What we do and how we do it

There are lots of ways to run a school, and lots of discussions about how education should happen, what learning is, and the best way to help students become confident and capable learners.

The phenomenon of schooling is fascinating in itself. In the ancient world, schooling was limited and often linked to philosophical or religious training. Education, such as it was, often took place in the home or in the fields or at the forge. Life was an apprenticeship. Children were apprenticed to their parents and often ended up in the same line of work, whether as blacksmith or farmer, trader, weaver, or garment maker. A narrow slice of the population had the opportunity for formal training, including reading and writing, usually for roles in religious service, the military, politics, or commerce.

Parents today are still their children’s first, and arguably, most important teachers. It is from parents and family that children receive most of their character education. This is a wonderful thing, and here at school, we work hard to support this.

I have no doubt though, that most parents are happy not to have the main responsibility for their children’s learning. As the world moved into industrialisation, specialisation and interdependence, education, like many other endeavours including food production and garment manufacture, became the province of experts. Parents moved into their area of specialty, and the education of hearth and home and field, became the education of the classroom. This is efficient, in the way of the modern world, and has led to the development of expertise, but it is not always the case of upside all the time.

At NBCS, over the past seven years, we have built a very deliberate framework and approach to education. We remain committed to educating the whole child so that school is not just about the academic. We are, nonetheless, conscious that the main aim of school is learning. Most of you will know that we have a balanced approach where there are six things that we want all our students to leave with when they complete their schooling: Values, Effort, Learning, Character, Relationships and Opportunities.

The following is a summary of the way that we have built our approach to education across the past seven years. I hope that it helps provide a broader context of who we are and what we do.

 

NBCS approach to education 2019-2025

 

In 2019, aligning resources, roles, and structures

We focused on aligning resources, roles, and structures, so that everything that we did and everything that we had, was dedicated towards the main point of school: learning.

In 2020, high expectations

High expectations are crucial. Our focus on embedding high expectations was based on the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation publication, What Works Best.

In 2021, explicit instruction, and the development of the NBCS Learning Framework

We did this by continuing with What Works Best and incorporating Barak Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction, which include starting lessons with a review of material previously covered, presenting material in small steps with student practice after each step, increased checking for understanding, modelled responses, guided practice, scaffolding for difficult tasks, independent practice towards mastery and ongoing review of content.

In 2022, literacy

With a focus on two works, The Writing Revolution and Closing the Writing Gap, we acknowledged the enormous significance to all students of literacy. The ability to engage with the world of ideas through words, to absorb and express ideas, is critical. Literacy is a driver to academic success and makes navigating the world so much easier.

In 2023, behaviour

Our focus in 2023 was the work of Tom Bennett’s work, Running The Room. The central plank of this work is that just as content and skills need to be taught, so does behaviour. By teaching clearly what is expected and how to behave, we worked to reduce student uncertainty and to ensure that the needs of all are not being diminished by the actions of the few.

In 2024, teaching (pedagogy)

Pedagogy is the fancy word that teachers and academics sometimes use when they talk about teaching. The most helpful way to definition of pedagogy is to see it as the art and science of teaching. The focus for staff in 2024 was the work of Bruce Robertson, The Teaching Delusion. It poses a central question: what can we do to improve the quality of our teaching? The answer to this question is fairly involved, but it starts with having a shared understanding of what good teaching looks like.

In 2025, clarity and consistency (CLEAR)

Your child should be familiar with what is expected of them and their peers in each and every lesson. It is on the walls and screens in their rooms, and in the actions in each lesson. Their role, as students and as learners, is CLEAR – concentrate, listen, engage, ask, and answer questions, respect self and others. They know what it looks like to be a learner, for these are learning behaviours designed to help all our students make the most of their learning and their time in class.

Our approach is cumulative. In other words, we don’t stop doing what we did in a previous year to do what comes next. We continue to build on the platform that our points of focus have put in place.

At the same time as we have been doing all of the above, we have worked hard to develop an open, non-defensive and invitational approach to the Christian life of the school, where our goal is to live and share the beauty of faith in Jesus. We have likewise enhanced the nature of our offerings in co-curricular, seeking to expand the range and the quality of the activities that happen beyond the classroom, in clubs, co-curricular activities, sport, music and the musical. I love the way that more and more students are taking up these opportunities. We have honed our approach to wellbeing so that we meet students where they are at, and provide them with the support that they need, but with the underpinning philosophy that we prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child. We won’t pave the jungle but we will help them put on their boots.

And all the while, we have continued to shape the fabric of the school so that our built environment and all our infrastructure supports learning. We have had the privilege of refurbishing and reconfiguring 50 classrooms, building the Library, the Primary playground, reinvigorating the MPC and just recently completing the STEM building, which students appreciate every day.

As always, there are debates in education that continue to rumble along. This is part of the joy of education. Many of these debates have run for 20, 30 or 40 years and more. And the debates run on because people are so invested in education. We have a key reference point for education, our own, and a very real desire to deliver to our children the best education that we can.

Every school seeks to meet the needs of its students, and yet schools can do this in so many ways, some different and some similar. We will continue to work hard to be the best fit for our students, staff, and families. We love doing what we do, though it is not without its challenges. We appreciate your ongoing partnership and support, and we value and acknowledge your very significant investment in the lives and education of your children. NBCS is a pretty special place.

Tim Watson
Principal