Belong

Whānau

Once AC Whānau, always AC Whānau

Creating a sense of community where learners feel they belong is central to our philosophy. The Whanau structure (school-within-a-school) has been designed to meet this goal. All learners are placed in one of five Whanau where they become part of an extended family of staff and learners during their years at Alfriston College. The Whanau structure provides learners with a sense of belonging which enables them to develop a strong sense of identity. Each Whanau is led by a Whanau Leadership Team. The Whanau Leadership Team and Learning Leaders work together to support every learner.

Whanau Learning Programme:

  • academic tracking
  • attendance evaluation
  • personal goal setting and monitoring
  • connection activities
  • learning conversations
  • guidance and support
  • the opportunity to meet one on one regularly

The programme builds and maintains closer positive relationships between learners and their Learning Leaders,  their own whanau and the school.

Whānau

Each Whanau provides an effective environment for learning and growth, social interaction, leadership opportunities and mutual support while also maintaining a unique culture of its own.

The five Whanau have a distinctive flavour through their colours, mottos, flags and traditions while sharing core values and beliefs that are common to all. These life long values (known as the 4 Cs) are delivered through the Whanau Learning  programme that focuses on fostering personal growth and the development of emotional intelligence.

Significant adults within each Whanau also aim to develop the Key Competencies for each learner in collaboration with their families. This emphasises the desire to work together to enable learners to establish a Personalised Learning and Pathway Plan. Each plan has learning and co-curricular goals. Learners are supported and challenged when setting goals and identifying future career pathways. This home school partnership enables families to feel involved with their child’s goals, expectations and needs at Alfriston College.

The Whanau competition is keenly contested. The winning Whanau of the term has the honour of flying their flag at the front of the school and the privilege of selecting the bell music for that term. The trophy for the Whanau of the Year is presented at Senior Success Awards in November. The competition involves four dimensions:

  1. Academic
  2. Community
  3. Cultural
  4. Sporting

Our Community

Each year, through Whanau Student Leaders, Alfriston College actively helps out our local community through fundraising initiatives and various events.

Each term we have a community focussed event which all learners are encouraged to participate in. Some annual community events include the Sunrise Walk for Totara Hospice, Food Drive for our contributing primary schools’ Breakfast Clubs and the Manurewa Clean Up. These events are awarded Whanau points, which feed into our Inter-Whanau competition for the year. Apart from these events, there are many other community focussed initiatives that run during the year that learners can be involved in.

Check out our Facebook page for the latest news and pictures regarding our community events.