Boards of trustees and principals
Tumuaki, principals, and boards of trustees can contribute to raising the success of boys in schools by engaging with staff, students, and the kura or school community.
Your board of trustees has a legal responsibility to govern your school and set its direction, including curriculum, staff, property, health and safety, finance, and administration. The board makes decisions that the principal and teachers then put in place.
Making changes to raise the success of boys in your school will require strategic direction from your school leadership, and support from your community to put it into action.
Key questions
The following questions provide your school leadership with a starting point to engage with your community about raising the success of boys in your school:
- What kinds of learning do your boys enjoy? What don’t they enjoy?
- Do your boys receive the formative assessment, ongoing feedback, and feed-forward information they need?
- What more can teachers, parents, and whānau do to help boys engage in learning at school and motivate them in reading and writing?
- Are your school structures supporting boys to take responsibility for their own learning, manage themselves, and relate positively to others?
- Are your boys well-represented in leadership, peer mentoring, and social service positions in your school?
- Are your boys encouraged to participate in co-curricular (including cultural) activities, and do the current opportunities cater for the diversity of interests and needs among your boys?
- Does your school programme include experiential, hands-on, and activity-based learning and e-learning to engage boys in learning?
- Are there opportunities for your boys to engage with positive male role models – senior boys, staff, and community or iwi leaders?
- Do your boys have regular opportunities for physical activity and challenging outdoor adventure programmes?
- How effectively does your school help boys make realistic decisions about tertiary education and career direction?
- What qualifications and skills are your boys leaving school with, and what are they doing after leaving school?