the cultural context through screening to define space and echoes of the Nanjing wall

While the space is designed as a lear

Key outcomes: 

1. Multifunctional spaces, thoughtfully located. Although the new space across its three floors can accommodate hundreds of students or adult learners on professional learning days, the sound level of 100+ people learning in a purposeful activity is a relatively quiet productive buzz thanks to the division of the space across three floors, and the use of a stairway and softer materials to mitigate noise.

2. Decluttering and deprioritising less-used books to higher shelves will remain a constant priority, but even with a full collection there is still room on the shelves for more, freeing up space for students to remain in the space in comfort.

3. Autonomy in the way students choose sp Read More

Consistent and inspiring inquiry-based learning for STEM

The transition from primary to secondary school can be tough. What happens when the primary school and secondary school are about to drop their separate identities and merge onto one community campus? 

NoTosh worked alongside educators to design a active and sustainable process for thinking about science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) to help students make the transition from primary to secondary school with greater confidence.

Phase 1, ‘Mapping the Pathways’, established faculty's strengths and concerns about STEM teaching. We discovered students' desire to learn more outside and in nature. Through coaching and observation, we identified some key insights. One of these led to a shift from mostly direct instruction to students t

Phase 2, ‘Connecting the Threads’, moved into the design of STEM learning units. We worked with teaching teams to plan STEM-focused units of inquiry that fit within the school timetable. Once these had been designed, we facilitated fortnightly coaching sessions with staff to support them moving from plan to action.

We also helped classes to create a ‘Project Nest’ to explore connections between different STEM projects. This resulted in real-world projects based on problems they identified. For example, students explore how a wheelchair could be adapted to better suit the needs of one young wheelchair user.

The final phase, ‘Designing Depth’, kicked off with a full-day design sprint. The intensity of the experience established a deeper unde Read More

Design Thinking To Inspire Ambition

The Challenge

Four Sydney Primary School Head Teachers were frustrated by the perception that the Australian curriculum limited their teachers.

The Objective

Co-design a fresh and creative approach to learning that at least satisfies state standards while increasing engagement.

The Outcome

A curriculum design methodology and teaching practices that outstripped state requirements and increased social mobility, self-efficacy of students, over the course of 18 months. For example, the proportion of students who had a strong understanding of how to learn something new, and who knew why they were learning the topic, rose from around 22% to 72%.

We co-designed a curriculum

The whole staff could now see their curriculum laid out with clarity. They eliminated duplication and spotted opportunities for interdisciplinary projects.

With an emphasis now on discovering and harnessing creative space in the curriculum, rather than focussing on the limitations, teachers began to explore new opportunities for learning. They prototyped, or tested, new ideas in the classroom, and noted the impact of their changes in practice as they went.

Staff created "project nests", large noticeboards where teachers shared the different skills they had developed with NoTosh, and their own inspirations, discoveries and ideas.

Teachers are now working directly with students in an entirely new way, taking on board their ideas, tailor-making new opportunities for le Read More

What you promise matters: make your manifesto

Imagine this: a group of teachers from different domains gather. They’re not sure if they should be attempting to plan, teach and play together, or whether the cost of collaboration is just too high compared to the return they and their students might get. So we set out to see that morning whether there is a shared vision of the Arts and Learning, or whether each subject area should go and get on with things in its own, distinct way.

I invite each of the 25 or so people there to share an artefact they’ve brought with them. They have to tell a two-minute story that sums up why that artefact is core to the way they teach and their students learn. They’ve had time to prepare, and so the stories end up being three minutes long, the artefacts ever more complex. At one point, there’s a

Manifestos can also appeal to a more general audience. Again at the International School of Brussels, we developed a manifesto with the leadership and admissions teams for the Early Childhood Centre. By sharing stories of why an early childhood centre experience is quite different to a typical 'nursery' or 'childcare' setting, we were able to cut through jargon and create simple language that helps prospective families understand the choice they are making. 

