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Learning

At ‘Springs’ we have created a learning environment that ensures all students have the opportunity to reach their potential. We strive to provide a successful pathway for every student.

Some subjects are compulsory and some are optional. Students are encouraged to participate in many different subject areas – we believe this helps prepare them for the wider world.

Year 9 and 10 students move in core classes through the required curriculum and also some optional classes. This encourages students to build relationships and also provides stability during the first two years. Our junior classes are relatively small and consist of students of mixed ability – we believe every student has different strengths.

Learning at the senior level dovetails with the NCEA Curriculum. This document provides the basis and guide for our learning programmes.

While there is some banding in mathematics and Te Reo Rangatira, there is a strong tradition of mixed ability teaching in the junior school. Our philosophy is that it is important to have high expectations of all students, all of whom we believe to be intelligent in various ways.

Catering for individual needs is achieved in a variety of ways at Western Springs College. Differentiated, individualisation, personalisation, acceleration, enrichment and acknowledging best achievement are all strategies that the school uses.

In addition, the Learning Centre has been designed to help students plug gaps in their learning skills and also to support them in optimising their achievement and developing their study skills. The Learning Centre operates primarily on a self-referral basis, and students are encouraged to make full use of what it can offer. In addition there are a number of subject based homework centres on set nights, a Rumaki homework centre on Wednesdays and a Pasifika homework centre on Mondays.

The school is aware that students learn best when their ‘hauora’ is strong. We encourage students to balance their academic work with the cultural, recreational, social, sporting and whanau activities that maintain their overall well being.

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Personalising Learning

Western Springs College/Ngā Puna o Waiōrea has always emphasised the importance of student focussed learning in a mixed-ability environment.

‘Individualised Learning’ has always been an important part of delivering our vision. In recent years individualisation – teachers modifying opportunities for learning so that different individuals can learn most effectively – has become increasingly important.

The next stage in our development as a school is personalisation. Personalisation is similar to individualisation but when learning is personalised the learner rather than the teacher alone takes responsibility for identifying, modifying and generating opportunities for learning. Personalisation exemplifies ‘ako’, the Māori concept of learning and teaching being a unified process.

The process of ‘Personalised Learning’ is well underway in our feeder schools, and further opportunities for personalisation will be realised with the learning spaces that the our new buildings will offer.

NCEA provides significant opportunities for personalising learning as do our accelerated and enrichment programmes. Personalising learning is an ongoing and gradual process but one which the school believes will optimise students’ success.

Digital Learning 

Teaching and learning at Western Springs College – Ngā Puna o Waiōrea is complemented by digital devices and the excellent digital tools we have available to us. We adopt a blended learning philosophy, where teachers and ākonga/students use a range of learning methods, depending on the content being taught and the desired outcomes. New ākonga/students undertake digital orientation where they are familiarised with the processes for using their devices at school and the suite of Google tools/apps we use to help them learn.

Our platform for digital learning is Google Classroom. Google Classroom saves ākonga/students and teachers precious time and allows teachers to share resources, give good feedback and record student progress.  As a Google School we also have access to a wide range of apps for learning. Our teacher/student familiarity with Google Classroom and other digital tools mean that hybrid learning can take place so that ākonga/students can learn from home as well as at school.

Caregivers can receive weekly Google Classroom progress updates via email. Teachers will invite parents  to receive those updates.  Parents/caregivers will need to accept the email invitation in order to receive the invites. The invite will be sent to the email address you have given to the school for correspondence. There’s more information here about how guardian updates work and what you will be able to see on the update.

All ākonga/students and Caregivers agree to abide by a digital technologies and online safety user agreement on enrolment. It forms the basis of the learning ākonga/students do around digital fluency & keeping safe online, which are detailed below. The agreement also includes the responsibilities of the school/kura around digital learning and online safety.  Find the agreement here

 

Ākonga/Students become digitally fluent during their time at WSCW gaining a base skill set appropriate to their year level. Digital fluency includes digital citizenship – an important part of all our ākonga/students’ lives. All ākonga/students learn about digital safety and their rights and responsibilities in their online lives. Using our school values the ākonga/students explore ways to keep themselves and others safe and what being fair online means for them. Our student led Digiwise group also promotes digital fluency through awareness campaigns. Ākonga/students can join this group at the start of each year.  More information about how digital fluency is fostered at WSCW can be found here

Information about our BYOD policy and options for purchasing digital devices suitable for learning can be found here.

Western Springs College/Nga Puna o Waiorea sees assessment as a tool to enable and enhance learning, rather than being an end in itself.  This reflects the commitment to assessment for learning practices that are common to our primary and intermediate feeder schools.

