A PERSONALISED APPROACH TO LEARNING

Whilst there are arguments on both sides of the modern learning environment, Dr Sandra Hastie, the Principal at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School believes an individualised, well-being focussed approach to learning, including smaller class sizes, has incredible benefit.

“The focus in education needs to be on connecting with and developing each student as an individual, something which becomes more challenging with larger class sizes. This is more nuanced than the number of students with each teacher – small class sizes and a small school are a great start. At Rangi, we have challenged ourselves to develop our pedagogy, and there has been a real and obvious shift towards ensuring our girls are feeling good and functioning well, with their success a natural progression from this. Focussing on well-being first and success second makes a lot of sense in practice as we know that if our students are not in the right state of mind to learn and develop, then all the opportunities and access to our world-class resources may mean little. At Rangi, the Pastoral Care team for each student includes Tutors and Deans who move through the school with their year level from Year 9 and therefore really get to know each student, Boarding staff for boarders, School Psychologists and Nurses, Chaplain, Careers & Pathways Strategist, Well-being & Digital Engagement Coordinator, Health Coordinator, Learning Centre staff, and the High Performance Learning team. This team has a really broad knowledge of the students and can apply their special lens and expertise to the health and well-being of each girl. Contented students with a true sense of belonging are far better learners, and we will continue to invest significantly in these resources.

“Part of developing curious, independent, grounded, and globally conscious young learners is nurturing their strengths and making them aware of areas for development as early as possible. At Rangi, we have what we term ‘Personal Development Plans’ (PDP), developed annually by every student, in collaboration with their teachers and often parents. The PDPs are an example of how we prioritise time and resources for every girl, ensuring she can reach her potential. At Rangi, our classes are no larger than 25, and in fact, most sit around 16–20 students. Combined with a small school environment of fewer than 700 students, our teachers and staff get to know every student, personalise their teaching methodology, and have more time with each student over the academic year, and throughout her time at Rangi.”

rangiruru.school.nz | 03 983 3700