Clyde Cottage Nursery in Dunoon created a manifesto with the involvement of 22 staff and leadership, over the course of one afternoon. Initially, it was designed as a way to bring together the team. However, the end product has served multiple functions:

• Staff self-reflection: The promises are displayed on a reflection board, allowing staff to catch each other doing great work that aligns to their shared promises, writing up their observations throughout the day on post-it notes for reflection later.
• Observation: Managers can use the manifesto as a framework for feedback and positive reinforcement.
• Learning logs and documentation of learners' progress is mapped to the promises, helping staff understand wher

  Why a Manifesto Matters

  We created the Middle Leader Manifesto in 2021 with 160 aspiring and current middle level leaders who took part in our online course: what did they feel were the key promises any middle leader had to keep? Since then, we've added the voices of another 600 participants to revisit and finesse it every year. Tens of thousands have downloaded it for themselves.

  So why does that matter so much to so many people? 

  1. It Creates a Shared Purpose
  A manifesto helps define what unites your team. When teachers, artists, or leaders articulate their shared co

  A Real-World Example: The Colina Noua Manifesto

  In almost every school, ‘belonging’ features as a desired outcome. But while the pandemic created both connection and disconnection in equal measure, there have been few reliable levers to actively generate it—until Colina Noua.

  Colina Noua, a newly developed Romanian village, was built from the ground up with lifelong learning and well-being at its heart. Instead of retrofitting learning into an existing space, the investors and educators designed a place where belonging is embedded in the very fabric of the community. The Colina Learning Centre is not just a school—it is the village itself, and learning is part of everyday life.

  Their manifesto reflects this:

  • We design learning fo Read More

From Complexity to Clarity: Strategy at ASFM

A New Director, A Fresh Start

How do you lead a school community of 2,500 students and hundreds of staff into a new era—especially after years of disruption?

At the American School Foundation of Monterrey, Mexico, a change in leadership became the perfect moment to rethink direction and reconnect people. With a new Director and Deputy at the helm, the school wanted more than a handover—they needed a deep dive. Into their data, yes. But more importantly, into their people, their purpose, and what mattered most going forward.

The Challenge: Rebuilding Cohesion Post-Pandemic

The outgoing Director had steered the school through a global crisis. But now, the new leadership team needed to shape a vision that would help thei Read More

Designing a regenerative learning village together

Why this project mattered

UWCSEA was planning a new 75,000m² campus in Tengah, Singapore’s first forest town. It was a rare opportunity: not just to build more school, but to rethink what a K–12 learning environment could make possible for more than 3,000 students.

Before architects could begin, UWCSEA asked NoTosh to help articulate a clear, shared vision that could guide every design decision.

Challenge and context: high ambition, complex decisions

Designing a new campus from the ground up brought enormous opportunity but also significant complexity. Leadership, educators and architects all held strong views about what the campus should become, yet without a unifying framework there was a risk that decisions would fragment over time. UWCSEA needed a clear way to translate its educational values into spatial intent so that learning, wellbeing and sustainability remained central throughout the design process. NoTosh acted as the bridge between educational ambition and architectural decision-making.

Insight and approach: turning values into spatial direction

We began by exploring how learning, wellbeing and community already functioned across UWCSEA’s existing campuses, and how these experiences could be reimagined at Tengah. This work revealed that the new campus needed to feel less like a traditional school and more like a connected learning village embedded in nature.:

• Learning should be visible, social and deeply connected to everyday movement
• Landscape should act as a co-teacher, not a backdrop
• Students should experience increasing independence as they grow
• Spaces should support belonging, dignity and wellbeing across all ages

These insights were distilled into a clea

Co-design and engagement: aligning educators, leaders and architects

We worked closely with College leadership and educators to test ideas, challenge assumptions and ensure the vision reflected how learning truly happens at UWCSEA. Structured workshops created space for dialogue between educational and architectural perspectives, helping each group understand how their decisions influenced the other.

