Second Activity : Profesional Contexts

Second Activity : Profesional Contexts

My school is a state integrated catholic boys college  with a roll of 615. We are a years 7 – 13 school and we are a decile 8 rating. I feel however this is slightly inflated and reading other blogs on decile ratings, I tend to agree some of these ratings do not necessarily reflect the school community accurately.

As a staff we are committed to our belief that the best preparation for life is an education which fosters excellence in a caring, diverse environment. And diverse our school is.  The diversity of cultures include, pakeha, maori, pasifika, Filopino and other minor numbers from other cultures.

Of relevance, is the need to guide our young men through a broad range of academic, spiritual, cultural and sporting programmes in order for them to reach their full potential.

Our senior management team are in a pivotal role in determining firm foundations to a successful school culture. Successful school culture drives successful change, which results in positive teaching and learning outcomes. This vision is shared autonomously with staff.

As a catholic college we have strongly embedded values.  Our school motto – ‘Virtute scientiam complete’ to round off knowledge with manliness, is what we strive to achieve through what we term, ‘Educated minds and educated minds’.

We teach in an environment that fosters inclusitivity and integrity.  Stoll, (2002) asserts; this requires understanding and respect for the various interpretations that is brought by people to educational initiatives.  It requires people to develop shared meaning that is underpinned by norms that will promote sustainable school improvement.

The cultural diversity of our school staff and students enables us to grow in a rich and supportive environment where everyone is valued and respected. It is not surprising therefore, that we stand as an integrated catholic school whose founder, Edmund Rice promoted justice and peace for all.

The culture we aspire to through the concentrated efforts of all staff  help us also to deal with the impact of globalisation, Day C., Harris A., Hadfield M., Tolley H. and Beresford J. (2000) and rapid change, which require us to work together in new ways of approaching learning. We do this in partnership with our parents and community include ensuring our boys embrace the following values: -

·         Engaged

·         Conscientised

·         Have a deep sense of spirituality

·         Relate to others with compassion

Running alongside this are our teaching and learning values :-

·          MANAAKITANGA (Caring for our students and acknowledging their mana)

·         MANA MOTUKAHE (Having high expectations)

·         NGA WHAKAPIRINGATANGA (Managing the classroom to promote learning)

·         WANANGA AND AKO (Using a range of dynamic interactive teaching and learning styles)

·         KOTAHITANGA (Teachers, families and students reflecting together in order to move forward collaboratively)

Reform occurs when teachers, both individually and collectively build capacity for student learning (Andrews, D. & Lewis, M. (2007). At our school we promote a community that encourages a culture of gaining momentum in building and sustaining a positive learning community promoting student learning outocmes and ensuring  our students are at the centre of what we do and what we are about.

References

St Thomas of Canterbury School Vision

Andrews, D. & Lewis, M. (2007). Transforming practice from within: The power of the professional learning community. In L. Stoll & K.S. Louis (eds) Professional learning communities: Divergence, depth and dilemmas. Maidenhead: Open University Press

Day C., Harris A., Hadfield M., Tolley H. and Beresford J. (2000). Leading schools in times of change. Open University Press, Buckingham.

Stoll, L. (2002). School culture. set: Research Information for Teachers, 3, pp 9-14.