2013 Prospectus

Welcome
St Andrews Middle School is a well respected Year 7 to 10 learning provider. Our special character of small class sizes, homeroom learning experiences and high expectations, makes us the school of choice for Year 7 to 10 students in Hamilton. Quality teaching and learning is at the heart of everything we do. We progress student learning levels signicantly from the time they begin their education with us as a Year 7 student to when they leave us at the end of Year 10, fully equipped with a strong foundation in literacy and numeracy to become successful with NCEA in Year 11. Our school is a warm, dynamic and caring place in which students develop skills and attributes they will need for their future. We have high expectations for our students that enable them to show respect for themselves and others, to develop a can do attitude, and to participate in all areas of school life. Your child will experience high quality teaching from our highly skilled and committed teaching team as they prepare your child for a future of success. We look forward to welcoming your family into our learning community. Warm regards Tanya Thompson Principal

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Our Middle School

St Andrews is a middle school which caters for Year 7 to 10 students. Our programme is engaging and dynamic to hook emerging adolescents into learning. Our programmes develop well rounded and collaborative learners through engaging and motivating students to meet their academic, social, physical and emotional needs. Our delivery focuses on students maintaining a close learning relationship with their teacher and having students needs recognised and met through an individualised approach. Year 7-10 is a time of rapid personal development. We pride ourselves on providing a safe and secure environment for our students. We see our school as a family school providing opportunities for the development of respectful relationships. Our four year teaching programme means that we have a much better opportunity to get to know our students as learners and that we have a much greater opportunity to meet their learning needs whilst they are with us. Students are organised into composite classes to ensure stability for learning. We have Year 7/8 homeroom classes and Year 9/10 homeroom classes. Classes are organised into teams with a Team Leader responsible for each. Each component of our school works together with others to provide a motivating and positive learning community for our students. The school climate is warm, friendly and welcoming.

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Our Middle School

Together We Learn
Every member of SAMS is a learner. Teachers, students and the wider community engage in learning together, not only in subject content but also in the process of learning about ourselves as learners.

The SAMS Learner

Our Vision

Learning for Life

Our Mission Statement
SAMS will enable and enhance resilient and intellectual learners by providing learning that is personally meaningful, challenging and vital. We promote self direction in life long learning and the desire to contribute positively to society.

We develop these through the

SAMS Learner
Respect for Ourselves, for Others and Our World SAMS Self Manager Are resilient Are resourceful Set and achieve goals Make informed choices Use their initiative SAMS Contributor Actively participate locally, nationally Contribute purposefully Connect with others and their ideas Are collaborative SAMS Communicator Listen actively Discuss, debate, explain, share their knowledge, ideas and opinions / points of view clearly Use a range of communication tools Articulate their thoughts, experiences, needs SAMS Thinker Think about thinking Think critically Think creatively Are intellectually curious Apply and use their knowledge skills and understandings Understand the power of advertising and media on their and others lives

SAMS Explorer Use a range of tools and strategies to access information Takes learning risks Find and solve problems Seek new solutions

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Our Beliefs about Teaching and Learning

We believe Everyone is a learner and a teacher staff students, parents and whanau Everyone will learn to their personal best Everyone will be supported and nurtured as individuals Everyone will have the opportunity to experience and acknowledge the bicultural nature of Aotearoa Everyone will have the opportunity to experience and acknowledge their cultural diversity within our school community Everyone will demonstrate the attributes of the SAMS Learner Students will be encouraged to take responsibility to think globally and act locally That the SAMS curriculum will have meaning for everyone, connect with their wider lives and engage the support of their families, whanau and communities

Expectations of our Students

It is expected that all students at St Andrews Middle School will demonstrate commitment of the following: To develop the attributes of a SAMS learner Attend school every day please note we have 92% minimum attendance Arrive well prepared for learning and all classroom programmes Demonstrate mana and respect towards students and staff

Expectations of our Parents and Whanau / Families

To help students to succeed the school needs the help of those at home. Basic requirements that you can assist with include the following: Help students attend school everyday on time Ensure that they get sufcient food and sleep to help them learn effectively Take an interest in their school work by looking at their books and supervising home learning every night Encourage your child to meet their potential Keep in touch with the school by - text and email - writing notes - phoning the school when necessary - coming to meetings - helping with sports and other school activities

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Diverse Learning Environments

Diverse Learning Environments

The Homeroom Learning Environment

A strong component of our learning community are our small class sizes and the commitment of our staff to build strong, positive learning relationships with our students and their families. Our average class size in Year 7/8 is around 25, and in Year 9/10 is around 18. Our technology and the arts classes are around 15 students per class. Our students experience a mixture of specialised and generalised teaching situations throughout the school. All students (Year 7-10) work for a large part of the day in a homeroom environment. This means that students have one teacher for general curriculum areas which proves to be a major strength to our learning community environment. Our students also cover the Technology and Arts Curriculum by learning in our specially equipped teaching spaces. Our curriculum delivery focuses on identifying and meeting individual students learning needs within the classroom. This provides exciting opportunities for students to make good progress within a supportive learning community.