This collaborative process built confidence that the emerging design would remain aligned with UWCSEA’s values as the project progressed.

Outcomes and impact: a shared vision guiding a new campus

The project resulted in a coherent, values-led foundation that now shapes all aspects of the Tengah campus design, a rainforest of villages: each one a place to grow, to belong, and to be seen. This enabled:

• A shared understanding of what the new campus should enable for learners
• Clear Design Drivers guiding architectural and landscape decisions
• Strong alignment between wellbeing, sustainability and learning intent
• Confidence across the community that the campus reflects UWCSEA’s mission

With this framework in place, UWCSEA can move forward knowing that the physical environment will actively support its educational philosophy an Read More

Reimagining a modern campus for learning

Why this project mattered

When The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) opened their new campus, the facilities were modern but often felt more concrete than community. The recently constructed spaces functioned well, but we wanted to ensure that they embodied ISKL’s community values, and opened curriculum innovation in the years to come. Through deep listening and provocation sessions with students, staff, and parents, we developed a Conceptual Masterplan guided by five principles. Most of the ideas we created to make the most of existing space have been taken forward by ISKL with their architect.

The Idea: Design Principles as Decision-Making Tools

Rather than starting with square footage, rooms or buildings, we began with a simple question: what principles should guide every design decision, large or small? Five principles emerged, and together they shaped the most significant moves in the Concept.

Beauty Every Day

We set out to ensure that nature was not pushed to the edges of the campus, but experienced as part of everyday learning. This led directly to proposals for rooftop gardens, edible landscapes, vertical planting, and shaded courtyards that cool buildings and soften sound. Sustainability became visible through student-managed solar panels and rainwater systems, turning infrastructure into curriculum and beauty into a daily expectation rather than a special feature.

Playfulness at Every Turn

If learning is meant to be challenging, creative, and joyful, then space needs to invite curiosity and risk-taking. This principle pushed design well beyond traditional playgrounds. We proposed adventure play for older students, rooftop activity spaces, corridors that double as galleries for work in progress, and makerspaces that remain active after school and into the evening. Movement, experimentation, and play became legitimate modes of learning at every age.

Learners Lead

We tested every space against a simple rule: could the smallest person in the room adapt it to their purpose? This resulted in flexible labs, highly visible makerspaces, and learning areas that students could reconfigure quickly. It also shaped the Professional Learning Centre, designed more like a shared lounge than a meeting suite, reinforcing that teacher learning should mirror the agency we expect from students.

Design for Sharing

Instead of designing space around timetables, we reversed the logic. Shared labs, co-planning hubs, flexible cafés, and adaptable common areas were designed to encourage learning to spill across subjects, age groups, and roles. Libraries, canteens, and circulation spaces became places where collaboration happens by default, not by exception.

Serendipity by Design

Collaboration rarely emerges by chance. It needs to be deliberately designed for. This principle shaped some of the biggest campus moves, including a second internal spine through courtyards and social spaces, the placement of coffee and food as social catalysts, and open team rooms that de-privatised practice. As a result, leadership became more visible, parents more involved, and the campus began to operate as one connected learning community rather than three separate schools.

Co-design and engagement: building a vision the community could own

We worked closely with school leaders, teachers and students to capture multiple perspectives on how the campus was experienced day to day. Structured workshops and conversations surfaced both pride and frustration, helping the community articulate what mattered most and where change would be meaningful.

This collaborative process ensured the emerging vision felt authentic, shared and rooted in the culture of the school.

Outcomes and impact: a clear framework for future decisions

The project resulted in a unifying campus vision that now guides how ISKL thinks about space, growth and investmen Read More

Reimagining learning through connected community spaces

Why this project mattered

United Nations International School (UNIS) Hanoi had strong facilities, committed teachers and a distinctive identity rooted in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. But the campus did not always make that identity visible. Some spaces supported student agency and connection. Others encouraged more traditional patterns: teacher talk, students facing the front, underused corners, dead space and learning that stayed hidden inside classrooms.

