Secondary – Year 7-13

We are a young and growing secondary school of 280 students in Years 7-13. We have excellent NCEA pass and endorsement rates across NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3. However our vision is to “Create confident followers of Jesus Christ…’, so we also aim to Develop Christian Character within our students. We do this through biblical integration in all our teaching subjects (as below), including our discipleship class named ‘LifeLab’.

We employ around 15 secondary subject specialist teachers, a guidance counsellor and three support staff in the secondary school. Meet our staff.

Core Secondary Educational Philosophy

Within our Cornerstone Christian School faith community, developing confident followers of Jesus Christ who are equipped and inspired to creatively impact our world is at the centre of all that we do. We believe it is our role as a secondary school to fan into flame the gifts of God that are within each young person (2 Timothy 1:6) in order to equip them with the skills and dispositions to outwork our vision. 

We are, therefore, future focused and seeking to develop a personalised pathway for each individual which will extend beyond their time at Cornerstone Christian School.

Our approach means that each young person will develop within three contexts of learning (Course lab, Life lab and Sky lab):

Cornerstone Keys

To become empowered to achieve this success, we have identified our Cornerstone keys. These keys help to unlock the potential of each learner, and provide a framework to embed what we believe to be important in preparing each young person for the “real” world:

  1. Active faith
  2. Self-management
  3. Effective communication
  4. Enterprise
  5. Practical skills
  6. Digital competency
  7. Problem-solving
  8. Effective teamwork
  9. Servant leadership
  10. Critical thinking

Biblical Integration

The Secondary school has an underpinning philosophy that the Bible is narrative in nature, seeking to view Scripture as an unfolding drama in which the school and each student has a unique role.

Each student is an ‘actor in an unfinished drama’. If they can understand the question of what story they find themselves a part of, then this can help them to live out the Biblical story in the prevailing culture.

Each term the school focuses on books of the Bible and how those stories fit into the big narrative. The values and themes of the whole school will naturally flow from these stories.

  • Term 1:   Gospels
  • Term 2:   Old Testament
  • Term 3:   Letters
  • Term 4:   Psalms and Wisdom.

 In the Course Labs we use the following Biblical integration model:


LifeLab

All students at each year level are part of a Life Lab of approximately 15 students meeting three times a week (two 45-minute sessions and one 90-minute session).

The focus of each Life Lab is:

  • Discipleship: spiritual and character formation
  • Academic mentoring
  • Life direction

Role of the Life Lab Coach

Each Life Lab is led by a Life Lab Coach who oversees the holistic needs of the students. Each student works closely with a Life Lab Coach who will support them through discipleship and mentoring processes, to individually help them discover their life direction and improve their learning performance.

This Life Lab time includes structured learning programmes around the following strands:

  • Identity
  • Relationships
  • Biblical worldview
  • Self-management
  • Aspirations
  • Guidance
  • Gifts and Passions
  • Vocation and Service

To provide a high level of communication between home and school.


Kaitiaki

Kaitiaki is a reo term meaning ‘Guardian’.

We have two Kaitiaki teachers in our school who will be promoting school culture and events.

Mr McIntyre is our Kaitiaki for the Middle School (Year 7-10) and Mr Hewitt is the Kaitiaki for the Senior School (Y11-13).

Kaitiaki will work between Team Leaders or HODs and the APs.  All staff will address any issues they see with a student first.  However, if further steps are required for students to support our school culture, a meeting will be set up with the appropriate Kaitiaki to discuss plans and ways students can be supported to make necessary changes. This may include getting parents/caregivers involved.  

To apply for exemptions for medical reasons or for uniform passes, please see the appropriate Kaitiaki or AP for the student’s level of the school (Middle/Senior).


Subjects currently offered

We will offer the following subjects at Cornerstone:

  • Years 9-10 Humanities, Mathematics, Science, Physical Education, Music, Art, Dance and Drama, Theatre Sports, Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, Digital Technology, Robotics, Church History.
  • Year 11 English, History, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Science, Applied Science, Music, Art, Digital technology, Business Studies, Economics, Accounting, Dance, Drama, Physical Education, Sport Studies.
  • Year 12 English, History, Mathematics (Calculus, Statistics and General Mathematics, including NCEA Level 3), Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Music, Art (Painting, Photography), Digital Technology, Economics, Accounting, Business Studies, Dance Troupe, Drama, Physical Education, Sport Studies, STAR/Gateway.
  • Year 13 English, History, Mathematics (Calculus, Statistics and General Mathematics), Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Music, Art (Painting, Photography), Digital Technology, Economics, Accounting, Business Studies, Dance Troupe, Drama, Physical Education, Sport Studies, STAR/Gateway, Emmaus Internship.

We also offer the following subjects through external providers:

  • Food Technology (Wholegrain Organics)
  • Workshop Technology – Wood, Metal, Automotive (UCOL or Woodworkers Guild)
  • Fabrics Technology (Design School)
  • All other courses (Te Kura Correspondence School)
  • University papers – under certain criteria