Principles / Assumptions that drive each school within the Cambridge Community of Learning

1. An educational mindset that develops an internal drive for relentless gradual improvement will result in higher academic excellence and attainment. (Growth Mindset)
2. Students do not disengage from school; rather schools disengage from what is of interest to students. (Student Agency)
3. Our focus needs to be towards the type of learning experiences that will be of maximum educational interest to students without compromising what will be of maximum educational benefit. 
4. A focus on these two things will subsequently inform what effective teacher practice looks like. 

Shared Community Values

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1. Excellence - setting ambitious goals and by persevering in the face of difficulties (Resilience).
2. Creativity -inquiry, curiosity, thinking critically, innovative and reflective thinking.
3. Integrity - being honest, responsible, accountable and acting ethically.

Respect -themselves, others and human rights (Compassion).

Rationale for working together - Why work Collaboratively?

Collectively we believe that…

1. The purpose of collaboration is that only collectively we can achieve better student outcomes, student engagement, teacher practice and Professional Development for our learners than any one person or school could achieve by themselves.
2. Collectively, we can have a greater impact on raising student achievement across our community and give our students a seamless educational experience that will give the students of Cambridge an Educational Advantage.
3. Collaboratively we can enhance student efficacy, rigour of task design, teacher efficacy, community efficacy. 
4. Through providing clear and consistent educational pathways within schools and between schools we can empower students to make more consistent progress through key transition points.
5. Effective practice is occurring in every school, and we have a collective professional responsibility to support and extend effective practice across all schools for all learners in order to achieve our community achievement challenges which can only be achieved by breaking down the competitive nature between schools.
6. To reshape parents engagement with supporting learning, schools will collectively connect with parents, families and whānau in educationally powerful ways.
7. Rationale of Achievement challenges is based on Analysis of Achievement Data across Cambridge Schools

Our focus areas and Hunches as a Community to Raise Achievement

The Boards of Trustees and tumuaki/principals across Cambridge have agreed to work collaboratively as a Community of Learners to raise akonga/student achievement for all students with a particular focus on Boys and Māori students in the area of writing through the lens of;

• Learner Agency,
• Ubiquity,
• Connectedness,
• Cultural Responsiveness and Competence,
• Adaptive Expertise.

 
We have developed hunches around the areas of

• Use of achievement progressions to enhance student achievement and engagement through specifically looking at explicit incremental learning steps with the locus of responsibility with the learner, student agency, and differentiation vs Personalisation.
  • Parental / Family / Whanau Involvement - increased involvement in academic support
  • Transitions between and within schools where learning can stall
• Holistic and authentic learning experiences through specifically looking at emotions and motivation, brain development, growth mindset and self efficacy.