Canterbury Boys High School (CBHS) has been providing quality public education since 1918. The purpose of Canterbury Boys High School is to build confident, caring and articulate citizens of the 21st century. Who actively strive to achieve their personal best and take pride in themselves, their school and their diversity.
At CBHS we believe that students learn best when:
- they are valued as individuals
- they understand and apply the 5 essential learning habits (build the skills of lifelong learners)
- curriculum is differentiated to meet their learning needs
- they are given choice
- they are given different opportunities to excel in and beyond the classroom
- they are given regular, meaningful feedback with the opportunity and time to act on it
- they are supported in learning how to learn
- their learning is the central focus of the school community
- they are extended and achieve excellence
- high expectations are encouraged and celebrated
- they are challenged to think critically and creatively
- they are ethical learners (live the motto ‘truth and honour')
- teachers act as facilitators of learning and empower learners.
At CBHS we believe that teachers learn best when there is a common purpose and agreed outcomes, such as to:
- know their students and forge strong learning relationships with them
- reflect on pedagogy and feedback from students, peers and the community
- feel valued, encouraged and have a voice
- are encouraged to take risks in a supportive environment
- collaborate about things that matter
- are an active member of our learning community
- demonstrate ethics in their pedagogy
At CBHS students learn best when the following are features of our classrooms. As a teacher I ensure that in my classroom:
- students are valued as individuals
- I build mutual respect by talking with, listening to and valuing the knowledge, skills and understandings of my students
- I present and encourage active thinking about perspectives that take into account different cultural, social and political viewpoints in my teaching
- I access support for individual students through appropriate referrals (learning support team: English as a second language (ESL), support teacher learning assistance (STLA), counsellor and team, Year advisor and/or parental contact (community liaison officers).
At CBHS teachers understand and apply the 5 essential learning habits (building the skills for life-long learners) by:
- displaying the learning habits posters in their class room and refer to them whenever applicable
- clearly stating the purpose of classroom activities and learning habits at the beginning of each lesson and reinforce them at the end of each lesson
- including learning habits as outcomes in assessment tasks
- linking merit awards to learning habits
- putting protocols in place for various types of group work and ensure they work effectively
- making learning activities meaningful and enjoyable for students.
At CBHS the curriculum is differentiated for students by Year levels and aptitude. The teachers role in best facilitating this is to:
- know and understand that their students' individual learning styles to better address their learning needs.
- ensure that students know what they will learn, how they will learn and how and when they will be assessed.
- value the knowledge, skill and understanding that students bring to the classroom by giving them a voice.
- provide opportunities for all students to continually extend their knowledge with meaningful tasks.
- embed extension, consolidation and remediation into programs to meet diverse learning needs.
- clearly explain the connections in the information being taught from lesson to lesson.
- ensure students are given the choice to demonstrate what they know and can do in a variety of ways.
At CBHS students are given the opportunity to excel beyond the classroom setting by:
- connecting their learning curriculum to real life contexts, through offering authentic tasks taking into consideration real world aspects.
- acknowledgement of students' strengths, talents and areas of interest and encourage them to build on them.
At CBHS students are given regular, meaningful feedback with the opportunity and time to act on it by teachers. This includes:
- using strategies such as, peer assessment, self assessment, checkpoints, rubrics and written comments that provide feedback to students, throughout a unit.
- encouraging students to submit drafts
- providing individualised feedback and by talking to students about their progress
- providing constructive feedback to students based on observations, group tasks and formal assessment tasks
- ensuring that student work is assessed and returned promptly
- providing structured support to enable students to act on feedback and I enquire how students are using feedback
- accepting feedback from students and act on it
- revisiting topics when I see gaps in learning
- providing meaningful and detailed reports.
At CBHS we support students in learning how to learnand developing a growth mindset by:
- teaching them so they are able to explain the purpose of content they are learning and why.
- showing examples on how learning can be improved through application of learning habits
- teaching them explicitly the skills needed to work independently and cooperatively
- displaying students' work in my room
- using peer tutoring and assessment as a tool of learning in my classroom
ensuring that students feel confident to "have a go".
At CBHS student learning is the central focus of the school community. School staff makes sure of this by:
- ensuring that students understand and can articulate the learning purpose of every lesson.
- using a range of strategies to ensure that learning is always the priority in lessons.
- teachers reflecting on both their successes and failures so that learning remains the focus.
At CBHS we will challenge students to think critically and creatively by:
- providing them tasks that are significant in an out of the classroom that also require analysis and evaluation
- encouraging students to take risks and accept new challenges
- regularly using open-ended activities in classrooms
- valuing and supporting students' ideas
- providing opportunities for students to evaluate different perspectives and seek alternative solutions.
At CBHS students and teachers are ethical learners, they live the motto "truth and honour". As ethical learner they must:
- engage in responsible and respectful discussions
- be responsible digital citizen who uses technology for learning
- always acknowledge others' ideas/work by accurate referencing (footnotes, bibliography)
- ensure the work they submit is all their own
- take pride in upholding the school's motto of ‘truth and honour'.