Western Springs College has a well-earned reputation for high academic achievement within a safe, nurturing learning environment guided by progressive teaching practices.
Western Springs College provides students and families with the opportunity to experience a secondary education within a school community that accurately reflects the diverse character of 21st century Auckland. The College closely mirrors its local community with a decile rating of 8 and an ethnic mix derived from many cultures:
- 67% Pakeha
- 16% Maori
- 11% Pasifika
- 3% Asian
- 3% Other
For whanau of Maori students, the College provides the opportunity to be educated within the rumaki – Nga Puna O Waiorea – the Te Reo Maori immersion kura within the College.
With a roll of just under 1,300 students Springs remains small enough to enable us to cater at a personal level for the individual needs of our students, but large enough to offer a comprehensive range of subjects and extra-curricula experiences.
Top Decile 8 State Secondary School
In 2010, Western Springs College was the top performing decile 8 state secondary school in New Zealand (based on the NCEA pass rates for Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and University Entrance). Using the same criteria, Western Springs College has placed second among all Auckland state secondary schools in 2009 and 2010.
A co-educational College where girls excel
Female student achievement at Western Springs College dispels the myth that girls do not thrive academically in a coeducational setting. In 2010, WSC’s female student NCEA pass rates across all four measures (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and U. E.) ranked higher than that of any other Auckland state secondary school, single-sex or coeduational, regardless of decile.
...and boys do too!
Overall, boys at WSC are achieving closer to the level of girls than are boys in the country as a whole. In 2010, the WSC male student Level 1 pass rate (92.1%) exceeded that of WSC female students (91.6%).
Maori student achievement
In 2010, the pass rates for Maori students were: Level 1: 89.8%; Level 2: 90.9%; Level 3: 74.3%; U. E. 88.6%, that is, higher than all WSC students for Level 2 and U. E.
Individualised Pathways
Our overriding concern at Springs is that all students receive an education which meets their needs. Whatever a student’s future, Western Springs College strives to provide a successful pathway.
In the junior school (years 9 and 10), students move in core classes through the compulsory curriculum. Core classes give students stability of relationships. At Springs, year 9 and 10 classes are relatively small and, generally, consist of students of mixed ability.
While there is banding in Mathematics, there is a strong tradition of mixed ability teaching in the junior school. Our philosophy is that it is important to have high expectations of all students, all of whom we believe to be intelligent in various ways. In our view it is indefensible and irresponsible to prematurely and inaccurately label students’ ability levels. Multiple intelligences approaches to teaching and learning inform the staff professional development programme.
Catering for individual needs is achieved in a variety of ways at Western Springs College. Differentiated teaching occurs within all junior classes. The learning centre has been designed to help students plug gaps in their learning skills. Accelerated learning is provided for gifted and talented students, made possible by multi-levelling whereby students are able to study at a level suited to their ability.
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