St Andrew's Middle School .::. School Charter

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St Andrews Middle School Charter 2012

Our Vision

Learning for Life

Our Mission Statement

SAMS will enable and enhance resilient and intellectual learners by providing learning that is personally meaningful, challenging and vital. We promote self direction in life long learning and the desire to contribute positively to society.

We develop our vision and mission through the SAMS Learner

SAMS Learner

Respect for Ourselves, for Others and Our World

SAMS Self Manager	SAMS Contributor	SAMS Communicator
Are resilient Are resourceful Set and achieve goals Make informed choices Use their initiative	Actively participate - locally, nationally, Contribute purposefully Connect with others and their ideas Are collaborative	Listen actively Discuss, debate, explain, share their knowledge, ideas and opinions/points of view clearly Use a range of communication tools Articulate their thoughts, experiences, needs
SAMS Explorer	SAMS Thinker
Use a range of tools and strategies to access information Takes learning risks Find and solve problems Seek new solutions	Think about thinking Think critically Think creatively Are intellectually curious Apply & use their knowledge skills and understandings Understand the power of advertising and media on their and others lives

Our Beliefs about Teaching and Leaning are:

Everyone is a learner and a teacher – staff, students, parents and whanau
Everyone will learn to their personal best.
Everyone will be supported and nurtured as individuals.
Everyone will have the opportunity to experience and acknowledge the bicultural nature of Aotearoa.
Everyone will have the opportunity to experience and acknowledge the cultural diversity within our school community.
Everyone will demonstrate the attributes of the SAMS Learner
Students will be encouraged to take responsibility to think globally and act locally.
That the SAMS curriculum will have meaning for everyone, connects with their wider lives and engages the support of their families, whanau and communities.

Our Learning for Life Goals in 2012 are:

	Writing Development	Numeracy Coaching	Learning for Life	ICT Connected Cluster
Description	Individualised professional development for teachers. Schoolwide professional development for teachers. Modelling and support with writing programmes to support best practice and how students learn best within writing.	Individualised professional development for teachers. Schoolwide professional development for teachers. Modelling and support with numeracy programmes to support best practice and how students learn best within numeracy.	SAMS Learner Thinker Contributor Self Manager Explorer Communicator The SAMS Learner incorporates all of the Key Competencies.	Connected Cluster Developing e-learning strategies and tools. Best Practice pedagogy – how do students learn best? - what is best practice for teachers? Network and hardware maintenance. Develop the use of our new Student Management System (SMS) and Learning Management System (LMS).
Short Term Goal	Help teachers plan more effectively for writing. Use a range of writing strategies within writing sessions. Use good teaching strategies within writing. Staff to implement the 5 non-negoiables in our daily programmes. All staff to embed the writing implementation plan on a daily basis. Send 2 Team Leaders to the Literacy Leaders Course in 2012.	Help teachers plan more effectively for numeracy. Use equipment more effectively during sessions. Use good teaching strategies within numeracy. Development and moderationof all strands: - number and algebra - Geometry and Measurement - Statistics All learners will be able to articulate their thinking and map/diagram it out. All staff to embed the numeracy implementation plan on a daily basis.	This year we want to develop: - A Visual Model for a SAMS Learner. - All learners (teachers/students) will be able to articulate their learning and progress. - All learners have a shared understanding of the SAMS Learner - All learners will have a refresher on questioning and use stage 1,2,3 questions within their learning. - Further development of the Learning for Life rubric and a SAMS Learner Diploma	Up skill teachers with essential e-learning strategies and tools: - Ultranet - uSpace - Interactive boards - Web 2.0 tools - Flips etc All staff will become confident users of our SMS and LMS. Professional development will be provided to ensure all staff can use our SMS and LMS. Parent evenings will be run to ensure all whanau can use our LMS. All staff to embedd the eLearning implementation plan on a daily basis. All staff will further develop their practice through using the eLearning rubric to enhance effectiveness.
Long Term Goal	Better teaching practices and beliefs within writing, hence higher student achievement, which equates to more successful and happy students.	Better teaching practices and beliefs within numeracy, hence higher student achievement, which equates to more successful and happy students.	Empowering students to be active SAMS Learners. All staff and students believe and understand that the Key Competencies are essential for all students to be successful. They are the only constant that will be needed for students to be successful and happy students in the future.	Know and understand how students learn best. Better teaching practices and beliefs, hence higher student achievement, which equates to more successful and happy students.

SAMS School and Community:

SAMS is a restricted composite middle school catering to students in Year 7 to 10 from the wider Hamilton region. It is set in spacious well-maintained grounds with an extensive range of facilities. Students are able to experience and pursue a wide range of educational interests and opportunities, that include digital classrooms, a GATE classroom, a visual art and technology block, music suite, science block, a refurbished and well-resourced library, information and communications technology (Media Hub) and gymnasium. Students learn in well-resourced and attractively presented environments and each classroom is equipped with up-to-date eLearning tools and fast broad-band internet access. This broad range of educational opportunities contributes to the school’s mission of providing learning that is personally meaningful, challenging and vital.

Community Consultation is undertaken as follows:

Publication of our Annual Plan after the December BOT meeting each year.
There will be a minumum of 2 community consultation meetings per annum to provide opportunity for parent input into strategic plannng, discussion of related issues, goals and objectives, action plans and sharing of student achievement outcomes
Maori community consultation meetings will be conducted to provide input into strategic planning, to share trends and to evaluate progress
School LMS will provide opportunity for parental engagement in student learning progress
A questionnaire will be circulated during September each year seeking community feedback and input on particular issues

The Planning Year:

The board will plan targets each year in relation to the strategic goals and student achievement
In Term 4 of each year the school’s annual performance against the previous year’s targets will be analysed and reported to the community
Annual audited accounts are lodged with the Ministry before the end of May each year
Each Team will submit findings relating to their plan to lift student achievement (LSA plan) annual curriculum targets, and annual assessment schedule data to assist in the annual analysis of variance and setting of targets for the following year (taking place in Term 4 of the current year)
All school staff conduct review of school strategic and Annual plan at the completion of Term 3 each year.
The school’s draft budget for the following year is developed in consultation with the school’s accountant in October each year.
The above receives final approval in December for the following year
The above is reviewed by the board in November each year.