UNIS Hanoi asked B+H and NoTosh to help turn its next round of campus investment into something more useful than a refurbishment plan: a set of design principles, spatial priorities and practical concepts that could connect buildings, furni

What we did

We did not start with furniture catalogues or room layouts. We started with the learning.

Across the campus, we observed how students, teachers and support staff actually used space: where learning gathered energy, where it became stuck, and where the physical environment quietly shaped behaviour. We looked at three things together: the spaces themselves, the furnishings and equipment, and the attitudes, beliefs and permissions of the people using them.

That gave UNIS Hanoi a practical diagnostic: not just “what should we build?”, but “what kind of learning will this space make more likely?”

Challenge and context: strong learning, underused shared spaces

Rapid strategic planning for school investment decisions

Overview data:

Dulwich College Seoul had more than 150 possible campus investment opportunities and needed a fast, rigorous way to decide which would make the greatest difference to learning, wellbeing and community experience.

Type of work: Short-cycle strategic planning, investment strategy, campus prioritisation.

Challenge: Prioritising 150+ possible investment opportunities.

NoTosh role: Stakeholder insight, strategic analysis, co-design, decision-making framework.

Outputs: Opportunity matrix, investment decision framework, phased roadmap.

Best for: schools needing rapid strategy before major investment,

Challenge and context: too many choices, unclear priorities

The College was presented with more than 150 possible investment opportunities, each carrying different levels of cost, disruption and educational benefit. Large-scale projects risked consuming resources that might be better spent elsewhere, while smaller, high-value improvements risked being overlooked. Leadership needed a clear, rigorous way to weigh these competing ideas and decide where investment would make the most difference to learning and wellbeing.

Insight and approach: prioritising change through what matters most

This was a focused, short-cycle strategy project.

Rather t

Why this matters

Strategic planning is often imagined as a large, slow and comprehensive process. Sometimes that is exactly what an organisation needs, but there are also moments when leaders need a shorter, sharper piece of strategy work: a focused process that helps them make a high-stakes decision, prioritise investment, or move forward before a full strategic plan is possible.

This project showed how a short-cycle strategic planning process can help a school make better decisions quickly, without reducing strategy to a checklist.

NoTosh’s role

NoTosh brought together strategy, user insight and educational design.

We helped the College look beyond the physical estate and consider the full e

Useful when you need to move quickly

This kind of short-cycle strategy work is particularly useful when a school is:

• facing too many possible projects
• preparing for campus investment or redevelopment
• trying to prioritise limited budget
• weighing quick wins against long-term capital projects
• deciding what should happen before a full strategic plan
• aligning leadership around investment decisions
• looking for evidence before committing to a masterplan
• trying to connect learning, wellbeing, community and space

Embedding STEM through place, practice and purpose

Why this project mattered

The South Australian Government wanted to strengthen STEM learning across its school system, not through isolated flagship projects, but through approaches that could scale, adapt and endure. While investment in STEM was strong, the physical environments did not always support inquiry, collaboration or contemporary teaching practice.

NoTosh was asked to help translate STEM ambition into learning environments that genuinely enabled teachers and students to work differently.

Challenge and context: system-wide ambition, uneven spatial support

Across schools, enthusiasm for STEM was high, but the environments in which learning took place varied widely. Some spaces enabled experimentation and collaboration, while others constrained practice through rigid layouts and limited flexibility. Teachers often lacked confidence to adapt spaces for inquiry-based learning, and without clear spatial intent, investment risked producing rooms rather than meaningful learning environments.

The challenge was to create an approach that worked across diverse schools, budgets and contexts.

Insight and approach: designing environments teache

Co-design and engagement: building confidence across the system

Architects, educators and officials co-designed spatial prototypes and tested assumptions about how STEM areas should function.This process highlighted the value of simplicity, purpose and shared design language.