Meeting Students Individual Learning Needs

We offer special challenges for gifted and talented students who excel and need extension through our GATE classes. Diverse learning experiences are provided to extend every students thinking. We offer students who have learning difculties in literacy and numeracy additional in-class support. As well as this we offer withdrawal booster programmes designed to assist students in general classrooms with learning difculties. This is designed to support and nurture the classroom programmes. Our learning community here at SAMS promotes positive achievement at a personal level. We believe every student can learn and achieve success.

Effective eLearning Tools for Learning

We believe that students need access to a range of tools when and as the need arises, therefore we provide digital tools in all classrooms. These tools range from computers, laptops, netbooks, data projectors and interactive boards. Our eLearning tools will enhance your childs achievement and motivate them to succeed at our school. All students have the opportunity to Bring their own device (BYOD) to support their learning. A digital approach to learning supports our dynamic programme and makes learning motivating, collaborative, engaging, challenging and exciting for our learners. At St Andrews Middle School we use an online learning environment which provides: Engaging virtual classrooms Integrated parent portal Dynamic ePortfolios Safe social networking Students and parents can access our website from both school and home to support their childs learning.

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International Students
Each year we welcome applications for enrolment from International students. We provide specialised programmes including ESOL and we have an experienced International Student Manager who oversees their transition into the school as well as their on-going pastoral care. This person is also able to assist with home stay requirements. Please contact the school for her contact details.

A Safe and Nurturing Learning Community

We believe that all students have the right to learn in an environment where they feel safe and valued. We encourage our students to take responsibility for their learning and behaviour through the attributes of the SAMS Learner. As a community we place daily importance on responsible thinking practices which allow students to think through choices and to consider the impact their decisions have on others.

SAMS Kotahitanga Unity Show respect Awhinatia Mana Sustainability

Manaakitanga (to yourself and others) Caring (act with kindness, support others) Dignity (pride, behaviour, uniform, language) Kaitiakitanga (environment grounds, buildings, equipment)

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Diverse Learning Environments

Our Staff / Team Work

Our Staff Quality Practitioners
At St Andrews Middle School, we believe rmly that the learner sits at the centre of our teaching and learning model. Accordingly, we provide vigorous and continuous Professional Development for our staff as learners themselves to ensure that they are up to date with current educational theory and practices. Over the past several years our staff have been involved with Professional Development in Best Teaching Practice, How Students Learn Best, ICT to Enhance Learning, the Numeracy Project, Restorative Relationship Building and the Career Education Project. We strive for educational excellence for both our staff and students. Consequently we have a dynamic and highly skilled group of teachers and support staff who will help your child reach their potential.

Team Work
While students are at SAMS they are a part of a House culture. We have four different House teams which each student will belong to for the time that they are at SAMS. Each House has representatives from each year level and they compete against each other in many sporting and cultural events throughout the year. House competitions take place during all major school sporting events such as Swimming Sports, Athletics and Cross Country. House competitions also run during lunch times and cover a range of cultural, academic, arts and sporting activities.

Student Leadership
We offer many opportunities for students to lead within our school. Alongside these roles we also provide training programmes to ensure our student leaders are well supported in their roles. Students can gain positions for the following: Head Girl Year 8, Year 10 Head Boy Year 8, Year 10 Sports Captains Cultural Captains Learning Captains Class councillors learning, cultural and sports Digitech ICT experts House Captains Peer Mediators Librarians

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Student Opportunities
Interschool Sport Swimming Athletics Touch Tennis Cricket Cross Country Netball Rugby Hockey Soccer Basketball Volleyball Sports Camp Golf Table Tennis Badminton Gymnastics Academic Teams Literature Quiz Waimaths Speech Team Science Fair International Academic Competitions Otago Problem Solving Primary Research Project Science Online Challenge Cultural Teams Kapa Haka Choir Rockband Envirogroup Japanese Club Other Opportunities Head Girl / Boy Learning Council House Captains Librarian Music Tuition Chess Club Photography Club DigiTech Computer Club Seasonal Sports Teams School Camps School Productions Drama Group Young Leaders

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Our Staff / Team Work

A Thinking Curriculum
Here at St Andrews Middle School we believe in enabling our learners to become successful SAMS Learners. As a key component of this we have designed a Thinking Curriculum which places huge focus on developing successful lifelong learners. Alongside the SAMS learner attributes there are eight essential learning areas. Year 7-10 students learn across the eight essential learning areas as a part of our curriculum delivery. Our Year 9 and 10 students have access to a diverse range of additional options to ensure they are ready for NCEA in Year 11.

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The Technology Learning Programme

The Technology Curriculum is a special feature of the learning programme at St Andrews Middle School. Students learn through hard materials (wood, metal and electronics), textiles technology, biotechnology and food technology, each taught by a different specialist teacher. We have newly designed rooms for technology and the arts which will be opened in 2013. We have specialist teachers teaching in these rooms who have extensive expertise in their eld. The programme provides our students with the opportunity to acquire new skills in the process of design and construction and to further appreciate the ways in which technology impacts on their lives.

