While an exercise to itemise the allocation of the Special Character donation spending may appear to be a useful and manageable endeavour, it is impossible to analyse the exact targeted spending of funds for several reasons:
- Firstly, the resourcing of most learning areas, while at times may not appear to be overtly Christian, are adapted by teachers to teach the programme from a Christian worldview. Secondly, staff are encouraged to source the best resources whether secular or Christian to deliver an authentic programme.
- Thirdly, aspects that add to the culture of the school such as sport, learning support and pastoral care do not strictly adhere to a narrow view of special character but enhance the experience and exposure of all students to the special character.
- Fourthly, a distinction is sometimes made between special character professional development for teachers and other pedagogical training, however, this is difficult to measure and quantify. For example, a trip by leaders or teachers to visit other Christian schools will focus on both the delivery of special character and other learning outcomes.
- Finally, in the same way that it is impossible to analyse why a recent family holiday was so meaningful, it is difficult to pin-point which aspects of a child’s journey at KingsWay enhances their positive experience of the special character of the school.
With that said and done, special character donations continue to be used to ensure that the school continues to offer an authentic Christian special character programme that delivers on the intent of the School’s mission statement and Vision for a KingsWay Graduate. To put it simply, KingsWay School cannot continue to deliver what it does without your special character donation. Included are a few ways that the finance is used:
Teaching Staff
Most of the funding is spent on providing additional teachers who are specifically tagged to the delivery of Biblical Studies in Senior and Middle School and to support student wellbeing through pastoral care and our dean structure.
Support Staff
Heads of School administrative support provide additional time for management to focus on pastoral care of students and staff, as well as working in parent partnership. The employment of additional support staff in areas such as Sport allow for a relatively small school to offer a wide range of opportunities.
Professional Development of Teachers
This has been a targeted focus in the last few years and includes the induction of new staff into Christian education, the resourcing of the Wednesday Morning Special Character Development Programme for all teachers, purchasing of teaching resources and the networking with other schools.
Learning Support
KingsWay allocates significant additional funding above the Ministry of Education allocation to support students who require learning support.
Curriculum
Finance is set aside to purchase both special character specific resources and material that supports the delivery of great student outcomes. It also includes resources such as library books and digital resources which can be both special character specific or not.
SLAMS
This allocation represents areas such as sport, leadership, the arts, missions and service which are core to the outworking of the school’s mission statement.
Graeme Budler
Executive Prinicipal