Mission and vision
Here we describe the four principles we work by and what a student should take away from us.
Mission
We teach so that students understand, not just memorise for a test. We focus on tasks that require applying knowledge and on projects spread over time. We also ask questions that have no ready answer in the textbook.
We give everyone what they need. Support and developing talents are two sides of the same work. We run remedial and enrichment classes in parallel, at the same times. Students choose what they need in a given semester.
We are predictable. The rules are written down, the same for everyone and fixed for the whole year. Students and parents know what to expect, from test dates to how to appeal a grade.
We respond. We always respond to violence, exclusion and harm, even when the matter is difficult. Without this, the other three principles mean nothing.
Vision
We want to be a school that parents choose with confidence. A school where teachers have the conditions to work as a team. And a school that pupils are happy to come to.
We have set three directions for the coming years. We are developing project work, strengthening psychological and educational support and opening the school to the community: the town library, cultural institutions and the green area around the building.
Graduate profile
A student finishing our school:
- understands what they learn – can explain it in their own words and apply it in a new situation;
- knows how to learn – plans their work, knows which methods help them and can ask for help;
- works with others – shares tasks, keeps to agreements, deals with differences of opinion;
- reads – not only set books and not only because they have to;
- knows where to look for information and can judge whether a source is reliable;
- responds to harm – their own and other people's;
- knows their rights and responsibilities and how to use them;
- is ready for the next stage of education – organisationally and emotionally too.
How we check that we stay true to our mission
Each of the four principles has its own solution in the school's everyday work: year-long projects in every class, parallel remedial and enrichment classes, written assessment rules and a clear route for reporting harm.
Once a year, in June, the teaching staff council reviews the school's work. We take into account surveys of students and parents and the results of the eighth-grade exam. On this basis we decide what to change the following year.