When teachers (and other staff) apply to work at Garin, they sign up to this set of expectations…

At the newest secondary school in New Zealand and in the Catholic system, the Board of Garin College and I are determined to ensure that Garin will be a 21st century standard-setter in education, and in the formation of young people as responsible and principled citizens. To do that, staff must all understand and share the school’s dream.

If you continue with your application, you are making a commitment to be part of these team goals, and to working in our community to reach them.

Teaching in a Catholic school

Garin College is a Catholic school. If you come to our school you will be buying into that. Your normal loyalty to your employer will need to include working within the ethical boundaries of Catholic teaching. (The good news is that the Catholic Church is much more liberal and forward-thinking than the media often present us.) The special character of a Catholic school is defined in the Integration Agreement: The school is a Roman Catholic School in which the whole school community, through the general school programme and in its religious instructions and observances, exercises the right to live and teach the values of Jesus Christ. These values are as expressed in the Scriptures and in the practices, worship and doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church.

Not all our staff are Catholic – but staff who are Catholic, and those who are not, must support the Catholic ethos of the school. You should not apply if you are not willing to do that in a positive and professional way. We are actively seeking staff with a range of beliefs, philosophies and life experiences – but all staff have to respect and foster the special character of the school.

You won’t be asked to act against your own conscience or personal philosophy of life: that would be unchristian and contrary to the aims of the school. On the other hand, all teachers are expected to contribute to the overall goals of the school both in their teaching and by example. Any teacher who contradicted the religious purpose of the school in any contact with pupils or community would be undermining the efforts of other teachers.

In an educational situation, some of the key “Catholic” things are:

• Because we know God created each one of us, we try to respect each person
• We educate the whole person God created: academic, physical, spiritual, emotional, moral and creative. We find ways to develop leadership, confidence, and community spirit. We want our children to have the very best chance of a happy life. We want them to have the qualifications they need, the healthy bodies they need, and the ability to form faithful, loving relationships.
• Catholic schools are characterised by firm discipline leading to self-discipline.
• We have a broad vision of pastoral care that involves building a partnership with parents in the development of their child into a positive and productive adult (disciplined, good at relationships, prepared for a career and life-long education, an ethical and moral citizen, someone with a sense of their responsibility to make a positive difference in their world)
• We work out ways to help each person discover what is right and wrong – and then to act on that. Our standard is the teaching and action of Jesus in the Bible.
• We expect each person to think for themselves and to take responsibility for themselves: for their actions, for their development, and for their own happiness.
• We foster the sensitivities, values, and sense of responsibility our students will need to lead worthwhile and fulfilling lives, and an attitude that refuses to accept second best.
• Catholic schools and universities have always believed in excellence in education, and that is our goal. Secular subjects are taught for their own value and with their own objectives. Catholics believe in the value of all human knowledge. So any teaching which helps our young people to be more aware of the world and to appreciate human endeavour and learning is a contribution to the total aim of the school.
• And we look for ways to help our students develop a relationship with their Creator – something they will need if they are to remain people of hope throughout their lives.

Developing a School Culture

Garin is a well-run school, where staff with a passion for teaching gain professional satisfaction in an environment that minimises staff stress, and where you will work hard, but will gain appreciation and results for your work. We have an emphasis on “the basics”, hard work, striving for excellence, character development, social justice, as well as making faith and Gospel values meaningful in the life of each student.

If you come to us, you are “buying into” these values. As a leader in our community you will need to be an active participant in our discipline system, our pastoral care system, our prayer life, our academic achievement programme, the normal systems of the school, and our extra-curricular programme. We have “flat” management where everyone has an important part to play, and we share the tasks that need to be done as fairly as possible.

Our teachers must like kids (and not just the co-operative ones), believe in them, and be willing to work to help form them into positive, productive and disciplined citizens of the future. We believe that the adults in schools must be assertive and demanding if our young people are to become the adults they were created to be.

If you come to Garin you will be a key person in the personal and educational development of young people. That has important implications for your relationship with children and their parents – and for the level of commitment we need from our teachers. It also provides huge professional and personal satisfactions.

In return, the school will support you in your teaching, put as much resource as possible into teaching and learning, ensure students get maximum time on task, work to help you spend time on education rather than handling disruption, work to make the timetable as efficient as possible, and we will do all we can to minimise teacher stress and ensure you get every chance to get worthwhile results from your efforts.

We want you to be happy in your career, and to have the personal satisfaction of knowing you are doing a good job and making a difference in the lives of children. Your view on these things will always be heard.

Building a Community

A Catholic school is a community that is part of wider communities. A community is not a 9am-4pm thing – members remain part of the group around the clock. We see ourselves as part of a larger creation, and responsible for working towards leaving our community and our world a better place. We try to help students experience the support, responsibility, and sense of achievement that can come through working in teams. We help them develop the community-building skills and attitudes they need, and the world needs – and the determination to build a better world. If you come to Garin we will expect you to be involved in the educational and personal development of our children.

We are aware that teachers work very hard and that will certainly be the case at Garin, but developing a community means that all of us, from Head Teacher to recently-trained teacher will have to work with others outside the classroom, on committees, parent groups, coaching sport and cultural activities, planning and leading liturgies, and all the other things that make a school a vibrant living community. We have a system where you will “sign up” to between 130-150 hours a year of these community-building activities.

Education for the 21st Century

We are a new school – and it seems to us that there is no point in doing what we have always done (“if we do what we’ve always done, we’ll get what we always got”). We want more. And we want maximum results for your work.

At Garin, our Board funds professional development to ensure we develop school-wide good practice based on what we now know is effective in educating young people. If you come to our school you will have to be prepared to work on your teaching practice with colleagues. We work to develop our effectiveness using new technologies, learning styles, multiple intelligences and all the other research on what works in education, and on how the brain learns. Our goal is to work more efficiently, rather than work harder.

I hope this doesn’t sound too daunting. Teachers have a huge job to do, and a huge responsibility – and Garin needs excellent teachers. We have a vision of an excellent modern Catholic school, and we believe it is important to be explicit in what we are looking for, so that we attract teachers and other staff with the passion to share and develop that vision.

Thank you for reading this. If these values are what you believe education should be about, and if you would like to help us develop this vision, we would be very pleased to receive your application.

John Boyce, Head Teacher & Michele Lafferty, Board Chair

9 July 2001