From the Principal

Right Mr Russell Gordon, Principal

Message from the Principal

The role of principal is an absolute privilege and a deep responsibility. The privilege is in being able to contribute or make a difference to student learning and to improve their learning outcomes. The responsibility is to ensure that every student receives quality learning opportunities and experience equity in order that they can achieve their personal best. As such, it is my job to develop a shared understanding around the direction of our school, which can be clearly understood and articulated by all. To help accomplish this shared understanding, we engaged in consultation with students, staff and the community in 2019. The outcome of this consultation was the Ōtūmoetai College purpose statement that captures our shared understanding as to why we exist as a school.

LET LEARNING ENLIGHTEN LIFE

Ōtūmoetai College is an inclusive learning community where identity, optimism and challenge form the foundation for all learners to flourish in a dynamic world. The learning environment will enable students to achieve their personal best in their academic studies, the arts, sporting and cultural pursuits. During their journey, our students will grow into powerful learners who embrace diversity, resilience and develop meaningful relationships with others. This is our purpose and our commitment.

In order to give expression to our purpose statement we must have a clear understanding of what this looks like when it is applied to the learning journey of our students. Our college Graduate Profile is our way of communicating this shared understanding of what we want our future-oriented learners to look like at the end of their five years at Ōtūmoetai College. This graduate profile captures the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that our students, staff and community fed back to us as being important to enable our students to participate in a range of life contexts beyond school. We are therefore creating deliberate opportunities to incorporate these valued outcomes as part of the everyday process of teaching and learning at this college in order to create powerful learners.

LEARNING AT ŌTŪMOETAI COLLEGE

Powerful learning occurs through real world experiences and new situations which challenge what we think and know, inspiring us to want to learn more. Whatever the context, learners critique and construct new ways of knowing and being, thinking and doing, alone and with others, in school and out

Powerful learning is:

Ako: Where we learn from each other.

Connected: Knowing who we are and how we connect.

Contextualised: Learning builds on and challenges what is known, leading to the unknown.

Environment: A space where learning is valued, nurtured, and celebrated, where learners feel safe to fail and succeed. A space where learning processes are visible through different modes of communication. Expectations: Having a clearly communicated purpose for learning. Focusing on the value of thinking and learning as outcomes, alongside the completion of work.

Feedback/forward: Learners evaluating work to determine next, or new learning steps.

Framework: Enabling self-regulation, self- belief, and taking responsibility for learning outcomes. Learners see that outcomes depend on their efforts to generate, relate and / or extend ideas.

Language: Using a common language of learning to communicate and critique thinking. Thinking about thinking: Selfawareness of knowing how, and when, to use strategies forlearning.

Teaching at Ōtūmoetai College is seen less as the process of delivering the same curriculum to all students in the same year of school and more as the process of establishing where students are in their learning and providing appropriately targeted teaching and learning opportunities to allow all students to learn, grow and excel.

We are embarking on an exciting learning journey and I am so pleased that your children are a part ofthis.

Russell Gordon Principal