Ashfield Boys High School aims to inspire every boy to strive for personal excellence and reach his full potential as a man. Every student is viewed as an individual and school structures support and develop talent in a wide variety of fields.
Teaching, learning and wellbeing programs are based on current research and are tailored to the specific learning needs of boys. Students are supported to become independent learners who integrate knowledge from different areas and apply this to real life situations. The aim of this approach is to support the academic, social and ethical development of young men so that they have the skills to thrive in the 21st century.
The changing needs of adolescent male learners inform structures and programs in the school. Years 7 and 8 are taught in learning teams and teachers meet weekly to plan for the personal success of boys in their team. This facilitates the seamless transition from primary school and develops a high degree of professional understanding by teachers regarding the gifts and needs of every student.
In the middle school, students are encouraged to work collaboratively and use their learning to solve problems. The senior school is structured around individual planning and mentoring, allowing every young man to pursue his personal pathway to success in the HSC and beyond. The school also provides for both the academic, language and wellbeing needs of international students.
Students have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of quality co-curricular programs such as band, music, debating, drama, Duke of Edinburgh and leadership development. Both competitive and recreational sports are a strong feature of Ashfield Boys High School. The school enjoys strong partnerships with its community, local schools and youth services. Our continued success is based on collaborative leadership and a caring, supportive and experienced staff. Student accomplishment in the HSC is particularly strong and students achieve highly significant levels of academic growth from Year 7 to 12.
Purpose
Our School has a clear sense of purpose. Sound educational principles and philosophy govern practice within the school. Our purpose is to be a learning school in which:
- The focus is on students and their continuing learning.
- Teachers, students and parents work together to ensure greater learning.
- Teachers are encouraged to be continuing learners.
- The school as an organization learns its way forward to ensure student success.
In this learning school:
Students will
- Have belief in, take responsibility for and exercise greater control over their learning
- Collaborate with teachers in the learning process
- Understand and experience a variety of learning styles and contexts
- Engage in rigorous scholarship
- Become good problem solvers, communicators and decision makers
- Be competent in group processes
- Demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways
- Reflect on and evaluate their learning.
Teachers will
- Initiate, structure and develop co-operative learning environments
- Be flexible with the learning process
- Reward student achievement
- Believe in student desire to learn and succeed
- Allow students to learn in a variety of ways
- Negotiate learning with students
- Use relevant, clearly understood assessment strategies
- Evaluate and reflect on their teaching practices
Our learning community features
- Students knowing what they are learning and how and why they will be assessed
- More flexible, negotiated student-centred learning
- More interactive, collaborative practice between students and teachers
- Regular evaluation of teaching and learning by both students and teachers
- Parents knowing and understanding the learning, assessing and reporting practices used
- Continued collaboration with industry and the wider community in the achievement of our educational objectives