Waitakere Community of Learning shares its collaborative approach
“No school is an island” is the philosophy behind the diverse group of schools that have come together in West Auckland to form the Waitakere Community of Learning.
12 schools in total make up the CoL, 8COL, eight primary schools, 1schools, one intermediate and 3and three secondary schools.
Waitakere College deputy principal and COL leader Shona Smith became involved in the development of the CoLCOL in August 2015.
“The process of bringing the schools together started in late 2014 and took time, but from a broad and varied place we emerged with a shared purpose and vision,” she says.
“It’s important each school in the COL maintains its uniqueness and is successful, but it’s just as important for each school to work together, to maximise teaching quality and lift educational achievement for every student.”
The Waitakere COL is comprised of a diverse group of students and teachers. Their achievement challenges reflect that, focussed on raising the achievement levels for Māori and Pasifika students in reading, writing and maths, increasing the percentage of Māori and Pasifika leaving school with NCEA Level 2 or higher, and improving the retention of Māori students.
The COL has held 2held two conferences this year. The meetings brought together staff from across the schools to begin sharing knowledge and ideas on how to lift achievement for all students. They looked at data from all the schools in the community to pinpoint particular areas that need positive change, as well as looking at how teachers can better meet the needs of their Maori and Pasifika learners.
Shona says the boards of trustees across the CoL have been supportive and committed and all 12 have now signed up to a shared memorandum‘memorandum of agreement,agreement’, and hope to hold a combined board meeting later this year.
Shona says that by combining resources, the schools that make up the Waitakere CoL can begin to realise their big plans. Two plans in particular are to have more whānau and community input, and consult students about what they believe would help them through school.
“Our students are our success story and we want them to share their journeys and dreams. Our job is to listen, enhance their stories, support their journeys and help them realise their aspirations,” she says.
Another plan is to build more effective transition processes to support students as they move from primary and intermediate and into secondary schools.
“Some of our schools have already held combined Matariki celebrations, which brought parents and whānau from the primary and intermediate schools into the secondary school to watch their tamariki perform. This is just a tiny first step towards creating smoother pathways for all our learners,” says Shona.
Some of the challenges the COL has faced range from managing expectations, forming new relationships and understanding the culture of each school.
“We are working as a team rather than as islands and we will gradually understand what is possible at each school – although we know we can’t do everything!”