Within the Junior School, we embrace the child and the period of childhood as unique, special and an important stage of life. to the incorporation of philosophies and beliefs in Education from around the world which encourage critical thinking, recognise that individuals learn in different ways and value what each individual can contribute to a community of learners.
Our education is structured around the explicit teaching of skills and learning dispositions to enable our students to become independent learners and thinkers. As a school we value and believe in:
- Children as active learners who need to have agency in their learning. Having agency recognizes the importance of the utilisation of their questions and ideas to drive and develop the projects and inquiries.
- The Hundred Languages of Children as a metaphor for ensuring our students have a breadth of experiences which enable all of them to find and use their voice to communicate their needs, desires, wishes and ideas. We believe that all subject areas are important so that children can express themselves in different ways.
- The Environment as the Third Educator and recognise the importance of beauty, organization and wonder to stimulate thinking, questioning, create interest and develop an understanding of how to respect and care for the environment around us. Our belief includes the use of recycled, intelligent materials as provocations for project-based
- The role of educators as researchers to teach and guide students’ thinking, learning and skill development. Educators need to learn alongside students and inquire into the strategies and processes children use to learn. By being researchers of children’s learning, educators develop a better understanding of the needs of individuals and can be responsive to their needs and create individualised learning goals which stimulate and ensure motivated learners.
- The role of projects to provide opportunities for deep focused learning. These can be group or individual and provide an opportunity to apply knowledge and skills in authentic ways. Projects are transdisciplinary in nature and encourage children to take action in their learning.
- The role of pedagogical documentation to make the learning and thinking visible. Documentation should make the process of learning visible, provide a snapshot into where the students are in their skill development and provide evidence of learning and development across a year. Formative and summative forms of assessment are used to support this process and sit alongside pedagogical documentation to create a full picture of the learning within the subject areas.
- The role of the learning community to support and nurture the learning of children and adults. The community includes parents and other community members who work and care for children.
- The importance of developing learning dispositions through the use of Building Learning Power. We believe in developing students who are resilient, resourceful, reflective and who demonstrate reciprocity.
- The importance of well-being and resilience and developing students who are confident problem solvers. We believe in developing positive self-esteem and self-worth as this is at the heart of every successful learner. A culture of service prevails within the school and the broader community as by working with others we learn about ourselves.