About  /  Teaching and Learning

Teaching and Learning Philosophy

At Wellesley, we provide the academic, physical, social, emotional and spiritual support boys need to discover their best. We foster lifelong skills to ensure our students can progress to secondary school and beyond with confidence and independence. Our staff members have an excellent understanding of children and how boys, in particular, learn best. Every boy is different, and that is something we recognise, support, and celebrate.

 

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Teaching philosophy

Wellesley prides itself on personalising learning for each boy. We focus on creating a flexible programme that allows students to progress as they demonstrate their own personal mastery of academic content, regardless of time, place, or pace of learning.

Teaching students how they learn, so they become agencies for their own development, is key to how we approach teaching and learning at Wellesley. We want our students to be confident, resilient, innovative thinkers who are creative in the way they solve the problems they face.

Wellesley’s key features are:

  • passionate staff who thoroughly understand boys and how they best learn
  • personalised learning for each boy
  • an extensive range of extra-curricular activities
  • state-of-the-art facilities
  • adherence to school values
  • emphasis on nurturing self-esteem and confidence, self-discipline and co-operation
  • commitment to developing independent thought and responsibility
  • focus on the development of the whole child
  • commitment to strengthening interpersonal and communication skills

Teaching structure

Wellesley is divided into Years 1 – 4, Years 5 – 6 and Years 7 – 8 with a head teacher for each syndicate – Chévon O’Leary, Gavin Hughes and Liza Fitzsimmons respectively. Wellesley emphasises the importance of preparing the boys for each syndicate transition.

Our dedicated team of classroom teachers deliver the core curriculum subjects based on the New Zealand Curriculum. Students are also taught by four highly qualified specialist teachers in the areas of physical education, visual arts, performing arts and STEAM.

The curriculum groupings across the school have a head teacher – Maths; English (Michelle Colley); STEM (Marko Cunningham); Visual Arts (Glen Jorna); Performing Arts (Carolyn Currington), Sport (Kara Orr). We also have a full-time librarian (Laurina Wylie) and a team of learning support specialists headed by Mary-Anne Morgan.

Our teachers use a variety of teaching practices, based around integrated inquiry, to facilitate learning using a personalised approach for each boy.