Mother of God is a learning centred school – we are focused on learning and learners.
Children who attend Mother of God school often speak a language other than English at home. While English is the language of communication and instruction at school, we value highly the knowledge and skills children and their families have in their first language. We encourage families to help their children maintain and extend their first language while also learning English.
In our school community we promote the development of deep understanding, skills and learning dispositions that enable all to flourish..
One of our core values, inspired by our Brigidine tradition, is to ‘Foster a love of learning, hope and sense of purpose’.
Dispositions for Learning at MoGS
We promote:
Curiosity: Being curious about the world around us and asking questions that unlock learning.
Metacognition: Thinking about how we think and learn. Reflecting on our learning can serve to “lock in” our learning, helping to solidify it, and enhance retention.
Empathy: Involves perspective-taking, a cognitive act that asks individuals to understand the feelings, motivations and viewpoints of others.
Responsibility: Enables students to take active ownership of their education by setting goals, monitoring progress, managing time, and persisting through challenges.
Resilience: Maintains a positive, growth-oriented mindset when facing academic or personal challenges, allowing learners to “bounce back” from setbacks and persist in learning.
Collaboration: Students work together in groups to achieve shared learning goals, leveraging diverse perspectives and skills such as listening to others’ views, taking turns and doing their fair share.
Growth mindset: Enables students to embrace challenges and view mistakes as opportunities for learning, often using the “power of yet” to overcome obstacles.
Problem Solving: Students learn to actively identify, analyse and resolve challenges by applying critical thinking, creativity, and structured methods, often through trial-and-error, collaboration, and self-directed learning.
We support learners by:
- Knowing students and their families well.
- Identifying their individual strengths and needs and responding with targeted teaching for continuous improvement.
- Negotiating learning with students, by including student voice and choice about learning to build engagement.
- Encouraging families to be involved in their children’s learning and the life of the school.