AUCKLAND GRAMMAR SCHOOL: A SPECIAL, UNIQUE AND INDEPENDENT STATE SCHOOL

I know of no other state school anywhere in the world that consistently is at the top of the academic league tables, puts out over 400 sports’ teams each year, has marvellous performance music groups and performing arts productions, an international as well as national profile, and this in an era when private girls’ schools around the world are dominating in all the positive educational statistics.

The four Education Review Office reports completed in the last 15 years outline the success of the school and reasons for it. The success of the school is the result of a combination of factors:

• A rich history and tradition
• A magnificent main building and superb teaching and sports’ facilities
• A prestigious and favoured location
• A student cohort that is generally motivated and ambitious for success
• Unprecedented community support
• Strong governance and management
• Extraordinarily strong teaching and support staff

All of this has created a culture, environment and atmosphere which in a myriad of ways influence how well the boys learn. This culture incorporates the following:

• A focus on instruction and learning; this is the essence of Grammar
• Teachers see their prime role as teachers and instructors
• There is a known and understood instructional programme
• Students are expected to perform well
• Progress in learning is constantly assessed
• There is coherence within subjects, across subjects, across year groups and among classroom approaches.

The success of the school is also down to the fact that it is exclusively a school for boys, and that must not change. This fact has allowed the school to fill a clearly defined niche in the NZ education scene.

Because it is exclusively a school for boys it is able:

• To help boys develop a strong sense of self-esteem and worth, while accommodating for differences in learning style and creating a climate of achievement
• To allow teachers to embrace the distinctive tempo, sequence and style of learning specific to boys
• To effectively promote boys’ confidence, freedom, self-discipline, academic achievement and leadership skills
• To help boys discover their individual strengths and weaknesses and affording them opportunities to feel good about themselves
• To give boys the freedom to explore their individual interests and identities and pursue their unique potential which will allow them to enter any situation with poise, assurance and dignity.

John Morris
Headmaster