Manifesto+of+Learning

= = = = ||  Values  Excellence Engagement Self-determination Respect Honesty
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 Vision    **Learning** We aim to help each and every student to discover and develop their individual talents and passions in all areas of the curriculum while recognising that learning is a broad activity encompassing many avenues. We encourage students to invest in their colleagues, family, community and themselves in discovering their place in the world and engaging in a process of learning that will continue long after they have left the school. We provide an opportunity for every student to achieve. We recognize and value the contribution each student makes to this world as a unique individual with limitless potential. The learning environment that is created at Aim High nurtures the artist, the sportsman, the scientist, the leader, the entrepreneur, the gardener, the politician, the engineer, the carpenter, the curious. Aim High is a training ground and an empowering learning environment.

Our teachers are committed to excellence in professional practice and in using fun and engaging methods of teaching. It is our firm belief that student learning must come from within. Aim High teachers are respectful and expect the same in return. They focus on student participation and active thinking, inspiring students to move from remembering and understanding to advanced analytical evaluation and creative application of knowledge. Students are encouraged and taught how to be accountable for their own learning and to make knowledge their own so it becomes real, vibrant and empowering, allowing them to confidently utilize community resources, higher education and employment opportunities. We recognise that students perform at different levels and teachers are supported to give extra time and effort in assisting students with difficulties to perform at their best. Aim High is innovative and develops its initiatives according to informed, evidence-based research. The school adopts a student-centred approach that recognises the relationship between young peoples' social and emotional well-being and their behaviour and academic learning outcomes.
 * Teaching**

We recognize that our learners have a place in their wider community and seek to promote ways in which they are able to engage in and actively contribute to this community. Community begins with the student's family and extends to include their relationships outside of school, their place within their suburbs, cities, countries and the global community. Parents are recognized as playing a vital role in their children's continuing education. We aim to form a partnership with parents through regular interviews and active parental involvement.  Implementation  <span style="display: block; font-size: 404.6%; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; display: block; font-size: 170%; text-align: center;"> <span class="wiki_link" style="display: block; font-size: 187%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> **An Environment for Learning** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">We provide a range of learning options under the banner of Aim High in order that students recognise the valid differences they each have in their abilities and talents. Every student is supported to excel in their chosen area. Aim High has designed its curriculum around the frameworks of the [|Victorian Essential Learning Standards], the [|Victorian Certificate of Education] and the [|Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning].
 * Community**

Aim High School runs a house program in order that students may be supported by and through each other. Students are placed within one of the four houses for the duration of their time at Aim High. The houses promote and encourage the values of the school in their activities. The houses and house-home groups provide an atmosphere in which students and teachers can care for each other. As such, it forms the basis of our student welfare system in which student welfare is prioritised in a preventative manner, where supports are already working and in place. Head teachers support students to run each house. These students represent the students of their house and also represent the student body by forming the Student Representative Council <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (SRC). <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The house system aims high in allowing students to develop leadership and qualities such as loyalty, self-determination, competitiveness, respect through collaborative work and achievement of common and individual goals. Such goals include student participation and support in:
 * House Program**

-Individual and team sports -Theatrical and musical productions -Camps and outdoor recreation -Educational and cultural exhibitions and competitions -Fundraisers -Service and building projects -Other community events

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Empowered Teachers** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Teachers are aware that every student learns in individual ways - the visual thinker, the reader, the kinesthetic, the listener, the creator. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As such, <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> teachers work collaboratively to share creative ideas. They are supported by supervision with peers and with ICT resources that assist their students to remain engaged. They create units that involve a range of learning activities, including reading, presentations, projects, excursions and expeditions, group discussion, experiments, writing, role playing, games and homework. Their focus is with the student and assisting every student to remain engaged and motivated to find application of subject material in their own lives. They use a number of questioning and presentation techniques aimed at assisting thought and effort on each student's part. Teachers assist individuals in achieving personal excellence. One such method is by encouraging respect in the classroom. They encourage students to develop mutually agreeable classroom etiquette lists and then help students hold each other to the rules. Teachers foster self-determination through structured, semi-structured and unstructured activities. We recognise that just as we wish to inspire life-log learning in students, our teachers are required to engage continually in the development of their professional practice so that they remain inspired, creative, informed and at the cutting edge of latest classroom techniques and research. They remain reflective of their own practice and are eager to incorporate improvements where needed.

**Supportive and Supported Community** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Many of the house goals and programs are geared toward community support and participation. The school newspaper, which students write, edit and print on a monthly basis, is distributed throughout the school community. In addition, productions and exhibitions are published in the local Leader newspaper. Stories from such events often appear within its pages.

The Teachers Representative Council (TRC), <span class="wiki_link">Parent Representative Council (PRC) and SRC meet together with the school board to discuss issues and events. The SRC put forward proposals that represent the student body. A member of the local council is usually invited to meetings. The SRC members feed back information to their houses. Decisions are made regarding events and activities that have been approved. The SRC then lead and delegate responsibilities to run events, service projects and even fundraising activities if needed. Research suggests that this can be a successful tool for student empowerment (Carrington & Holm, 2005). To view this paper go to [] Depending on need, the PRC also gains support through active lobbying and raising of funds for school buildings, resources and grounds projects.

We believe that as the students become involved in their community they develop an ownership, bond and sense of responsibility for it. We hope they also gain insight into life after school, with an appreciation for people and the processes involved in getting things done and making a difference. As community members become involved with the school and care for their local students, we believe the partner-relationship developed helps to produce a vital unifying link and mutual respect as a result.

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