Formative assessment helps learners reflect on their own learning in specific tasks, modify their approach and product, and optimise their achievement.  Summative assessment gives a snapshot of what a student is capable of at a particular point, or comments on their learning dispositions (e.g. effort, organisation and conduct) at a particular point.  Student, peer, and teacher formative and summative assessment are all valuable tools in enhancing learning.

The school is committed to further developing assessment practices that acknowledge students’ best achievement.  Acknowledging Best Achievement means optimising opportunities for students to fully demonstrate what they are capable of and not letting the structure of assessment obscure that.  NCEA lends itself to this approach.
Acknowledging Best Achievement practices include:

  • alternative modes of assessment (e.g. speeches, videos or PowerPoints might be an alternative to a written format);
  • provision for special assessment conditions (e.g reader/writers in exams);
  • ssessment when ready (e.g. allowing some students to sit tests earlier or later than the bulk of the class);
  • multi-leveling (e.g. crediting students at a higher level if a task is completed beyond the level it was designed for);
  • cross-crediting and recognising achievement when it happens in an unexpected place (e.g. when a skill usually associated with one subject area is demonstrated in another);
  • student choice (e.g. where possible, increasing student choice over content and task design in order to maximise engagement).

Please note that the grid provides a guideline only, few students will fit any set of criteria exactly.

 

Engagement Organisation Conduct
Highly Commended
  • Always participates well in individual, pair, and whole-class learning situations.
  • An Independent learner: attempts to problem solve in the first instance but willing to ask for help when necessary.
  • Always completes tasks to the best of their ability.
  • Punctual
  • Always has the correct equipment
  • Completes all homework tasks thoroughly
  • Consistently meets deadlines
  • Always focussed on the task at hand.
  • Always listens actively and respectfully to others.
  • Manages distractions well.
Meeting expectations
  • Participates in most learning situations:individual, pair, group and whole-class.
  • Is becoming an Independent learner: make some attempts to problem solve and will ask for help when necessary.
  • Usually completes tasks to the best of their ability.
  • Punctual
  • Completes all homework tasks
  • Usually has the right equipment
  • Meets most deadlines
  • Generally focussed on the task at hand.
  • Listens respectfully to others.
  • Manages distractions well with some support and prompting.
Needs improvement
  • Participates in some learning situations but makes little attempt to engage in others.
  • Limited attempts to problem solve and either asks for help too readily or does so reluctantly.
  • Completes tasks but not always to the best of their ability.
  • Sometimes arrives late to class
  • Inconsistent with homework completion
  • Frequent reminders needed to bring the correct equipment.
  • Likely to have missed some deadlines.
  • Needs prompting to stay focussed on the task at hand.
  • Struggles to listen respectfully to others.
  • Easily distracted.
Cause for Concern
  • Seldom participates in learning situations.
  • Seldom attempts to problem solve. Requests for help are either very limited or can be unreasonable.
  • Seldom completes tasks.
  • Punctuality is highly variable
  • Seldom has correct equipment
  • Seldom completes homework tasks
  • Likely to have missed many deadlines.
  • Needs monitoring to stay focussed on the task at hand.
  • Seldom listens respectfully to others.
  • Easily distracted and/or distracts others.

The school accelerates some students in consultation with the Deputy Principal in charge of enrolments and the timetable, the Associate Principal and the relevant Heads of House.  The purpose of the acceleration program is twofold:

  1. To personalise learning and ensure students are fully challenged and extended;
  2. To generate timetable space in Year 13 for students to pursue multiple Scholarships.

In Year 9 there are accelerated classes in Te Reo Rangatira only. The Te Reo Rangatira class is determined when students enter Waiōrea.  Students will usually remain in this accelerated programme as they progress through the school.

During Year 9 Heads of House will identify students who may be offered the opportunity to take one or more NCEA subjects a year early in Year 10.  A variety of data is used in identifying students, the school has to be convinced that students are emotionally/socially as well as academically ready for acceleration, and the decision has to be agreed to by the school,  the students and their parents. Mathematics currently accelerates students within their Year 10 Mathematics programme by offering some Level 1 standards. This sometimes occurs as well in some option subjects.

In Year 11 and 12 the individual acceleration set up in Year 9 and 10 continues to progress through the NCEA levels, with students usually completing Level 3 NCEA at the end of Year 12.  Occasionally a students may drop out of the acceleration programme if it is not best meeting their needs.  Some students may enter the programme at a later stage.

In Year 13 all students reduce from six subjects to 5 and have one timetable block for study.  Students who have been accelerated will have additional study times as well and are expected to use this time to take multiple Scholarships and in some cases university papers.

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