Outcomes and impact: a scalable model for STEM environments

The project resulted in a clear, system-ready approach to STEM learning environments that supports consistency without uniformity. This enabled:

• Greater teacher confidence in using space to support inquiry-based STEM learning
• Clear principles for designing or adapting environments across schools
• Bette Read More

Designing schools that support contemporary learning

Why this project mattered

Across Western Australia, new schools and refurbishments were being delivered at scale to meet growing demand. While investment was significant, there was a risk that buildings could prioritise efficiency over educational intent. In short: they all looked the same regardless of local context.

NoTosh worked with educators and experts across the State to create The Education Brief, ensuring that school design decisions are grounded in how learning actually happens, and that environments actively support students and teachers from day one.

Challenge and context: scale, consistency and educational intent

Designing schools at a system level brings unique pressures. Projects must respond to tight budgets, varied sites and fast timelines, while also serving diverse communities and learning needs. Without a clear educational lens, there is a risk that schools look modern but fail to support contemporary teaching practice, or to respond to local needs. A school in rural Western Australia doesn't have the same needs as one in an urban centre.

The challenge was to create a set of design drivers and a toolkit that make it easy to embed learning-first thinking into design decisions. The second challenge was making sure that this would work acro

Insight and approach: translating pedagogy into practical design

We focused on how teachers and students experience school environments every day, identifying patterns that either support or constrain learning. This work highlighted the importance of clarity, flexibility and usability in school design.

• Teachers teach more confidently in spaces that are intuitive and adaptable
• Learning benefits from visibility, connection and access to shared areas
• Simple design moves often have greater impact than complex features
• Schools need environments that can flex as pedagogy and enrolments change

These insights shaped guidance that connected curriculum intent directly to spatia

Co-design and engagement: aligning stakeholders around learning

Educators, families and Department teams contributed insights through workshops that surfaced authentic routines and conditions. The Toolkit we published through the Government of Western Australia illustrates how each principle can translate into practical space design strategies, helping schools imagine what design could offer in their local context.

Best of all, the Toolkit works for refurbishments and minor adaptations just as well as in new builds.

Outcomes and impact: schools built for use, not just completion

The work resulted in clearer alignment between school design and contemporary learning needs across Western Australia. This enables:

• School environments that better support collaboration, focus and movement
• Greater confidence among teachers using new and refurbished spaces
• More consistent learning experiences across different schools
• Design guidance that supports long-term adaptability and value

As a result, new schools are better equipped to support teaching and learning from the moment they open, while remaining flexible enough to evolve over time.

Designing spaces for belonging, agency and growth

Why this project mattered

Iona Presentation College wanted its learning environments to more clearly reflect its values around care, community and student growth. While teaching and pastoral relationships were strong, the physical environment did not always support the kinds of interaction, independence and collaboration the school hoped to nurture.

The College asked NoTosh to help explore how space could better reinforce belonging, confidence and contemporary learning practice.

Challenge and context: strong culture, spaces lagging behind practice

Across the campus, learning spaces reflected different eras of design, each carrying assumptions about how students should learn and how teachers should teach. Some environments supported interaction and flexibility, while others unintentionally reinforced passive or teacher-led routines.

Leaders recognised that without a clearer spatial intent, the environment could undermine the relational and learner-centred culture that defined Iona’s educational approach.

Insight and approach: aligning space with relationships and learning

We explored how students experienced the school day, focus

Co-design and engagement: listening to student and staff voice

We worked closely with students, teachers and leaders to understand how different spaces were experienced and where change would be most meaningful. Workshops and conversations created space for honest reflection on what supported learning and wellbeing, and what created barriers. This collaborative process ensured that emerging ideas felt authentic to Iona’s culture and achievable within its context.