The Arts Learning Programme

The arts programme offers both music, dance, drama and art, each taught by a different specialist teacher and emphasising creativity and expression. Our specialist teachers in music, dance, drama and art, bring with them a wealth of expertise and experience. Student art work is well promoted across our school and performance is also popular, offering a combination of music / dance and drama. Technology Biotechnology Technology Toys and Games Hard Materials Technology Things that go Bump in the Night Textiles Technology Sustainable Architect Science and Technology The Arts Becoming a Performer Music, Drama and Dance The Arts Viva SAMS Learner Visual Arts and SAMS Learner Art Workshop The Arts Mori Performing Arts-Toi Whakaari Year 9 and 10 Options Te Reo and Tikanga Mori Maori Language Vive la France! Vive le franais! French Konnichi Wa!!! Japanese Whose Line Was it Anyway? History Where in the World Are We? Geography Show Me the $$$ Financial Literacy Enterprise Studies Ever thought about making a product and then selling it, making money, being rich?

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Our Staff / Team Work

The Sporting Arena

We actively encourage students to take part in sporting activity and our school provides a wealth of opportunities to take part in both individual and team sports. These include teams in netball, rugby, hockey, cricket and indoor basketball. Students in Year 7/8 and Year 9/10 are given opportunities to take part in a comprehensive programme of sporting events as part of the inter-intermediate and middle school programme.

Further Options
We actively encourage our students to experiment with a variety of curriculum areas during their time at SAMS. Our Music tuition is a way that students can branch out and try something different. Instruments on offer depend on the students requiring lessons registration of interest in lessons occurs at the beginning of each year. Instruments available for tuition are: Guitar Bass Guitar Drums Violin Keyboard Piano Saxophone Flute Clarinet Our languages programme is another way that students can branch out and explore other cultures and languages. The languages we offer at SAMS is dependant on staff, but generally they are: Te Reo Spanish French Chinese Japanese Another exciting component of our curriculum is delivered by the experts we invite into our school to enrich and diversify the eight essential learning areas. These people perform, entertain and present demonstrations for our students. We will also take our students out to these experts or facilities should they not be able to be accessed at school. These include: Rhythm Interactive drumming shows where each child gets a bongo drum for the entire show (Music) Stand Up Be Heard Speech making techniques from experts (English Speeches) Technology Roadshow (Technology) Science Roadshow (Science) Disability Awareness Waikato Museum a variety of exhibitions Careers Expo Local Libraries International Acts which travel through our region

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Cultural Exchange Programme

The school has established links with schools in Japan and we host students from these schools each year in Home Stay arrangements. We appreciate offers of assistance from our school community and usually require Home Stay arrangements for 5-10 days. If you are interested in being a Home Stay Host family please contact the school.

Our Wider Learning Community

As a learning community, we aspire to engage our staff, students and families within a culture of learning. Our staff hold strong beliefs around the importance of building strong, positive learning relationships with our students and their families. We believe in keeping parents regularly informed. To ensure this we encourage regular communication between home and school and vice versa. Whilst we have specied times in the year when we share student learning with parents and families, we also operate an open door policy. We feel it is important that you can come into school at times when it is convenient to nd out about your childs learning and how they are getting on at school. We also believe that the student is central in this process and we encourage student lead conferences. This also encourages students to take more responsibility for their own learning and successfully tracking their progress and achievement. Teachers and students report to parents / caregivers about learning through: eportfolios samples of student work across all curriculum areas Conferencing and Goal Setting interviews Set in late February and July Written feedback and feed forward of student work Formal Mid Year (July) and End Year (December) reports In addition to this we encourage parents to: Pop in during the day to see learning in action (via our School ofce) Keep channels of communication open Contact the classroom teacher when concerns arise Contact senior staff when concerns arise

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Our Staff / Team Work

Facilities
At SAMS we have: Sporting Facilities Gymnasium with Basketball markings and equipment Courts with Netball, Tennis and Basketball markings and equipment 2 Soccer Fields Rugby Field Adventure Playground Asphalt areas for small ball games Many grass areas with BBQ tables Learning Facilities Library Multi Purpose Room (MPR) for shows, assemblies etc TV and Radio Station Science Laboratory Music Room for band practice, individual music tuition We have a school mini-van which make class outings more manageable Newly upgraded Technology and Art Facility

School Uniform
We have a uniform which students are expected to wear with pride. Our uniform details can be found in the additional information insert with our prospectus.

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Learning for Life

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Our School

Our School

Learning for Life

Should you require more information, simply contact us at:

St Andrews Middle School

Heath Street, St Andrews Hamilton 3200 Ph: 07 849 2819 Fax: 07 849 3760 Email: office@sams.school.nz www.sams.school.nz

Te Kura Nga Tai Tamariki O Hato Anaru

Learning for Life

15754 | UD.CO.NZ