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Drafting the Warrington School Story
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Warrington Decision Making Process
The well being of Warrington pupils and the sustainability of all associated with the school needs to be protected through decisions that are informed and fundamental to this philosophy.
Key questions
- Does the decision benefit the pupils? i.e. academically, educationally, emotionally, socially, culturally, sporting, environmentally, physically.
- Is the the decision ethically sound? e.g sustainable, uses fair trade, locally produced, environmentally friendly, healthy, renewable.
- Are we drawing on and building up local resources?
- Are all parties involved in the decision process?
- Is there someone we need to consult further with this decision?
- Will this decision impact negatively on someone/thing else?
Warrington Living Within Our Means
Sustainability of education within the Warrington area is dependent on working within our means. The Ministry of Education in their wisdom fund the school in an equitable manner sufficiently to manage the day to day running of the school, its on going maintenance and for the employment of necessary staff members.
Key Questions
Should we need or seek external funding to run Warrington School?
If we do need external sources of funding in what form should it come?
Should the school compromise its ethics by accepting funding assistance from the proceeds of corporations that may provide goods and services that are not aligned philosophically with the direction of the school, for example gambling or the sale of alcohol?
Possible Answers
Virtues programme
This is an initiative to empower children to live by their deepest values and experience what is meaningful in their lives.
It's creating a culture of character... cultivating WWW.(Warrington Wellbeing Way)
Virtues are more basic than values. All cultures honour virtues such as courage, love, honesty and service, yet they apply them differently according to their own diverse value systems. So, what is a virtue? Here are a few thoughts from the children in Senior Room 1: "A virtue is something that everyone has to make them who they are."TRHN "A virtue is something inside you."AVT "Virtues can be used to make the world a better place."IAP "Virtues live in your mind and come out when you speak or act."EKMS "Virtues make you who you really are."NAA "Virtues plus personality...it all stacks up." FJH
The whole school is now on board with choosing a "VIRTUE FOR THE WEEK" from our virtues pack. The seniors learn what it means for them, through role plays, discussions and reading the virtues card. More often than not we find there are many sides to the picture and surprisingly many other virtues within the one we are focusing on (interdependence to the max). Two reps from the senior class then move through to the middle class and 'teach' their understanding of the new virtue for the week (often giving a little role play of their own). Once the middlies have got the new virtue pictured, a rep from their class joins the two seniors to move on to the junior room and deliver the new virtue to the young ones. The junior room teacher has noticed an encouraging improvement in the seniors delivery of the virtue to the juniors: "They are much more confident and bring the message down to the level of my little ones. This really shows they have a great understanding of it themselves. I am so impressed."
We are planning to move on to creating an 'Appreciation booklet' in the senior room where we make a regular entry of the things we are grateful for... from a simple smile, to a good friend...
ROOM TWO have been exploring the different virtues and came up with their own definitions of "WHAT ARE VIRTUES?":
"Things that make you good and happy" (Elsa age 7) "They make your personality" (Sarah age 8) "Things that make the world a good place" (Ashlie age 9) "Things that make you a better person" (Mary age 7) "Things that make you who you are" (Lachlan age 9) "They make you different in character to others" (Shea age 9) "If you had no virtues the world would be in chaos" (Joshua age 9)
Planning documents
The purpose of this page is to provide a collaborative working space for writing up the Warrington School story. Thoughts and ideas:
- It should be a human interest story told from the perspective of people involved
- It should be an example that inspires others to emulate
- Relevant examples:
- the next section about computers is on a new page: Warrington School/IT
