Essential Attributes

KingsWay School recognizes that education for young adolescents must be challenging to ensure that every student learns and is held to high expectations.

A challenging curriculum actively engages young adolescents. It addresses substantive issues and skills, is geared to their level of understanding, and increasingly enables them to assume control of their own learning. Learning tasks are perceived as achievable, even if difficult, reflecting the high expectations held for all. Having students grapple with and master advanced concepts and skills requires moving well beyond ‘covering material,’ and explores that which is genuinely important and worth knowing. Skills and concepts are mastered in context as students are helped to become independent explorers, thinkers, skilled writers, and increasingly through the multiplicity of technological resources available, able to form creative solutions to problems.
Both the content and methods of the curriculum are diversified and individualized, providing challenges for every student to reach and grow according to their abilities and readiness. There are opportunities to contribute to and take ownership of their own education, consonant with their varying capacities to handle responsibility.

KingsWay School’s mission statement is: To be a Christian community of learning that nurtures young people towards their full potential as servant leaders in the kingdom of God.

The vision for a KingsWay graduate is: They may be confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners who embody the special Christian character of the school.

Teachers consistently seek ways to incorporate a biblical worldview authentically and teach Christianly in all subject areas. In the Middle Years, students increasingly explore and question their faith. Our committed Christian teachers are constantly developing in their knowledge and skill to disciple young people during these formative years.

In Junior Secondary:

• We offer Lifelab four times a week, where we study and apply the scriptures to life.
• Teachers integrate a Christian worldview into subject and curriculum areas.
• A strong emphasis on selflessness is included in all programmes.
• Christian Living timetabled slot is compulsory.
• Staff mentor students in small groups once a week.
• The focus is on developing a deeper knowledge and application of Christian faith and living.

Being developmentally responsive means using the distinctive nature of young adolescents as the foundation upon which all decisions about school organization, policies, curriculum, instruction and assessment are made.

In the Middle Years we recognize that all areas of adolescent development are intertwined and interdependent. Young adolescent developmental growth in any area, whether academic or personal, is dependent on their other needs being met. Therefore, a developmentally responsive curriculum addresses the holistic person, considering their physical, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, career, moral, psychological, and social needs. We thus provide structured opportunities and activities that allow students to be physically active, mentally engaged and to connect socially while pursuing their academic endeavors.

Our teachers value young adolescents and are committed to and knowledgeable about this age group, educational research and best practices. The middle years’ modes of structure, programming, curriculum, and instruction are designed to close the gap between the developmental needs of students and their actual potential.

Some examples of practice include:

• Academic tutoring
• Large blocks of learning
• Wider learning opportunities
• Homeroom teachers who teach core subjects
• Active learning

Empowering students is about providing all students with the knowledge and skills they need to take responsibility for their lives, to address challenges, to function successfully at all levels of society, and to be creators of knowledge. It is about empowering students to be problem solvers, creative thinkers and life-long learners.

Research demonstrates that the way to empower students and build the intellectual and social strength of character that everyone needs in the contemporary world, is by attending to the dispositions for continuous learning and success through personalized experiences. The KingsWay Middle Year’s curriculum is personalized, designed to accelerate student learning by creating opportunities and pathways for students to develop their own passions and interests towards who they want to be.

We empower students to fully develop their voice, hone their capacities to co-create, and explore the benefits of social construction and self-discovery in meaningful ways.

In the Middle Years at KingsWay School we are committing to advocating for and ensuring every student’s right to learn and providing appropriately challenging, differentiated, relevant learning opportunities.

We provide opportunities for all our students to grow in multiple aspects of life. This includes academic, social, physical, and spiritual growth. Our goal is to ensure all students are equipped to embrace the challenge of senior years when their middle years education is complete.

This means students are aware of where they need to develop and grow so that they can seek out opportunities that will aide their development. Students are also aware of their strengths and gifts so that they can use them to help other students.

Finally, as their independence increases, they will recognise their responsibility to participate in endeavours that serve and benefit others.

In the Middle Years at KingsWay School, we aim to teach the curriculum in a way that is relevant and engaging for all students. We do this by presenting content with real life applications where students link the content taught with their knowledge of the real world.

Teachers provide an integrated curriculum where students see the connections between learning areas. Students are encouraged to seek answers to questions that they have and are also provided with service-learning opportunities to address issues within school and the broader community. Students are encouraged to develop skills and knowledge that enhance their academic success, while also preparing them for living in the 21st century.