Well .. it is official, what we have known in our hearts and minds for a while now..
We are officially an International Glasser Choice Theory Quality School.
So what does this mean? As you know, we have for many years been committed to Quality Relationships and Learning, as we learn and teach Choice Theory to build intrinsic motivation and to help us all meet our basic needs.
This internal control psychology is so very helpful and pertinent in our world today and in preparing students for their future, as well as helping us all be joyful in the moment. Current neuroscience and trauma informed practices all affirm what William Glasser knew and has taught us.
The process to verification:
Initially we did individual self-evaluations around the following criteria for Quality Schools and then as a staff voted on whether we thought we were ready to declare, and we were.
- It is a primary belief at this school that relationships are the key to successful learning. Relationships built on trust and respect, helping, supporting and encouraging each other in all we do.
- At this school we believe that self-evaluation improves learning outcomes. Measurable continuous improvement through self-evaluation, as well as structure co-verification is evident.
- A belief that every learner can become a competent learner underpins all classroom activity. All learners demonstrating competency and continuous improvement.
- There is a belief that quality is the very best that a learner can produce at this time, (nothing more can be added). Every learner is capable of producing quality. All learners do some quality work each year (work that
is significantly beyond competence). - Staff, learners and parents at this school believe in the significance of internal control as opposed to external control. All learners and staff know Choice Theory and have eliminated the need to control one another.
- A belief in creating a school where learners want to learn, drives the action of all in it. The school is a joyful place to be where fun becomes the genetic reward for learning
- Our school at this time is a needs-satisfying place, where we can each meet our basic needs of:
- Survival-Safety and psychological safety
- Love and Belonging
- Power-Empowerment
- Freedom (to and from)
- Fun-Joy and learning
In October 2023, a team of co-verifiers attended Nundah to observe how we are meeting Dr Glasser's Quality School criteria.The team visited classrooms, the playground, team meetings and talked to staff, students and parents. They provided us with informal feedback and report on how they have observed us meeting the criteria which has been collated into the report you can find below.
So what now...
What is lingering within me are the stories the staff, the parents, and our wonderful students told to our visitors about what makes Nundah SS special to them, and why they feel such a strong sense of belonging and connection, and joy while they learn how to be the person they want to be. Many thanks to the students and families who shared these stories with our co-verifiers as they visited our school over these 3 days.
And especially, many thanks to our amazing Nundah staff. It is every single one of them who brings this joy and connection to our school every day. It is them who bring their commitment to quality and being their best selves in service to your children and family.
Every day here is a delightful and needs-satisfying experience, even the hard ones.