Our Learning Culture

The PRIDE Team oversees the day to day systems that teach and reinforce the behaviours we expect within our kura. Their mahi is aligned with Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) practices to teach our school values of PRIDE - Passion, Respect, Integrity, Diversity, Excellence for All, and school-wide expected behaviours as outlined here (link to matrix).

The PRIDE Team is made up of a range of staff as well as student leader representatives - our Kākākura.

For more information about Positive Behaviour for Learning visit https://pb4l.tki.org.nz/

 

 

Staff operate a stepped process within classrooms ranging from Step 0 to Step 4. At Step 0, staff put a lot of effort into getting to know the needs of all learners and adapting learning programmes to meet those needs, as well as building relationships with students. Steps 1 to 4 range from in-class consequences to being referred out of class. For day to day oversight of students, the Kaiāwhina is the point of contact. If Steps 3 or 4 occur, whānau are contacted by email. Any patterns that emerge are followed up by the Pastoral Team. Overall, We aim to focus our practice around the Restorative Approach (see below) so that learning can come from each situation.

The PRIDE Team also oversees the acknowledgement of students showing PRIDE in our school. 

In 2026, a digital system on the MyMahi platform is in place for recognising students meeting expectations. Students receive MyMahi points from staff for meeting expectations. Our Kākākura are working on how students can use these points towards tangible rewards throughout Term 1 this year. 

MyMahi replaces the previous system using PRIDE stamp cards.

 

 

The Pastoral Team is made up of Senior Leadership, Deans, Guidance and Learning Support. Within the PB4L framework, this is our Tier 2 & Tier 3 Team. This team supports students who require extra help meeting school expectations, whether that is on a short-term or long-term basis or for academic, social, or behavioural reasons. From time to time, this involved accessing support from external providers or agencies.

As an educational organisation, our preference is always to educate first, founded in the following points: • Wrongdoing is seen as a breakdown in relationships, required skills or expectations. • Restoring relationships is important. • Teaching of skills and expectations may be needed. • Parties need support to move on and improve. “Do the best you can until you know better. When you know better, do better.” - Maya Angelou By using relational and positive behaviour for learning approaches to restore relationships and teach skills and expectations we stand a better chance of improving the capacity of the learner to return to ‘normal operations’ with an increased chance of success. Through our MHC Learning Culture approach we seek to have all parties feeling heard, able to move forward and empowered to learn (academically, socially, emotionally) and return to that learning as quickly as possible. At Mount Hutt College, we endeavour to utilise the restorative conferencing method when working with our learners. This could be at several different levels within our existing behaviour management system, and it is our preferred first step in rebuilding relationships between learners. The restorative process seeks first to meet the needs of all parties, and to make things right. This is quite different to the kind of justice that has been dispensed in many schools in the past. Restorative practice philosophy recognises that when something wrong occurs, relationships can be damaged. Young people rarely have any idea who they have hurt, or how badly, when they do the wrong thing, therefore need the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. This is a deliberate move away from punitive measures inflicted upon students that leave the wrong-doer feeling aggrieved. As quoted: “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind” – Mahatma Gandhi A number of our wider staff, Deans, Kaiāwhina and Guidance Counsellors, have been explicitly trained in the restorative conferencing process, with more staff developing the skill set over time. The approach has an inquiry framework and results from best practice models found in modern approaches to student learning and wellbeing. When engaging in restorative conversations, students can expect questions like those below. Restorative Questions

Staff operate a stepped process within classrooms ranging from Step 0 to Step 4. At Step 0, staff put a lot of  effort into getting to know the needs of all learners and adapting learning programmes to meet those needs, as well as building relationships with students. Steps 1 to 4 range from in-class consequences to being referred out of class. 

For day to day oversight of students, the Kaiāwhina is the point of contact. 

If Steps 3 or 4 occur, whānau are contacted by email. 

Any patterns that emerge are followed up by the Pastoral Team. 

Overall, We aim to focus our practice around the Restorative Approach so that learning can come from each situation.