Our third target recognises the changing face of education - the need to examine ways for all students to engage with a broad future-focussed curriculum and become self-directed learners in this digital age.  Our Community of Learning will explore innovation, creativity and new ways to prepare our students for their future. The data and targets in this strand will be developed collaboratively to explore why only 46% of students are taking a science-based subject in Year 12, why only 20% of Māori students and why even fewer are studying technology.

Rationale for Science and Technology

We want to develop a local curriculum for our Community of Learning that will create self directed learners who are passionate about science and technology, who can transfer these skills to other areas and who look towards being innovative and creative leaders in our community.

• This challenge will involve schools using a matrix to capture performance in science and technology across their current structure and surveying teachers about how they feel about teaching science.  This will enable us to determine what professional support they have had in this area and what professional development can be targeted to support them further.

• The high school will capture the increased participation in science and technology based courses in Year 12 and 13 and the rise in the number of merit and excellence endorsements in this area.

• We will survey students in Years 4, 6, 8 and 10 about their perceptions of science and technology and put systems in place so that primary, intermediate and high school teachers can collaborate on science pathways.

• We have already begun trialling the NZCER online assessment tool for science in the high school.

• We are aware this is an emerging priority for the government with a shortage of people studying in these fields and the high school is part of a network of secondary schools that has developed ‘Talent Central’ to provide workplace, tertiary school interface and career pathways.

• We want to see within and across school leaders sharing their practice.

• A community of people working together with a collective inquiry and sharing resources.

• The development of an agentic approach to all learning.

• We want to bring together teachers from different schools with passions in science and technology together to share ideas and best practice.

• We want to develop formative practice elements.

• We want to connect with experts such as businesses, specialists and the Royal Society of Science - Science Leadership Programme.