Capacities | ahuroaschool

OUR LEARNING CAPACITIES

What are Learning Capacities?

The learning capacities (or key competencies) underpin everything that happens in teaching and learning at Ahuroa School. There are four main principles that underpin the key competencies:

ACTIVE

Students are "doing" – applying learning and using learning in meaningful ways; are generating knowledge through their participation in learning

REAL AND PURPOSEFUL

Students interact with others in real, authentic contexts; connections are made between learning areas

RELEVANT

Learning is relevant to students' lives now and also supports their development as life-long learners

EMPOWERING

There is attention to developing students' learning dispositions – their desire, inclination, and will to learn

What do Learning Capacities look like at Ahuora School?

Curiosity Curiosity. Questioning. Students are encouraged to be continually curious about the world around them; to view the world as an awesome, mysterious and intriguing place; to ask deep and and/or hypothetical questions on a wide range of ideas and topics; to enjoy figuring things out for themselves; to be passionate about learning.	Learning Relationships Listening. Learning Relationships. Empathy. Colloaboration. Students are encouraged to spend time listening to others; to develop the ability to understand diverse perspectives; to be able detect emotional states in others; to recognise that many people working together on a team can be very powerful. They are given the skills to be team players; to work and learn from others; to be open and willing to accept feedback.	Changing and Learning Changing and Learning. Revising. Mindset. Students are nurtured to develop a true openness to learning; to want to search for new and better ways of doing things; to enjoy exploring alternatives; to be quick to acknowledge unknowns; to be comfortable and confident to change their minds based on new understandings. Our teachers role-model that learning is an ongoing and continuous process that everyone can succeed at.
Strategic Awareness Strategic Awareness. Reflecting. Planning. Engagement. Students are given the skills to be able to confidently describe their learning process and capacities; identify evidence of their own learning; reflect upon and evaluate thoughts, feelings and learning; confidently and successfully develop a plan for their learning while anticipating and planning for challenges; independently engage in the learning process; proactively seeking support when required.	Resilience Perseverance. Resilience. Managing Distractions. Students are given opportunities to develop and demonstrate perseverance, no matter how difficult the learning becomes; to become comfortable with failure and to consider set backs as an opportunity for growth; to be focused and able to recognise and minimise distractions.	Making Meaning Noticing. Making links. Capatilising. Students are encouraged to notice patterns, connections and relationships between what is already known and new learning; to independently identify information that is missing and develop strategies to gain it; to be able to identify and utilise the people and resources that can support the learning process.
Creativity Imagining. Problem solving. Students are consistently challenged to think of original, ingenious and creative products, solutions and techniques; to look at alternative possibilities from many perspectives.