AJHS

Founding Principles

Dorman’s Seven Needs of Adolescence
* Diversity
* Self-exploration and self-definition
* Meaningful participation in their schools and communities
* Positive social interaction with their peers and adults
* Physical activity
* Competence and achievement
* Structure and clear limits

Effectively meeting the needs of the emerging adolescent is the defining undertaking of our school and is reflected in our aims, procedures and documents. (See Albany Junior High School Charter)

Louise Corporaal

Teaching and Learning

Albany Junior High School has been developed specifically to cater for students in Years 7 to 10.  These emerging adolescents have specific developmental needs that will be met through a sound pedagogical base to curriculum planning and delivery.

 AJHS acknowledges that teaching and learning is our major focus and reflects the total commitment that the Board and staff have to ensure that we are providing the best learning environment for the emerging adolescent.  Students are taught the skills necessary to become competent, independent life long learners.  This school philosophy encompasses every aspect of school life and is reflected in all documentation pertaining to teaching and learning.

Albany Junior High School’s Curriculum Plan consists of:

* Vision

* Principles of Curriculum

* Values

* Key Competencies

* Enriched Learning Environment

* The Eight Essential Learning Areas

The eight Essential Learning Areas being:
* Arts
* English
* Languages
* Mathematics
* PE/Health
* Social Sciences
* Science
* Technology

From 2008 AJHS has implemented the revised New Zealand Curriculum.

Vision, Principles, Values and Key Competencies are important focus areas within the curriculum. At AJHS these focus areas are interwoven into all our curriculum documentation and delivered through our innovative teaching and learning programme by addressing and meeting the needs of the adolescent.

AJHS: The Enriched Learning Environment (ELE):

Adolescence is a period in which young people seek to find their distinctive identities- the sort of persons they are or might become, the ideals that are worth striving for, the qualities that they wish for, the talents that they need to be developed, the kind of relationship in which they will find enrichment, the style of life that is worth pursuing. (R.Pring, 1992)

The Enriched learning Environment consists of:
* ICT
* Hyerle’s Thinking Maps
* Art Costa’s Habits of Mind
* Metacognition
* Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy
* Literacy
* Numeracy

Albany Junior High School has developed an ELE which is specifically designed in recognition that the emerging adolescent requires an environment which respects their integrity and authenticity as they search for their own identity and teaches them the skills, and provides the opportunities to enable this to happen.

All components of the Enriched Learning Environment at AJHS are threaded through the eight Learning Areas and incorporate the focus areas of the new curriculum. Literacy and Numeracy are part of the ELE and are a major part of the AJHS strategic goals. There is a strong emphasis on the importance of continually developing a “thinking skills programme” which reflects the needs of our students.

An essential element in developing a thinking culture at AJHS will be the explicit teaching of thinking skills to all students.  This will be delivered in a structured way to staff and students as this, like the thinking maps, requires a whole school approach in the teaching of these skills.
Through explicit teaching, the facilitator and teachers will use a variety of models in designing, teaching and learning activities which will encourage students to think in different ways.

The thinking tasks will be designed to engage students in a variety of authentic, rich activities that require strategic planning, creative approaches and the application of organised, multiple and complex thinking skills.  These tasks will form a major part of the purpose behind the delivery of the integrated curriculum.