Outcomes and impact: spaces that reinforce belonging and confidence

The project resulted in a clearer, more intentional approach to shaping learning environments across the College. This enabled:

• Learnin Read More

Designing environments for agency, play and belonging

Why this project mattered

Nanjing International School wanted its Early Years environments to better reflect how young children learn through play, exploration and social interaction. While teaching practice was progressive and values-led, the physical spaces were holding some of that ambition back.

The school asked NoTosh to help redesign environments that would genuinely support autonomy, curiosity and collaboration for its youngest learners.

Challenge and context: progressive pedagogy constrained by space

Traditional, boxed classrooms were reinforcing more teacher-led routines, despite staff aspirations for play-based and inquiry-led learning. Visibility between spaces was limited, transitions were tightly controlled and opportunities for spontaneous collaboration were constrained.

Leaders recognised that without changes to the physical environment, it would be difficult for Early Years practice to evolve consistently across the school.

Insight and approach: supporting autonomy through spatial design

We explored how children moved, chose and interacted throughout the day, focusing on moments where lear

Co-design and engagement: working alongside Early Years educators

We worked closely with Early Years teachers and leaders to understand daily routines, constraints and aspirations. Through workshops and prototyping, staff explored how new spatial arrangements could support play, independence and collaboration. This collaborative process helped build confidence, ensuring educators felt supported in using the redesigned environments in flexible and creative ways.

Outcomes and impact: environments that enable confident, curious learners

The redesigned Early Years spaces transformed how learning unfolded across the programme. This enabled:

• Children to move more independently and c Read More

Mission, Vision and Values that people use every day

Guiding statements should do more than sound good. They should help people make decisions, shape behaviour and explain what your school or organisation stands for.

NoTosh helps schools, universities and education organisations refresh Mission, Vision and Values through community insight, strategic facilitation and clear language.

Arrange a chat today to talk through the guiding language your community needs next. 

Most Mission, Vision and Values work starts with good intent and ends with polished language.

The problem is not usually the words themselves; it's that too few people understand what the words mean in practice.

A Mission should explain why you exist. A Vision should point towards the future you are trying to create. Values should describe the behaviours people can recognise, practise and expect from one another.

If those statements cannot guide decisions, shape culture or help people tell the story of the organisation, they aren't finished yet.

Where this work gets stuck

Mission and Values work often becomes too abstract, too wordy or too disconnected from daily life.

The statements may be beautiful, but they co

What NoTosh does

We help you create guiding statements with roots.

We listen to your community, review existing evidence, test assumptions and help leaders make choices about what should stay, shift or become sharper.

Then we turn that thinking into clear, memorable language that people can actually use: in leadership decisions, recruitment, communications, curriculum, culture, admissions, student life and strategic planning.

The outcome is not a set of slogans and posters on the wall. We create a shared compass for the work ahead.

When leaders call us

This work is useful when:

• your Mission, Vision or Values feel vague, dated or generic
• a new strategic planning process is beginning
• a new Head, CEO, Director or leadership team is arriving
• your community has changed and the language hasn't caught up
• your values sound right, but don't shape behaviour on the ground
• your future Vision is too broad to guide decisions, so nobody can say 'no' to a tempting idea
• different groups describe the organisation in different ways
• you need stronger foundations before strategy, brand or campus work
• the Board and leadership team need shared language for the next chapter

Sometimes this is a sta

How we work

We do not disappear into a room and write your Mission for you. The Leadership Team and Board hold responsibility for the final decisions, but the strongest guiding statements are informed by the people who live the organisation every day.

Our process can include:

• review of existing Mission, Vision, Values and strategy documents
• analysis of community surveys, accreditation reports and other evidence
• interviews with leaders, staff, students, parents, alumni or partners
• community listening through a Design Team
• workshops with Board and leadership
• synthesis of themes, tensions and opportunities
• drafting and testing of Mission, Vision and Values language
• practical guidance on how

  Arrange a chat today to learn how we can turn your reports, recommendations and community voice into Mission, Vision and Values that your school can use every day.
  

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