Leadership
Assistant Principal: Mr Hayden Hewitt
Principal’s Nominee: Dr Bronwyn Boddy
Careers Advisor: Mr Nate Sextus
Academics
Students in the Senior School engage in full NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 courses.
As they study, all students are encouraged to make subject choices that represent a balance for them between their interests and their future career or university pathways.
Our NCEA pass rates are among the best in the city. They reflect our dedication to every student who is enrolled in the Senior School, and the dedication of our staff who work constantly to prepare challenging yet meaningful teaching and learning programmes.
Character Development
By learning to value their character development, our students learn to apply themselves to the best of their capacity across multiple areas including their academics, service, sport, music, the arts, and culture.
Discipleship
Students are challenged to see the relevance of God for our world, their future in Him, their present in Grace, their past through the Cross.
We do this through biblical integration. Within all our teaching subjects we adopt a Christian World View. We communicate the need to value relationships and the need to repair them when they stumble, and we encourage students to be the best version of themselves God has created them to be.
Senior Colours Award System
Senior Colours are awarded for outstanding attainment in the following areas:
- Academic Merit and Excellence Endorsement at Level 1, 2, and 3.
- Music
- Performing Arts
- Sports
- Service
- YES Programme
Senior Christian Educational Philosophy
Underpinning our educational endeavours are four key foundations.
- Christ is our Saviour.
- We are the ‘body of Christ’.
- We have a purposeful Christian culture.
- We are all made in His image.
The Narratives and Verse we live by
Within the classroom, teachers weave biblical concepts into their teaching through the lens of narrative and verse. Narrative is God’s way of helping us see His hand in our lives. The verse is His Word and is the standard by which we can interpret the curriculum and the wider world around us.
Life Lab – Supporting the Development of Every Student
All students in Year 11-13 are part of a Life Lab of approximately 15 students. As their advocate, the Life Lab Teacher remains with the group as they travel through the last three years of Secondary School.
Life Labs meet three times per week for 30 minutes a day where they cover the Christian aspects to Learning, Serving, and Growing in God. The following chart models how this can be achieved.
Subject Areas
- The Arts [Painting, Photography, Drama, Music]
- Commerce
- English
- Food and Nutrition / Catering and Hospitality
- Mathematics
- Physical Education / Sports Studies
- Science
- Social Science [Geography]
- Vocational courses [First Responders Course/Gateway/UCOL/Design School]
- Te Kura courses [by application] for anything not available on site
A reminder that the courses offered in any particular year are published in the Senior Course Handbook in late Term three for the following year and represent those we expect to offer but are conditional upon staff availability, student choice viability, and resourcing constraints.
Timetable
Difficult Conversations – Preparation for Life Beyond School
A significant aspect to preparing students for life post-secondary school is creating a safe space for students to ask the ‘hard and curly’ questions – particularly about faith.
At times, discussion will spontaneously occur around our country’s difficult conversation topics and church topics. Teachers manage these conversations as best they can and may at times include their own perspectives as part of the discussion.
Please note that such discussion topics are not necessarily part of the formal curriculum and don’t necessarily represent teachings of the school or positions of the school, but none the less they arise because there are areas of interest that students wish to discuss from time to time.
Most of these discussions will come and go as part of normal school life, be they in the classroom or in the wider school environment.
However, should students mention such topics at home we would encourage parents to hold similar discussions with their young adults so students can hear family perspectives as well.
Any student not wishing to be part of any such spontaneous student conversations at school can let the teacher know and make use of the study room at that time.