Curriculum
The Edgecumbe College BOT and staff will recognise, respect, and respond to the educational needs of all students including students with different and special abilities. We are committed to putting students at the centre of teaching and learning.
Edgecumbe College undertakes to respect our College motto ‘INTEGRITY’ by
- Providing quality instruction and encouraging students to reach their individual potential (Personal excellence)
- Promoting the development of a sense of respect and responsibility for self and caring for others (Accountability, Whanaungatanga, Respect)
- Valuing and demonstrating the qualities of honesty and reliability
- Assisting students to become self reliant, to develop strong self esteem and to value and engage in life long learning
- Encouraging students to participate in a wide range of academic and extra curricular activities, and
- Ensuring equity of opportunity through the provision of appropriate resources and opportunities.
While the New Zealand Curriculum provides the theoretical basis for the development of students into confident, connected, lifelong learners, it is the Edgecumbe College Curriculum that provides the vehicle for making this a realistic goal for our graduating students and it is the teachers who create the learning environment in which this goal can be achieved.
Effective teaching is the most important tool that education has and the teachers at Edgecumbe College are continually strengthening their own practice in order to provide a rich and engaging curriculum for our students. This is achieved through a variety of means including:
Participating as a member of a community of learners where teachers set professional learning goals and work with colleagues to improve their skills and knowledge base as teachers - our APPRAISAL programme has a strong focus on improving teacher practice with the goal of improving student outcomes,
- Regular self- and student-review of the effectiveness of the programmes offered – our teachers regularly engage in formal reviews of their courses and teaching effectiveness,
- Adapting courses to suit the needs of individual students – teachers are flexible and encourage students to work at the level to which they are best suited and have the best chance of gaining appropriate qualifications and experiences,
- Providing specialist tuition within and outside the regular classroom for students who experience significant difficulty with aspects of their learning – we have teachers with specialist qualifications who are highly respected in this field,
- Providing specialist support and appropriate programmes and opportunities for those students who significantly outperform their peers in any area/s of learning – the Tuatahi programme aims to provide an environment where ‘Tall Poppies’ can thrive, and
- Personalised guidance in the selection of learning pathways through secondary school to ensure students have every opportunity to gain optimum qualifications while also growing as leaders within society.
Underpinning our practice is the belief that teachers need the humility to be lifelong learners themselves but also the capability to be highly competent teachers.
