Motivated TO LEARN

Newington Students

Boys learning styles are as individual as they are.

With a wealth of experience plus the willingness to respond to each boy’s needs, Newington aims to implement programs and methods of teaching that engages each boy and engenders in them curiosity and a love of learning.

At Newington we aim to implement the highest quality boys' educational practice and engage staff fully committed to achieving our goal. We provide a strong professional development program to encourage our teachers to be at the forefront of their profession and provide a quality teaching framework.

Over the last 10 years there has been significant research and discussion in relation to how learning can be structured to allow boys to maximise the experience and learning outcomes. We have built upon this research and are at the forefront of the implementation of diagnostic programs to ensure that our programs are specific for the Newington context and a drive for our teaching practice.

Teachers need to be well informed about each boy's background – in terms of specific skills, emotional competence and family situation. In class the teacher needs to balance out the teaching process so that the most powerful learning process for each boy is triggered – be that visual (seeing), auditory (hearing) or kinaesthetic (doing).

Our teachers understand that for boys, information needs to be 'chunked' into meaningful amounts and that questioning in class, particularly when it is a complex question, should allow for a 'think' time before seeking a response.

We understand that the classroom encironment needs to retain a structured approach with clear objectives, obvious sequence and reinforcement of key ideas to ensure our boys are motivated and secure in their learning.

Motivation is triggered by emotional, intrinsic interest and competition with boys but it is also important for learning to include teamwork and collaborative process. The need for balancing working from the initial emotional driver (competition and personal interest) to the long term need (teamwork and cooperation) requires teachers with deep understanding of boys as well as a skilful use of teaching/learning processes.

At Newington we understand that motivation is also most powerful when boys feel safe in taking risks with their learning. This is mainly about the quality of relationship that is established in the classroom – between teacher and student and between student and student. This underscores our classroom practice and pastoral care focus.

Please direct enquiries about this page to Colette McKiernan, Head of Community Engagement